But that is all irrelevant. In short, Khlopov was kind to me.

As to Anna, she was entirely different. She was close-mouthed,
ill-tempered, and a great stay-at-home. She never visited her
neighbors, and they, in turn, called on her very rarely. In the
village she was spoken of as a snob and a hypocrite. Peter was
afraid of her as of the plague, especially in his sober hours. All
her power lay in her eyes. When that strong man--he who had the
whole village in the palm of his hand--felt her eye fixed on him,
his strength left him. It seemed as if some devil were ready to
jump out of that eye and turn the house topsyturvy. You fellows are
mere youngsters, you have seen nothing of the world yet; but take it
from me, there are eyes that seem quite harmless when you first look
into them, but just try to arouse their temper: you will see a
hellish fire spring up in them. Have you ever looked into my
Rebekah's eyes? Well, beware of the eyes.

The look Anna gave me when I first entered her house promised me
nothing good. She hated me heartily. She never called me by my own
name. She called me "Zhid" all the time, in a tone of deep hatred
and contempt.

Among the orders the Cantonists had to obey were the following: to
speak no Yiddish; to say no Jewish prayer; to recite daily a certain
prayer before the image of the Virgin and before the crucifix, and
not to abstain from non-kosher food.

With regard to all injunctions except the last, Anna was very strict
with me. But she was not very particular as to the last injunction.
Out of sheer stinginess she fed me on bread and vegetables, and