'Of course one must think of one's soul before everything else,' she remarked with a sigh. 'There was Parfen Denisich, who was no scholar at all, but may God grant everyone to die as he did!' she said, referring to a servant who had died recently: 'he received Holy Communion and Extreme Unction.'
— All’anima propria, è certo, bisogna pensarci più di tutto — ella disse con un sospiro. — Ecco, Parfën Denisyc, un analfabeta, è morto così come Iddio lo conceda a ognuno — ella disse, alludendo a un domestico morto da poco. — L’hanno comunicato, gli hanno dato l’olio santo.