The Twelve Chairs / Двенадцать стульев. Книга для чтения на английском языке

For a second the rooftops were lit by the blaze from the firebox. Now and then empty goods trains went by, and from time to time detonators could be heard exploding. Amid the huts and temporary wooden barracks stretched the long brick walls of still damp blocks of flats.

Ostap passed an island of lights-the railway workers' club-checked the address from a piece of paper, and halted in front of the record-keeper's house. He rang a bell marked В«Please RingВ» in embossed letters.

After prolonged questioning as to В«Who do you want?В» and В«What is it about?В» the door was opened, and he found himself in a dark, cupboard-cluttered hallway.

Someone breathed on him in the darkness, but did not speak.

В«Is Citizen Korobeinikov here?В» asked Ostap.

The person who had been breathing took Ostap by the arm and led him into a dining-room lit by a hanging kerosene lamp. Ostap saw in front of him a prissy little old man with an unusually flexible spine. There was no doubt that this was Citizen Korobeinikov himself.

Without waiting for an invitation, Ostap moved up a chair and sat down.

The old man looked fearlessly at the high-handed stranger and remained silent. Ostap amiably began the conversation.

В«I've come on business. You work at the communal-services records office, don't you?В»

The old man's back started moving and arched affirmatively.

В«And you worked before that in the housing division?В»

В«I have worked everywhereВ», he answered gaily.

В«Even in the Tsarist town administration?В»

Here Ostap smiled graciously.

The old man's back contorted for some time and finally ended up in a position implying that his employment in the Tsarist town administration was something long passed and that it was not possible to remember everything for sure.'

В«And may I ask what I can do for you?В» said the host, regarding his visitor with interest.

В«You mayВ», answered the visitor. В«I am Vorobyaninov's sonВ».

В«Whose? The marshal's?В»

В«YesВ».

В«Is he still alive?В»

В«He's dead, Citizen Korobeinikov.

He's gone to his restВ».

В«YesВ», said the old man without any particular grief, В«a sad event. But I didn't think he had any childrenВ».

В«He didn'tВ», said Ostap amiably in confirmation.

В«What do you mean?В»

В«I'm from a morganatic marriageВ».

В«Not by any chance Elena Stanislavovna's son?В»

В«Right!В»

В«How is she?В»

В«Mum's been in her grave some timeВ».

В«I see. I see. How sadВ».