thought of
Martha's arrival, of the drunkenness among the workers and his own
renunciation of drink, then of their present journey and of Taras's
house and the talk about the breaking-up of the family, then of his own
lad, and of Mukhorty now sheltered under the drugget, and then of his
master who made the sledge creak as he tossed about in it. 'I expect
you're sorry yourself that you started out, dear man,' he thought. 'It
would seem hard to leave a life such as his! It's not like the likes of
us.'

Then all these recollections began to grow confused and got mixed in his
head, and he fell asleep.

But when Vasili Andreevich, getting on the horse, jerked the sledge,
against the back of which Nikita was leaning, and it shifted away and
hit him in the back with one of its runners, he awoke and had to change
his position whether he liked it or not. Straightening his legs with
difficulty and shaking the snow off them he got up, and an agonizing
cold immediately penetrated his whole body. On making out what was
happening he called to Vasili Andreevich to leave him the drugget which
the horse no longer needed, so that he might wrap himself in it.

But Vasili Andreevich did not stop, but disappeared amid the powdery
snow.

Left alone Nikita considered for a moment what he should do. He felt
that he had not the strength to go off in search of a house. It was no
longer possible to sit down in his old place--it was by now all filled
with snow. He felt that he could not get warmer in the sledge either,
for there was nothing to cover himself with, and his coat and sheepskin
no longer warmed him at all. He felt as cold as though he had nothing on
but a shirt. He became frightened. 'Lord, heavenly Father!' he muttered,
and was comforted by the consciousness that he was not alone but that
there was One who heard him and would not abandon him. He gave a deep
sigh, and keeping the sackcloth over his head he got inside the sledge
and lay down in the place where his master had been.

But he could not get warm in the sledge either. At first he shivered all
over, then the shivering ceased and little by little he began to lose
consciousness. He did not know whether he was dying or falling asleep,
but felt equally prepared for the one as for the other.

VIII

Meanwhile Vasili Andreevich, with his feet and the ends of the reins,
urged the horse on in the direction in which for some reason he expected
the forest and forester's hu