79

As soon as he got out of the Old Oak, Stephanio jumped on his horse and galloped towards him. With every moment it became more and more difficult to stay in the saddle, the street blurred before his eyes, passers-by seemed to increase in size, and only by a huge effort of will he reached the inn, ran up to the second floor and locked himself in his room.

Quiet joy seized him, he fell on the bed and began to look at the beams of the ceiling, feeling how he was filled with inexplicable bliss. Here the walls shook slightly, someone walked around the room, again and again, but this did not frighten him. On the contrary, he loved these incomprehensible creatures, loved everything that was around, he wanted to go downstairs and kiss the owner, go out into the street and hug everyone he met. Peace and happiness filled the soul, overflowing.

And yet his mind was clear enough to understand: all this is just a consequence of the drunk elixir. You can’t run anywhere, you just need to lie down an