“Give me a glass of vodka, too!” I said to Il'ya.
Long shadows began to be cast on the avenue and on the open space where we were sitting.…
The distant croaking of frogs, the cawing of crows and the singing of orioles greeted the setting of the sun. A gay evening was just beginning.…
“Tell Urbenin to sit down,” I whispered to the Count, “He's standing before you like a boy.”
“Oh, I never thought of that! Pëtr Egorych,” the Count addressed his bailiff, “sit down, please! Why are you standing there?”
Urbenin sat down, casting a grateful glance at me. He who was always healthy and gay appeared to me now to be ill and dull. His face seemed wrinkled and sleepy, his eyes looked at us lazily and as if unwillingly.
“Well, Pëtr Egorych, what's new here? Any pretty girls, eh?” Karnéev asked him. “Isn't there something special … something out of the common?”
“It's always the same, your Excellency.…”
“Are there no new … nice little girls, Pëtr Egorych?”
Moral Pëtr Egorych blushed.