ABSTRACT
The cottage in which Stalin first saw the light of day has but one living-room. Its rent was one and a half roubles. Life was not easy for Keke. Sosso, like the two brothers whom he never knew, was born a sickly child. His left arm was shorter than the right, and he could move it only with difficulty. The second and third toes of each foot were joined together. At eleven years of age Sosso was a cheerful, rowdy urchin, who took part in all the games of his schoolfellows, especially the ball games; and he was passionately fond of singing. He was rather short in stature, but strong and broad-shouldered. Little Sosso's voice rang out under the vaulted roof of the cathedral, as the worshippers besought God to grant long life and happiness to the Tsar, the Tsarina, and the little Grand Duke Nicholas, the future Tsar Nicholas II.
