sion of gloomy severity on their angry faces. Nejdanov wondered
how Markelov could possibly be Madame Sipiagina's brother; they were so
little like each other. There was only one point of resemblance
between them, their dark complexions; but the even colour of Valentina
Mihailovna's face, arms, and shoulders constituted one of her charms,
while in her brother it reached to that shade of swarthiness which
polite people call "bronze," but which to the Russian eye suggests a
brown leather boot-leg.

Markelov had curly hair, a somewhat hooked nose, thick lips, sunken
cheeks, a narrow chest, and sinewy hands. He was dry and sinewy all
over, and spoke in a curt, harsh, metallic voice. The sleepy look in his
eyes, the gloomy expression, denoted a bilious temperament! He ate very
little, amused himself by making bread pills, and every now and again
would fix his eyes on Kollomietzev. The latter had just returned from
town, where he had been to see the governor upon a rather unpleasant
matter for himself, upon which he kept a tacit silence, but was very
voluble about everything else. Sipiagin sat on him somewhat when he went
a little too far, but laughed a good deal at his anecdotes and bon mots,
although he thought qu'il est un affreux reactionnaire. Kollomietzev
declared, among other things, how he went into raptures at what the
peasants, oui, oui! les simples mougiks! call lawyers. "Liars! Liars!"
he shouted with delight. "Ce peupie russe est delicieux!" He then went
on to say how once, when going through a village school, he asked one
of the children what a babugnia was, and nobody could tell him, not even
the teacher himself. He then asked what a pithecus was, and no one knew
even that, although he had quoted the poet Himnitz, 'The weakwitted
pithecus that mocks the other beasts.' Such is the deplorable condition
of our peasant schools!

"But," Valentina Mihailovna remarked, "I don't know myself what are
these animals!"

"Madame!" Kollomietzev exclaimed, "there is no necessity for you to
know!"

"Then why should the peasants know?"

"Because it is better for them to know about these animals than about
Proudhon or Adam Smith!"

Here Sipiagin again intervened, saying that Adam Smith was one of the
leading lights in human thought, and that it would be well to imbibe his
principles (he poured himself out a glass of wine) with the (he lifted
the glass to his nose and sniffed at it) mother's milk! He swallowed the
wine. K