And the head of the family rose quickly from the chair, on which he had just seated himself.

“Now we must settle down!”

And without doing anything, he kept walking from one room to another.

“Well, shall we drink tea? Or are you tired, and do you want to rest?”

“Yes, yes,” replied his wife, taking something out from the trunk. “You wanted to go to the bathhouse, did you not?”

“Yes⁠—in my day it was near Stone Bridge. Serézha, go and find out whether there is still a bathhouse near Stone Bridge. This room here Serézha and I shall occupy. Serézha! Will you be comfortable here?”

But Serézha had gone to find out about the bathhouse.