# Naimechka (The Servant) explained — Poetry > Chapter companion for Poetry by Taras Shevchenko. ## What happens An old couple, Trophimus and Anastasia, living in comfort but childless, find an abandoned infant at their gate and adopt him, naming him Mark. Years later, a young woman named Anna joins the household as a servant and devotes herself to Mark's care. After Anastasia's death, Mark grows up and marries Katherine. Anna, secretly Mark's birth mother, goes on pilgrimage to Kiev, bringing back blessings, but conceals her true identity. ## Themes in this chapter ### Motherhood and Sacrifice Anna's secret motherhood and her selfless care for Mark, including her pilgrimage and penance, embody maternal sacrifice. ### Social Injustice and Class Anna's status as a servant and her hidden shame of bearing a child out of wedlock illustrate class and gender-based injustices. ### Faith and Hypocrisy Anna's devout pilgrimage and prayers contrast with the societal hypocrisy that forces her to conceal her identity. ## Character check-ins ### Anna The servant who is secretly Mark's birth mother; she abandons him as an infant, later joins the household, and serves him devotedly. ### Mark The adopted son of Trophimus and Anastasia, raised by them and later by Anna; he grows up, becomes a farmer, and marries Katherine. ### Trophimus The old man who finds the abandoned child with his wife and adopts him; later he helps arrange Mark's marriage. ### Katherine Mark's wife, who welcomes Anna back from pilgrimage and treats her with respect. ### The Servant Anna is referred to as the servant; she works without wage and later goes on pilgrimage to Kiev. ### Holy Barbara Saint to whom Anna prays and from whom she receives a ring for Katherine. ## Key lines > Oh, you mist and raindrops fine, Pity this ragged luck of mine. Hide me here in grassy meadows, Bury me beneath thy shadows. The woman begs the mist and rain to conceal her and her sorrow, wishing to be hidden from the world. _Opening lines express the mother's despair and desire for obscurity._ > Shall I, then, give to him christian name, To poverty bind, with his mother's shame? This, brother mist, I shall not do. I alone my fault must rue. She decides not to baptize her son herself, as that would tie him to her shame; she will bear the blame alone. _Highlights her sacrifice and the social stigma of illegitimacy._ > Hard it is a child to rear, In roofless house 'mid want and fear. Yet just as hard 'mid gathered wealth, When death creeps on with crafty stealth, And one's treasures good At end of life's wandering, Are for strangers rude For mocking and squandering. Raising a child in poverty is difficult, but having wealth without an heir is also hard because strangers will waste it after you die. _Reflects the old couple's longing for a child to inherit their property._ > The little thing just seemed to plead. In little arms stretched out you'ld read Its prayer— in silence all. No crying—just a little breath its call. The abandoned baby silently reaches out its arms as if begging, without crying, only breathing softly. _Describes the infant's helplessness and the old couple's emotional response._ > A servant must not thy mother be Lest wealthy guests may laugh at thee. Anna refuses to act as Mark's mother at his wedding because it would embarrass him in front of wealthy guests. _Shows her self-effacing love and awareness of social hierarchy._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_22_se/chapters/naimechka - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_22_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_22_se/chapters