The starosta faltered, but Michal Semenovich bade him say exactly how matters stood.
"Say everything, 'tis not thy, but their words thou wilt speak. Speak the truth and I'll reward thee, but and thou hide aught or speak not openly I'll flog thee to the bone. Hie! Katyushka![1] give him a glass of vodka to strengthen his heart!!"
The cook came and gave the starosta a drink. The starosta toasted the overseer, drained the glass, dried his lips, and began to speak. "'Tis all one," he thought; "it is not my fault that they don't praise him. I'll speak the truth if he commands it" And the starosta took heart and began to speak.
"They murmur, Michal Semenovich, they murmur!"
"And what do they say? Speak!"
"They all say: 'He does not believe in God.'"
The overseer smiled.
"They say that, eh? Who says it?"
"Why, they all say it. They say: 'He is under the thumb of the Unclean One,'[2] they do, indeed."
The overseer laughed.
"They say that, eh? Good. Now tell me exactly which it was that said it. Did Vassy say it?"
The starosta did not wish to tell of his people, but he had long been on ill terms with Vasily.
"Yes, Vasily does say it, he goes on worse than any of them."
"Well, what did he say? Come, tell me!"
"He says dreadful things. ''Tis not to be put up with,' he says: 'violent death to him!'"
136
