“There!” he said, extending his hand to Rab’ Shachneh. “Kiss!” Rab’ Shachneh raised his bloodshot eyes and looked at him bewildered. He did not understand. Vasily’s face darkened. “Didn’t you hear me? Kiss, I tell you!” Two of the peasants halted in the doorway, watching the scene. Rab’ Shachneh looked at Vasily and was silent. Vasily’s face turned green. “Ah, Jew-face that you are!” He gnashed his teeth, and drove his open hand into Rab’ Shachneh’s face. “You hesitate! Oh, boys! Come back here!” The two peasants came up closer. “Ah, nu! Get to work, boys. Since he’s such a fine gentleman, he’s got to kiss my foot! If he won’t....” He sat down upon a chair. The two peasants grabbed hold of Rab’ Shachneh, and flung him at Vasily’s feet. “Pull off that boot!” Vasily commanded kicking Rab’ Shachneh in the mouth. Rab’ Shachneh slowly pulled the boot off the peasant’s foot. They stood face to face--a red dirty foot smelling strongly of perspiration and a beaten-up face with a long, noble, dark beard. Strangely enough the beard wasn’t harmed much. It was torn and plucked in but a few spots, but it retained the dignity of respectability. From above, Vasily’s crooked face looked down, glaring with its grey eyes. “Kiss, I tell you!” And another kick in the face followed the command. For a moment all was silent and motionless, then Rab’ Shachneh bowed down his head, and Vasily emitted a sharp frightful cry. All of the five toes and part of his foot had disappeared into Rab’ Shachneh’s mouth. The two rows of teeth sank deep into the dirty, sweaty flesh. What followed was wild and lurid, like an evil, revolting dream. The peasants struck Rab’ Shachneh with their booted feet. They kicked him with such fury that it resounded loud and hollow like an empty barrel. They pulled out his beard in handfuls. They dug their nails into his eyes and tore them out. They searched out the most sensitive parts of his body and ripped out pieces. His body shivered, trembled, bent and twisted. And the two rows of teeth pressed on convulsively closer and closer, and something cracked inside the mouth, the teeth, the bones, or perhaps both. All this while, Vasilinka raved, shrieked, screeched like a stuck pig. How long this lasted, the peasants did not know. They had taken no notice of the time. It was only when they saw that Rab’ Shachneh’s body no longer moved that they stopped at last. A shudder shook them from head to foot when they looked into his face. His torn out eyes hung loose near the bloody sockets. His face was no longer recognizable; while what was left of his beard hung in blood-congealed strands. The dead teeth, with a piece of the foot still between them, glared like those of a dead wolf. Vasilinka still wriggled, no longer upon the chair, but upon the floor. His body was twisted like a snake, and from his throat came long-drawn-out, hoarse sounds. His gray eyes grew large, dim and glassy. It was evident that he had lost his mind.