thought that occurs to us on hearing that such and such a man has
gambled away or squandered ten or twenty thousand rubles, is: "What
a foolish and worthless fellow he is to uselessly squander so much
money! and what a good use I could have made of that money in a
building which I have long been in need of, for the improvement of my
estate, and so forth!"--just so do the poor judge when they behold
the wealth which they need, not for caprices, but for the
satisfaction of their actual necessities, of which they are
frequently deprived, flung madly away before their eyes. We make a
very great mistake when we think that the poor can judge thus, reason
thus, and look on indifferently at the luxury which surrounds them.

They never have acknowledged, and they never will acknowledge, that
it can be just for some people to live always in idleness, and for
other people to fast and toil incessantly; but at first they are
amazed and insulted by this; then they scrutinize it more
attentively, and, seeing that these arrangements are recognized as
legitimate, they endeavor to free themselves from toil, and to take
part in the idleness. Some succeed in this, and they become just
such carousers themselves; others gradually prepare themselves for
this state; others still fail, and do not attain their goal, and,
having lost the habit of work, they fill up the disorderly houses and
the night-lodging houses.

Two years ago, we took from the country a peasant boy to wait on
table. For some reason, he did not get on well with the footman, and
he was sent away: he entered the service of a merchant, won the
favor of his master, and now he goes about with a vest and a watch-
chain, and dandified boots. In his place, we took another peasant, a
married man: he became a drunkard, and lost money. We took a third: