“ Now what are you bellowing for?” Aksinya shouted, suddenly appearing in the doorway; in honour of the funeral she was dressed all in new clothes and had powdered her face. “Shut up!”
Lipa tried to stop but could not, and sobbed louder than ever.
“ Do you hear?” shouted Aksinya, and she stamped her foot in violent anger. “Who is it I am speaking to? Go out of the yard and don’t set foot here again, you convict’s wife. Get away.”
“ There, there, there,” the old man put in fussily. “Aksinya, don’t make such an outcry, my girl.... She is crying, it is only natural... her child is dead....”
“‘ It’s only natural,’” Aksinya mimicked him. “Let her stay the night here, and don’t let me see a trace of her here to-morrow! ‘It’s only natural!’...” she mimicked him again, and, laughing, she w
