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He beat down [the Kumans] with his
mighty troops
and steel swords;
invaded the Kuman land;
leveled underfoot
hills and ravines;
muddied rivers and lakes;
drained torrents and marshes;
and the pagan Kobyaka,
out of the Bight of the Sea,
from among the great iron Kuman
troops, he plucked like a tornado,
and Kobyaka dropped in the town of
Kiev,
in the guard-room of Svyatoslav!
Igor blamed
Now the Germans,
and the Nfenetians,
now the Greeks,
and the Moravians
sing glory
to Svyatoslav,
but chide
Prince Igor,
for he let abundance sink
to the bottom of the Kayala,
[and| filled up Kuman rivers
with Russian gold.
Now Igor the prince
has switched
from a saddle of gold
to a thrall's saddle.
Pined away
have the ramparts of t
and merriment
has drooped.
Svyatoslav's dreatn
And Svyatoslav saw a troubled dream
in Kiev upon the hills:
"This night, from eventide,
they dressed me," he said, "with a black
pall
on a bedstead of yew.
They ladded out for me
blue wine mixed with bane.
From the empty quivers
of pagan tulks
they rolled great pearls
onto my breast,
and caressed me.
Already the traves
lacked the master-girder
in my gold-crested tower! |