Note 38 — FRAGMENT III: THE MARRIAGE OF THE YOUNG BAGROFF

In general, my grandfather had little belief in witchcraft. A wizard once told him that a gun was charmed and would not go off. He took out the shot secretly and fired at the wizard, who got a great fright. But he recovered and said that my grandfather himself was "a man of power"; and this was generally believed, except by Stepan Mihailovitch. (Author's note.)