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

Laurence, who had just come out of the inner room and was looking hot and bothered. Holding up his cassock in his right hand, Father Theodore hurried past towards the door, ignoring Ippolit Matveyevich.

It was then that Vorobyaninov noticed the extra cleanliness and the unsightly disorder of the sparse furniture, and felt a tickling sensation in his nose from the strong smell of medicine. In the outer room Ippolit Matveyevich was met by his neighbour, Mrs. Kuznetsov, the agronomist. She spoke in a whisper, moving her hand about.

В«She's worse. She's just made her confession. Don't make a noise with your bootsВ».

В«I'm notВ», said Ippolit Matveyevich meekly. В«What's happened?В»

Mrs. Kuznetsov sucked in her lips and pointed to the door of the inner room: В«Very severe heart attackВ».

Then, clearly repeating what she had heard, added: В«The possibility of her not recovering should not be discounted. I've been on my feet all day. I came this morning to borrow the mincer and saw the door was open.

There was no one in the kitchen and no one in this room either. So I thought Claudia Ivanovna had gone to buy flour to make some Easter cake. She'd been going to for some time. You know what flour is like nowadays. If you don't buy it beforehand …»

Mrs. Kuznetsov would have gone on for a long time describing the flour and the high price of it and how she found Claudia Ivanovna lying by the tiled stove completely unconscious, had not a groan from the next room impinged painfully on Ippolit Matveyevich's ear.

He quickly crossed himself with a somewhat feelingless hand and entered his mother-in-law's room.

РЎhapter Two. Madame Petukhov's Demise

Claudia Ivanovna lay on her back with one arm under her head. She was wearing a bright apricot-coloured cap of the type that used to be in fashion when ladies wore the В«chanticleerВ» and had just begun to dance the tango.

Claudia Ivanovna's face was solemn, but expressed absolutely nothing. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling.

В«Claudia Ivanovna!В» called Ippolit Matveyevich.

His mother-in-law moved her lips rapidly, but instead of the trumpet-like sounds to which his ear was accustomed, Ippolit Matveyevich only heard a groan, soft, high-pitched, and so pitiful that his heart gave a leap. A tear suddenly glistened in one eye and rolled down his cheek like a drop of mercury.

В«Claudia IvanovnaВ», repeated Vorobyaninov, В«what's the matter?В»

But again he received no answer.