a quarter
past five
They had , of course , put their dining table in the kitchen , and the dining room was used as the bedroom of Teta Elzbieta and five of her children . She and the two youngest slept in the only bed , and the other three had a mattress on the floor . Ona and her cousin dragged a mattress into the parlor and slept at night , and the three men and the oldest boy slept in the other room , having nothing but the very level floor to rest on for the present . Even so , however , they slept soundly -- it was necessary for Teta Elzbieta to pound more than once on the door at a quarter past five every morning . She would have ready a great pot full of steaming black coffee , and oatmeal and bread and smoked sausages ; and then she would fix them their dinner pails with more thick slices of bread with lard between them -- they could not afford butter -- and some onions and a piece of cheese , and so they would tramp away to work . This was the first time in his life that he had ever really worked , it seemed to Jurgis ; it was the first time that he had ever had anything to do which took all he had in him . Jurgis had stood with the rest up in the gallery and watched the men on the killing beds , marveling at their speed and power as if they had been wonderful machines ; it somehow never occurred to one to think of the flesh-and-blood side of it -- that is , not until he actually got down into the pit and took off his coat .