ST. TRIPHON'S MONASTERY 185 



summer's day, and the Lord Himself stretched forth His right hand 

 and took the cup to His holy bosom. Once more all was darkness, 

 and as suddenly had turned to black night ; Avith a roar the column 

 of water, which had reached to Heaven, rushed down, seized the 

 half-dead Ivan, and in its whirlpool dragged him down to abysmal 

 depths. 



" To this day, they say, in Norway somewhere beyond the Varanger 

 fjord there is a bottomless lake, the water of which even now is of a 

 reddish colour. No living being — man or reindeer — drinks this 

 reddish water ; and from the middle of the lake a large yellowish 

 stone rises up, shaped like a cup. No fish live in its waters, and no 

 birds live on the lake ; it does not freeze in the winter, but once a 

 year, on Christmas day, three swans white as snow fly to it, and, 

 swimming across its waters, sit on the stone ; then they rise aloft and 

 disappear from view." ^ 



The pious reader of this narrative will ask : What has now become 

 of the scenes of Triphon's deeds ? The prophecy of the Holy Man has 

 been fulfilled with literal exactitude : the Lord did not leave the rod 

 of the wicked to their fate. He showed his creative power in their 

 feebleness. The Pechenga Monastery was restored. 



In 1824 and 1867 efforts were made by the Solovetzky monks to 

 settle on the ashes of the burnt monastery of Pechenga near the tomb 

 of the 116 martyrs, but they were not crowned with success — it was 

 evident that the time had not then arrived which the Almighty in His 

 wisdom had appointed for building it up. On the contrary, since 

 1869, emigrants from the seashore began to settle on the ashes of 

 the old monastery ; and having settled there, became full oAvners of 

 the land. In 1878 the wish arose amongst the admirers of Triphon 

 to rebuild the Pechenga Monastery. On the 15th December, 1883, 

 the 300th anniversary of the death of Triphon was solemnly celebrated 

 throughout the entire government of Archangel ; and since then the 

 desire to build up the Pechenga Monastery has become more strongly 



1 " In the Arctic Ocean : Voyage to the North " (1895), E- I^oov. 



