Nikita the Tanner

A huge serpent settled near Kyiv. He blocked the road and the river route with logs, and demanded a basket of bread and a length of cloth from every household…

A huge serpent settled near Kyiv. He blocked the road and the river route with logs, and demanded a basket of bread and a length of cloth from every household in exchange for passage. The princess went to negotiate with him. The serpent boasted about his strength, but admitted that he respected only Nikita the Tanner. The princess sent this news to her parents with her faithful little dog.

In his workshop, Nikita was kneading twelve hides at once. The prince asked him to go out and fight, but Nikita did not want to hurt anyone. Then the children of Kyiv came to him. They did not cry; they explained that the mills were idle, the boats could not travel, and the city was running short of flour. The tanner tarred a sturdy work coat and set off for the river.

In an open field, Nikita suggested that instead of fighting, they should have a tug-of-war with a strong rope. Nikita proved stronger, but he praised the serpent for his effort. The serpent proposed dividing the land so that each of them could live on his own half. Nikita agreed to mark out a boundary.

Together they pulled an enormous plough and made a deep furrow from Kyiv to the sea. “Shall we divide the sea now?” Nikita asked. The serpent looked at the boundless water and understood that the world should not be cut into pieces. Let the furrow become a channel that would bring water to the dry fields. The serpent opened the road and returned the supplies.

At the new wharf, the people of Kyiv welcomed the princess and her little dog. The children planted willows along the channel, the serpent brought stones for the bank, and Nikita refused gold and a title. Beyond the wharf stretched a high earthen rampart—the mark of their shared work—which people continued to point out to visitors for a long time.