MAXIME GORKY
Serejka regarded his rents with a reproachful air and shook his head.
"Give me one of your skirts, that'll be better."
"Yes, I can," said Malva, laughing.
"I'm serious. You must have an old one you don't want."
"You'd do better to buy yourself a pair of trousers."
"I prefer to drink the money."
Serejka rose and, jingling his twenty kopeks, shuffled off, followed by a strange smile from Malva.
When he was some distance away, Iakov said:
"In our village such a braggart would soon have been put in his place. Here, every one seems afraid of him."
Malva looked at Iakov and replied, disdainfully:
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