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"Here they shouted: 'Enough! We must end this matter once for

all. Whether God or the devil united us, we must separate; two of

us, like two suns, seem to be too much for one world.' And so

they drew their sabres and took their positions. Both were worthy

men; the more the other gentry tried to reconcile them, the more

furiously they let fly at each other. They changed their arms;

from sabres they passed to pistols; they took their positions, we

cried that they had put the barriers too near together. They, to

spite us, swore to shoot over the skin of the bear, sure death!

almost barrel to barrel; both were fine shots. 'Let Hreczecha be

our second.' 'All right,' I said, 'let the sexton dig a hole at

once, for such a dispute cannot end without results. But fight

like gentlemen, and not like butchers. It is well enough to

shorten the distance, I see that you are bold fellows; but do you

want to shoot with your pistols on each other's bellies?