soon be an old woman. She's always alone, always at work. In Christ's
name, tell him that."

And she had wept silently, hiding her face in her apron.

Iakov had not pitied her then, but he did now. And his face took on a
hard expression before Malva, as if he were about to abuse her.

"Here I am!" cried Vassili, bursting in on them with a wriggling fish in
one hand and a knife in the other.

He had not got over his uneasiness, but had succeeded in dissimulating
it deep within him. Now he looked at his guests with serenity and good
nature; only his manner was more agitated than usual.

"I'll make a bit of a fire in a minute, and we'll talk. Why, Iakov,
what a fine fellow you've grown!"

Again he disappeared.

Malva went on munching her melon seeds. She stared familiarly at Iakov.
He tried not to meet her eyes, although he would have liked to, and he
thought to himself:

"Life must come easy here. People seem to eat as much as they want to.
How strong she is and father, too!"

Then intimidated by the silence, he said aloud:

"I forgot my bag in the boat. I'll go and get it."