The Frenchmen call them 'bourgeois.'
Remember that word, dear granny--bourgeois! Brr! How they chew
us and grind us and suck the life out of us!"
"The rich, you mean?"
"Yes, the rich. And that's their misfortune. You see, if you keep
adding copper bit by bit to a child's food, you prevent the growth
of its bones, and he'll be a dwarf; and if from his youth up you
poison a man with gold, you deaden his soul."
Once, speaking about Yegor, Pavel said:
"Do you know, Andrey, the people whose hearts are always aching
are the ones who joke most?"
The Little Russian was silent a while, and then answered, blinking
his eyes:
"No, that's not true. If it were, then the whole of Russia would
split its sides with laughter."
Natasha made her appearance again. She, too, had been in prison,
in another city, but she had not changed. The mother noticed that
in her presence the Little Russian grew more cheerful, was full of
jokes, poked fun at everybody, and kept her laughing merrily. But
after she had left he would whistle his endless songs sadly, and
pace up and down the room for a long time, wearily dragging his feet
along the floor.
Sashenka came running in frequently, always gloomy, always in haste,
and for some reason more and more angular and stiff.
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