A-oo! a-oo!" she chanted over him, paying no attention to the mother.

The nurse brought the baby to his mother.

Agafea Mihalovna followed him with a face dissolving with tenderness.

"He knows me, he knows me.

In God's faith, Katerina Alexandrovna, ma'am, he knew me!" Agafea Mihalovna cried above the baby's screams.