IV -The Witchand Other Stories

On a blazing August day, the old woman assigned her granddaughter, Sasha, to ensure the geese stayed out of the kitchen-garden. Situated close to the tavernkeeper’s geese, who were contently feasting on oats near the tavern, and farther from others grazing across the river, the setting was ripe for youthful distraction. Sasha, tasked with a seemingly straightforward duty, quickly succumbed to the ennui of vigilance and wandered off to a nearby ravine.

There, she encountered Marya’s eldest daughter, Motka, engrossed in a silent observation of the church under the harsh midday sun. Marya had birthed thirteen children, yet only six daughters survived, none of whom were above the age of eight. Sasha joined Motka, sharing her vivid imaginations about God and celestial beings inhabiting the church, their nightly vigils, and the eschatological ascendancy of churches into heaven, bells and all. This child-led theological discourse touched on the divine sorting of souls, weaving in local characters into their narrative of moral consequence, encapsulating both hope and doom with the innocence of their understanding.

Their contemplation was soon overpowered by a shared curiosity towards the heavens, looking for angels among the clouds. This moment of wonder was abruptly cut short by the terrorizing arrival of the grandmother who, discovering the geese ravaging her garden, voiced her fury in a chilling tirade. The lightheartedness of youth, marked by the girls rolling down a slope in laughter, contrasted sharply with the violence that ensued as the grandmother, embodying wrath with her stick, dispensed punishment.

The imagery of the gander confronting the grandmother, coupled with the communal approval of the geese, juxtaposed the natural order against human cruelty. The chapter poignantly illustrates a rural life where the whimsy of childhood imagination and the bond with nature clash with the harsh realities imposed by authority and survival, encapsulating the essence of innocence and transgression within the cyclic rituals of village life.