Explore "On the Eve" by Ivan Turgenev on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
"Come to dinner, come along," said the lady of the house in a plaintive voice, and they all went into the dining-room. "Sit beside me, Zoé," added Anna Vassilyevna, "and you, Hélène, take our guest; and you, Paul, please don't be naughty and tease Zoé. My head aches today."
Shubin again turned his eyes up to the ceiling; Zoé responded with a half-smile. This Zoé, or, to speak more precisely, Zoya Nikitishna Mueller, was a pretty, fair-haired, half-Russian German girl, with a little nose rather wide at the end, and tiny red lips. She sang Russian ballads fairly well and could play various pieces, both lively and sentimental, very correctly on the piano. She dressed with taste, but in a rather childish style, and even over-precisely. Anna Vassilyevna had taken her as a companion for her daughter, and she kept her almost constantly at her side. Elena did not complain of that; she was absolutely at a loss what to say to Zoya when she happened to be left alone with her.