"this creature used to sit all night alone in a corner without dancing, with her turquoise fly on her forehead, so that simply from pity I used to have to send her her first partner at two o'clock in the morning. She was five-and-twenty then, and they used to rig her out in short skirts like a little girl. It was improper to have them about at last."
"I seem to see that fly."
The Russian "turquoise fly" (бирюзовый муха, "biryuzovyy mukha") apparently may refer to a piece of jewelry; it's not clear if the jewelry resembles a fly or if this is used as a term of derision. Varvara and Stepan act as if it's something tacky, perhaps because (like her skirt) it's not sufficiently dignified.
"this creature used to sit all night alone in a corner without dancing, with her turquoise fly on her forehead, so that simply from pity I used to have to send her her first partner at two o'clock in the morning. She was five-and-twenty then, and they used to rig her out in short skirts like a little girl. It was improper to have them about at last."
"I seem to see that fly."
The Russian "turquoise fly" (бирюзовый муха, "biryuzovyy mukha") apparently may refer to a piece of jewelry; it's not clear if the jewelry resembles a fly or if this is used as a term of derision. Varvara and Stepan act as if it's something tacky, perhaps because (like her skirt) it's not sufficiently dignified.