Linguistic Notes

хуторе Nsg хутор ‘farmstead’ or ‘village,’ especially in Ukraine or southern Russia.

набожный ‘Devout.’ Note the root бог ‘God.’

кузнец ‘Blacksmith.’

опрометью ‘Headlong.’

хаты The words хата and изба ‘hut’ are essentially synonyms. The former is more generally used in Ukraine and southern Russia, the latter in central and northern Russia.

добыча Here, ‘loot’ or ‘spoils,’ from the verb добыть meaning ‘obtain, get, extract.’

заворотивши An alternative form of заворотив, a perfective verbal adverb (gerund).

морду Nsg морда. This word is usually reserved for animal’s faces, and therefore most commonly translated as ‘snout’ or ‘muzzle.’

всплеснул руками ‘Clasp one’s hands’ in satisfaction. Note the use of the instrumental case.

галопировать An English cognate whose first five letters should reveal its meaning.

вымещу Inf выместить ‘take revenge on.’

взводимые ‘Impute.’ This form is a present passive participle.

чертей Чёрт is irregular in taking hard endings in the singular but soft endings in the plural.

самый набожнейший The suffix -ейш- forms intensive adjectives; with the superlative самый, the expression means ‘the very most devout.’

вспомнивши Variant of вспомнив (perfective verbal adverb [gerund]).

первым на выдумки ‘The most inventive’ (literally ‘first in invention[s]’).

слезая Imperfective verbal adverb (gerund).

опасаясь Inf опасаться = бояться (cf. опасный ‘dangerous’). This form is an imperfective verbal adverb (gerund).

хвать A special form of the verb хватить used as a sort of interjection.

Вишь Colloquial contraction of видишь.

смеясь Inf смеяться. The form is an imperfective verbal adverb (gerund).

стаскивая Inf стаскивать. The form is an imperfective verbal adverb (gerund).

христиан Христианин, like other terms for types of people than end in -анин, takes a truncated plural: Npl христиане, Gpl христиан.

выпуская Inf выпускать. The form is an imperfective verbal adverb (gerund).

сей же час Сей же час, which equates to the more modern сейчас, is an example of how the otherwise archaic pronoun сей ‘this’ occurs in fixed phrases such as до сих пор ‘until now’ (literally ‘until these times’).

обомлел от страха ‘Froze with fear.’

подымающимся Inf подыматься = подниматься. The form is a present active participate mIsg.