politely: hardly anywhere did our intrusion into the every-day life
of these people call forth that ambition, and desire to exhibit their
importance and to put us down, which the appearance of the
enumerators in the quarters of well-to-do people evoked. It not only
did not arouse this, but, on the contrary, they answered all other
questions properly, and without attributing any special significance
to them. Our questions merely served them as a subject of mirth and
jesting as to how such and such a one was to be set down in the list,
when he was to be reckoned as two, and when two were to be reckoned
as one, and so forth.

We found many of them at dinner, or tea; and on every occasion to our
greeting: "bread and salt," or "tea and sugar," they replied: "we
beg that you will partake," and even stepped aside to make room for
us. Instead of the den with a constantly changing population, which
we had expected to find here, it turned out, that there were a great
many apartments in the house where people had been living for a long
time. One cabinet-maker with his men, and a boot-maker with his
journeymen, had lived there for ten years. The boot-maker's quarters
were very dirty and confined, but all the people at work were very
cheerful. I tried to enter into conversation with one of the
workmen, being desirous of inquiring into the wretchedness of his
situation and his debt to his master, but the man did not understand
me and spoke of his master and his life from the best point of view.

In one apartment lived an old man and his old woman. They peddled
apples. Their little chamber was warm, clean, and full of goods. On
the floor were spread straw mats: they had got them at the apple-
warehouse. They had chests, a cupboard, a samovar, and crockery. In
the corner there were numerous images, and two lamps were burning