Spinning Silver

Stepon wakes in the snow, expecting to die with the Mandelstams and their driver, but he soon finds none other than his brother Sergey chopping wood nearby. Sergey brings everyone into the witch’s house, where they eat and warm themselves. After staying the night there, they find that the driver has run off with the surviving horse, presumably to tell the townspeople they found Sergey. Miryem’s mother decides that they must set off for Vysnia right away, though Wanda insists on finishing the mattress cover first. When they leave, Wanda thanks the house.

Miryem’s servants have almost entirely emptied the last storeroom. As such, she is able to finish turning the remaining silver into gold on time. Discovering this, the Staryk king surprises Miryem by treating her with respect and acknowledging that she has completed the task. When she asks if she has time to bathe before their journey to Vysnia, he surprises her by saying that she can take all the time she likes—he will change the flow of time so that they will not be late to the wedding. Shocked, Miryem grumbles that if this were true, he did not need to set such a harsh deadline for her challenge, but Tsop corrects her, saying, “You have done a great working.