In this ditch, reeking with its impurities, in the midst of the deafening noise and the filthy language, children were always darting about, children of every age, but all equally dirty, famished, and degraded. They ran about there from morning till evening; depending for their livelihood on the kindness of the vendors, and on the nimbleness of their own little hands: at night they slept where they could, in the shelter of doorways, under the counter used by a pastry-vendor, in the embrasure of a cellar-window. No sooner had the dawn appeared, than these emaciated victims of rickets and scrofula were again on their feet, beginning their work of stealing what they could get hold of in the way of choice bits, and of begging for those which were no longer salable. To whom did these children belong? To everyone. It was here, in this street, that Cain prowled about day after day, crying his goods, which he sold to the women. They were in the habit of borrowing twenty kopecks from him for a few hours, under obligation of paying back twenty-two, and they never failed in their payments. Cain as a rule did a big business in the street; he bought shirts, caps, boots, and accordions from men on a spree, and from the women their petticoats, bodices, and cheap ornaments; he then exchanged these goods, or sold them at a profit of ten kopecks. And all the while he was exposed to their ridicule and blows; at times they even stripped him of his goods, but he never uttered a complaint; all he did was to smile, with that smile so tragically gentle.

Again, it happened sometimes that two or three youths, driven to excess by hunger and drink, would fall upon the Jew in one of the dark recesses of the town, and either from fear or from their blows he would fall to the ground, and lie there trembling at the feet of his assailants, digging convulsively in his pockets, and crying in a supplicating voice: “Sirs, good sirs, do not take all my kopecks—how then can I carry on my trade?”

And his thin face would be quivering with his endless smiles.

“Well, leave off whining! Just give us thirty kopecks.” These good gentlemen quite understood that the cow must be allowed to keep her udder if more milk is to be got from her. Sometimes Cain would rise and walk amicably beside them down the street, joking and smiling, the youths condescending so far as to exchange conversation with him and to make fun of him; and it was all done as naturally and frankly as possible.

Cain always looked a little thinner after an episode of this kind—that was all.

He did not appear to be on good terms with the Jewish community. He was but seldom seen walking with one of his coreligionists, and on these rare occasions it was noticed that the latter treated Cain with haughty contempt. There was even a rumor spread abroad that Cain was under the ban, and at one time the women peddlers called him cursed.

This, however, was not very likely, although Cain showed unmistakable signs of heresy; he did not observe Sabbath, and he ate meat that was not kosher. He was besieged with questions; first one and then another insisted or commanded that he should explain why he dared to eat things which were forbidden by his religion. He shrank into himself, smiled, and put off his questioners with some joking answer, or got away somehow without giving them any information concerning the beliefs and customs of the Jews.

Even the wretched children pursued him along the streets, throwing handfuls of mud, melon rinds, or other dirty objects at his back or into his box. He would try to stop them by speaking kindly to them, but more often he would plunge into the thick of the crowd, whither they dared not follow him, for fear of being trampled under foot.

And so Cain lived on from day to day; known to all and persecuted by all, he carried on his trade, he trembled with fear, he smiled—and then all at once fortune in her turn smiled on him.

There is no corner of the universe without its despot. At Shikhan this part was played by the handsome Artyom, a colossal fellow, with a round head covered by a forest of dark, curly hair, that fell in soft wayward ringlets over his forehead down to the beautiful velvety eyebrows, and the huge, dark, almond-shaped eyes which were always veiled by a soft dew. The nose was straight, of a classic correctness of form,