Then she added:
"You're not eating this evening! You've no appetite. That innocent soul distresses your hearts. And your husband isn't eating, either. Look!"
Hippolyte said:
"Do many die—like that?"
"Oh!" went on Candia, "this is a bad district. The cursed brood swarms hereabouts. One is never safe. May Jesus protect us from the Cunning One!"
She repeated the conjuration, then added, pointing to a plate on the table:
"Do you see those fish? They are from the Trabocco; they were brought by Turchin."
And she lowered her voice.
"Do you want to know? For nearly a year, Turcum and all his family have been in the power of some witchcraft from which he has not yet been able to free himself."
"Who is Turchin?" asked George, listening breathlessly to the woman's words, fascinated by the mystery of these things. "The man from the Trabocco?"