And then it is rather lonesome in my house alone." "Then go and tell Marfusha to make the bed for you in the corner room," Lubov hastened to advise him.
"I shall." He arose and went out of the dining-room.

And he soon heard that Taras asked his sister about something in a low voice.
"About me!" he thought.

Suddenly this wicked thought flashed through his mind: "It were but right to listen and hear what wise people have to say." He laughed softly, and, stepping on tiptoe, went noiselessly into the other room, also adjoining the dining-room.

There was no light there, and only a thin band of light from the dining-room, passing through the unclosed door, lay on the dark floor.

Softly, with sinking heart and malicious smile, Foma walked up close to the door and stopped.
"He's a clumsy fellow," said Taras.
Then came Lubov's lowered and hasty speech: "He was carousing here all the time.