No? Then you are more fortunate than I, for I certainly am, and freezing is not the death I wished for myself.

[ He does laugh at the beard comment, though. He could shave, he might shave, but he doesn’t feel like doing it. It takes a great deal more effort than he has right now. ]

All the better if it does! I will not need to look upon it any longer. It was once law in Russia that no man could wear a beard without paying a tax. Perhaps here, they will institute the opposite. Only those without beards must pay a tax.