“Well, I thought to myself, I will begin by teaching him some work, but not at once; let him first enjoy himself a bit, and I will in the mean while look around and discover what he finds easiest, and would be capable of doing, because you must know, sir, a man must have a calling and a capacity for a certain work to be able to do it properly. And I began stealthily to observe him. And a hard subject he was, that Emelian! At first I tried to get at him with a kind word. Thus and thus I would speak to him: ‘Emelian, you had better take more care of yourself and try to fix yourself up a little.’ “‘Give up drinking. Just look at yourself, man, you are all ragged, your cloak looks more like a sieve than anything else. It is not nice. It is about time for you to come to your senses and know when you have had enough.’ “He listened to me, my Emelian did, with lowered head; he had already reached that state, poor fellow, when the drink affected his tongue and he could not utter a sensible word. You talk to him about cucumbers, and he answers beans. He listened, listened to me for a long time, and then he would sigh deeply. “‘What are you sighing for, Emelian?’ I ask him. “‘Oh, it is nothing, Astafi Ivanich, do not worry. Only what I saw to-day, Astafi Ivanich--two women fighting about a basket of huckleberries that one of them had upset by accident.’ “‘Well, what of that?’ “‘And the woman whose berries were scattered snatched a like basket of huckleberries from the other woman’s hand, and not only threw them on the ground, but stamped all over them.’ “‘Well, but what of that, Emelian?’ “‘Ech!’ I think to myself, ‘Emelian! You have lost your poor wits through the cursed drink!’ “‘And again,’ Emelian says, ‘a baron lost a bill on the Gorokhova Street--or was it on the Sadova? A muzhik saw him drop it, and says, ‘My luck,’ but here another one interfered and says, ‘No, it is my luck!’ I saw it first....’” “Well, Emelian?” “‘And the two muzhiks started a fight, Astafi Ivanich, and the upshot was that a policeman came, picked up the money, handed it back to the baron, and threatened to put the muzhiks under lock for raising a disturbance.’ “‘But what of that? What is there wonderful or edifying in that, Emelian?’ “‘Well, nothing, but the people laughed, Astafi Ivanich.’ “‘E-ch, Emelian! What have the people to do with it?’ I said. ‘You have sold your immortal soul for a copper. But do you know what I will tell you, Emelian?’ “‘What, Astafi Ivanich?’ “‘You’d better take up some work, really you should. I am telling you for the hundredth time that you should have pity on yourself!’ “‘But what shall I do, Astafi Ivanich? I do not know where to begin and no one would employ me, Astafi Ivanich.’ “‘That is why they drove you out of service, Emelian; it is all on account of drink!’ “‘And to-day,’ said Emelian, ‘they called Vlass the barkeeper into the office.’ “‘What did they call him for, Emelian?’ I asked.