Carabas

I'm sitting on the edge of a bed in a small rented room, wood panel walls, watching a man kneel and lace up the boots he's just given me. I'm thinking that a chase without consequences lacks interest - we've caught each other several times now but neither of us has actually killed the other, which should be the natural conclusion here. Makes me feel tired. I think I'll stop hunting him after today. The boots belonged to a dead Nazi, and I'm wronging people by wearing them; that's the reason he's giving them to me.

Later the same day, we're standing in a very small graveyard on a green hill, and now he's giving me a green hat that I think of as going with the boots, though it doesn't resemble a military uniform. I recognize both it and the boots as part of a costume signifying Ivan, which would make him Koschei. He disagrees with this observation, says he'd rather be the Firebird. I'm thinking that he's greatly misinterpreted our story.