"What kind of a man are you? . . . Your soul seems to be torn away-- and you still continue speaking . . . as if you knew something . . . It would be better if you were silent." "Ah, Tyapa, what you say is true," replied the teacher sadly. "The people . . . you are right . . . they are numberless . . . but I am a stranger to them . . . and they are strangers to me . . . Do you see where the tragedy of my life is hidden? . . . But let me alone! I shall suffer . . . and there are no prophets also . . . No. You are right, I speak a great deal . . . But it is no good to anyone. I shall be always silent . . . Only don't speak with me like this . . . Ah, old man, you do not know . . . You do not know . . . And you cannot understand." And in the end the teacher cried. He cried so easily and so freely, with such torrents of flowing tears, that he soon found relief. "You ought to go into a village . . . become a clerk or a teacher . . . You would be well fed there. What are you crying for?" asked Tyapa sadly. But the teacher was crying as if the tears quieted and comforted him. From this day they became friends, and the "creatures that once were men," seeing them together, said: "The teacher is friendly with Tyapa . . . He wishes his money. Kuvalda must have put this into his head . . . To look about to see where the old man's fortune is. . . ." Probably they did not believe what they said. There was one strange thing about these men, namely, that they painted themselves to others worse than they actually were. A man who has good in him does not mind sometimes showing his worse nature. * * * * * * * * * * When all these people were gathered round the teacher, then the reading of the newspaper would begin. "Well, what does the newspaper discuss to-day? Is there any feuilleton?" "No," the teacher informs him. "Your publisher seems greedy . . . but is there any leader?" "There is one to-day . . . It appears to be by Gulyaeff." "Aha! Come, out with it! He writes cleverly, the rascal." "'The taxation of immovable property,'" reads the teacher, "It was introduced some fifteen years ago, and up to the present it has served as the basis for collecting these taxes in aid of the city revenue. . . .'" "That is simple," comments Captain Kuvalda. "It continues to serve. That is ridiculous. To the merchant who is moving about in the city, it is profitable that it should continue to serve. Therefore it does continue." "The article, in fact, is written on the subject," says the teacher. "Is it? That is strange, it is more a subject for a feuilleton." "Such a subject must be treated with plenty of pepper. . . ." Then a short discussion begins. The people listen attentively, as only one bottle of vodki has been drunk.