A Second Pot of Coffee (Bunin)
Division into chapters is editorial.
Introduction to the artist and his model
In a studio on Znamenka, an artist was painting his model as "A Bather." The young woman posed completely naked on a small platform designed to look like a forest stream bank. She stood hesitantly at the water's edge, covering her pubic area with her hand, while the artist worked on capturing her well-proportioned form.
He is painting her in the mornings now as "A Bather": on a small platform, as though beside a stream in a forest, undecided about entering the water, from which big-eyed frogs should be looking, she stands completely naked
A break in the modeling session
After working for about an hour, the artist leaned back from his easel. He examined the canvas from different angles, narrowed his eyes, and announced it was time for a break. He instructed Katya to prepare more coffee. Relieved by the interruption, she ran barefoot across the studio mats to the gas stove in the corner.
After working for an hour or so, he leans back from the easel, looks at the canvas first one way, then another, narrows his eyes and says absent-mindedly: "Well, this is a stop. Heat up a second pot of coffee."
While the artist scraped something from the canvas with a slender knife, Katya busied herself with the coffee preparation. The stove hissed, giving off both a sour smell from its green burners and the pleasant aroma of brewing coffee. As she worked, Katya filled the studio with her carefree singing: "A little cloud slept, a little cloud of gold... On the breast of a giant crag..."
Memories of the artist Yartsev
Turning her head, Katya joyfully mentioned that the artist Yartsev had taught her that song, and asked if her current lover knew him. The artist replied that he knew Yartsev a little and described him as a "lanky sort" who was talented but "pretty much of a dimwit." When he inquired if Yartsev had died, Katya confirmed that he had drunk himself to death.
Katya defended Yartsev as kind, though she admitted he had taken her virginity during only their second modeling session. She described how he had suddenly leapt up from his easel, dropped his palette and brushes, and knocked her to the floor onto a carpet. Despite her fear and resistance, she couldn't stop him. When the current artist asked if she had loved Yartsev despite this, Katya confirmed that she had, though she was terrified of him, especially when he was drunk and would become violent.
"I lived with him for a year, like with you. He took my virginity too, at only the second sitting. Suddenly leapt up from the easel, dropped his palette and brushes, and knocked me off my feet onto a carpet."
The models story of coming to Moscow
The artist then asked Katya about how she came to Moscow. She explained that her uncle had brought her to the city after she was orphaned at sixteen. He took her to his cab man's inn, where she worked washing dishes and laundry. Her aunt had planned to sell her to a brothel, and would have succeeded if not for a fortunate intervention.
"I was left an orphan in my sixteenth year, and he went and brought me. That was to my other uncle, to his cab man's inn. I did the washing-up there, washed their linen for them, then my aunt took it into her head to sell me to a brothel."
From waitress to artists model
Katya's life changed when the famous Shalyapin and Korovin came to the inn early one morning. They saw her carrying a heavy samovar and insisted she serve them instead of the waiter. Though her uncle initially refused, Shalyapin's intimidating manner quickly changed his mind. Frightened but obedient, Katya served the famous men.
Korovin examined her, gave her ten rubles, and invited her to his studio the next day, intending to paint her. When she arrived, he had changed his mind about painting her himself but sent her to Dr. Goloushev, who had connections with artists. The doctor advised her not to return to the inn and began introducing her to various studios.
Katya began her modeling career posing fully clothed for female artists. Eventually, she modeled for Malyavin himself, who positioned her naked with her back to him, as though she were putting on a shirt. She proudly described how her back and backside were well rendered, though she criticized his depiction of her heels and soles.
"At first I posed fully clothed, in a yellow scarf, and always for women artists... then I found myself with Malyavin himself: he sat me down naked on my feet, on my heels, with my back to him, with a shirt over my head"
Return to the modeling session
As Katya continued her enthusiastic storytelling, the artist interrupted her, saying, "Well, Katka, shut up. Second bell. Let's have the pot of coffee." Realizing she had been talking too much, Katya quickly apologized and brought him the coffee she had prepared.
"Well, Katka, shut up. Second bell. Let's have the pot of coffee." "Oh, Heavens, too much talking! Here it is, here it is..."