Some of the Cossack songs relate to " the King Napoleon,'' who, in "the year twelve," and at the head of "the army of twenty nations," invaded "holy Moscow of the snow-white walls."
In fact, Napoleon, or, as the Cossacks call him, " Poleon," seems to be the one foreigner, Julius Caesar, Belisarius, and scriptural characters excepted, with whose name the Cossack is familiar, and this is exactly as it should be, for it was the Cossacks of the Don that first conquered that mighty conqueror. Davoust, Ney, Eugene, even that brilliant horseman Murat, are all alike unknown to them, and of England they know as little as the average Athenian knew of the inhabitants of Ancient Britain. I remember once overhearing two Cossacks discussing me shortly after my arrival in Mishchenko's camp.
"An Englishman! " quoth one of them in astonishment, " why, he is quite clean and civilised like ourselves! "
The great hero of Cossack song is " the Cossack Platoff," who led the horsemen of the Don in the wars of Napoleon I. Him the Tsar sends disguised as a merchant to "the Frantzouz." He goes to the Court of France, and is questioned by u the daughter of the Frenchman Arina," who asks him to show her the portrait of " the Cossack Platoff," whereupon he shows her his own portrait and instantly flees, remarking, somewhat ungallantly, to the young lady as he mounts his faithful steed, "Ah, crow! French brigand! You can never alive take the Cossack Platoff! "
Naturally Yermak is revered by his children, the Transbaikal Cossacks. One of their songs represents him as going to ask pardon of the Tsar before embarking on the conquest of Siberia; —
On Mother Volga,
On the Kama,
Live the Cossacks, live the Freemen,
Cossacks of the Don,
Cossacks of the Caucasus,
And they have for Ataman
Yermak Timofeevitch.
Like a silver clarion Sounding in the wilderness, Sounds the voice of Yermak, Yermak Timofeevitch, And it says, " O brethren! Winter now is coming on, And no resting-place have we! " Says Yermak Timofeevitch.
He asks his men if they will go to the Volga, " where people treat us as brigands," to the Jaik which "is far,"
or to Kazan, " under whose walls is encamped Ivan the Terrible. " They finally decide to go to the banks of the Itych, to the town of Tobolsk, but first they must ask pardon of the Tsar.
Accordingly Yermak advances at the head of his men. "Slowly and respectfully" he traverses the inner court, the vast court of the Tsar. He approaches the red staircase. He dismounts from his horse. " Slowly and respectfully" towards the white palace of the Tsar goes Yermak Timofeevitch. " Slowly and respectfully " enters he the palace. The Terrible is seated on his throne, surrounded by his Boyars. Yermak addresses him:
Health to thee, O little Father!
Health to thee, most Christian Tsar!
Ivan Vassihevitch I
I am Yermak.
I ask pardon
For the crimes I have committed
On the sea and on the highway.
I have seized ships full of pearls,
Ships of Mussulman and Persian;
Even vessels of the Empire
Have I captured, have I plundered,
But these vessels of the Empire
Bore not, Tsar, thy coat of arms.
The Tsar, puzzled, asks himself aloud what he is to do with this man, and one of the Boyars expresses a decided opinion that hanging, or even decapitation, would be too good for him, whereupon Yermak Timofeevitch draws his trusty sword, and cuts off that Boyar's head at one blow.
On the footstool the head bounded, Rolled adown the spacious chamber. To the door fled all the Boyars, Tumbling over one another. Yermak feared he had offended, Had, perhaps, been somewhat hasty.
But, though the song does not say so, we are left to conclude that this little outburst of temper won the Tsar's heart, and led to Yermak being entrusted with the conquest of Siberia. As a matter of fact, Yermak did not see the Tsar until he had already conquered Siberia; but if there is one thing more than another that distinguishes the ballads of the Cossacks, it is their sublime inaccuracy.
It is not generally known, by the way, that Yermak Timofeevitch is honoured by the Greek Church, which solemnly prays once a year for the repose of the conquistadore's soul. In fact, he is almost regarded as a saint by the Cossacks, who, in this respect, treat their hero with more respect than the Spaniards treat Cortez or Pizarro, or than the English treat Give or Warren Hastings.