Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol1.djvu/29

Rh thick eyebrows and with the left eye given to winking slightly as though to say: 'Come into the next room, my boy, I have something to tell you,' though he was a serious and taciturn man; the postmaster, a short man who was a wit and a philosopher; the president of the court, a very sagacious and polite man,—all of whom welcomed him as an old acquaintance, while Tchitchikov responded to their civilities by profuse bows a little to one side but no less agreeable for that. Then he made the acquaintance of a very civil and affable landowner called Manilov, and another, somewhat clumsy-looking, called Sobakevitch who to begin with trod on his foot, saying, 'I beg your pardon.' Then they thrust upon him a card for whist, which he accepted with the same polite bow. They sat down to a green table and did not get up before supper. All conversation ceased entirely, as is always the case when people give themselves up to an important occupation. Though the postmaster was a very talkative person, yet as soon as he took up his cards his face at once became expressive of thought, while his upper lip was drawn down over the lower one and remained so all the time he was playing. When he played a court card, he would strike the table violently with his hand, saying if it were a queen, 'Away with you, old priest's wife,' if it were a king, 'Away with you, Tambov peasant!'—while the president would say, 'I'll pull his whiskers, I'll pull her whiskers!' Sometimes as cards were slapped down on the table, comments burst out, 'Ah, come what may!