Natasha, that winter, had for the first time begun to sing seriously, mainly because Denisov so delighted in her singing.

She no longer sang as a child, there was no longer in her singing that comical, childish, painstaking effect that had been in it before; but she did not yet sing well, as all the connoisseurs who heard her said: "It is not trained, but it is a beautiful voice that must be trained.

" Only they generally said this some time after she had finished singing.