But the carp are past hearing.
The carp lie dying on the floor, and the pike are having a dispute.
Both opine that any proper leap would carry one into the river, but one says that other fish are wanted, not stupid carp, who can only leap in the water, who cannot exist for an hour without food, and that what are wanted are—electric fish!
And the other says: "No, carp—only, lots and lots of carp. If one hundred thousand carp were to leap, one would certainly fall into the river, and if one fell in, why, then—ha, ha!"
XIX
THE FAST
A winter's night; Sarah sits by the oil-lamp, darning an old sock. She works slowly, for her fingers are half-frozen; her lips are blue and brown with cold; every now and then she lays down her work and runs up and down the room to warm her icy feet.
In a bed, on a bare straw mattress, sleep four children—two little heads at each end—covered up with some old clothes.