The poor are always rich in children, and in
the dirt and ditches of this street there were groups of them
from morning to night, hungry, naked and dirty. Children are the
living flowers of the earth, but these had the appearance of
flowers that have faded prematurely, because they grew in ground
where there was no healthy nourishment. Often the teacher would
gather them round him, would buy them bread, eggs, apples and
nuts, and take them into the fields by the river side. There
they would sit and greedily eat everything he offered them, after
which they would begin to play, filling the fields for a mile
around with careless noise and laughter. The tall, thin figure
of the drunkard towered above these small people, who treated him
familiarly, as if he were one of their own age. They called him
"Philip," and did not trouble to prefix "Uncle" to his name.
Playing around him, like little wild animals, they pushed him,
jumped upon his back, beat him upon his bald head, and caught
hold of his nose. All this must have pleased him, as he did not
protest against such liberties. He spoke very little to them,
and when he did so he did it cautiously as if afraid that his
words would hurt or contaminate them.
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