Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol1.djvu/195

Rh in the heights as they vanished into the impenetrable darkness seemed to resent the tawdry brilliance that lighted up their roots below.

Plyushkin had been standing for some minutes without uttering a word, and still Tchitchikov, distracted both by the appearance of the landowner himself and by all that was in his room, could not think how to begin the conversation. For a long while he could not imagine in what words to explain the object of his visit. He had intended to use some such expression as 'that having heard of his virtues and the rare qualities of his soul, he had thought it his duty to pay him his respects in person'; but he hesitated and felt that this was too much. Casting another sidelong look at all the things in the room, he felt that the words 'virtues' or 'rare qualities of soul,' might be suitably replaced by the words 'economy' and 'good management,' and so, adapting his speech accordingly, he said, that, having heard of his economy and rare skill in the management of his estates, he had thought it his duty to make his acquaintance and pay his respects in person. No doubt a better reason might have been found, but nothing else occurred to him at the moment.

To this Plyushkin muttered something between his lips,—he had no teeth,—what it was exactly is not certain, but probably the gist of it was: 'The deuce take you and your respects'; but, as hospitality is so traditional a duty among us that even a miser cannot bring himself to