"She will throw it into the Theiss where the water is deepest. Whatever she gets that she can give to Joska bacsi, all goes into the Theiss!"
"And who is this Joska bacsi?"
"Nobody at all: dear heart! such a creature never existed on earth. It is only a fancy, such as all idiots have."
"And was she always mad?"
At these words an old peasant, who had been sitting in the chimney-corner, and silently observing us, exclaimed, "No, sir, that she was not."
"Well, I have never seen her otherwise, since I remember anything," said Mistress Kata.
"You are not yet thirty years old, Mistress, and this happened long before your birth."
"Do you know something about her, then?" I asked, turning with interest to the old man.
"He know, indeed!" said Mistress Kata scornfully; "he just likes to tell stories, when he can find a fool who will listen to him. But don't be taken in, young gentleman, take my word for it."
I paid no attention, however, to Mistress Kata's warning, and questioned the old man further: "Perhaps it was love that drove this poor woman mad?"