he could not even go with the men at noon-time -- he was
supposed to sit down and eat his dinner on a pile of ferti~
lizer dust.

This was not always his mood, of course; he still loved
his family. But just now was a time of trial. Poor little
Antanas, for instance -- who had never failed to win him
with a smile -- little Antanas was not smiling just now,
being a mass of fiery red pimples. He had had all the dis~
eases that babies are heir to, in quick succession, scarlet
fever, mumps, and whooping-cough in the first year, and
now he was down with the measles. There was no one
to attend him but Kotrina; there was no doctor to help
him, because they were too poor, and children did not
die of the measles -- at least not often. Now and then
Kotrina would find time to sob over his woes, but for the
greater part of the time he had to be left alone, barricaded
upon the bed. The floor was full of draughts, and if he
caught cold he would die. At night he was tied down,
lest he should kick the covers off him, while the family
lay in their stupor of exhaustion. He would lie and scream
for hours, almost in convulsions; and then, when he was
worn out, he would lie whimpering and wailing in his tor~
ment. He was burning up with fever, and his eyes were
running sores; in the daytime he was a thing uncanny
and impish to behold, a plaster of pimples and sweat, a
great purple lump of misery.

Yet all this was not really as cruel as it sounds, for, sick
as he was, little Antanas was the least unfortunate member
of that family. He was quite able to bear his sufferings --
it was as if he had all these complaints to show what a
prodigy of health he was. He was the child of his parents'
youth and joy; he grew up like the conjurer's rosebush,
and all the world was his oyster. In general, he toddled
around the kitchen all day with a lean and hungry look --
the portion of the family's allowance that fell to him was
not enough, and he was unrestrainable in his demand for
more. Antanas was but little over a year old, and already
no one but his father could manage him.

It seemed as if he had taken all of his mother's strength

[[166]]

p165 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p166w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p167

v?