Short Fiction - Ivan Bunin (fantasy novels to read .txt) š
- Author: Ivan Bunin
Book online Ā«Short Fiction - Ivan Bunin (fantasy novels to read .txt) šĀ». Author Ivan Bunin
āDonāt you bother me now,ā heād say, āIām liable to do something that will lead to prison.ā
And when heād get tipsy, heād start slobbering, laughing over nothing at all; heād be playing āTime Fled Beyond Recallā on his accordion, and his eyes would fill with tears. Well, I see my affairs are in a bad wayā ātime for me to get married, soon as I can. And right then they was trying to make a match betwixt me and a certain widowerā āhe had a store, too, and lived in a suburb. An elderly man, he was, but in good standing, with means. Just the very thing, you understand, that I was striving for. I find out as quickly as I can from trustworthy folks all about his life, down to the last stitch; I see thereās nothing out of the way whatsoever. I got to decide about getting up an acquaintance as quick as possibleā āthe matchmaker had only shown us to each other in church before that; I got to bring it about, you understand, soās we can visit each otherā āsort of make an inspection, as it were. He comes to me first, and gives his credentials: āLagutin, Nikolai Ivannichā āstorekeeper.ā āVery pleased to meet you,ā I says. I see heās altogether a fine manā ānot any too tall, of course, and all gray; but so agreeable, quiet, neat, diplomaticā āyou could see he was a thrifty sort; he had never run up a copper of debt to anybody in all his life, he says. Then me and the matchmaker went to see him, like it was on business. We get there. I see heās got a wine-cellarā āRhine wines, mostly; and a store stocked with everything that goes with wines: cured lard, now, and ham, and sardines, and herrings. The house wasnāt large, but neat as a pin. There was flowers and little curtains on the windows, the floor was swept cleanā āeven though he were a bachelor. In the yard everything was in order, too. There was three cows and two horses. One was a three-year-old broodmareā āheād been offered five hundred for it already, he said, but heād turned the offer down. Well, I just went into raptures watching that horseā āthatās how handsome it was! But he only smiles quiet-like, walks with little steps before us, crackling his fingers, and telling us everything, like he was reading off some price-list: hereās this and this, and thereās that and that.ā āā ā¦ So, thinks I, itās no use trying to be too smart here; the business ought to be brought to an end quick.ā āā ā¦
Of course, itās only now that Iām telling all these things so briefly; but only my poor head knows what feelings I went through at that time! I couldnāt feel my legs under me for joyā āIād gotten what I was after, you see, I had found the party I was looking for! But I kept silent, I was afraid and shivering all overā āsupposing all my hopes was to be dashed down? And thatās almost what did happen; all my trouble almost went for nothingā āand I canāt tell calmly the reason why, even now;ā āit was on account of this here poor cripple, and on account of my darling little son! We was managing this business so quietly, so genteel, that we thought never a soul would know. But no, I hear that the entire suburb already knows about my intentions and Nikolai Ivannichās; the rumour, of course, reached the Samokhvalovs as wellā ānever fear, it was nobody else but Polkanikha that whispered it to them. And he, the poor cripple, now, took and hung himself, like Iām telling you! āThere now, youā āI threatened and you didnāt believe me, so now, Iāll do it just to spite
Comments (0)