actually repulsive to him.

"What are you staring at? Eh?" he heard Ookhtishchev's jestingly-stern
voice.

The peasant, at whom Ookhtishchev shouted, drew the cap from his head,
clapped it against his knee and answered, with a smile:

"I came over to listen to the lady's song."

"Well, does she sing well?"

"What a question! Of course," said the peasant, looking at Sasha, with
admiration in his eyes.

"That's right!" exclaimed Ookhtishchev.

"There is a great power of voice in that lady's breast," said the
peasant, nodding his head.

At his words, the ladies burst out laughing and the men made some
double-meaning remarks about Sasha.

After she had calmly listened to these and said nothing in reply, Sasha
asked the peasant:

"Do you sing?"

"We sing a little!" and he waved his hand, "What songs do you know?"

"All kinds. I love singing." And he smiled apologetically.

"Come, let's sing something together, you and I."

"How can we? Am I a match for you?"

"Well, strike up!"

"May I sit down?"

"Come over here, to the table."

"How lively this is!" exclaimed Zvantzev, wrinkling his face.

"If you find it tedious, go and drown yourself," said Sasha, angrily
flashing her eyes at him.

"No, the water is cold," replied Zvantzev, shrinking at her glance.

"As you please!" The woman shrugged her shoulders. "But it is about
time you did it, and then, there's also plenty of water now, so that you
wouldn't spoil it all with your rotten body."

"Fie, how witty!" hissed the youth, turning away from her, and added
with contempt: "In Russia even the prostitutes are rude."

He addressed himself to his neighbour, but the latter gave him only an
intoxicated smile in return. Ookhtishchev was also drunk. Staring
into the face of his companion, with his eyes grown dim, he muttered
something and heard nothing. The lady with the bird-like face was
pecking candy, holding the box under her very nose. Pavlinka went away
to the edge of the raft and, standing there, threw orange peels into the
water.

"I never before participated in such an absurd outing and--company,"
said Zvantzev, to his neighbour, plaintively.

And Foma watched him with a smile, delighted that this feeble and
ugly-looking man felt bored, and that Sasha had insulted him. Now and
then he cast at her a kind glance of approval. He was pleased with the
fact that she was so frank with everybody and that she bore herself
proudly, like a real gentlewo