Perun asked Mother Lada for blessings and went to the Dark Kingdom to the Skipper-beast. It is not easy to get into the Dark Kingdom, because there are outposts on the way.
Perun arrived at the first outpost. His path was blocked by dense, impassable forests - there root with root twisted and thorn with thorn intertwined.
But Perun threatened to break the forests into small pieces, so the forests parted. Then Perun's path was blocked by fast rivers - there wave after wave converged, stones fell from the steep banks. Don't pass, don't pass Perun!
But Perun ordered the rivers to part - and they parted.
Then Perun drove into the crushing mountains. Perun ordered the mountains to shake. And the mountains shook.
And then Perun’s path was blocked by Magur, Indra’s bird. She sat on twelve damp oak trees, and in her claws she held Miracle Yudo a whale fish. She growled like an animal, whistled like a snake - all the grass-ants were entangled, the azure flowers fell off, and the dark forests bowed to the ground.
However, Perun was not afraid of the bird Magur; he took the bow from his shoulder, shot an arrow and shot the bird’s right wing. Immediately the bird fell out of the nest and got out of Perun’s way.
Perun drove further and ran into monstrous snakes. Those snakes scorched Perun with fire, smoke poured out of their ears in a column. And three shepherds tended those snakes - they were Perun’s three sisters: Zhiva, Marena and Lelya. They were kidnapped three hundred years ago by Skipper the beast and turned into monsters: their skin is white like spruce bark, hair grows on them like feather grass.
Perun ordered the sisters to go to the Riphean Mountains and plunge into the milk river, into the sour cream lake, in order to cleanse themselves of filth.
And he himself went to the Skipper’s palace. Perun drove into the Skipper's chambers: the walls of the chambers are made of human bones, around the chambers there is a tyn with skulls. The skipper greeted him with an arrogant speech:
- I am the king of the entire Subuniverse! As soon as I reach the heavenly pillar, I will grab the damask ring, turn the whole Earth towards the blue Sky and mix the earthly with the heavenly!
But Perun was not afraid of the Skipper-beast, he ran into him and began to stab him with a spear. The Skipper-beast was very surprised and widened his eyes at Perun:
- What kind of miracle is this? Are you a knight or a heavenly god? Death in my family is written only from Perun Svarozhich, and that Perun is in the Raw Land.
And Perun answered him:
- I am your sudden death! Perun and the Skipper-beast began to fight. And Perun defeated and raised the Siper-beast high, and then dropped it on Mother Earth.
The ground opened up and swallowed Skipper. And then Perun filled up that gorge with the Caucasus Mountains. (“The Book of Kolyada”, V 6)
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru