How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph) We used Stanley Corngold's translation.
Quote #4
For he alone, and no other initiate, knew how easy it was to starve. It was the easiest thing in the world. He did not keep this fact a secret, but no one believed him. (3)
It isn't clear what an "initiate" is, except perhaps someone who knows more about the art of starvation than the average spectator. But even initiates don't believe the hunger artist.
Quote #5
[…] no one had any reason to be dissatisfied with what he had seen – no one, that is, except for the starvation artist, he alone, always. (3)
The artist wants to reach the limits of his art, to show that he can starve for far longer than forty days. But no one cares to watch. His artistic goals totally separate him from his audience.
Quote #6
And so he lived […] in apparent glory, honored by the world, but for all that usually in a melancholy mood, which grew increasingly so because no one was able to take it seriously. (4)
The artist's feeling of being misunderstood, even at the height of his popularity, makes him depressed and grumpy.