clemency.

Sviatoslaf returned to Kief with waving banners, exulting in his
renown. He was stimulated, not satiated, by this success; and now
planned another expedition still more perilous and grand. On the south
of the Danube, near its mouth, was Bulgaria, a vast realm, populous
and powerful, which had long bid defiance to all the forces of the
Roman empire. The conquest of Bulgaria was an achievement worthy of
the chivalry even of Sviatoslaf. With an immense fleet of barges,
containing sixty thousand men, he descended the Dnieper to the Euxine.
Coasting along the western shore his fleet entered the mouth of the
Danube. The Bulgarians fought like heroes to repel the invaders. All
their efforts were in vain. The Russians sprang from their barges on
the shore, and, protected by their immense bucklers, sword in hand,
routed the Bulgarians with great slaughter. Cities and villages
rapidly submitted to the conqueror. The king of Bulgaria in his
despair rushed upon death. Sviatoslaf, laden with the spoils of the
vanquished and crowned with the laurels of victory, surrendered
himself to rejoicing and to all the pleasures of voluptuous
indulgence.

From these dissipations Sviatoslaf was suddenly recalled by the
tidings that his own capital was in danger; that a neighboring tribe,
of great military power, taking advantage of his absence with his
army, had invested Kief and were hourly expected to take it by
assault. In dismay he hastened his return, and found, to his
inexpressible relief, that the besiegers had been routed by the
stratagem and valor of a Russian general, and that the city and its
inhabitants were thus rescued from destruction.

But the Russian king, having tasted the pleasures of a more sunny
clime, and having rioted in the excitements of sensual indulgence,
soon became weary of tranquil life in Kief. He was also anxious to
escape from the reproof which he always felt from the pious life of
his mother. He therefore resolved to return to his conquered kingdom
of Bulgaria. He said to his mother:

"I had rather live in Bulgaria than at Kief. Bulgaria is the center of
wealth, nature and art. The Greeks send there gold and cloths; the
Hungarians silver and horses; the Russians furs, wax, honey and
slaves."

"Wait, my son, at least till after my death," exclaimed Olga. "I am
aged and infirm, and very soon shall be conveyed to my tomb."

This interview hastened the death of Olga. In four days she slept in
Je