"And why?" asked the Little Russian, warming up. "It's so plainly
evident that it's downright ridiculous--simply because men don't
stand on an equal footing. Then let's equalize them, put them all
in one row! Let's divide equally all that's produced by the brains
and all that's made by the hands. Let's not keep one another in the
slavery of fear and envy, in the thraldom of greed and stupidity!"
The mother and the Little Russian now began to carry on such
conversations with each other frequently. He was again taken into
the factory. He turned over all his earnings to the mother, and
she took the money from him with as little fuss as from Pavel.
Sometimes Andrey would suggest with a twinkle in his eyes:
"Shall we read a little, mother, eh?"
She would invariably refuse, playfully but resolutely. The twinkle
in his eyes discomfited her, and she thought to herself, with a
slight feeling of offense: "If you laugh at me, then why do you
ask me to read with you?"
He noticed that the mother began to ask him with increasing
frequency for the meaning of this or that book word. She always
looked aside when asking for such information, and spoke in a
monotonous tone of indifference.
Pages:
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186