concept
Peasant footwear economy
shoe leather
also: башмаки, shoe leather
Footwear was a valued, carefully rationed possession among the rural poor; Biryukov's jab that his mother has wasted shoe leather walking out to see him needlessly is a petty but pointed insult about squandered resources.
Reading notes
- At the Mill §31 Башмаков не жалко
The miller's jab about wearing out shoe leather on an unnecessary visit reflects the real cost of footwear to a poor rural family -- shoes were a valued, carefully rationed possession, making the complaint a petty but pointed insult about wasted resources.