"You have become quite old--grey-haired! How awful!"

She ran from the mirror, crying out in her fright:

"What is it? What is it?"

Elisaveta followed her. She did not understand what had happened; she
was agitated, and tried to hide her confusion. Trirodov looked at them
in a self-possessed manner. He opened a cupboard, inset in the wall.

"Be calm," he said to Elena. "I'll give you some water in a moment."

He gave her a glass containing a fluid as colourless as water. Elena
quickly drank the sour-sweet water, and suddenly felt cheerful.
Elisaveta also drank it. Elena threw herself towards the mirror.

"I'm young again," she exclaimed in a high voice.

Then she ran forward, embraced Elisaveta, and said cheerfully:

"And you too, Elisaveta, have grown young."

An impetuous joy seized both sisters. They caught each other by the
hands and began to dance and to twirl round the room. Then they
suddenly felt ashamed. They stopped, and did not know which way to
look; they laughed in their confusion. Elisaveta said:

"What a stupid pair we are! You think us ridiculous, don't you?"