'May it be to the gentlemen's health!'
'But we cannot fleece you like this, gospodyni.'
'We don't take money for hospitality. Besides, you have already given my boy as much as if he had been harvesting a whole day.'
'There!' whispered the younger man to the elder, 'isn't that like
Polish peasants?'
To Slimak they said: 'After such a reception we will promise to build the station quite near to you.'
'I don't know what you mean?'
'We are going to build a railway.'
Slimak scratched his head.
'What makes you so doubtful?' asked the men.
'I'm thinking that this will turn out badly for us,' Slimak replied; 'I shan't earn anything by driving.'