This theory afforded the Shimerdas great
satisfaction, apparently. For weeks afterward, whenever Jake and I met
Antonia on her way to the post-office, or going along the road with her
work-team, she would clap her hands and call to us in a spiteful, crowing
voice:
`Jake-y, Jake-y, sell the pig and pay the slap!'
Otto pretended not to be surprised at Antonia's behaviour. He only lifted
his brows and said, `You can't tell me anything new about a Czech; I'm an
Austrian.'
Grandfather was never a party to what Jake called our feud with the
Shimerdas. Ambrosch and Antonia always greeted him respectfully, and he
asked them about their affairs and gave them advice as usual. He thought
the future looked hopeful for them. Ambrosch was a far-seeing fellow; he
soon realized that his oxen were too heavy for any work except breaking
sod, and he succeeded in selling them to a newly arrived German. With the
money he bought another team of horses, which grandfather selected for him.
Marek was strong, and Ambrosch worked him hard; but he could never teach
him to cultivate corn, I remember. The one idea that had ever got through
poor Marek's thick head was that all exertion was meritorious. He always
bore down on the handles of the cultivator and drove the blades so deep
into the earth that the horses were soon exhausted.
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