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Gorynych put his head in the doorway, though he could hardly fit. It seemed that if he moved a little more, the house would fall apart from the press of this big amiable guy, who stroke terror into the hearts at first sight only. The girl even casted a fearful glance at the ceiling, almost sure to see the cracks. But it was fine. Gorynych shifted, moving away from the door a little, and said shyly with his deep voice:

– Uh huh, that’s Koschei who draws…

– Koschei?! – Hope exclaimed, immediately remembering reading about him in fairy-tales.

– Ha! – Koschei made a shout of triumph, and an ominous smile spread across his face. – Finally you’re scared! And all this time I was wondering, why aren’t you scared? I thought you were brave! And you’re an ordinary coward who simply didn’t know whose house she was in!

But this doesn’t change anything, Hope thought. If he wanted to hurt her somehow, he’d certainly do so. But he didn’t do anything like that. Moreover, he wasn’t as greedy as described in fairy-tales, caring only about his gold. Rather on the contrary. The plates whispered to her with trust that every day he made the brew for Gorynych himself. And, although he was constantly grumbling, he still cared about his friend. And he was such a great artist! How could such a wizard be evil?

However, Hope backed away slowly to the door by instinct. It would be funny (after all, even scarier, according to the fairy-tales, Gorynych stood there), if she wasn’t really scared at that moment.

She felt her back bumping into something. There was nowhere to hide. The girl exclaimed «oh» and turned frozen with horror, afraid to move. But it seemed that Koschei was no more interested in her. He kept on moving towards her. Hope looked around unwittingly and saw that the object she had bumped into was nothing but a mirror.

Once polished smooth surface of the mirror was framed with a carved wooden frame and covered with dust. It stood on quaint curled legs, proudly sticking out the handles one could carry the mirror with. But it stayed untouched for a long time. This could be seen by a layer of dust and an angry Koschei’s look over Hope’s head. But should you blame the mirror if the reflection is not to your liking?..

The girl was viewing delightedly the incredibly sophisticated, refined figures of forest inhabitants carved from wood. She carefully touched the frame with her hand, keeping at respectful distance as if afraid to harm a vintage, though inanimate object.