For the first time, the Russian-speaking reader gets acquainted with the edition of the great monument of ancient Russian literature prepared by Vladimir Nabokov. Nabokov provided his translation of the monument with a preface and commentary, in which he appears to the reader as a researcher with an original approach to the immortal creation of an unknown author. An article by V. P. Stark, who prepared the publication, introduces the history of the creation of this unique work. The article by N. M. Zhutovskaya, who translated the preface and commentary into Russian, is devoted to the originality of Nabokov’s translation. Along with the English text of Nabokov’s translation, the Old Russian text of “The Lay” is also published in the reconstruction of D. S. Likhachev with illustrations by Natalya Goncharova, reproduced for the first time in its entirety from the rare German edition of 1923. The article by O. A. Belobrova and the index by N. are devoted to these illustrations. K. Teletova, connecting illustrations with the text of “Words”.