loser of the bet shall have the money, and shall have his right hand hewn off."
Naúm consented. On their way they met the same devil, who returned the same reply. Iván gave Naúm his money, hacked off his right hand, and left it behind.
Naúm pondered for a long time what he should do without his right hand. Who would give him meat and drink? But God is merciful. So he went to the river, and he lay down on a boat on the shore. "I will sit down here, and to-morrow I may see what I shall do, for the morning is wiser than the evening."
And about midnight very many devils assembled on the boat and began to tell each other what tricks they had played. The first said: "I started a quarrel between two peasants, backed up the one who was in the wrong; and the one, who was in the right, had his hand hacked off."
"That's not much of a feat! If he were to wave his hand, three times over the dew, his hand would grow again," said the second.
Then the third began to boast, "I have sucked a lord's daughter dry, and she can hardly stir."
"What! if any one had any compassion on the lord, he would heal the daughter at once. It is as simple as possible. You have only to take this herb"—pointing to a herb on the shore—"cook it, boil her in the brew, and she will be healed."
"In a certain pond," a fifth devil said, "there is a peasant who has put up a water-mill, and for many years he has been striving to make it go, but whenever he lets the water through the sluice, I make a hole in it, and all the water flows through."
"What a fool your peasant is!" said the sixth devil. "He ought to dam it up well, and as soon as the water breaks through, throw in a sheaf of straw, and all your work would be no good."
