For all
this they were paid with vodki and flattering admiration of their
talents.
The inhabitants of the street were divided into two parties
according to their sympathies. One was in favour of Kuvalda, who
was thought "a good soldier, clever, and courageous," the other
was convinced of the fact that the teacher was "superior" to
Kuvalda. The latter's admirers were those who were known to be
drunkards, thieves, and murderers, for whom the road from beggary
to prison was inevitable. But those who respected the teacher
were men who still had expectations, still hoped for better
things, who were eternally occupied with nothing, and who were
nearly always hungry.
The nature of the teacher's and Kuvalda's relations towards the
street may be gathered from the following:
Once in the eating-house they were discussing the resolution
passed by the Corporation regarding the main street, viz., that
the inhabitants were to fill up the pits and ditches in the
street, and that neither manure nor the dead bodies of domestic
animals should be used for the purpose, but only broken tiles,
etc., from the ruins of other houses.
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