Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol1.djvu/169

Rh do peasant women have a steam bath?' or 'How do little children steal peas, Misha?'

'I am wasting time really, I must make haste.'

'Stay just a minute longer, and I'll say something you would like to hear.' At this point Sobakevitch moved to a seat near him, and said softly in his ear as though it were a secret, 'Will a quarter suit you?'

'You mean twenty-five roubles? No, no, no! I wouldn't give a quarter of a quarter, I won't add a single farthing.'

Sobakevitch did not speak; Tchitchikov too was silent. The silence lasted for two minutes. Bagration with his eagle nose looked down attentively at the transaction.

'What is your final price?' Sobakevitch asked at last.

'Two and a half.'

'You have a soul like a boiled turnip. You might at least give me three roubles!'

'I can't.'

'Oh, there's no doing anything with you. Very well! It's a loss. But there, I'm like a dog, I can't help doing anything I can to please a fellow creature. I suppose I must make out a deed of purchase, so that it may all be done properly.'

'Of course.'

'And what's more, I shall have to go to the town.'

So the business was settled, they both decided to visit the town next day and to arrange the deed of purchase. Tchitchikov asked for a list of the