nd he put on
extra speed, tearing his way through high hills rather than turn
on one side. Meanwhile Sozh persuaded the Raven to fly
straight to Dnieper, and, as soon as it had come up with him
to croak three times; he himself was to burrow under the earth,
intending to leap to the surface at the cry of the Raven, and by
that means to get before his brother. But the Vulture fell on
the Raven; the Raven began to croak before it had caught up
the river Dnieper. Up burst Sozh from underground, and fell
straight into the waves of the Dnieper.[271]

Here is an account of--

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE DNIEPER, THE VOLGA, AND THE DVINA.[272]

The Dnieper, Volga, and Dvina used once to be living people.
The Dnieper was a boy, and the Volga and Dvina his sisters.
While they were still in childhood they were left complete orphans,
and, as they hadn't a crust to eat, they were obliged to
get their living by daily labor beyond their strength. "When
was that?" Very long ago, say the old folks; beyond the
memory even of our great-grandfathers.

Well, the children grew up, but they never had even the
slightest bit of good luck. Every day, from morn till eve, it was
always toil and toil, and all merely for the day's subsistence. As
for their clothing, it was just what God sent them! They sometimes
found rags on the dust-heaps, and with these they managed
to cover their bodies. The poor things had to endure cold and
hunger. Life became a burden to them.[273]

One day, after toiling hard afield, they sat down under a bush
to eat their last morsel of bread. And when they had eaten it,
they cried and sorrowed for a while, and considered and held
counsel together as to how they might manage to live, and to
have food and clothing, and, without toiling, to supply others
with meat and drink. Well, this is what they resolved: to set
out wandering about the wide world in search of good luck and
a kindly welcome, and to look for and find out the best places
in which they could turn into great rivers--for that was a possible
thing then.

Well, they walked and walked; not one year only, nor two
years, but all but three; and they chose the places they wanted,
and came to an agreement as to where the flowing of each one
should begin. And all three of them stopped to spend the night
in a swamp. But the sisters were more cunning than their
brother. No sooner was D