"Well, when is it?"
"Ask your husband; surely, he's not bald for nothing."
"I'm sure, I don't know; I think——"
"You think it's when she turns up her nose, but that's not it, for it's when she turns up her toes and is carried out of the house."
Captain Panajotti laughed, and so did Ivanka; but her mother, seeing her laugh, could hardly control her vexation, so she said something which she intended to be very sarcastic.
"Oh! you are vexed, babica, because I explained you the riddle."
"Vexed! there's nothing to be vexed about. I'm only sorry that, at your age, you have such a bad opinion of women."
"I, a bad opinion, takomi Boga! I haven't made the riddle; I've only heard it from my father, and he says that riddles are the wisdom of a nation. So, to show you that I have the best regard for you, here's a bumper"—and thereupon he filled his glass to the brim and stood up—"to your precious health, mother-in-law."
Then, pretending to stumble, he poured the glass of wine over her head and face.
Giulianic uttered an oath, and struck the table with his fist; Ivanka and Milenko thought he had gone too far. Still, the poor woman looked such a pitiful object, with her turban all soaked and her face all dripping with wine, that they all burst out laughing.