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Sergei was not angry at the beggar any longer. He felt sorry and

ashamed of himself to put the poor man at hard work in such cold

weather despite the fact that he was not fit enough to do it.

An hour later Olga came in and announced that the wood had all been

chopped.

After an hour, Olga went to Sergei and told him that all the pieces of

wood had been chopped.

“Good! Give him half a rouble,” said Sergei. “If he wants to he can come

back and cut wood on the first day of each month. We can always find

work for him.”

Sergei was glad that the beggar had done the work. He asked Olga to

pay him half a Rouble. He added that she could tell him to come on the

first day of every month to cut wood. They could give him some work.

On the first of the month the waif made his appearance and again

earned half a rouble, although he could barely stand on his legs. From

that day on he often appeared in the yard and every time work was

found for him. Now he would shovel snow, now put the wood-shed in

order, now beat the dust out of rugs and mattresses. Every time he

received from twenty to forty copecks, and once, even pair of old

trousers were sent out to him.

Waif: a homeless person

Shovel: remove snow with a shovel (a tool resembling a spade with a

broad blade and typically upturned sides)

The beggar turned up on the first of the month and got half a Rouble

although he was heavily drunk and could not even stand on his feet. He

went there for work often. He would do various jobs like shovelling the

snow, set the wood in the shed, beat the rugs to remove the dust and he