He stroked her hair, kissed her tenderly, whilst he ground his teeth with the bitterness which was eating into his soul.
The window of their room stood open, but the sky was hidden by the thick wall of the neighbouring houses, and in the cellar it was, as usual, dark, damp, and sticky.
"Ah! this life; it's a veritable prison!" whispered Grischka, unable to put into words all the pain that was oppressing his soul, "This hole that we live in is the cause of it all, Motrja! Whatever do we stay here for?... It's just as if we were buried alive!"
"Well, let's go into other lodgings," remarked Motrja through her tears, taking his words literally.
"It's not that, dear.... I did not mean that exactly.... For even if we were to live in a garret we should still be living in a hole, and all would remain exactly the same I It's not only the lodgings ... our whole life is like a hole...."
Matrona began to think over his words, and finally remarked, "God grant that we may improve ... that we may get used to each other."
"Yes, that things may improve ... you have often said that already. It doesn't look much like it, Motrja.... The scandals we create become more and more frequent."
Motrja could not deny this. The intervals between her beatings grew ever shorter and shorter, and Grischka would frequently begin the trouble quite early on Saturday morning. He would commence by saying—
"This evening, as soon as I have finished work, I am off to the vodka-shop across the way, and I mean to have such a bout!"
Motrja blinked her eyes, and was silent "Have you nothing to say about it? Well, well! It's better to be silent.... It's better for you!" he added threateningly. As the evening hour approached, he grew more and more excited. He would speak to her over and over again of his intention to get drunk. He knew only too well how painful it was to her to hear such words, and he noticed how she went about in obstinate silence, with a cold glance in her grey eyes, attending to her duties in the cellar; and this made him feel all the more furious.