Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol1.djvu/119

Rh Nozdryov swore that he had paid ten thousand for it.

'You didn't give ten thousand for him,' said his brother-in-law. 'He's not worth one.'

'Upon my soul, I did give ten thousand for him,' said Nozdryov.

'You can swear as much as you like,' answered his brother-in-law.

'Well, will you take a bet on it?' said Nozdryov.

His brother-in-law did not care to bet on it.

Then Nozdryov showed them the empty stalls in which there had once been other good horses. In the same stables they saw a goat, which in accordance with the old superstition they considered it essential to keep with the horses, and which seemed to be on the best of terms with them and walked about under their bellies as though it were at home there. Then Nozdryov led them to view a wolf-cub which was kept tied up. 'Here's the wolf-cub!' he said. 'I feed him on raw meat on purpose. I want him to be quite fierce.' They went to look at the pond, in which according to Nozdryov there were fish of such size that two men could with difficulty pull one out. His brother-in-law did not fail to express his doubts of the fact.

'I am going to show you, Tchitchikov, a couple of first-rate dogs: the strength of their black flesh is simply amazing, their hair is like needles'; and he led them into a very picturesquely built little house, surrounded by a large yard, fenced in on all sides. When they went into the yard they saw dogs of all kinds, borzoys of several breeds of all