And the moment Iván mentioned God's name, the devil bolted through the earth, as a stone plumps into the water, and only a hole was left. Iván put the remaining two roots in his cap, and started to finish his work. He ploughed up the strip, turned over the plough, and went home. He unhitched the horse, came to the house, and there found his eldest brother, Semén the Warrior, with his wife, eating supper. His estate had been taken from him, and he had with difficulty escaped from prison and come to his father's to live. Semén saw Iván, and, "I have come to live with you," he said. "Feed me and my wife until I find a new place!" "All right," he said, "stay here!" Iván wanted to sit down on a bench, but the lady did not like the smell of Iván. So she said to her husband: "I cannot eat supper with a stinking peasant." "All right," he said, "I have to go anyway to pasture the mare for the night." Iván took some bread and his caftan, and went out to herd his mare. IV. That night Semén's devil got through with his work and by agreement went to find Iván's devil, to help to make an end of the fool. He came to the field and looked for him everywhere, but found only the hole. "Something has evidently gone wrong with my comrade," he thought,--"I must take his place. The ploughing is done,--I shall have to catch him in the mowing time." The devil went to the meadows and sent a flood on the mowing so that it was all covered with mud. Iván returned in the morning from the night watch, whetted his scythe, and went out to mow the meadows. He came, and began to mow: he swung the scythe once, and a second time, and it grew dull and would not cut,--it was necessary to grind it. Iván worked hard and in vain. "No," he said, "I will go home, and will bring the grindstone with me, and a round loaf. If I have to stay here for a week, I will not give up until I mow it all." When the devil heard it he thought: "This fool is stiff-necked,--I cannot get at him. I must try something else." Iván came back, ground his scythe, and began to mow. The devil crept into the grass and began to catch the scythe by the snath-end and to stick the point into the ground. It went hard with Iván, but he finished the mowing, and there was left only one scrubby place in the swamp. The devil crawled into the swamp and thought: "If I get both my paws cut, I will not let him mow it." Iván went into the swamp; the grass was not dense, but he found it hard to move the scythe. Iván grew angry and began to swing the scythe with all his might. The devil gave in; he had hardly time to get away,--he saw that matters were in bad shape, so he hid in a bush. Iván swung the scythe with all his might and struck the bush, and cut off half of the devil's tail. Iván finished the mowing, told the girl to rake it up, and himself went to cut the rye.