w up
his post, and buried himself in self-torment and reproach.

He lived at Ptitsin's, and openly showed contempt for the latter, though
he always listened to his advice, and was sensible enough to ask for it
when he wanted it. Gavrila Ardalionovitch was angry with Ptitsin because
the latter did not care to become a Rothschild. "If you are to be a
Jew," he said, "do it properly--squeeze people right and left, show some
character; be the King of the Jews while you are about it."

Ptitsin was quiet and not easily offended--he only laughed. But on one
occasion he explained seriously to Gania that he was no Jew, that he
did nothing dishonest, that he could not help the market price of money,
that, thanks to his accurate habits, he had already a good footing and
was respected, and that his business was flourishing.

"I shan't ever be a Rothschild, and there is no reason why I should," he
added, smiling; "but I shall have a house in the Liteynaya, perhaps two,
and that will be enough for me." "Who knows but what I may have three!"
he concluded to himself; but this dream, cherished inwardly, he never
confided to a soul.

Nature loves and favours such people. Ptitsin will certainly have his
reward, not three houses, but four, precisely because from childhood up
he had realized that he would never be a Rothschild. That will be the
limit of Ptitsin's fortune, and, come what may, he will never have more
than four houses.

Varvara Ardalionovna was not like her brother. She too, had passionate
desires, but they were persistent rather than impetuous. Her plans were
as wise as her methods of carrying them out. No doubt she also belonged
to the category of ordinary people who dream of being original, but she
soon discovered that she had not a grain of true originality, and she
did not let it trouble her too much. Perhaps a certain kind of pride
came to her help. She made her first concession to the demands of
practical life with great resolution when she consented to marry
Ptitsin. However, when she married she did not say to herself, "Never
mind a mean action if it leads to the end in view," as her brother would
certainly have said in such a case; it is quite probable that he may
have said it when he expressed his elder-brotherly satisfaction at her
decision. Far from this; Varvara Ardalionovna did not marry until she
felt convinced that her future husband was unassuming, agreeable,
almost cultured, and that nothing on earth wou