"No," he said quietly to himself, "I have hit upon an idea: it should be equally good for all concerned! It is wonderful work to build, and it seems to me that I shall soon consider myself a happy man."
"Happy?" she asked wonderingly, measuring with her eyes the hunchback's body.
"Yes, you know people who work are quite unlike us, they awaken new thoughts in one.... How good it must be to be a bricklayer walking through the streets of a town where he has built dozens of houses. There are many socialists among the workers—steady, sober fellows, first of all. Truly they have their own sense of dignity.... Sometimes it seems to me that we don't understand our people."
"You are talking strangely," she said.
The hunchback was becoming animated, getting more and more talkative every day.
"In reality everything is turning out as you wished it: I am becoming a wise wizard who frees the town from freaks. You could be a good fairy if you wished. Why don't you help me?"
"We will speak about it later," she said, playing with her gold watch-chain.
Once he spoke out in a language quite unfamiliar to her:
"Maybe I have wronged you more than you have wronged me."
She was astonished.