"'Ask concerning that of my child, thou son of a dog--of him who was
called thy brother, whom thou murderedst--of Nóvgorod, which thou
hast drowned in blood, and covered with ashes!'

"'O, ho, ho!... Thou hast not forgotten thy folly, then--Lady of
Nóvgorod the Great.'

"'I was such once, my fair lord!'

"At these words she arose.

"'Wilt thou not think again?'

"'Of what?... I said that I was praying for the dead. Thy Moscow,
with all its hovels, can twice a-year be laid in ashes, and twice
built up again. The Tartar hath held it two ages in slavery.... It
pined, it pined away and yet it remains whole. It hath but changed
one bondage for another. But once destroy the queen--Nóvgorod the
Great--and Nóvgorod the Great will perish for ever.'

"'How canst thou tell that?'

"'Can ye raise up a city of hewn stone in a hundred years?'

"'I will raise one in a dozen.'

"'Ay, but this is not in the fairy tale, where 'tis done as soon as
said. Call together the Hanse traders whom thou hast driven away.'