“We’ll see by-and-by whether much will fall to his share!” answered Elijah; “when I’ve burnt up all his land with lightning, and beaten it all flat with hail, then this Moujik of yours will know what’s right, and will learn to keep Elijah’s day holy.”
Well, they wrangled and wrangled; then they parted asunder. St. Nicholas went off straight to the Moujik and said:
“Sell all your corn at once, just as it stands, to the Priest of Elijah.[445] If you don’t, nothing will be left of it: it will all be beaten flat by hail.”
Off rushed the Moujik to the Priest.
“Won’t your Reverence buy some standing corn? I’ll sell my whole crop. I’m in such pressing need of money just now. It’s a case of pay up with me! Buy it, Father! I’ll sell it cheap.”
They bargained and bargained, and came to an agreement. The Moujik got his money and went home.
Some little time passed by. There gathered together, there came rolling up, a stormcloud; with a terrible raining and hailing did it empty itself over the Moujik’s cornfields, cutting down all the crop as if with a knife—not even a single blade did it leave standing.
Next day Elijah and Nicholas walked past. Says Elijah:
“Only see how I’ve devastated the Moujik’s cornfield!”
“The Moujik’s! No, brother! Devastated it you have splendidly, only that field belongs to the Elijah Priest, not to the Moujik.”