The two brothers listened attentively.
‘Of the income from the estates the prince has given me, I retain half for myself. The income from the other half is for my sons.’ He sighed. ‘Normally, of course, the greater portion should go to Sviatopolk and a lesser portion to Ivanushka. But since Sviatopolk already has a good income from Prince Vladimir, whereas Ivanushka as yet has almost nothing – and since the income I have to give you is limited – I am allotting the two of you equal shares.’ He stopped, as if tired after making a hard decision.
Ivanushka stared before him, hardly able to believe his good fortune. Sviatopolk was silent, but when at last he spoke, it was with icy coldness.
‘My father, I thank you, and I bow to your will,’ he said quietly. ‘I have served my prince, and I have served this family. But is it right, I ask, that Ivanushka who has done nothing except bring dishonour upon us, and whose debts we have just paid, should receive exactly the same?’
Igor did not answer, but Ivanushka guessed that the same thought had been troubling him.
He hung his head. What Sviatopolk said was true. He did not deserve it. And he could understand his elder brother’s anger. Until he had appeared – from the dead as it were – all Igor’s limited fortune would have passed to Sviatopolk. Now he was to be denied half his expectations, and all for a stupid wastrel.
‘I have decided,’ Igor said abruptly, and the interview was over.
As they left, Sviatopolk gave Ivanushka a single look. There could be no mistaking its meaning. It said: Death.
It was not until the following day, when he was sitting in the corner of the market place, that Ivanushka reached his decision.
The meeting the day before and the look on Sviatopolk’s face had shocked him. Can he really hate me so much, just because of money? he wondered. And it reminded him, with force, of a conclusion he had reached during his slow convalescence. For when I was wandering in the world, stealing from others and enduring those terrible winters, he had considered, I had nothing. In the end, I was ready to take my own life. Only when I returned and found the love of my family did I once again desire to live. It is true, therefore, what the preachers say: The world is good for nothing without love. And gradually in his mind a new belief had taken shape: Life itself is love; death is lack of love. That is all there is to it.
That day, therefore, as he considered the situation with Sviatopolk, he finally concluded: What use is my good fortune to me if it only creates hatred in my family? I’d sooner be without. So I think, he had decided, that I should give up my inheritance. Let Sviatopolk have it. God will provide. And satisfied that this was the only sensible thing to do, he was about to move across the market.
It was just then that he felt a tug at his sleeve, and to his surprise saw a sturdy peasant grinning beside him.
‘Why, you’re the fellow I gave the money to,’ he smiled.
‘That’s right,’ Shchek replied cheerfully. ‘And, if I may ask, what are you so down in the mouth about, my lord?’
Shchek had reason to be content. Not only had he regained his freedom but, thanks to his secret treasure house, he expected to put some money in his pocket too. He was glad to see the strange young man again, if only to thank him. And since there was already a bond between them, and he had no one else to talk to, Ivanushka told him the whole story.
What a good fellow this noble is, Shchek thought as he listened. He has a warm heart. And besides, he reminded himself, as he heard the final details, I owe him my liberty after all.
So when Ivanushka had finished, the sturdy peasant saw what he should do.
‘Don’t give up everything, lord,’ he advised. ‘Your father, however, possesses the Russka estate, which is poor. But I think I know a way to make it rich. If you want to, give up the share he proposed then ask your father for only the village of Russka – together with the wood to the north of it,’ he added.
Ivanushka nodded. He liked Russka. It didn’t seem a bad idea.
When, that very evening, Sviatopolk heard what Ivanushka had to say to himself and his father, he could hardly believe his ears.
‘Russka?’ Igor said. ‘You want only the income from that miserable little village? How will you live?’
‘I’ll manage,’ Ivanushka said cheerfully.
‘As you wish,’ Igor sighed. ‘God knows what is to be done with you.’
Praise the Lord, Sviatopolk thought. My brother is a fool.
And with a tender smile, he went forward and kissed Ivanushka on the cheek.
It was two days after this that Ivanushka astonished his father with a bold request.
‘Go to Prince Vladimir, Father, and ask on my behalf for the hand of the Saxon girl, his wife’s handmaiden. He is her guardian.’
Igor stared at him. What could he say? The boy had renounced most of his income and he knew very well that young Monomakh, who took a fatherly interest in this Saxon girl, would hardly give her to a poor man. But even if it were not for that… ‘My poor boy,’ he replied sadly, ‘don’t you know that Sviatopolk asked for her himself yesterday?’
Ivanushka’s face fell. Then he looked thoughtful.
‘Ask all the same,’ he said finally.
‘Very well,’ Igor replied. But after Ivanushka had gone, he sighed to himself, ‘I’m afraid there’s no denying it: the boy’s a fool.’
The reply from Monomakh was given within two days. As usual, it was both kind and sensible.
‘The girl will be betrothed at Christmas. She may choose herself, at that time, from amongst any suitors I approve. I hereby approve both the sons of my father’s loyal boyar, Igor. However,’ the prince had very properly added, ‘any suitor who cannot come forward with proof that he is free of debts, and has an income of thirty silver grivnas a year, will be disqualified.’
Sviatopolk smiled when he heard it. His income was over fifty grivnas: Ivanushka’s could not possibly be more than twenty.
Ivanushka said nothing.
It was two days later that Ivanushka, its new lord, rode into the village of Russka.
Spring was everywhere in the air. There was a warm glow coming from the ground. The cherry blossom was already making a first, shy appearance and as he rode towards the river crossing, he heard his first bee.
As it happened, Shchek had gone downriver that day, so Ivanushka ordered the elder to give him a thorough tour of the village. The main income he could expect came from the taxes paid by each household. A third went to the prince; he could keep two-thirds; but there were expenses at the fort which he had to meet. True, if he could afford to hire labourers or buy slaves, he could develop unused land in the area but that would take time as well as money, and he had neither. Even with luck, he could not see how his income would reach more than twenty grivnas that year.
That damned peasant’s probably made a fool of me, he thought as he returned that afternoon to the fort. And when Shchek appeared a few hours later, he was ready to be angry with him. But the peasant promised him: ‘We go out at dawn tomorrow.’ And so he waited one more night.
Then, while the sun was still low in the sky the next morning, Ivanushka discovered the secret treasure of Russka.
All that spring and summer, Ivanushka was busy.
He served Vladimir, as required; but because there was always a slight friction in the air whenever Ivanushka and Sviatopolk were at court together, the prince often let Ivanushka know that he was free to go to Russka to inspect his estates where, it was said at court, the eccentric young man had even been seen working with the peasants in the fields.