‘Who are you?’ asked my hostess.
‘I am a bohomolets, from beyond Vologda; I am returning from Solovetsk, and going to Véliki-Novgorod, to worship the bones of the saints....’
‘You do well; God be your help! Show me your passport.’
I handed to her my shabby little pass, repressing any show of anxiety; but she evidently could not read, and only looked at the stamp, then said to me: ‘How long do you think of remaining here?’
‘From three to five days at the most; I must just rest a little.’
‘Then I will tell you what it is, it is perfectly useless for you to go to the Police?’
‘Just as you please; I don’t know the ways of this place. But why is it no use to go to the Police?’
‘Well, you see, I should have to go with you, and that is too much trouble for me.’
‘Why must you go?’
‘Because, you see, the Police have lately become so plaguily exacting. Formerly, it used to suffice if the new-comer himself went to the Prefecture; but now nothing will serve them but to see his landlord along with him. Then there is always such a crowd of people at the office, that one has to wait ever so long before one’s turn comes round. If one has a lodger for a month or a year, then it is worth one’s pains to go through all this trouble and fatigue; but if he is only to stay a night or two, one would never gain a living, for the time would be spent in coming and going. One could not do a hand’s-turn in one’s own house at that rate, and people must live, you know; and it is but little bread that one gets from the Police. And that is why we prefer not to make any declaration, when the lodger only remains for a few days; we find it the best plan, and if at the Prefecture they do not hear all they might like to hear, I cannot say I think there is any harm done.’