Read "The Day of Atonement" by Vladimir Korolenko online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
I must admit I didn't mean to tell you all this about my friend, but it's too late to take it back now. I've begun the story and I shall go on to the end. A song's not a song, they say, if a word is missing. And after all, if the miller doesn't hide anything, why should I?
You see, the state of affairs was this. All old Yankel had ever wanted had been human money. If he heard with one corner of his ear that someone had a rouble or two loose in his pocket his heart would give him a little prod and he would immediately think of some way in which he could pull up that rouble and put it to work for him, as one might pull a fish out of somebody else's pond. If he succeeded, he and his Sarah would rejoice over their good fortune.