"And let down her dress!"
"It is going to have a border to it."
"Mind, then, that it is a broad one that covers the knee. And who is that with a roll of papers in his hand?"
"General Kutusoff."
"Why is his right arm shorter than the left?"
"It is not shorter; only his position makes it appear so. We call that scorzo in Italian."
"Scorzo here, scorzo there! We are not Italians! Here we call a man who has one arm shorter than the other deformed!"
"But I cannot paint my characters with stretched-out arms as if they were on a crucifix!"
"I don't see why not."
The artist here, giving up the discussion, began touching up the face of the Czar.