“Christ is risen, little grandmamma!” he said.
“He is risen indeed,” the grandmother answered.
The older brother and sisters came to salute their grandmother.
“Christ is risen!” each one said to her, and to each she answered:
“He is risen indeed.”
Then they all went to the parents’ room for the morning prayer. They did this every morning, for Russian peasants are very devout; but Easter was a special morning, and they sang many hymns and said many prayers. When they had finished, the married son and his wife came in.
“Christ is risen, father and mother!” they said.
“He is risen indeed,” the parents answered.
After church, which seemed very long to the little boy, they all came home to dinner. With them came a strange young man whom the little boy did not know. When they sat down at table he sat at the head and the little boy’s elder sister beside him. She had beautiful flowers in her hair.
“Why does sister wear flowers in her hair?” the little boy asked his grandmother softly.