Yes , what is that ? Massy , what a clatter ! OliveI heard naught . Be not so foolish , child . And you , Nancy , be of a surety old enough to know better . I trow there was a clatter in the chimbly . There ‘ tis again ! Massy , what a screech ! PhoebeOh , Olive , what is it ? what is it ? Do n't let it catch me . Oh , Olive ! Them that wo n't hear be deafer than them that 's born so . Massy , what a screech ! We wo n't , hey ? Massy , what screeches ! It was n't me ; ‘ twas a witch in the chimbly .There , hear that , will ye ? I tell ye ‘ twa'n ' t me . I ‘ ai n't opened my mouth . Oh , I 'm forbid to tell . The one who forbade me to tell , forbade me to tell who told me . Said it not : “ Serve me ; serve me ? ” She need n't be so topping . It will be laying in wait for her when she goes home . I 'll warrant it wo n't let her off so easy . Enter Olive , bringing an embroidered muslin cape . She puts it gently over Ann 's shoulders . AnnOh ! oh ! Take it away ! take it away ! I miss my guess but it ‘ ll suit well enough with her heart too . I trow that 's as green as her gown ; green 's the jealous color . You could n't see so far without spectacles . You think your eyes are mighty sharp . Maybe your ears are too ? Maybe you heard ‘ em kissing at the door when he went home ? You need n't color up and shake your head at me , Olive . They stood kissing there nigh an hour , and he with his arm round her waist , and she with hers round his neck . They 'd kiss , then they 'd eye each other and kiss again . I know I woke up and thought ‘ twas Injuns , and I peeked out of my chamber window . Such doings ! You 'd ought to have seen ‘ em , Ann . That 's what she ought to have said last night — had n't she , Ann ? But she did n't . Oh , I 'll warrant she did n't ! I know you would , Ann . Massy ! what 's after ye ? Mayhap she hears more than folk want her to . I heard a voice too , a gruff voice like a pig 's . ‘ Twas more than that . I know , I know . I 'm none so old that I must needs be sent to bed like a babe , I 'd have you know that , Goody Corey . Be ye sure that Goody Corey is asleep , and Goodman Corey ? PhoebeThey be both a-snoring . Hasten and begin , I pray you , Nancy . And Olive ? Whom do you desire to afflict ? PhoebeLet me see . I will afflict Uncle Corey , because he brought me naught from Boston to-day ; Olive , because she gave that cape to Ann instead of me ; and Aunt Corey , because she set me such a long stint , because she would not let me eat an apple to-night , and because she sent me to bed . I want to stick one pin into Uncle Corey , one into Olive , and three into Aunt Corey . Take the doll , prick it as you will , and say who the pricks be for . Is there any other whom you desire to afflict ? I 'll do some witchcraft now . I desire to afflict your aunt Corey , because she doth drive me hither and thither like a child , and sets no value on my understanding ; Olive , because she made a jest of me ; and Goody Bishop , because she hath a fine silk hood . Nay , I have another way , which you be too young to understand . Hey , black cat ! hey , my pretty black cat ! Go ye and sit on Goody Corey 's breast , and claw her if she stirs . Do as I bid ye , my pretty black cat , and I 'll sign the book . ‘ Tis rare witchcraft . All of this sort . I 've given them all they can do to-night . I 'll sing the witch song , and you can dance on the table . ‘ Tis not sinful for a witch . Massy sakes , hear them screeches ! PhoebeOh , Nancy , wo n't they catch us too ! I 'm afraid ! They can n't touch us ; we 're witches too . Hear that , will ye ? Ai n't she a-ketchin ’ it ? Most likely ‘ tis . Stick in another , and see if she screeches louder . Oh , massy ! I 've got a crick in my back , and I can n't double up . What shall I do ?I can n't ; no , I can n't ! ‘ Tis like a hot poker . Massy ! what ‘ ll I do ? I can n't get out . Oh ! oh ! The rheumatiz stiffened me so I could n't double up , and now it has stiffened me so I can n't undouble . No , ‘ tis not rheumatiz , ‘ tis Goody Bishop has bewitched me . I can n't get out . Here I am out , but I can n't undouble . I 'll have to go home on all-fours like a cat . Oh ! oh ! I know ‘ tis . ‘ Tis Goody Bishop in her fine silk hood afflicts me . Oh , massy ! I ai n't half undoubled . I tell ye I can n't go quick ; I ai n't undoubled enough . Devil take Goody Bishop ! That she doth . She sendeth me to bed at first candlelight as though I were a babe ; she maketh me to wear a woollen petticoat in winter-time , though I was not brought up to't ; and she will never let me drink more than one mug of cider at a sitting , and I nigh eighty , and needing o n't to warm my bones . Your worship , she hath never had any respect for my understanding , and that hath greatly afflicted me . Verily she hath ; and when I would not , hath afflicted me with sore pains in all my bones , so I cried out , on getting up , when I had set awhile . Hey ? She hath a yellow bird which sits on her cap when she churns . A thing like a cat , only it went on two legs . It clawed up the chimbly , and the soot fell down , and Goody Corey set me to sweeping o n't up on the Lord 's day . See you anybody coming ? Where be my spectacles — where be they ?Oh Lord , what 's the use of living to be so old that you 're scattered all over the house like a seed thistle ! Having to hunt everywhere for your eyes and your wits whenever you want to use ‘ em , and having other folks a-meddling with ‘ em ! Where be the spectacles ? They be not in the cupboard ; they be not on the dresser . Where be they ? I trow this be witch-work . I know well enough what has become of my good horn spectacles . Goody Bishop hath witched them away , thinking they would suit well with her fine hood . I know well that I — PhoebeOh , Nancy , it is not Aunt Corey . It is only Goodwife Nourse . May the black beast catch her ! Be you sure ? I would that I had my fingers in old man Hathorne 's fine wig . I would yank it off for him , and fling it to the pigs . A-sending master and mistress to jail , and they no more witches than I be ! I know not what we be . My old head will not hold it all . It is time they came home . There is not a crumb of sweet-cake in the house , and the stopple is so tight in the cider-barrel that I cannot stir it a peg . I know not . I tell ye my old head spins round like a flax-wheel ; when I put my finger on one spoke ‘ tis another one . These things be too much for a poor old woman like me . It takes folks like their worships the magistrates and Minister Parris to deal with black men and witches , and keep their wits in no need of physic . I know not . My old head bobs like a pumpkin in a pond . I would master and mistress were home . These be troublous times for an old woman . I would I could stir the stopple in the cider-barrel . Look again , and see if mistress be not coming up the road . Do n't you fret yourself , Olive . I trow there 's no witch-mark on you . It 's Goody Bishop in her fine silk hood that 's at the bottom o n't . I know , I know . Perchance Paul could loose the stopple in the cider-barrel . I am needful of somewhat to warm my old bones . This witch-work makes them to creep with chills like long snakes . ‘ Tis so , Paul ; and there 's no sweet-cake in the house , either . Perchance you could pry up the hook of the jail door with the old knife . It will be dark to-night . There is no moon until three o'clock in the morning .