Банная простыня лежала рядом, даром что каменка не остыла.

Лежала is the past-tense form of лежать (to lie, to be lying).

In Russian, past-tense verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:

• лежал — masculine
• лежала — feminine
• лежало — neuter
• лежали — plural

Here the subject is простыня, which is a feminine singular noun, so the verb is лежала.

Yes, простыня literally means sheet (as in a bed sheet), but in this context банная простыня means a bath sheet or a large sheet/towel used in a bathhouse.

A native English speaker might expect полотенце (towel), but простыня suggests something larger that you might wrap around yourself or lie on in a баня.

Also, банная means for the bathhouse / bath-related, not specifically bathroom in the modern home sense.

Because банная is an adjective agreeing with простыня.

Russian adjectives must match the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here простыня is feminine singular nominative, so the adjective is also feminine singular nominative:

• банный — masculine
• банная — feminine
• банное — neuter
• банные — plural

So банная простыня is a normal adjective + noun agreement pattern.

Рядом means nearby, close by, or next to it.

It can be used on its own as an adverb:

• лежала рядом — was lying nearby

If you want to say what something is next to, Russian usually uses:

• рядом с
  • instrumental

For example:

• рядом с печкой — next to the stove

But here the sentence simply says the sheet was nearby, without naming the reference point explicitly.

Даром что is a fixed expression meaning:

• although
• even though
• despite the fact that

So here it introduces a contrast:

• the bath sheet was lying nearby,
• even though the heater had not cooled down.

Important: learners should treat даром что as a set conjunction, not translate it word-for-word.

Yes, it is understandable and natural, but it is less neutral than хотя.

Compare:

• ..., хотя каменка не остыла. — neutral, very common
• ..., даром что каменка не остыла. — more idiomatic, more expressive, sometimes a bit literary or colloquial depending on context

So даром что carries a little more stylistic color than plain хотя.

Because даром что introduces a subordinate clause.

The structure is:

• main clause: Банная простыня лежала рядом
• subordinate concessive clause: даром что каменка не остыла

Russian normally separates this kind of clause with a comma, just as English often does before although or even though clauses.

Каменка is a sauna/bathhouse heater or stove with stones.

The word comes from камень (stone). In a Russian баня, the каменка is the hot stove or heater associated with the stones that produce heat and steam.

So it is not just any random stove: it refers specifically to a bathhouse/sauna-type heater.

Остыла is the feminine singular past form of остыть, which means to cool down.

It matches каменка, which is feminine:

• каменка остыла — the heater cooled down / has cooled down

The verb остыть is perfective, so it focuses on the result of becoming cool.

That is why не остыла means:

• did not cool down
• has not cooled down
• had not cooled down

depending on context.

If you used the imperfective остывать, the meaning would be different:

• не остывала would suggest something like was not cooling down, did not used to cool down, or another ongoing/repeated meaning, which does not fit as well here.

Because Russian does not have a separate past perfect form like English had cooled / had not cooled.

Russian simply uses the past tense, and the exact time relationship is understood from context.

So:

• не остыла can mean didn’t cool down
• hasn’t cooled down
• hadn’t cooled down

In this sentence, English often prefers hadn’t cooled down because the cooling is understood relative to the situation being described.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and changing it usually changes focus or emphasis, not the core meaning.

For example:

• Банная простыня лежала рядом... — starts with the object being described
• Рядом лежала банная простыня... — puts more emphasis on location first

The original version sounds natural and presents the bath sheet first, then tells you where it was.

It can correspond to either, depending on how you translate into English.

Russian past tense does not force the same distinction English does between:

• lay
• was lying

Here лежала describes position/state, so in English both can work depending on style:

• The bath sheet lay nearby...
• The bath sheet was lying nearby...

The Russian itself is perfectly normal for a state of being located somewhere.