"My good woman. Hey! my good woman!"(9)
(9) _Umnitsa aumnitsa!_ literally, clever one.
The woman heard him and turned around.
"Why are you standing in the cold with the child? Come into my room,
where it is warm; you can manage it better. Here, this way!"
The woman was astonished. She saw an old, old man in an apron, with
spectacles on his nose, calling her to him. She followed him. They
descended the steps and entered the room; the old man led the woman to
his bed.
"There," says he, "sit down, my good woman, nearer to the stove; you can
get warm, and nurse the little one."
"I have no milk for him. I myself have not eaten anything since
morning," said the woman; but, nevertheless, she took the baby to her
breast.
Avdyeitch shook his head, went to the table, brought out the bread and a
dish, opened the oven door, poured into the dish some cabbage soup, took
out the pot with the gruel, but it was not cooked as yet; so he filled
the dish with shchi only, and put it on the table. He got the bread,
took the towel down from the hook, and spread it upon the table.
"Sit down," he says, "and eat, my good woman; and I will mind the little
one. You see, I once had children of my own; I know how to handle them."
The woman crossed herself, sat down at the table, and began to eat;
while Avdyeitch took a seat on the bed near the infant. Avdyeitch kept
smacking and smacking to it with his lips; but it was a poor kind of
smacking, for he had no teeth. The little one kept on crying. And it
occured to Avdyeitch to threaten the little one with his finger; he
waved, waved his finger right before the child's mouth, and hastily
withdrew it. He did not put it to its mouth, because his finger was
black, and soiled with wax. And the little one looked at his finger, and
became quiet; then it began to smile, and Avdyeitch also was glad. While
the woman was eating, she told who she was, and whither she was going.