Viy

Three seminary students from Kyiv went on vacation, deciding to earn a little extra money by tutoring. But trouble— they got lost on the way and ended up having to ask the old woman at one of the remote hamlets for a place to sleep. Khoma Brut had to spend the night in a barn. To the bur­sak’s horror, just as he was preparing to sleep, the owner arrived—turns out she was a witch. She sprang on him and drove him across fields and rough terrain. Only constant reading of prayers helped Khoma get rid of the witch, and when her spells were finally broken by morning, she collapsed on the ground exhausted and turned into a beautiful girl.

After everything he’d been through, the bur­sak decided it would be better for him to return to Kyiv and spend the rest of his vacation in the seminary dormitory. But a few days later, the rector ordered him to go to a wealthy centurion to read prayers over his deceased daughter-beauty. When the young man arrived and looked at the dead woman’s face, he realized it was the very same lady—the witch—whom he had already had the misfortune to meet earlier.