Sometimes when he has sat long in a
place, it seems to him as though it were coming, just coming back to
mind, . . . and again all fades away. It seems as if he is sitting in the
tavern: they bring him vodka; vodka stings him; vodka is repulsive to
him. Some one comes along, and strikes him on the shoulder; . . . but
beyond that everything is veiled in darkness before him. The
perspiration streams down his face, and he sits exhausted in the same
place.
What did not Pidorka do? She consulted the sorceress; and they poured
out fear, and brewed stomach ache,[Footnote: "To pour out fear," is done
with us in case of fear; when it is desired to know what caused it,
melted lead or wax is poured into water, and the object whose form it
assumes is the one which frightened the sick person; after this, the
fear departs. Sonyashnitza is brewed for giddiness, and pain in the
bowels. To this end, a bit of stump is burned, thrown into a jug, and
turned upside down into a bowl filled with water, which is placed on the
patient's stomach: after an incantation, he is given a spoonful of this
water to drink.]--but all to no avail. And so the summer passed. Many a
Cossack had mowed and reaped: many a Cossack, more enterprising than the
rest, had set off upon an expedition.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107