"You are not a sceptic, nor are you a blasé, nor a disciple of Voltaire; you are a marmot,[A] and a culpable marmot; a marmot with a conscience, not a naïve marmot.

"You are not a sceptic, nor are you a blasé, nor a disciple of Voltaire; you are a marmot,[A] and a culpable marmot; a marmot with a conscience, not a naïve marmot.

How happy the birds are all summer and some of them all winter; how the pouched marmots drive tunnels under the snow, and how fine and brave a life the slandered coyote lives here, and the deer and bears!

Throughout all time the wretched marmot is making up its mind to work" "But, after all, what are you scolding about?" cried Lavretsky in his turn.