The starshinà explained all this to me, and asked if I would consent. I agreed immediately; for the work involved would be a welcome relief to the monotony of my life, and was for a useful end. One circumstance only made me a little anxious—association with the prìstav might be awkward. However, the starshinà assured me that the man heartily regretted that old affair, would gladly have it forgotten, and bore me no grudge. One other obstacle—the difficulty of obtaining permission from the superintendent of the convict settlement—the starshinà himself undertook to remove.
The business was soon arranged, and I—the “political criminal”—was suddenly clothed with official dignity. I was to take the census in a village about fifteen versts away, with a large population of about a thousand souls; and I was then to enumerate the people of another village in conjunction with the pope.It was very interesting to look up these peculiar people in their own homes and to make personal acquaintance with them. Of course, there were many comical episodes and absurd misunderstandings; and on the other hand, I had glimpses of very sad—even tragic—circumstances serving out each person’s due portion with careful impartiality. .
that the inhabitants expressed their gratitude to me in various ways, and the officials seemed to be impressed by my promptitude. I had accomplished my task some little time previously when one day in January, 1897, the starshinà paid me 319another visit. The good man had again something to ask me. It was prescribed by the instructions that the head of every census-area should finally call together a certain number of the persons who had undertaken the work of enumeration in his district—one from each commune—to correct the results and draw up a general report.
The head of our district was, as I have said, my old opponent the prìstav; and I now learned that that gentleman was particularly desirous to persuade me, through the mediation of the starshinà, to represent our commune—the Shilkìnskaya Vòiost—at the committee of census-takers for his district.
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