“Even gaki are a multitude (or, ‘population’).” This is a popular saying used in a variety of ways. The ordinary meaning is to the effect that no matter how poor or miserable the individuals composing a multitude, they collectively represent a respectable force. Jocosely the saying is sometimes used of a crowd of wretched or tired-looking people,–sometimes of an assembly of weak boys desiring to make some demonstration,–sometimes of a miserable-looking company of soldiers. Among the lowest classes of the people it is not uncommon to call a deformed or greedy person a “gaki.”http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/igj/igj12.htm
