hem, and at last they recognized him, led him
home, and he told his wife all about Ivan. The parson's wife was so
amazed she could scarce believe it. In the evening Ivan drove home the
oxen, put them into their stalls, gave them straw to eat, and then
came into the house himself to have supper. He came into the house,
and the parson said to him, "Come now, Ivan, when thou hast rested a
bit, play my wife a little song!" But as for the parson, he took good
care to tie himself first of all to the pillar which held up the roof
of the house. Ivan sat down on the ground near to the threshold and
began to play. The parson's wife sat down on the bench to listen to
him while he played; but immediately she leaped up from the bench and
began to dance, and she danced with such hearty good-will that the
place became too small for her. Then the Devil seemed to take
possession of the cat too, for pussy leaped from under the stove and
began to spring and bound about also. The parson held on and held on
to the pillar with all his might, but it was of no use. He had no
power to resist; he let go with his hands, and tugged and tugged till
the rope that held him grew slacker and slacker, and then he went
dancing round and round the pillar at a furious rate, with the rope
chafing his hands and feet all the time. At last he could endure it no
longer, and bawled to Ivan to stop. "The deuce is in thee!" cried he.
Then Ivan stopped playing, put his fife into his breast-pocket, and
went and lay down to sleep. But the parson said to his wife, "We must
turn away this Ivan to-morrow, for he will be the death of ourselves
and our cattle!" Ivan, however, overheard what the parson said to his
wife, and getting up early in the morning, he went straight to the
parson, and said to him, "Give me one hundred _karbovantsya_, and I'll
be off; but if you won't give them to me, I'll play and play till you
and your wife have danced yourselves to death, and then I'll take your
place and live at mine ease." The parson scratched himself behind the
ears and hesitated; but at last he thought he had better give the
money and be quit of him. So he took the hundred _karbovantsya_ out of
his satchel and gave them to Ivan. Then Ivan played them a parting
song, till the parson and his wife fell down to the ground, dead-beat,
with their tongues lolling out of their mouths; and then he put his
fife into his breast-pocket, and wandered forth into the wide world.

THE M