with his scythe set and
sharpened and tried to mow the grass, he found that it resisted all his
efforts and would not yield to the implement as usual.

Many times Ivan tried to cut the grass, but always without success. At
last, becoming weary of the effort, he decided to return home and have
his scythe again sharpened, and also to procure a quantity of bread,
saying: "I will come back here and will not leave until I have mown all
the meadow, even if it should take a whole week."

Hearing this, the little devil became thoughtful, saying: "That Ivan is
a koolak [hard case], and I must think of some other way of conquering
him."

Ivan soon returned with his sharpened scythe and started to mow.

The small devil hid himself in the grass, and as the point of the scythe
came down he buried it in the earth and made it almost impossible for
Ivan to move the implement. He, however, succeeded in mowing all but
one small spot in the swamp, where again the small devil hid himself,
saying: "Even if he should cut my hands I will prevent him from
accomplishing his work."

When Ivan came to the swamp he found that the grass was not very thick.
Still, the scythe would not work, which made him so angry that he worked
with all his might, and one blow more powerful than the others cut off a
portion of the small devil's tail, who had hidden himself there.

Despite the little devil's efforts he succeeded in finishing his work,
when he returned home and ordered his sister to gather up the grass
while he went to another field to cut rye. But the devil preceded him
there, and fixed the rye in such a manner that it was almost impossible
for Ivan to cut it; however, after continuous hard labor he succeeded,
and when he was through with the rye he said to himself: "Now I will
start to mow oats."

On hearing this, the little devil thought to himself: "I could not
prevent him from mowing the rye, but I will surely stop him from mowing
the oats when the morning comes."

Early next day, when the devil came to the field, he found that the oats
had been already mowed. Ivan did it during the night, so as to avoid
the loss that might have resulted from the grain being too ripe and dry.
Seeing that Ivan again had escaped him, the little devil became greatly
enraged, saying:

"He cut me all over and made me tired, that fool. I did not meet such
misfortune even on the battle-field. He does not even sleep;" and the
devil began to swear. "I cannot f