As for antibodies, what stuck with me more was the remark of a stranger in the stalls, who explained why everyone (not quite everyone, of course, but the especially brazen) was going maskless

As for antibodies, what stuck with me more was the remark of a stranger in the stalls, who explained why everyone (not quite everyone, of course, but the especially brazen) was going maskless. It is one thing when the Cossacks with their rifles go without masks: according to the text they are supposed to bear it all with "no cry, no groan… even when they began to break the bones of their arms and legs". But a good many society ladies might have shown a little more heightened social responsibility, especially under the persuasive exclamations of an elderly ticket-collector. At Molochnikov's parting words, "all the same, why are you without masks", not a single hand stirred in the direction of a pocket 🌚