The six-year period 1882-1888 was difficult. Papadiamantis’ finances were in disrepair and debts were increasing rapidly. As French was widely spoken and his Italian was not good, he decided to learn a less common language in order to earn his living from translations. He chose English because of his old ambition to read Shakespeare and Milton in the original. He also felt that there was a market for translations from English news-sources. In November 1888 he became a regular translator for the newspaper 'Efimerida', published by Dimitris Koromilas. The job was mundane and he tried to finish it as quickly as possible, before joining his friends for wine or attending the vigil in the church.