Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol2.djvu/173

Rh orders to every one. He was so fat that he could not under any circumstances have drowned, and however he had tumbled and turned trying to dive the water would have always borne him on the surface; and if a couple of men had sat on his back he would have remained floating like an obstinate bubble, though he might have snorted a bit and blown bubbles from his mouth and nose.

'Pavel Ivanovitch,' said Selifan, turning round on the box, 'that must be Colonel Koshkaryov.'

'Why do you think so?'

'Because his body's whiter than the others, and he is more corpulent and dignified, like a gentleman.'

The shouts meanwhile were becoming more distinct. The water-melon gentleman was shouting rapidly in a ringing voice:

'Hand it to Kozma, Denis, hand it to him, Kozma, take the tail from Denis. Big Foma, shove there where Little Foma is. Keep to the right, keep to the right. Stay, stay, the devil take you both! You've caught me round the navel. You have tangled me in it, I tell you, confound you, you have caught me in it!'

Those who were dragging on the right side of the net stopped, seeing that an unforeseen accident had occurred: their master was caught in the net.

'I say,' said Selifan to Petrushka, 'they have caught their master like a fish.'

The gentleman floundered about and trying