Page:Korolenko - Makar's Dream and Other Stories.djvu/306

282 "Well, he's just about medium height, neither very large nor very small; a good average."

"Oh, that's not what I wanted to know!"

"Isn't it? What more do you want me to tell you? Perhaps you would like to know where his warts are, if he has any?"

"You're trying to throw dust in my eyes I see, but I'm in a hurry. Tell me in plain words: is the miller a good man or a bad one?"

The soldier blew another huge tail of smoke out of his mouth and said:

"What a hasty fellow you are! You like to eat, but you won't chew."

The devil opened his eyes wide, and the miller's heart jumped for joy.

"What a tongue that boy has!" he thought. "And yet how often have I wished that it might drop off. But now it has come in useful. How he is roasting the devil!"

"You like to eat, but you won't chew, I tell you!" the soldier repeated sternly. "You want me to tell you whether the miller is a good man or not. Every man's good in my opinion. I've eaten bread from many a stove, friend. I wouldn't even cough where you would die of suffocation. Do you think you've struck a fool in me?"

"Splendid! Splendid! Give it to him hard!" the miller said to himself, dancing with joy. "My name isn't Philip the miller if the devil doesn't look more