KATERINA (_alone, dreamily_).
Well, now, peace reigns in our house! Ah, the dreariness. If only there
were children! That's the saddest thing! I have no children; I should sit
with them and amuse them all day. I love talking to little children--they
are angels, really. (_Silence._) If I had died when I was little, it would
have been better. I should have looked down on to the earth from Heaven
and been delighted with everything. I should have flown unseen wherever I
liked. I would have floated into the country and fluttered from flower to
flower, like a butterfly. (_Sinks into a reverie_) I know what I will do;
I will begin some piece of work, as an offering to God. I will go to the
bazaar, and buy some stuff and make some clothes to give to the poor. They
will remember me in their prayers. And so I'll sit sewing with Varvara,
and we shall not notice how the time passes; and soon Tisha will be back.
[_Enter Varvara_.