Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/18



and his family lived as tenants in the house of a brother peasant. He owned no land and had no home of his own. His name was Simeon, and he supported his wife and children by hard work at his trade. The cost of living was dear, while wages were low, and the shoemaker's earnings were barely sufficient to buy the necessary food. He had only one fur coat for himself and wife. As this garment contained many holes and was nearly worn out, he had been trying for more than a year to save enough money for the purchase of a new sheep-skin coat. By the autumn he had accumulated a little money—three rubles were lying in his