Clementius Stupnagel di Montefalcone: the saga of a smart artist (smartast)

Chapter six
It was in the subway that CSM learned how to cope with the hunger that was taking a toll on his family (mother making a meager living again as a maid, father spending all the money at the racetracks). Being quite small, he was unable to attain the peanut vending machine
glass spheres of the subway stations by himself, so he asked help from other passengers who hoisted him up to the required level.
The glass sphere gave way to a metallic opening with a hatch, and within this opening there would always be a few peanuts left which could be recovered for free. After a little practice, CSM was
able to recover about ten peanuts a day and thus avoid dying from hunger. With this very nourishing supplement to his normally-meager diet, he rapidly grew and was able to attain the peanut vendor opening without the help of other passengers, but by means of a folding contraption that he invented and carried around with him.