Мертвые души
Chapter 5
”
“No,forIseethatyouareunwillingtosell.Imustsaygood-daytoyou.”
“Holdon,holdon!”exclaimedSobakevitch,retaininghisguest’shand,andatthesamemomenttreadingheavilyuponhistoes—soheavily,indeed,thatChichikovgaspedanddancedwiththepain.
“IBEGyourpardon!”saidSobakevitchhastily.“EvidentlyIhavehurtyou.Praysitdownagain.”
“No,”retortedChichikov.“Iammerelywastingmytime,andmustbeoff.”
“Oh,sitdownjustforamoment.Ihavesomethingmoreagreeabletosay.”And,drawingclosertohisguest,Sobakevitchwhisperedinhisear,asthoughcommunicatingtohimasecret:“Howabouttwenty-fiveroubles?”
“No,no,no!”exclaimedChichikov.“Iwon’tgiveyouevenaQUARTERofthat.Iwon’tadvanceanotherkopeck.”
ForawhileSobakevitchremainedsilent,andChichikovdidthesame.Thislastedforacoupleofminutes,and,meanwhile,theaquiline-nosedBagrationgazedfromthewallasthoughmuchinterestedinthebargaining.
“Whatisyouroutsideprice?”atlengthsaidSobakevitch.
“Twoandahalfroubles.”
“Thenyouseemtorateahumansoulataboutthesamevalueasaboiledturnip.AtleastgivemeTHREEroubles.”
“No,Icannot.”
“Pardonme,butyouareanimpossiblemantodealwith.However,eventhoughitwillmeanadeadlosstome,andyouhavenotshownaverynicespiritaboutit,Icannotwellrefusetopleaseafriend.Isupposeapurchasedeedhadbetterbemadeoutinordertohaveeverythinginorder?”
“Ofcourse.”
“Thenforthatpurposeletusrepairtothetown.
