It was Yagustynka, standing humbly on the threshold, who wept abundantly, and begged to be let in. “Oh, give me but a corner, and what you leave your dog! Have pity on a poor old woman!... I was waiting for my children to ask me; I waited in vain, starved with cold in my hut.... O Lord! I am now a beggar-woman; and they leave me here, forlorn, without a morsel of bread—worse off than a dog!... And their cabin is full of people and of noise. I crept thither, looked round the corner and in at the window.... It was all of no use.” “Well, sit ye down with us. Better had it been to come when evening fell, and not expect favours from your children.—They will rejoice when they drive a last nail into your coffin, to make sure you will not come back to them.” Thus Boryna spoke, and very kindly made a place for her by his side. But she was unable to eat anything, however heartily Yagna, the least stingy of housewives, pressed her to take some food. It was impossible; she sat drooping, bent, crouching, taciturn, her trembling body showing how much she suffered. The place was now cosy and quiet, pervaded by an atmosphere of kindliness and of solemn piety, as if the Holy Child were lying in the midst of them. A huge fire, continually supplied with fresh fuel, was droning up the chimney, lighting the whole apartment; against its blaze the glazed images shone dazzlingly, the panes loomed black in the night. And now they seated themselves in front of the fire, on the long bench, and talked together in hushed and serious tones. Presently Yagna made coffee, with plenty of sugar in it, which they sipped at leisure. After a pause, Roch took out a book, round which he had wound his rosary, and began to read to them in a low voice that was full of deep emotion: “Lo, a new thing hath come to pass to-day: a Virgin hath brought forth a Son: our Lord hath in the town of Bethlehem, not least of Judah’s cities, entered this our world in poverty, within a wretched byre, on hay, amongst the cattle, which were all His brethren on this night. And that same star, which now is gleaming, gleamed upon the Child, showing the way unto the Three Wise Men: who, albeit black and heathens, yet were kind of heart, and came from far-off lands, across wide rolling seas with gifts; and thus bore witness to the Truth....” He continued reading a long time and his voice took the intonations of a prayer, almost of a chant or the singing of some holy litany. They listened to him in pious stillness, their souls silent and attentive, their hearts thrilling under the fascination of the miraculous, with the sincerest gratitude to God for the favours conferred upon them.