“‘Well, then, I’ll tell you a thing or two myself: the shovel’s broken again, the walk isn’t swept, the horse hasn’t been watered.... The horse is a dumb animal and can’t talk ... but just the same it’s alive and feels.... Hear it whinney?...’
“This argument so overwhelmed Gavrilo that he turned, thoroughly and definitely crushed, and went straight to the stable. In a minute, just as if he were sober, he took the horse to the trough.... M. Budnikov quietly locked his door and came out. As he came past my wall he guessed that I had seen the whole affair, stopped, and with a sad shake of his head, remarked:
“‘Yes, every one’s talking of the people, the people.... How do they fall in love with them?...’”
VIII
“The scandal began to attract attention. It was talked about in the city. Various opinions were held. Some defended Budnikov. Was it worth while to believe mere rumors? Really no one knew anything. Some were stupid stories; others, evident scandals and an unseemly breaking of the general quiet.... But there was another side. People of the lower classes sympathized with Gavrilo. They thought that the wise and strong M. Budnikov must have filched from Gavrilo some sort of a talisman and was now committing sorcery so that the talisman would lose its power.... So dozens of eyes were turned to the windows of M. Budnikov and looked at him as he passed, stubbornly and calmly, apparently unaware of the cloud of misunderstanding, suspicion, condemnation, question, ... yes, sin, which trailed after him. Every look expressed an evil thought and every heart was heating with an evil feeling.... It was a peculiar sort of dark cloud.... Hundreds of individual spiritual movements, confused, unclear, but evil.... And all aimed at one centre....
“I must say Budnikov had been rather popular and enjoyed the respect of all.... Even Rogov, when he happened to pass our yard and saw M. Budnikov with a shovel or rake, always stopped and said:
“‘M. Budnikov, Semen Nikolayevich, is working.... He who works shall eat.’
“Or:
“‘M. Budnikov is helping his neighbor, the porter, with the work of his hands. Most laudable!’
“Then he passed on as by an object to which he was indifferent or at which he was pleasantly amused.