They were then requested by the woman in charge of the basement to throw their clothes into a big stove in the kitchen, where they soon burned away. A great master would not allow a servant to wear clothes another master had previously given him, and also it is well known that clothes often brought the germs of disease into a house. Pest and smallpox were flourishing and no precaution against these scourges could be omitted. After this the girls were brought over to the servants' bath, where a few bath-girls waited for them. They were soaped all over with a stinging soap and afterwards put in two wooden tubs with very hot water so that their skin became red as boiled lobsters. They were then pushed into the steam-room, in charge of a one-armed invalid, a former soldier and bodyguard of the Prince. He did not look at the girls. He merely coughed and muttered vile and disgruntled words because his body and mind were unbalanced.
Grushenka sat in the large, bare room with its wet brick walls and steaming boilers and began for the first time to give herself an accounting of the last few hours. From the poor rooms of the morose and thin cousin, she had been brought to the fairy palace of a Prince.
For what, she could not understand. And while she wiped away the pearls of water which collected on her bust and belly, she whispered to her companion, “What do they want of me? What do you think they want?” But the blonde one whispered back that it would be ten thousand times better than before and that Prince Sokolow-they had learned the name from the girls who had previously served them-had so many thousands of serfs that if they managed rightly, they certainly would have the time of their lives. So far it was too good for words: a dinner of abundance, a real bath as it was given only to fine people, even a steam-room for the servants! Who would have dreamt of that?
Presently they were called out of the steam-room, their skin loosened by the heat, and were given a very cold washing with clean water which was poured on them from buckets. They shivered and screamed trying to avoid the gushes but it was quickly over. Then they were rubbed with thick towels and dried thoroughly. Katerina now took charge of them again to bring them to their quarters. The male servants lived in the stables or over the stables. The women had their quarters in the loft of the main house which was under the supervision of an elderly serf woman. Breathing heavily, Katerina led the way up the back stairs, scolding herself inwardly for going so seldom to the loft. (She herself had a chamber in the basement.) Her old knees resented the many hundred steps. The upper floor of the palace contained many rooms and large halls, in some of which were rows of wooden beds and board closets for clothing and linen. The woman in charge rose out of a half slumber to meet Katerina's unexpected visit and showed the girls to two unoccupied beds at the end of one of the halls. She left, upon Katerina's command, to fetch some linen and garments for the newcomers, and Katerina, catching her breath again, turned to the girls. “I did not look you over before buying you,” she said to the blonde and stocky girl. “It was my duty, but I hope you are clean and will not bring sickness to the house. Let me look you over now.” The blonde girl grinned, knowing she was healthy as a bear and that her brown skin did not easily take infection. Katerina started her inspection in a matter-of-fact way. She opened the girl's mouth and looked over the teeth, which were sharp as those of an animal. She fingered the small breasts. (The girl was not more than seventeen years old.) She looked over the flesh of the belly, the legs, the back, under the arms and finally had the girl lie down over the bed with her legs spread open. She opened the lips of her womanhood and felt with one finger for the virgin membrane which was still in place. Katerina understood these things. She had helped many women in childbed and had acted as midwife when any of the women of the household gave birth. The girl was in good shape and underwent these operations with the stubborn submissiveness of the Russian serf.
Katerina then addressed the girls with a little speech as was usual on such occasions. She pointed out that as they had eaten today, so would they continue to eat, that they would be clothed and housed in splendid manner and that they were to be proud to be the servants of the noble Prince Sokolow. On the other hand they were required to be extremely obedient and industrious, and to do their best for their new master. If they failed in that, they would be punished heavily and so it would be to their own good to submit to rules and orders.
To make this clear to them, and to inaugurate them into the household, she would now give them a light and friendly whipping, hoping she would never again have the necessity to do so. She then ordered Grushenka, to whom this address was mostly delivered, to lie on the bed in order to receive the strokes. Meanwhile the woman had come back with blankets and linen and, hearing Katerina's words, brought from the middle of the hall two buckets in which fresh switches were kept in salt water. Grushenka lay down on the bed on her stomach and buried her head in her hands. Often as she had been subjected to bodily chastisement, she could not endure it. She trembled, and kept her legs close together in nervous tension. But that was not to Katerina's liking, who saw it as an act of revolt.
Roughly she pulled apart the girl's legs, shouting at her to loosen up the muscles and be still or she would give her the much more painful leather whip. “Didn't you hear what the Princess said?” she added. “We will take the softness out of you, you yellow dog.” And she started to prepare the fine bottom for the punishment by squeezing hard the full flesh. Katerina now had evil eyes, her mouth was tightly shut and the nostrils of her nose moved greedily. Such a little imp of a serf, making a fuss because she was to get the switch! Grushenka groaned and tried to stop quivering, but she was so frightened she could hardly control herself. Katerina took the switch from the servant woman and ordered the blonde girl, who watched the proceedings without emotion, to count aloud to twenty-five. The first blow went over the right side of the bottom and it was a heavy stroke, because Katerina was angry and was a muscular peasant woman. Grushenka cried out and bent her body up as if she wanted to rise, but put herself again in position. The second blow and the next few went over the same thigh, where a crimson pattern appeared in sharp contrast to the whiteness of the rest of the body. Katerina proceeded to the other thigh which was next to her, and laid blow after blow with great firmness on the skin. Grushenka screamed and shook her body, but she did not move away and always got back into position. She had received almost twenty-five blows. Katerina had several times changed the switches which broke into pieces. When Katerina applied the last strokes to the insides of the legs which had not been hit before, it was too much for Grushenka. She rolled over to the wall and held both hands to her bottom, pleading for mercy and protesting she could not stand it. But Katerina was not willing to give way to a young and obstinate serf girl. Therefore, with an energy and brutality which one would not have suspected in this fat and greyish housekeeper, she forced Grushenka to the middle of the bed, laying her on her back with her arms folded under her head, and spread the girl's legs open with rude force. “If your rear can't stand it,” she shouted at the frightened girl, “then your front can have it, and don't dare to move, because if you do, I'll have some stable men put you on the rack and give you the cow-hide and we'll see how you'll like that.” She began with fierce strokes to whip the inside and the front of the thighs. Grushenka was so thoroughly paralyzed and frightened that she did not dare to close her legs or to protect herself with her hands, although she moved instinctively to do so. She received about ten strokes in this way, and although Katerina avoided striking the exposed sex, for Grushenka it was an agony which seemed endless.