shrieking and barking and inextricably entwined so that one could not
tell which was child and which was dog, all four melted into the mists
that were hanging over the meadows.

Sitting by the stove, the two gospodarze were talking.

'How is it you are getting rid of the cow?'

'You see, it's like this. That cow is not mine, it belongs to Magda,
but my wife says she doesn't care about looking after somebody else's
cow, and the shed is too small for ours as it is. I don't pay much
attention to her usually, but it happens that there is a bit of land to
be sold adjoining Magda's. Komara, to whom it belonged, has drunk
himself to death. So I am thinking: I will sell the cow and buy the
girl another acre--land is land.'

'That's true!' sighed Slimak.

'And as there will be new servituty, the girl will get even more.'

'How is that?' Slimak became interested.

'They will give you twice as much as you possess; I possess twenty-five
acres, so I shall have fifty. How many have you got?'

'Ten.'

'Then you will have twenty, and Magda will get another two and a half
with her own.'