"It is true, I must acknowledge, that I bought old and not very
good herrings, and the cabbage . . . also . . . was old. It is
only too well known that anyone can put many a five-kopeck piece
in his pocket in this way. And what is the result? It has not
been a success; I was greedy, I own, but the cleverer man has
exposed me, so we are quits . . ."

This confession made a very good impression on the people, and it
also gave Vaviloff the opportunity of still feeding them with
herrings and cabbages which were not good, though they failed to
notice it, so much were they impressed.

This incident was very significant, because it increased not only
the teacher's popularity, but also the effect of press opinion.

It often happened, too, that the teacher read lectures on
practical morality in the eating-house.

"I saw you," he said to the painter Yashka Tyarin, "I saw you,
Yakov, beating your wife . . ."

Yashka was "touched with paint" after two glasses of vodki, and
was in a slightly uplifted condition.

The people looked at him, expecting him to make a row, and all
were silent.

"Did you see me? And how did it please you?" asks Yashka.

The people control their laughter.