Why did you say all that to your mother?"
"A man must always speak firmly and without equivocation. He must
be clear and definite when he says 'Yes.' He must be clear and
definite when he says 'No.'"
"To her--to her must you speak that way?"
"To everybody! I want no love, I want no friendship which gets
between my feet and holds me back."
"Bravo! You're a hero! Go say all this to Sashenka. You should
have said that to her."
"I have!"
"You have! The way you spoke to your mother? You have not! To her
you spoke softly; you spoke gently and tenderly to her. I did not
hear you, but I know it! But you trot out your heroism before your
mother. Of course! Your heroism is not worth a cent."
Vlasova began to wipe the tears from her face in haste. For fear
a serious quarrel should break out between the Little Russian and
Pavel, she quickly opened the door and entered the kitchen, shivering,
terrified, and distressed.
"Ugh! How cold! And it's spring, too!"
She aimlessly removed various things in the kitchen from one place
to another, and in order to drown the subdued voices in the room,
she continued in a louder voice:
"Everything's changed.
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