person
Aksinya Stepanovna
Aksinya
also: Аксинья Степановна, нянька
The old nanny who arranges the match between the cook Pelageya and the cabman Danilo Semyonych, plying him with vodka and needling Pelageya into accepting.
Reading notes
- The Cook Gets Married §2 the old nanny Aksinya Stepanovna
A нянька (nanny) in a well-off Russian household was typically an elderly former serf or peasant woman who had nursed the children and remained on staff for life, often wielding informal authority over the other domestic servants -- which is why Aksinya, not the mistress, is the one arranging Pelageya's marriage.