But when he described how the enormous shaft of Mars was pushed into the grotto of Venus, that called for noticeable attention. In her mirror, Princess Nelidowa had seen Katerina approaching with Grushenka and waved angrily not to be disturbed. So Grushenka had an opportunity to study the group just described. The Princess wore only a short batiste chemise which left her more or less uncovered. She did not mind that Boris, clad in the formal house uniform of the Sokolows with a long pig-tail at his back, could see her nudity, because he was only a serf. He had been sent to Dresden some years ago to learn the art of hairdressing with a very famous master in the Saxonian capital. Sokolow had intended to rent him out to one of the ladies' hairdressing parlors recently opened in Moscow, but the Princess had taken the clever man into her private service. He was responsible for her many tufts and locks worn in the daytime and for her powdered wigs decorated with precious stones which went with the evening gowns. When the reading of the poem had ceased, Katerina could restrain herself no longer. “I have her! I have her!” she cried and dragged Grushenka closer to the Princess. “I found a substitute who fits you perfectly and she is ours now!” “I know you could have found her sooner,” said Nelidowa maliciously. “But you'll be forgiven since you dug her up at last. Now show me, does she really have the same measurements or are you lying to me?” She rose hastily from her stool, so that poor Boris was in danger of burning her with his hot irons. “She really and truly fits,” answered Katerina. “Here, I'll show you.” And she took out the multicolored ribbons to prove the fact. But Nelidowa was not interested in that.

With sharp eyes she scrutinized Grushenka's body and she was not dissatisfied. “So! That is how I look. A full pair of good breasts, aren't they? But mine are better!”-and taking out her own breasts from her thin shirt and holding them close to Grushenka's, she started a minute comparison-“Mine are oval and that is rare, but this slob's are round.