Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol2.djvu/161

Rh hands of the court officials. They liked him however and entertained him. So one day when he was at dinner with them, he said: "Well, gentlemen, I hope one day you will come and see me on the prince's estate." They said: "We'll come." It happened not long afterwards that the court had to conduct an examination on the estate of Count Trehmetyev, whom no doubt your Excellency knows also.'

'I don't know him.'

'They didn't make the examination, but all the officials of the court betook them to the quarters of the count's steward, an old man, and for three days and three nights they played cards without stopping. The samovar and punch of course were on the table all the time. The old man got sick of them. To get rid of them he said to them: "You had better go and see the prince's German steward, gentlemen, he lives not far from here." "Oh, to be sure," they said, and half drunk, unshaven as they were and drowsy, they got into a cart and went off to the German's. … And the German, I must tell your Excellency, had only just got married; he had married a boarding-school miss, quite young and very genteel—(Tchitchikov expressed her gentility in his face). They were sitting at tea, the two of them, thinking of nothing at all, when the door opened, and the whole crew of them came reeling in.'

I can fancy—a nice set!' said the general laughing.

'The steward was so taken aback that he said;