I
Songs were echoing in the village street. It was just the time when the
young men and girls, tired with the work and cares of the day, were in
the habit of assembling for the dance. In the mild evening light,
cheerful songs blended with mild melodies. A mysterious twilight
obscured the blue sky and made everything seem indistinct and distant.
It was growing dark, but the songs were not hushed.
A young Cossack, Levko by name, the son of the village headman, had
stolen away from the singers, guitar in hand. With his embroidered cap
set awry on his head, and his hand playing over the strings, he stepped
a measure to the music. Then he stopped at the door of a house half
hidden by blossoming cherry-trees. Whose house was it? To whom did the
door lead? After a little while he played and sang:
"The night is nigh, the sun is down,
Come out to me, my love, my own!"
"No one is there; my bright-eyed beauty is fast asleep," said the
Cossack to himself as he finished the song and approached the window.
"Hanna, Hanna, are you asleep, or won't you come to me? Perhaps you are
afraid someone will see us, or will not expose your delicate face to the
cold! Fear nothing! The evening is warm, and there is no one near. And
if anyone comes I will wrap you in my caftan, fold you in my arms, and
no one will see us. And if the wind blows cold, I will press you close
to my heart, warm you with my kisses, and lay my cap on your tiny feet,
my darling. Only throw me a single glance. No, you are not asleep, you
proud thing!" he exclaimed now louder, in a voice which betrayed his
annoyance at the humiliation. "You are laughing at me! Good-bye!"
Then he turned away, set his cap jauntily, and, still lightly touching
his guitar, stepped back from the window. Just then the wooden handle of
the door turned with a grating noise, and a girl who counted hardly
seventeen springs looked out timidly through the darkness, and still
keeping hold of the handle, stepped over the threshold. In the twilight
her bright eyes shone like little stars, her coral necklace gleamed, and
the pink flush on her cheeks did not escape the Cossack's observation.
"How impatient you are!" she said in a whisper. "You get angry so
quickly! Why did you choose such a time? There are crowds of people in
the street.... I tremble all over."
"Don't tremble, my darling! Come close to me!" said the Cossack, putting
down his guitar, which hung on a long strap round his neck, and sitting
down with her on the door-step. "You know I find it hard to be only an
hour without seeing you."
"Do you know what I am thinking of?" interrupted the young girl, looking
at him thoughtfully. "Something whispers to me that we shall not see so
much of each other in the future. The people here are not well disposed
to you, the girls look so envious, and the young fellows.... I notice
also that my mother watches me carefully for some time past. I must
confess I was happier when among strangers." Her face wore a troubled
expression as she spoke.
"You are only two months back at home, and are already tired of it!"
said the Cossack. "And of me too perhaps?"
"Oh no!" she replied, smiling. "I love you, you black-eyed Cossack! I
love you because of your dark eyes, and my heart laughs in my breast
when you look at me. I feel so happy when you come down the street
stroking your black moustache, and enjoy listening to your song when you
play the guitar!"
"Oh my Hanna!" exclaimed the Cossack, kissing the girl and drawing her
closer to him.
"Stop, Levko! Tell me whether you have spoken to your father?"
"About what?" he answered absent-mindedly. "About my marrying you? Yes,
I did." But he seemed to speak almost reluctantly.
"Well? What more?"
"What can you make of him? The old curmudgeon pretends to be deaf; he
will not listen to anything, and blames me for loafing with fellows, as
he says, about the streets. But don't worry, Hanna! I give you my word
as a Cossack, I will break his obstinacy."
"You only need to say a word, Levko, and it shall be as you wish. I know
that of myself. Often I do not wish to obey you, but you speak only a
word, and I involuntarily do what you wish. Look, look!" she continued,
laying her head on his shoulder and raising her eyes to the sky, the
immeasurable heaven of the Ukraine; "there far away are twinkling little
stars--one, two, three, four, five. Is it not true that those are angels
opening the windows of their bright little homes and looking down on us.
Is it not so, Levko? They are looking down on earth. If men had wings
like birds, how high they could fly. But ah! not even our oaks reach the
sky. Still people say there is in some distant land a tree whose top
reaches to heaven, and that God descends by it on the earth, the night
before Easter."
"No, Hanna. God has a long ladder which reaches from heaven to earth.
Before Easter Sunday holy angels set it up, and as soon as God puts His
foot on the first rung, all evil spirits take to flight and fall in
swarms into hell. That is why on Easter Day there are none of them on
earth."
"How gently the water ripples! Like a child in the cradle," continued
Hanna, pointing to the pool begirt by dark maples and weeping-willows,
whose melancholy branches drooped in the water. On a hill near the wood
slumbered an old house with closed shutters. The roof was covered with
moss and weeds; leafy apple-trees had grown high up before the windows;
the wood cast deep shadows on it; a grove of nut-trees spread from the
foot of the hill as far as the pool.
"I remember as if in a dream," said Hanna, keeping her eyes fixed on the
house, "a long, long time ago, when I was little and lived with mother,
someone told a terrible story about this house. You must know it--tell
me."
"God forbid, my dear child! Old women and stupid people talk a lot of
nonsense. It would only frighten you and spoil your sleep."
"Tell me, my darling, my black-eyed Cossack," she said, pressing her
cheek to his. "No, you don't love me; you have certainly another
sweetheart! I will not be frightened, and will sleep quite quietly. If
you refuse to tell me, _that_ would keep me awake. I would keep on
worrying and thinking about it. Tell me, Levko!"
"Certainly it is true what people say, that the devil possesses girls,
and stirs up their curiosity. Well then, listen. Long ago there lived in
that house an elderly man who had a beautiful daughter white as snow,
just like you. His wife had been dead a long time, and he was thinking
of marrying again.
"'Will you pet me as before, father, if you take a second wife?' asked
his daughter.
"'Yes, my daughter,' he answered, 'I shall love you more than ever, and
give you yet more rings and necklaces.'
"So he brought a young wife home, who was beautiful and white and red,
but she cast such an evil glance at her stepdaughter that she cried
aloud, but not a word did her sulky stepmother speak to her all day
long.
"When night came, and her father and his wife had retired, the young
girl locked herself up in her room, and feeling melancholy began to weep
bitterly. Suddenly she spied a hideous black cat creeping towards her;
its fur was aflame and its claws struck on the ground like iron. In her
terror the girl sprang on a chair; the cat followed her. Then she sprang
into bed; the cat sprang after her, and seizing her by the throat began
to choke her. She tore the creature away, and flung it on the ground,
but the terrible cat began to creep towards her again. Rendered
desperate with terror, she seized her father's sabre which hung on the
wall, and struck at the cat, wounding one of its paws. The animal
disappeared, whimpering.
"The next day the young wife did not leave her bedroom; the third day
she appeared with her hand bound up.
"The poor girl perceived that her stepmother was a witch, and that she
had wounded her hand.
"On the fourth day her father told her to bring water, to sweep the
floor like a servant-maid, and not to show herself where he and his wife
sat. She obeyed him, though with a heavy heart. On the fifth day he
drove her barefooted out of the house, without giving her any food for
her journey. Then she began to sob and covered her face with her hands.
"'You have ruined your own daughter, father!' she cried; 'and the witch
has ruined your soul. May God forgive you! He will not allow me to live
much longer.'
"And do you see," continued Levko, turning to Hanna and pointing to the
house, "do you see that high bank; from that bank she threw herself into
the water, and has been no more seen on earth."
"And the witch?" Hanna interrupted, timidly fastening her tearful eyes
on him.
"The witch? Old women say that when the moon shines, all those who have
been drowned come out to warm themselves in its rays, and that they are
led by the witch's stepdaughter. One night she saw her stepmother by the
pool, caught hold of her, and dragged her screaming into the water. But
this time also the witch played her a trick; she changed herself into
one of those who had been drowned, and so escaped the chastisement she
would have received at their hands.
"Let anyone who likes believe the old women's stories. They say that the
witch's stepdaughter gathers together those who have been drowned every
night, and looks in their faces in order to find out which of them is
the witch; but has not done so yet. Such are the old wives' tales. It is
said to be the intention of the present owner to erect a distillery on
the spot. But I hear voices. They are coming home from the dancing.
Good-bye, Hanna! Sleep well, and don't think of all that nonsense." So
saying he embraced her, kissed her, and departed.
"Good-bye, Levko!" said Hanna, still gazing at the dark pine wood.
The brilliant moon was now rising and filling all the earth with
splendour. The pool shone like silver, and the shadows of the trees
stood out in strong relief.
"Good-bye, Hanna!" she heard again as she spoke, and felt the light
pressure of a kiss.
"You have come back!" she said, looking round, but started on seeing a
stranger before her.
There was another "Good-bye, Hanna!" and again she was kissed.
"Has the devil brought a second?" she exclaimed angrily.
"Good-bye, dear Hanna!"
"There is a third!"
"Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye, Hanna!" and kisses rained from all sides.
"Why, there is a whole band of them!" cried Hanna, tearing herself from
the youths who had gathered round. "Are they never tired of the eternal
kissing? I shall soon not be able to show myself on the street!" So
saying, she closed the door and bolted it.