Page:The Kiss and Other Stories by Anton Tchekhoff, 1908.pdf/84

 neither eat nor sleep; and I neglected my lessons. Even in dreams I thirsted to see a general, that is, a man with epaulets, a braided collar up to his ears, and a naked sword — just such a general as hung above the drawing-room sofa, and glared from his threatening black eyes at all who dared to face him. Alone Pobiedimsky felt at ease. He showed neither fright nor elation; and sometimes, listening to mother's history of the Gundasoffs, said indifferently—

"Yes; it will be nice to have a new man to talk to."

All of us looked on my tutor as an exceptional man. He was young — about twenty — pimpled and untidy, and he had a small forehead and an extraordinarily long nose. His nose indeed was so long that to look intently at anything he had to turn his head aside, as a bird. Despite these defects, the household believed that the whole province could not produce an abler, more cultivated, more gallant man. He had been through all six classes of the gymnasium, but was expelled from a veterinary institute before he had been there half a year. As the cause of his expulsion was carefully concealed, those who liked him regarded him as a martyred, somewhat mysterious man. He spoke little, always on serious themes, ate meat during fasts, and looked with hauteur and contempt on the society around. This, indeed, did not hinder him accepting presents of clothes from my mother, or painting on my kites ugly faces with red