# Manuilikha — Short Fiction character guide

> Manuilikha in Short Fiction by Aleksandr Kuprin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Granny Manuilikha, granny, Granny, old Manuilikha

**First appearance:** 0016-the-witch

## Snapshot

A forest-dwelling witch with cold birdlike eyes and a beggar's greed, she guards her granddaughter Olyessia and distrusts every stranger who stumbles to her door.

## Who they are

Manuilikha lives apart from the village in a hut on chicken legs, surviving on marsh water and the occasional coin from those who seek her fortune-telling. She is fiercely protective of Olyessia and hostile to intruders, yet her poverty makes her vulnerable to silver — she pockets a sixpence in her jaw even as she warns the visitor away. Her secretive past and her refusal to speak of it cast a shadow over the forest household, making her the story's gatekeeper between the ordinary world and something older and stranger.

## Relationships

### [Olyessia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters/olyessia)

_family_

Manuilikha is Olyessia's grandmother, a stern and protective figure who raises her in isolation.

### [Buzyga](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters/buzyga)

_social_

Buzyga is a neighbor to Manuilikha, interacting with her occasionally but maintaining a wary distance.

### [Olyessia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters/olyessia)

_family_

Manuilikha is Olyessia's grandmother, a stern and protective figure who raises her in isolation.

### [Buzyga](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters/buzyga)

_social_

Buzyga is a neighbor to Manuilikha, interacting with her occasionally but maintaining a wary distance.

### [Olyessia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters/olyessia)

_family_

Manuilikha is Olyessia's grandmother, a stern and protective figure who raises her in isolation.

### [Buzyga](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters/buzyga)

_social_

Buzyga is a neighbor to Manuilikha, interacting with her occasionally but maintaining a wary distance.

## In the story

### [The Witch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/the-witch)

The old woman suspected of being a witch, encountered in the forest.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/ii)

The witch driven from the village, now living in the marsh near Devil's Corner; Yarmola blames her for causing harm and a child's death.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/iii)

The old woman, feared as a witch, lives in a remote hut with her granddaughter. She tells the narrator's fortune after being bribed.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/iv)

The old woman, initially hostile to the narrator but softened by his gift of tea and sugar.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/v)

The grandmother, a reputed witch, prepares a meal and is described as old but clever, with a vast knowledge of herbs and charms. She is reluctant to talk about her past.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/vi)

The old woman continues grumbling but is appeased by the narrator's gifts and Olyessia's intercession.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/vii)

Describes the policeman's visit and eviction order, pleads with the narrator for help, and is annoyed by Olyessia's pride.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/viii)

Referenced as one of the two poor defenseless women the narrator is trying to protect from eviction.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/x)

Grumbles and disapproves of Olyessia going with the narrator, hinting at ongoing quarrels.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/xi)

Olyessia's grandmother, who is hostile to the narrator and warns Olyessia that he will abandon her.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/xii)

Mentioned as the mother of the witch the villagers attacked; the bailiff confuses her name with Samoilikha.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/xiii)

Accuses the narrator of causing Olyessia's suffering; weeps over her granddaughter's condition and agrees they must flee.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/xiv)

Her prediction of the storm proves accurate; she and Olyessia have fled the hut to escape the mob.

### [The Garden of the Holy Virgin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/the-garden-of-the-holy-virgin)

Not directly present; the chapter focuses on the Holy Virgin and symbolic flowers, not this character.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/chapters/i)

The old woman (mother or grandmother) who is frightened by a calf and rescued by the captain.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters/manuilikha
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_se/characters