‘I don’t know.... Folks say she lives somewhere near the Devil’s Corner.... You know the place—the marsh behind the Trine road. She lives in that same marsh. May her mother burn in hell!’
‘A witch living ten versts from my house ... a real live Polyessie witch!’ The idea instantly intrigued and excited me.
‘Look here, Yarmola,’ I said to the forester. ‘How could I get to know the witch?’
‘Foo!’ Yarmola spat in indignation. ‘That’s a nice thing!’
‘Nice or nasty, I’m going to her all the same. As soon as it gets a little warmer, I’ll go off at once. You’ll come with me, of course?’
Yarmola was so struck by my last words that he jumped right off the floor.
‘Me?’ he cried indignantly. ‘Not for a million! Come what may, I’m not going with you.’
‘Nonsense; of course, you’ll come.’
‘No, sir, I will not ... not for anything.... Me?’ he cried again, seized with a new exasperation, ‘go to a witch’s den? God forbid! And I advise you not to either, sir.’
‘As you please.... I’ll go all the same.... I’m very curious to see her.’