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whether they still lived or were dead; past all grief and yearning.
At last we turned him out.
When starvation[1] began he was seized with fear, and a very comical fear. He liked to eat very much, this poor little pig, but he was terribly afraid of his dear friends, and still more, afraid of his chief. He wandered among us like one distraught! He wandered among us, wiping his brow stained by tears and perspiration. He asked me in an uncertain voice:
“Do you intend to starve yourself long?”
“Long!” I replied severely.
“Will you not eat anything secretly?”
“Well, our mammies will send us cakes,” I answered earnestly.
He looked at me with doubts, shook his head, and heaving a sigh, went off.
- ↑ In he prisons in Russia the political prisoners, in order to obtain some ease or privileges, refuse to eat, until they compel the authorities to give them what they ask for.
