fringe of her fichu.

"Oh, is it?..." said the dark woman listlessly.

"What province do you come from?"

"I? From a distance.... From Tchernigov."

"A fine province. It's nice there."

"Any place seems nice when one is not in it."

"It's a pity I cannot describe nature," thought Vassilyev. "I might
touch her by a description of nature in Tchernigov. No doubt she loves
the place if she has been born there."

"Are you dull here?" he asked.

"Of course I am dull."

"Why don't you go away from here if you are dull?"

"Where should I go to? Go begging or what?"

"Begging would be easier than living here."

"How do you know that? Have you begged?"

"Yes, when I hadn't the money to study. Even if I hadn't anyone could
understand that. A beggar is anyway a free man, and you are a slave."