'And I had some tallow there; bring it: I must grease my sword.' The old woman went out, and a few minutes later Lukashka's dumb sister came up the creaking steps and entered the hut.

She was six years older than her brother and would have been extremely like him had it not been for the dull and coarsely changeable expression (common to all deaf and dumb people) of her face.

She wore a coarse smock all patched; her feet were bare and muddy, and on her head she had an old blue kerchief.

Her neck, arms, and face were sinewy like a peasant's.

Her clothing and her whole appearance indicated that she always did the hard work of a man.
She brought in a heap of logs which she threw down by the oven.