before them; on the wall hung fur coats covered with sheets. The old
woman, who had star-shaped wrinkles, and who was polite and
talkative, evidently delighted in her quiet, comfortable, existence.

Ivan Fedotitch, the landlord of the tavern and of these quarters,
left his establishment and came with us. He jested in a friendly
manner with many of the landlords of apartments, addressing them all
by their Christian names and patronymics, and he gave us brief
sketches of them. All were ordinary people, like everybody else,--
Martin Semyonovitches, Piotr Piotrovitches, Marya Ivanovnas,--people
who did not consider themselves unhappy, but who regarded themselves,
and who actually were, just like the rest of mankind.

We had been prepared to witness nothing except what was terrible.
And, all of a sudden, there was presented to us, not only nothing
that was terrible, but what was good,--things which involuntarily
compelled our respect. And there were so many of these good people,
that the tattered, corrupt, idle people whom we came across now and
then among them, did not destroy the principal impression.

This was not so much of a surprise to the students as to me. They
simply went to fulfil a useful task, as they thought, in the
interests of science, and, at the same time, they made their own
chance observations; but I was a benefactor, I went for the purpose
of aiding the unfortunate, the corrupt, vicious people, whom I
supposed that I should meet with in this house. And, behold, instead
of unfortunate, corrupt, and vicious people, I saw that the majority
were laborious, industrious, peaceable, satisfied, contented,
cheerful, polite, and very good folk indeed.