They got through with their supper. The woman cleared the table, and began to ask the stranger:
"Who are you?"
"I am a stranger."
"How did you get on the road?"
"I cannot tell."
"Has somebody robbed you?"
"God has punished me."
"And you were lying there naked?"
"Yes, I was lying naked, and freezing. Semén saw me, took pity on me, pulled off his caftan, put it on me, and told me to come here. And you have given me to eat and to drink, and have pitied me. The Lord will save you!"
Matréna got up, took from the window Semén's old shirt, the same that she had been patching, and gave it to the stranger; and she found a pair of trousers, and gave them to him.