Insolvent tenants openly defied the collector of the waterrate from their ten-roomed strongholds, and existed for weeks without any visible means of procuring that necessary fluid.

无力的房客，公然反抗收缴他的八居室要塞的水费的办事员，管看不出他有什么办法获得这种生活所必需的液体，可他继续生存好几个礼拜了。