"Bah, what business can you have! you only pretend that, oh, you sly old father Opodildoc Ivanovitch!"
"Really, I have some business to attend to of a very important nature too."
"I lay a wager, you are telling me a fib! now tell me at least where are you going to?"
"I have no objection to tell you that I am going to visit Sobakevitch."
Here Nosdrieff burst into a fit of laughter, with such a ringing voice as a man of perfect health only can enjoy, and at the same time displayed a range of teeth as white as sugar to the last; his cheeks became flushed and trembling, and the effect of his loud outburst could have caused a neighbour in a third room, separated by two doors, to startle from his slumbers, and exclaim: "What the deuce is the matter with that fellow?"
"What do you find so laughable in that," demanded Tchichikoff, partly vexed at the loud outburst.
But Nosdrieff continued to laugh as loudly as before, adding: "pray have mercy, or else I shall burst from laughing!"
"There is nothing laughable in that, I should think; besides I gave him a promise that I would come and visit him," said Tchichikoff.
"But, my dear fellow, allow me to assure you that you will be disgusted with your own existence, if you go to see him, he is a regular Jew killer! and I know your disposition; you are too hasty in your judgment, if you hope to meet there any playmen, or a bottle of good bonbon claret. Listen, my dear fellow! send Sobakevitch to the deuce, and come with me! I promise to give you a famous treat! I have some excellent wine from that scoundrel Ponomareff, who was immensely civil to me, and assured me that I should not be able to get any thing nearly so good as his claret and champagne, were I to search for it throughout the town and fair; for all that I believe him to be a great rogue, and that he has taken me in most unmercifully. I told him as much, and added besides; you and all the public contractors are, in my opinion, the greatest rogues on earth! At all this, my dear fellow, he used to laugh whilst stroking his carroty beard.
"But, my dear fellow, I nearly forgot to tell you; I know now you will not be able to refuse me your admiration, I am going to show you something, which I tell you beforehand, I won't part with, were you even to offer me ten thousand roubles on the spot.