"I felt rather uneasy, not knowing what such a person might do. I was afraid that by way of response he might suddenly snatch at me and try to lick my navel. Cautiously I stepped back a little. And yet, when I thought about it a bit, it seemed that deep in the mountains like this it was unlikely that such a person would be left all alone, unattended, so I stood on tiptoe and called louder, 'Excuse me, is there anyone at home here?'

"Once again I heard the horse neighing. This time it sounded as though the sound came from the rear of the shack.

" 'Who is it?' came a woman's voice from one of the inner rooms of the house. I retreated another step at the sound of this disembodied voice. What sort of woman would be living in a place like this, I wondered. For all I knew she might be some great, scaly serpent lurking in the depths of the house; a horrid creature speaking in a woman's voice. I had heard tales of such things.