"Well, brethren, open your ears!" shouted Kononov, with
satisfaction.
"Gentlemen of the merchant class!" began Mayakin with a smile.
"There is a certain foreign word in the language of intelligent
and learned people, and that word is 'culture.' So now I am going
to talk to you about that word in all the simplicity of my soul."
"So, that's where he is aiming to!" some ones satisfied
exclamation was heard.
"Sh! Silence!"
"Dear gentlemen!" said Mayakin, raising his voice, "in the
newspapers they keep writing about us merchants, that we are not
acquainted with this 'culture,' that we do not want it, and do
not understand it. And they call us savage, uncultured people.
What is culture? It pains me, old man as I am, to hear such
words, and one day I made it my business to look up that word, to
see what it really contains." Mayakin became silent, surveyed the
audience with his eyes, and went on distinctly, with a triumphant
smile:
"It proved, upon my researches, that this word means worship,
that is, love, great love for business and order in life.
Pages:
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596