MOTHER 51

"No smoke without a flame," observed the peddler*

The mother reported these conversations to her son,
but he only shrugged his shoulders, while the khokhol
laughed in his deep, soft way.

"The girls are hurt, too/* she said. "You're fine lads,
good enough for any girl, hardworking and no drunkards,
but you don't pay them a bit of attention. They say that
bad girls come to see you from the town...."

"Oh, come now!*' exclaimed Pavel with a grimace of
disgust.

"In a bog, everything stinks," said the khokhol with a
sigh. "You'd do better to explain to the little fools what
married life means, nenko. Then they wouldn't be in
such a hurry to break their necks."

"Dear me!" said the mother. "They see everything well
enough, and they understand, but what else can they
do?"

"If they understood, they'd find something else to do,"
observed Pavel,

His mo.ther glanced at his set face.

"Why not teach them? Ask the smarter ones to come
here."

"It wouldn't do," said her son dryly.

"What if we try?" asked the khokhol

Pavel was silent before he answered,

"They'd1 just begin going off in pairs, some of them
would get married, and that'd be the end of it,"

His mother grew thoughtful. She was worried by Pa-
vel's ascetic severity. She could see that everyone, even
his older comrades like the khokhol, took his advice, but
it seemed to her that they feared him, and that no one
loved him because of his severity,

One evening when she was already in bed and her son
and the khokhol were still reading, the sound of their
hushed voices came to her through the thin partition,

"I like that Natasha/' exclaimed the khokhol suddenly*

"I know it," answered Pavel after a pause.

She heard the khokhol get up slowly and pace the floor