Мертвые души
Chapter 4
“Sir,”hesaidtriumphantly,“youmayrestassuredthattheworkhasbeenexecutedexactlyasitoughttohavebeenexecuted.Noone,exceptinSt.Petersburg,couldhavedoneitbetter.”Asamatteroffact,thetailorhimselfhailedfromSt.Petersburg,butcalledhimselfonhissignboard“ForeignCostumierfromLondonandParis”—thetruthbeingthatbytheuseofadouble-barrelledflourishofcitiessuperiortomere“Karlsruhe”and“Copenhagen”hedesignedtoacquirebusinessandcutouthislocalrivals.
Chichikovgraciouslysettledtheman’saccount,and,assoonashehadgone,paradedatleisure,andconamore,andafterthemannerofanartistofaesthetictaste,beforethemirror.Somehowheseemedtolookbetterthaneverinthesuit,forhischeekshadnowtakenonastillmoreinterestingair,andhischinanaddedseductiveness,whilehiswhitecollarlenttonetohisneck,thebluesatintieheightenedtheeffectofthecollar,thefashionabledickeysetoffthetie,therichsatinwaistcoatemphasisedthedickey,andthesmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colourfrockcoat,shininglikesilk,splendidlyroundedoffthewhole.Whenheturnedtotherighthelookedwell:whenheturnedtothelefthelookedevenbetter.Inshort,itwasacostumeworthyofaLordChamberlainorthespeciesofdandywhoshrinksfromswearingintheRussianlanguage,butamplyrelieveshisfeelingsinthelanguageofFrance.
