Kiev at night, on the banks of the River Dnieper in the Ukraine. At the time when the events in this story took place, Kiev was ruled by Grand Prince Vsevolod I, son of Yaroslav the Wise, in a period regarded as the Golden Age of Kievan Rus’. Vsevolod’s son Vladimir II Monomakh is said in the Norse Sagas to have married the daughter of King Harold of England.
Introduction
St Nicholas (d. 330), Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, is known as the patron of those at sea. He is not normally given the soubriquet ‘the wet’: that belongs strictly to an icon of St Nicholas, sadly lost during the Second World War, associated with a remarkable miracle from the late 11th century.
IN the year 1091, a man took his wife and their baby son from Kiev to Vyshgorod a few miles up the River Dnieper for the feast of St Boris and St Gleb on July 24th.*
On the return journey, the little boy’s mother dozed off in the boat, and her child fell into the river. After a long but fruitless search, the desolate parents went home praying fervently to St Nicholas.
Next morning, the sacristan of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Kiev was startled by the sound of a baby crying inside the church. The door-wardens, as much at a loss as he was, unlocked the great doors and tracked the cries to their source. There, at the foot of an icon of St Nicholas, they found a baby boy, bawling lustily, and sopping wet.
Inquiries soon brought our man and his wife running to the cathedral, to claim the tiny, dripping bundle plucked by St Nicholas from the swift river of Kiev.
Acknowledgements to Ten Miracle-Working Icons of St Nicholas, on the ‘Icon Reader’ blog.
Boris and Gleb were the favourite sons of Vladimir the Great, the Grand Prince of Kiev who had brought Christianity to Russia in 987. Kiev’s ruler in 1091, Vsevolod, was their nephew. The two brothers were martyred in 1015, and the cathedral in Vyshgorod was consecrated to them.
Précis
In 1091, a man and his wife from Kiev were travelling down the River Dnieper when their baby son fell into the waters. They prayed to St Nicholas for his safe return, and next day, a crying baby wrapped in dripping wet cloths was discovered behind locked doors in the cathedral of Kiev, beneath an icon of St Nicholas. (59 / 60 words)
In 1091, a man and his wife from Kiev were travelling down the River Dnieper when their baby son fell into the waters. They prayed to St Nicholas for his safe return, and next day, a crying baby wrapped in dripping wet cloths was discovered behind locked doors in the cathedral of Kiev, beneath an icon of St Nicholas.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, despite, may, must, until, whereas, whether, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Bring. Run. They.
2 Holy. Tiny. Wet.
3 Little. River. Sacristan.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
x
0
Add
Your Words ()
Post Box : Ask Nicholas
Grok : Ask Grok
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