Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to the letter from the Ottoman sultan demanding their surrender

Excerpt: "We will not yield to you, but we will fight you."

"Sultan, son of the cursed Sultan of Turkey, companion of Satan, hellish abysmal Sultan of Turkey, Greek pedestal, cook of Babylon, armourer of Jerusalem, wheelwright of Assyria, winegrower of greater and lesser Egypt, Alexandrian pig farmer, Armenian saddle-piece, Tatar dog, accursed viper living in the world, thief of Kamenets-Podolsky and all the world, subject of the spider and the scarecrow, bogeyman of the whole world, Turkish district busurman [Muslim], I am equal to the body, slanderer of Satan, whole host of hell, cursed messenger of Satan, enemy of the crucified God and persecutor of his servants, hope and comfort of the busurmen [Muslims], and their downfall and sorrow. We will not yield to you, but we will fight you."

The letter and it's several variations are generally recognized as forgeries, but they illustrate the spirit of the ancestors of present day Ukrainians, and inspired this painting by Ilya Repin, a Russian, started in 1880 and finished in 1891, measuring 8'8" x 11'9"