sy, bathed in sunshine. She touched the table, sat down and
sank into thought. And she had a good dinner and drank tea with
delicious rich cream; but something was missing, there was a sense
of emptiness in the rooms and the ceilings were so low. In the
evening she went to bed, covered herself up and for some reason it
seemed to her to be funny lying in this snug, very soft bed.

Nina Ivanovna came in for a minute; she sat down as people who feel
guilty sit down, timidly, and looking about her.

"Well, tell me, Nadya," she enquired after a brief pause, "are you
contented? Quite contented?"

"Yes, mother."

Nina Ivanovna got up, made the sign of the cross over Nadya and the
windows.

"I have become religious, as you see," she said. "You know I am
studying philosophy now, and I am always thinking and thinking. . . .
And many things have become as clear as daylight to me. It seems
to me that what is above all necessary is that life should pass as
it were through a prism."

"Tell me, mother, how is Granny in health?"

"She seems all right. When you went away that time with Sasha and
the telegram came from you, Granny fell on the floor as she read
it; for three days she lay without moving. After that she was always
praying and crying. But now she is all right again."

She got up and walked about the room.

"Tick-tock," tapped the watchman. "Tick-tock, tick-tock. . . ."

"What is above all necessary is that life should pass as it were
through a prism," she said; "in other words, that life in consciousness
should be analyzed into its simplest elements as into the seven
primary colours, and each element must be studied separately."

What Nina Ivanovna said further and when she went away, Nadya did
not hear, as she quickly fell asleep.

May passed; June came. Nadya had grown used to being at home. Granny
busied herself about the samovar, heaving deep sighs. Nina Ivanovna
talked in the evenings about her philosophy; she still lived in the
house like a poor relation, and had to go to Granny for every
farthing. There were lots of flies in the house, and the ceilings
seemed to become lower and lower. Granny and Nina Ivanovna did not
go out in the streets for fear of meeting Father Andrey and Andrey
Andreitch. Nadya walked about the garden and the streets, looked
at the grey fences, and it seemed to her that everything in the
town had grown old, was out of date and was only waiting either for
the end, or for the begin