“Whyareyoutellingmeaboutshillispers？“
“Wha-at？Why，youaskedmeyourself！Thegentrycatchfishthatwaytooinourparts。Thesilliestlittleboywouldnottrytocatchafishwithoutaweight。Ofcourseanyonewhodidnotunderstandmightgotofishwithoutaweight。Thereisnoruleforafool。“
“Soyousayyouunscrewedthisnuttomakeaweightforyourfishinglineoutofit？“
“Whatelsefor？Itwasn’ttoplayknuckle-boneswith！“
“Butyoumighthavetakenlead，abulletanailofsomesort。“
“Youdon’tpickupleadintheroad，youhavetobuyit，andanail’snogood。Youcan’tfindanythingbetterthananut。
It’sheavy，andthere’saholeinit。“
“Hekeepspretendingtobeafool！asthoughhe’dbeenbornyesterdayordroppedfromheaven！Don’tyouunderstand，youblockhead，whatunscrewingthesenutsleadsto？Ifthewatchmanhadnotnoticeditthetrainmighthaverunofftherails，peoplewouldhavebeenkilled——youwouldhavekilledpeople。“
“Godforbid，yourhonour！WhatshouldIkillthemfor？Areweheathensorwickedpeople？ThankGod，goodgentlemen，wehavelivedallourliveswithouteverdreamingofsuchathing。
Save，andhavemercyonus，QueenofHeaven！Whatareyousaying？“
“Andwhatdoyousupposerailwayaccidentsdocomefrom？Unscrewtwoorthreenutsandyouhaveanaccident。“
Denisgrins，andscrewsuphiseyeatthemagistrateincredulously。
“Why！howmanyyearshaveweallinthevillagebeenunscrewingnuts，andtheLordhasbeenmerciful；andyoutalkofaccidents，killingpeople。IfIhadcarriedawayarailorputalogacrosstheline，say，thenmaybeitmighthaveupsetthetrain，but。
pouf！anut！“
“Butyoumustunderstandthatthenutholdstherailfasttothesleepers！“
“Weunderstandthat。Wedon’tunscrewthemallweleavesome。Wedon’tdoitthoughtlesslyweunderstand。“
Denisyawnsandmakesthesignofthecrossoverhismouth。
“Lastyearthetrainwentofftherailshere，“saysthemagistrate。“NowIseewhy！“
“Whatdoyousay，yourhonour？“
“IamtellingyouthatnowIseewhythetrainwentofftherailslastyear。Iunderstand！“
“That’swhatyouareeducatedpeoplefor，tounderstand，youkindgentlemen。TheLordknowstowhomtogiveunderstanding。
Hereyouhavereasonedhowandwhat，butthewatchman，apeasantlikeourselves，withnounderstandingatall，catchesonebythecollarandhaulsonealong。Youshouldreasonfirstandthenhaulmeoff。It’sasayingthatapeasanthasapeasant’swit。Writedown，too，yourhonour，thathehitmetwice——
inthejawandinthechest。“
“Whenyourhutwassearchedtheyfoundanothernut。Atwhatspotdidyouunscrewthat，andwhen？“
“Youmeanthenutwhichlayundertheredbox？“
“Idon’tknowwhereitwaslying，onlyitwasfound。Whendidyouunscrewit？“
“Ididn’tunscrewit；Ignashka，thesonofone-eyedSemyon，gaveitme。Imeantheonewhichwasunderthebox，buttheonewhichwasinthesledgeintheyardMitrofanandIunscrewedtogether。“
“WhatMitrofan？“
“MitrofanPetrov。Haven’tyouheardofhim？Hemakesnetsinourvillageandsellsthemtothegentry。Heneedsalotofthosenuts。Reckonamatteroftenforeachnet。“
“Listen。Article1081ofthePenalCodelaysdownthateverywilfuldamageoftherailwaylinecommittedwhenitcanexposethetrafficonthatlinetodanger，andtheguiltypartyknowsthatanaccidentmustbecausedbyit(Doyouunderstand？
Knows！Andyoucouldnothelpknowingwhatthisunscrewingwouldleadto)isliabletopenalservitude。“
“Ofcourse，youknowbest。Weareignorantpeople。
Whatdoweunderstand？“
“Youunderstandallaboutit！Youarelying，shamming！“
“WhatshouldIliefor？Askinthevillageifyoudon’tbelieveme。Onlyableakiscaughtwithoutaweight，andthereisnofishworsethanagudgeon，yeteventhatwon’tbitewithoutaweight。“
“You’dbettertellmeabouttheshillispernext，“saidthemagistrate，smiling。
“Therearenoshillispersinourparts。Wecastourlinewithoutaweightonthetopofthewaterwithabutterfly；amulletmaybecaughtthatway，thoughthatisnotoften。“
“Come，holdyourtongue。“
Asilencefollows。Denisshiftsfromonefoottotheother，looksatthetablewiththegreenclothonit，andblinkshiseyesviolentlyasthoughwhatwasbeforehimwasnottheclothbutthesun。Themagistratewritesrapidly。
“CanIgo？“asksDenisafteralongsilence。
“No。Imusttakeyouunderguardandsendyoutoprison。“
Denisleavesoffblinkingand，raisinghisthickeyebrows，looksinquiringlyatthemagistrate。
“Howdoyoumean，toprison？Yourhonour！Ihavenotimetospare，Imustgotothefair；ImustgetthreeroublesfromYegorforsometallow！“
“Holdyourtongue；don’tinterrupt。“
“Toprison。Iftherewassomethingtogofor，I’dgo；butjusttogofornothing！Whatfor？Ihaven’tstolenanything，I
believe，andI’venotbeenfighting。Ifyouareindoubtaboutthearrears，yourhonour，don’tbelievetheelder。
Youasktheagenthe’saregularheathen，theelder，youknow。“
“Holdyourtongue。“
Iamholdingmytongue，asitis，“muttersDenis；“butthattheelderhasliedovertheaccount，I’lltakemyoathforit。
Therearethreeofusbrothers:KuzmaGrigoryev，thenYegorGrigoryev，andme，DenisGrigoryev。“
“Youarehinderingme。Hey，Semyon，“criesthemagistrate，“takehimaway！“
“Therearethreeofusbrothers，“muttersDenis，astwostalwartsoldierstakehimandleadhimoutoftheroom。“Abrotherisnotresponsibleforabrother。Kuzmadoesnotpay，soyou，Denis，mustanswerforit。Judgesindeed！Ourmasterthegeneralisdead——theKingdomofHeavenbehis——orhewouldhaveshownyoujudges。Yououghttojudgesensibly，notatrandom……Flogifyoulike，butflogsomeonewhodeservesit，flogwithconscience。“
NIKOLAYTCHIKILDYEEV，awaiterintheMoscowhotel，SlavyanskyBazaar，wastakenill。Hislegswentnumbandhisgaitwasaffected，sothatononeoccasion，ashewasgoingalongthecorridor，hetumbledandfelldownwithatrayfullofhamandpeas。Hehadtoleavehisjob。Allhisownsavingsandhiswife’swerespentondoctorsandmedicines；theyhadnothinglefttoliveupon。Hefeltdullwithnoworktodo，andhemadeuphismindhemustgohometothevillage。Itisbettertobeillathome，andlivingthereischeaper；anditisatruesayingthatthewallsofhomeareahelp。
HereachedZhukovotowardsevening。Inhismemoriesofchildhoodhehadpicturedhishomeasbright，snug，comfortable。Now，goingintothehut，hewaspositivelyfrightened；itwassodark，socrowded，sounclean。HiswifeOlgaandhisdaughterSasha，whohadcomewithhim，keptlookinginbewildermentatthebiguntidystove，whichfilledupalmosthalfthehutandwasblackwithsootandflies。Whatlotsofflies！Thestovewasononeside，thebeamslayslantingonthewalls，anditlookedasthoughthehutwerejustgoingtofalltopieces。Inthecorner，facingthedoor，undertheholyimages，bottlelabelsandnewspapercuttingswerestuckonthewallsinsteadofpictures。Thepoverty，thepoverty！Ofthegrown-uppeopletherewerenoneathome；allwereatworkattheharvest。Onthestovewassittingawhite-headedgirlofeight，unwashedandapathetic；shedidnotevenglanceatthemastheycamein。Onthefloorawhitecatwasrubbingitselfagainsttheovenfork。
“Puss，puss！“Sashacalledtoher。“Puss！“
“Shecan’thear，“saidthelittlegirl；“shehasgonedeaf。“
“Howisthat？“
“Oh，shewasbeaten。“
