ILIYA OF MUROM AND THE ROBBER NIGHTINGALE.
IN the famous city of Murom there once lived
a countryman named Ivan Timofeyevich. Now
Ivan had a son named Iliya, the joy of his heart,
who was thirty years of age before he could walk;
when all at once he acquired such strength that he
could not only run about, but made for himself a
suit of armour and a steel spear, saddled his steed,
and went to his parents and begged their blessing.
"Dear father and mother," said he "grant me permission to go to the famous city of Kiev." So his
parents gave him their blessing and dismissed
him, saying: "Go straight to Kiev, straight to
the city Chernigov, but do no wrong upon your
way, nor shed Christian blood in vain."
Then Iliya of Murom took leave of his parents, and journeyed on, far into the depths of a dark forest, until he came to a camp of robbers. When the robbers saw him they longed to possess his noble steed, and conspired together to kill Iliya and seize the horse. So they fell upon Iliya of Murom, five-and-twenty men. But Iliya of Murom reined in his steed, drew an arrow from his quiver,
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