I was astonished: the Jewess is too poor for such a house.
"The house," explains the beadle, "is not exactly hers. She pays only one-sixth of the rent—she is a widow—but the heirs, her children, do not live here—so she is called the mistress."
"How much does the house bring in?"
"Nothing at all."
"And it's worth?"
"About fifteen hundred rubles."
"And nothing is made by it?"
"It stands empty. Who should live there?"
"How do you mean, who?"
"Well, just who? Nearly everybody here has his own house, and if any one hires a lodging, he doesn't want to have to heat a special room. The custom here is for a tenant to pay a few rubles a year for the heating of a corner. Who wants such large rooms?"