Page:Korolenko - Makar's Dream and Other Stories.djvu/265

Rh "Hey! Have you heard the news?" they cried. "Only a pair of shoes came back from the city last night instead of the inn-keeper."

It was the talk of the village that morning, and the amount of gossip was sinful!

When Yankel's widow had a pair of shoes returned to her instead of her husband, she lost her head entirely and didn't know what in the world to do. To make matters worse, Yankel had wisely taken all his bonds to town with him, never dreaming that Khapun would get him that night. How could the poor Jew guess that out of the whole Hebrew congregation the devil would happen to choose him?

"That's the way people always are, they never know, they never feel when trouble like, for instance, Khapun is hanging over their heads."

So spoke the village folk, shaking their heads as they left the inn where the young Jewess and her children were tearing their clothes and beating their foreheads on the floor. And at the same time each man thought to himself:

"Well, anyhow, the bond I gave him has gone to the devil!"

To tell you the truth, there were very few in the village whose consciences whispered to them:

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to return the principal to the Jewess even if we kept the interest."

And the fact is no one gave up so much as one crooked penny.