And somewhat
ashamed, too! Why should you climb up to the belfry tower, when
your bell is so small that it can't be heard in the great peal of
the holiday bells? Moreover, you'll see that in chorus the sound of
your bell will be heard, too, but by itself the old church bells
will drown it in their rumble as a fly is drowned in oil. Do you
understand what I am saying?"
"Maybe I understand," Nikolay said, nodding his head. "Only I
don't believe it."
The Little Russian broke into a laugh, jumped to his feet, and
began to run noisily up and down the room.
"I didn't believe it either. Ah, you--wagonload!"
"Why a wagonload?" Nikolay asked with a sad smile, looking at the
Little Russian.
"Because there's a resemblance!"
Suddenly Nikolay broke into a loud guffaw, his mouth opening wide.
"What is it?" the Little Russian asked in surprise, stopping in
front of him.
"It struck me that he'd be a fool who'd want to insult you!" Nikolay
declared, shaking his head.
"Why, how can you insult me?" asked the Little Russian, shrugging
his shoulders.
"I don't know," said Vyesovshchikov, grinning good-naturedly or
perhaps condescendingly. "I only wanted to say that a man must
feel mighty ashamed of himself after he'd insulted you.
Pages:
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202