"
Nikolay ran his finger over the dull metal, then stuck the finger
close to his nose. He looked at the mother so seriously that she
could not restrain a good-natured smile.
When she lay down to sleep and thought of the day just past, she
raised her head from the pillow in astonishment and looked around.
For the first time in her life she was in the house of a stranger,
and she did not experience the least constraint. Her mind dwelt
solicitously on Nikolay. She had a distinct desire to do the best
she could for him, and to introduce more warmth into his lonely life.
She was stirred and affected by his embarrassed awkwardness and droll
ignorance, and smiled to herself with a sigh. Then her thoughts
leaped to her son and to Andrey. She recalled the high-pitched,
sparkling voice of Fedya, and gradually the whole day of the first
of May unrolled itself before her, clothed in new sounds, reflecting
new thoughts. The trials of the day were peculiar as the day itself.
They did not bring her head to the ground as with the dull, stunning
blow of the fist. They stabbed the heart with a thousand pricks, and
called forth in her a quiet wrath, opening her eyes and straightening
her backbone.
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