Nature sometimes plays tricks of that kind. Grushenka was younger; she had a whiter skin; she blushed at present in her excitement and looked fresher. Also her flesh was softer and a bit more female than that of Nelidowa, and she had a timid bearing and was not so self contained as the Princess. Otherwise, they were strangely alike, though no one would have dared to tell this to the Princess. “I am pleased with you, and I'll present you with my new prayer book with the pictures of the Saints in it which you admired the other day. It's yours. Go and get it.” Katerina, with a deep curtsy, kissed her mistress' hand, overjoyed that she had at last satisfied her. She was taking the girl out of the room when she was stopped by a last word of her mistress, who had watched the nude form depart. “By the way, Katerina, have all the hair under her arms and on her dirty crotch removed so that she doesn't infect my garments. And have her spotlessly washed and powdered. You know how filthy these pigs are.” Katerina assured her she would have the girl taken care of. Katerina had Grushenka take her clothes over her arm and went with her again to the basement.

She knew that both girls had to be taken in as new serfs and she took care of the requirements usual on such occasions in her efficient way.

Grushenka and the other girl sat a few minutes later before a huge, cleanly washed table. Soon plates of food, brought quickly by other serf girls, piled up before them. A new serf was always fed to the utmost by the new master, and the girls were hardly able to do justice to the resources of the kitchen of Prince Sokolow. Their former diet as supplied by the stingy cousin had consisted of coarse bread, onions and rice, and many of the dishes which now stood before them were utterly unknown to them. They ate all they could but had to give up when a big apple pudding proved too much for their filled stomachs. Grushenka had been sitting nude through the meal. When they had eaten, the blonde girl was asked to take her clothes off.