'Don't you like it?'
'Like it? vodka is nothing compared to this!' Slimak's voice sounded natural again. 'Isn't it just full of spice!' he added, and revived rapidly.
'Now tell me all about it,' began the priest: 'I remember you as a prosperous gospodarz.'
'It would be a long story to tell your Reverence. One of my sons was drowned, the other is in jail; my wife is dead, my horses were stolen, my house burnt down. It all began with the squire's selling the village, and with the railway and the Germans coming here. Then Josel set everyone against me, because I had been selling fowls and other things to the surveyors; even now he is doing his best to…'
'But why does everyone go to Josel for advice?' interrupted the priest.
'To whom is one to go, begging your Reverence's pardon? We peasants are ignorant people. The Jews know about everything, and sometimes they give good advice.'
The priest winced. The peasant continued excitedly:
'There were no wages coming in from the manor, and the Germans took the two acres I had rented from the squire.'
'But let me see,' said the priest, 'wasn't it you to whom the squire offered those two acres at a great deal less than they were worth?'
'Certainly it was me!'