The successful young merchant Sadko successfully trades in the city of Ladoga. The merchant travels with his boats from “Varangians to Greeks” and from “Varangians to Arabs” and makes good money. But when he appears with goods in Veliky Novgorod, local merchants begin to bully him and each boast about his money. The enraged Sadko bets that in seven days he will triple his wealth and outshine all Novgorod merchants. He hopes to find a treasure that is hidden on one of the islands in the middle of Lake Ladoga. Having made an adventurous journey and overcoming many dangers, Sadko and his companions find a boat loaded with gold, once hidden by the mysterious Nibelungs among the rocks. A spell is cast on the treasure, but Sadko’s squad crushes the evil guards of the gold, and Christian prayer moves the heaviest boat from its place, and the plows of the Kievites “tow” the treasure all the way to Kyiv.