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[An Honest Thief] [1]
[A Novel in Nine Letters] [21]
[An Unpleasant Predicament] [36]
[Another Man's Wife] [101]
[The Heavenly Christmas Tree] [151]
[The Peasant Marey] [156]
[The Crocodile] [163]
[Bobok] [205]
[The Dream of a Ridiculous Man] [225]

AN HONEST THIEF

One morning, just as I was about to set off to my office, Agrafena, my cook, washerwoman and housekeeper, came in to me and, to my surprise, entered into conversation.

She had always been such a silent, simple creature that, except her daily inquiry about dinner, she had not uttered a word for the last six years. I, at least, had heard nothing else from her.

"Here I have come in to have a word with you, sir," she began abruptly; "you really ought to let the little room."

"Which little room?"

"Why, the one next the kitchen, to be sure."

"What for?"