This man would beat and abuse me even by way of expressing
approval

"A bright fellow, curse him!" he would say, punching me with an
air of admiration. Or, "Where did you get those brains of yours,
you wild beast?" with a violent pull at my forelock

During the winter months, when the exercises went on until 9 in
the evening, the candle or kerosene was paid for by the boys, in
rotation. When it was my turn to furnish the light it often
happened that my mother was unable to procure the required two
copecks (one cent). Then the teacher or his wife, or both, would
curse me for a sponge and a robber, and ask me why I did not go
to the charity school

Almost every teacher in town was known among us boys by some
nickname, which was usually borrowed from some trade. If he
had a predilection for pulling a boy's hair we would call him
"wig-maker" or "brush-maker"; if he preferred to slap or
"calcimine" the culprit's face we would speak of him as a mason.

A "coachman" was a teacher who did not spare the rod or the
whip; a "carpenter," one who used his finger as a gimlet, boring a
pupil's side or cheek; a "locksmith," one who had a weakness for
"turning the screw," or pinching

The greatest "locksmith" in town was a man named Shmerl. But
then he was more often called simply Shmerl the Pincher. He was
one of my schoolmasters.