"
Sometimes I would fall to kissing her passionately. Once, after an
outburst of this kind, I said: "Are people sorry for us, mamma?"
"What do you mean?"
"Because I have no papa and we have no money."
Antomir, which then boasted eighty thousand inhabitants, was a
town in which a few thousand rubles was considered wealth, and
we were among the humblest and poorest in it. The bulk of the
population lived on less than fifty copecks (twenty-five cents) a
day, and that was difficult to earn. A hunk of rye bread and a bit
of herring or cheese constituted a meal. A quarter of a copeck (an
eighth of a cent) was a coin with which one purchased a few
crumbs of pot-cheese or some boiled water for tea. Rubbers were
worn by people "of means" only. I never saw any in the district in
which my mother and I had our home. A white starched collar was
an attribute of "aristocracy." Children had to nag their mothers for
a piece of bread
"Mamma, I want a piece of bread," with a mild whimper
"Again bread! You'll eat my head off.
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