king explanation with the students, but
Simeon in a moment quelled them with two or three authoritative words,
thrown out as though in passing.

Niura came back from her room and a little later Petrovsky followed
her. Petrovsky with an extremely serious air declared that he had been
walking on the street all this time, thinking over the incident which
had taken place and in the end had come to the conclusion that comrade
Boris was in reality not in the right, but that there also was a
circumstance in extenuation of his fault--intoxication. Also, Jennie
came later, but alone--Sobashnikov had fallen asleep in her room. The
actor proved to have no end of talents. He very faithfully imitated the
buzzing of a fly which an intoxicated man is catching on a window-pane,
and the sounds of a saw; drolly performed, standing with his face in
the corner, the conversation of a nervous lady over the telephone;
imitated the singing of a phonograph record, and in the end, with
exceeding likeness to life, showed a little Persian lad with a little
trained monkey. Holding on with his hand to an imaginary small chain
and at the same time baring his teeth, squatting like a monkey, winking
his eyelids often, and scratching now his posteriors, now the hair on
his head, he sang through his nose, in a monotonous and sad voice,
distorting the words:

"The i-young cissack to the war has went,
The i-young ladee underneath the fence lies spraw-aw-ling.
AINA, AINA, AI-NA-NA-NA, AI-NA NA-NA-NA."

In conclusion he took Little White Manka in his arms, wrapped her up in
the skirts of his frock and, stretching out his hand and making a
tearful face, began to nod his head, bent to one side, as is done by
little swarthy, dirty, oriental lads who roam over all Russia in long,
old, soldiers' overcoats, with bared chest of a bronze colour, holding
a coughing, moth-eaten little monkey in their bosom.

"And who may you be?" severely asked fat Kate, who knew and loved this
joke.

"Me Serbian, lady-y-y," piteously moaned the actor through his nose.
"Give me somethin', lady-y-y."

"And what do they call your little monkey?"

"Matreshka-a-a ... Him 'ungry-y-y, lady ... him want eat..."

"And have you got a passport?"

"We Serbia-a-an. Gimme something lady-y-y..."

The actor proved not superfluous on the whole. He created at once a
great deal of noise and raised the spirits of the company, which were
beginning to be depressing. And every mi