“No, don’t do that and add to your Grandmother’s anxieties. If you see him, make your escape.”
“But why?”
“He will lead you astray.”
“That’s of no consequence, Grandmother. It looks as if he were an interesting individual, doesn’t it, Tiet Nikonich?”
“He is a riddle to everybody,” Tiet Nikonich answered with a smile. “He must have gone astray very early in life, but he has apparently good brains and considerable knowledge, and might have been a useful member of society.”
Paulina Karpovna turned her head away, and dismissed Mark with the criticism, “No manners.”
“Brains! You bought his brains for three hundred roubles. Has he repaid them?” asked Tatiana Markovna.
“I did not remind him of his debt. But to me he is, for the matter of that, almost polite.”
“That is to say he does not strike you, or shoot in your direction. Just imagine, Boris, that he nearly shot Niel Andreevich.”
“His dogs tore my train,” complained Paulina Karpovna.