"Come here!" he said, softly, with an important air, sitting down on Terenti's bed and making room for Ilya beside him. Then he opened the book, laid it on his knee, bent over it and began to read aloud, following the words along the grey paper with his finger:
"And sudden—suddenly the bold knight saw a mountain a long way off, so high that it reached to heaven, and midway up its slope was an iron tower. There the fire of his courage flamed up in his brave heart. He put his lance in rest and charged forward with a mighty shout, and sp—spurring his horse, he rushed with all his-gi—gigantic strength against the door. There was a—fearful clap of thunder—the iron tower flew into fragments, and at the same time there streamed out of the mountain fire and v—va—vapour, and a voice of thunder was heard, at which the earth trembled and the stones rolled from the mountain down to the horse's feet. 'Ha! Ha! Is it thou, bold madcap. Death and I have long awaited thee.' The knight was blinded with the fire and smoke."
"But who—who is this?" asked Ilya, amazed at the excitement that quivered in his friend's voice.
"What?" said Jakov, lifting his pale face from the book.
"Who is this—this knight?"
"He's a man, that rides a horse, with a spear, his name is Raoul the Fearless—a dragon has carried off his bride, the beautiful Louise—but listen," Jakov broke off impatiently.
"Hold on a minute—tell me, what's a dragon?"
"Oh! it's a snake with wings and feet with iron claws, and it has three heads, and breathes fire, and—d'you see?"
"My word!" cried Ilya, opening his eyes wide, "that'll be a handful to tackle!"
"Yes, just listen."