people.

"Why, do you know," said I, "I believe that there are twenty thousand
of these cold and hungry people in Moscow. And how about Petersburg
and the other cities?"

He smiled.

"Twenty thousand! And how many households are there in Russia alone,
do you think? Are there a million?"

"Well, what then?"

"What then?" and his eyes flashed, and he grew animated. "Come, let
us divide them among ourselves. I am not rich, I will take two
persons on the spot. There is the lad whom you took into your
kitchen; I invited him to come to my house, and he did not come.
Were there ten times as many, let us divide them among us. Do you
take some, and I will take some. We will work together. He will see
how I work, and he will learn. He will see how I live, and we will
sit down at the same table together, and he will hear my words and
yours. This charity society of yours is nonsense."

These simple words impressed me. I could not but admit their
justice; but it seemed to me at that time, that, in spite of their
truth, still that which I had planned might possibly prove of
service. But the further I carried this business, the more I
associated with the poor, the more frequently did this remark recur
to my mind, and the greater was the significance which it acquired
for me.