te his affection for his spouse by administering a beating, he
is not obliged to fumble and grope among those straight folds for the
awkward triangular little opening, quite unsuited to accommodate his
fist. He can grasp her promptly by the neck of her chemise and this
comfortable semicircle, and not force her to doubt his love by delay and
hesitation in expression. I asked the pretty woman if her husband found
it very useful. "Sometimes," she answered nonchalantly. The Russian
peasant theory is: "No beating, no jealousy; no jealousy, no love."

She offered to sell us a new petticoat similar to the one which she
wore. It was of homespun, hard-twisted wool _etamine_ very durable, of a
sort which is made, with slight variations, in several governments.
Ordinarily, in this district, it is of a bright scarlet plaided off with
lines of white and yellow. A breadth of dark blue cotton is always
inserted in the left side. When a woman is in mourning, the same plaid
on a dark blue foundation is used. Married women wear coarse chemises
and aprons of homespun linen; and their braided hair coiled on top of
the head imparts a coronet shape to the gay cotton kerchief which is
folded across the brow and knotted at the nape of the neck.

Young girls wear cotton chemises and aprons and print dresses, all
purchased, not home made. It is considered that if a girl performs her
due share of the house and field work she will not have time to weave
more than enough linen for her wedding outfit, and the purchase of what
is needed before that unhappy event is regarded as a certificate of
industry. I call it an unhappy event because from the moment of her
betrothal the prospective bride wears mourning garments. Black beads for
the neck are the height of fashion here.

The girl's gown, called a _sarafan_, is plaited straight and full into a
narrow band, and suspended just below the armpits by cross-bands over
the shoulders. She prefers for it plain scarlet cotton (_kumatch_), or
scarlet printed in designs of yellow, white, and green. Her head
kerchief matches in style. Her betrothal gown and kerchief have a dark
blue or black ground with colored figures.

The bargain for the petticoat was closed at two rubles, its real worth,
subject to "sister's approbation,"--an afterthought on the part of the
pretty woman. When she brought it to us at the house, a couple of hours
later, modestly concealed under her apron, and with sister's blessing,
she dem