Iván took some bread and his caftan, and went out to herd his mare.
IV.
That night Semén's devil got through with his work and by agreement went to find Iván's devil, to help to make an end of the fool. He came to the field and looked for him everywhere, but found only the hole.
"Something has evidently gone wrong with my comrade," he thought,—"I must take his place. The ploughing is done,—I shall have to catch him in the mowing time."
The devil went to the meadows and sent a flood on the mowing so that it was all covered with mud. Iván returned in the morning from the night watch, whetted his scythe, and went out to mow the meadows. He came, and began to mow: he swung the scythe once, and a second time, and it grew dull and would not cut,—it was necessary to grind it. Iván worked hard and in vain.
"No," he said, "I will go home, and will bring the grindstone with me, and a round loaf. If I have to stay here for a week, I will not give up until I mow it all."
When the devil heard it he thought:
"This fool is stiff-necked,—I cannot get at him. I must try something else."
Iván came back, ground his scythe, and began to mow. The devil crept into the grass and began to catch the scythe by the snath-end and to stick the point into the ground. It went hard with Iván, but he finished the mowing, and there was left only one scrubby place in the swamp. The devil crawled into the swamp and thought: