considering the next step. He was dying to have a good chat with the deaconâs other guests: Mikita the tar trader, for one, who traveled to Poltava every two weeks and brought back such jokes that all villagers split their sides from laughter. A full bottle of spiced vodka also caressed his imagination. The overall picture was very tempting, but the blackness of the night provoked his bottomless laziness, and he pictured even more vividly his warm cot and himself in it, smoking a pipe and listening through the doze to the carolers outside. If he had been alone he would have stayed, without a doubt, but
kum
âs presence made such an obvious display of laziness rather awkward. Chub finished cursing and addressed his
kum
again. âSo no moon, eh?â
âNone.â
âWonders. Can I have a pinch of your snuff? Such nice tobacco you always have; where do you buy it?â
âNice? Wouldnât make an old chicken sneeze,â
kum
complained, closing his bark snuffbox.
âI remember old innkeeper Zozulia once brought tobacco from Nezhin. What a tobacco it was! So, what shall we do,
kum
? Dark outside.â
âLetâs stay in,â
kum
decided, and placed a hand on the door.
If
kum
hadnât said that, Chub would have certainly stayed, but now he just had to do the opposite. He took a decisive step off the porch. Immediately he regretted it but consoled himself that at least
he
had made the decision.
Kum
expressed no disappointment or surprise; he just sighed, scratched his back with a stick, and the two
kums
set off for the deaconâs.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
N ow, letâs see what Chubâs beautiful daughter is up to.
Oksana wasnât yet seventeen. The whole worldâthat is, both sides of Dikankaâtalked about her beauty. Young men followed her in hordes, and even ifshe wore a potato sack she would have outshined all other girls. Oksana knew her reputation and behaved accordingly. Little by little her admirers lost patience and settled for less unattainable objectsâall except Vakula, who continued his pursuit despite being treated as badly as the rest.
After her father left, Oksana sat for a long time at her little mirror, transfixed by her charming reflection. âWhy did people decide to call me pretty? They just made it up; Iâm not pretty at all.â But the fresh face in the mirror with its shining black eyes and a charming smirk immediately proved the opposite. âStill, do they really think my eyes have no equals? And my lips? My nose? And whatâs so good about my raven braids? At night one might get scared by the way they wrap around my head like two serpents. No, I know Iâm not beautiful at all.â But the stunning reflection caught her eye again. âOf course Iâm beautiful! How happy Iâll make my husband! Heâll forget himself, heâll choke me with kisses.â
âIncredible,â Vakula said to himself, entering the house quietly. âFor a whole hour sheâs been staring at herself and still hasnât hadenough.â
âIs there anyone worthy of my beauty among those clowns?â Oksana continued. âLook how gracefully I walk, look at the ribbons in my hair, look at the rich gold braid my father bought me so I could marry the first among men!â At this she smirked again, turned around, and saw Vakula. The beauty frowned, blushing with annoyance, and the combination increased her loveliness to such a degree that no less than a million kisses could have done it justice.
âI see you got here fast enough. You all do, the moment father is out the door. Now, is my trunk ready?â
âIt will be ready, my heart, as soon as the holidays are over. For two days I worked on it, didnât leave my smithy. The iron I used on it I didnât use even on the captainâs carriage back in Poltava. And the decorations on itâyou can walk everywhere and not find such
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