To create and present a real and bright portrait of the characters and create a solemn tone of the story, the author uses a great variety of lexical expressive means and stylistic devices. Among them, I can't but mention brillian examples of epithets which describe the changes in the protagonist's character e.g.: conspicuous tenderness; unselfish and self-sacrificing love; old heart; irrevocable overthrow; primitive impulses; cool blood; dark deed; a deadly sin; immortal soul. My attention was attracted by the following simile e.g.: All black cats as witches in disguise  which is used to confirm the ancient belief about the evil spirit of all black cats. A peculiar combination of litotes and metaphors, cases of climax and anticlimax, anthithesis and synecdoche, asyndeton and polysyndeton, frequent repetitions helps to reveal the real feelings of the main character and create a true-to-life but at the same time mysterious atmosphere of the story.