A VIEW OF THE MALACHITE PUDDLE

It was Sunday evening. Everything was clean and washed. Even Mashuk,

overgrown with shrubbery and small clumps of trees, was carefully combed and

exuded a smell of toilet water.

White trousers of the most varied types flashed up and down the toy

platform: there were trousers made of twill, moleskin, calamanco, duck and

soft flannel. People were walking about in sandals and Apache shirts. In

their heavy, dirty boots, heavy dusty trousers, heated waistcoats and

scorching jackets, the concessionaires felt very out of place. Among the

great variety of gaily coloured cottons in which the girls of the resort

were parading themselves, the brightest and most elegant was the uniform of

the stationmaster.

To the surprise of all newcomers, the stationmaster was a woman. Auburn

curls peeped from under her red peaked cap with its two lines of silver

braid around the band. She wore a white tunic and a white skirt.

As soon as the travellers had had a good look at the station-master,

had read the freshly pasted notices advertising the tour of the Columbus

Theatre and drunk two five-kopek glasses of mineral water, they went into

the town on the Station-Flower Garden tram route. They were charged ten

kopeks to go into the Flower Garden.

In the Flower Garden there was a great deal of music, a large number of

happy people, and very few flowers. A symphony orchestra in a white

shell-like construction was playing the "Dance of the Gnats"; narzan mineral

water was on sale in the Lermontov gallery, and was also obtainable from

kiosks and vendors walking around.

No one had time for the two grimy jewel-hunters.

"My, Pussy," said Ostap, "we're out of place in all this festivity."

The concessionaires spent their first night at the spa by a narzan

spring.

It was only there, in Pyatigorsk, when the Columbus Theatre had

performed their version of The Marriage to an audience of astounded

town-dwellers for the third time, that the partners realized the real

difficulties involved in their treasure hunt. To find their way into the

theatre as they had planned proved impossible. Galkin, Palkin, Malkin,

Chalkin and Zalkind slept in the wings, since their modest earnings

prevented them from living in a hotel.

The days passed, and the friends were slowly reaching the end of their

tether, spending their nights 'at the site of Lermontov's duel and

subsisting by carrying the baggage of peasant tourists.

On the sixth day Ostap managed to strike up an acquaintance with

Mechnikov, the fitter in charge of the hydraulic press. By this time,

Mechnikov, who had no money and was forced to get rid of his daily hang-over

by drinking mineral water, was in a terrible state and had been observed by

Ostap to sell some of the theatre props at the market. Final agreement was

reached during the morning libation by a spring. The fitter called Ostap

"Palsie" and seemed about to consent.

"That's possible," he said. "That's always possible, palsie. It's my

pleasure, palsie."

Ostap realized at once that the fitter knew his stuff.

The contracting parties looked one another in the eye, embraced,

slapped each other's backs and laughed politely.

"Well," said Ostap, "ten for the whole deal."

"Palsie!" exclaimed the astonished fitter, "don't make me mad. I'm a

man who's suffering from the narzan."

"How much do you want then?"

"Make it fifty. After all, it's government property. I'm a man who's

suffering."

"All right, accept twenty. Agreed? I see from your eyes you agree."

"Agreement is the result of complete non-objection on both sides."

"There are no flies on this one," whispered Ostap to Vorobyaninov.

"Take a lesson."

"When will you bring the chairs?"

"You'll get the chairs when I get the money."

"That's fine," said Ostap without thinking.

"Money in advance," declared the fitter. "The money in the morning, the

chairs in the evening; or, the money in the evening, the chairs the next

morning."

"What about the chairs this morning, the money tomorrow evening," tried

Ostap.

"Palsie, I'm a man who's suffering. Such terms are revolting."

"But the point is, I won't receive my money by telegraph until

tomorrow," said Ostap.

"Then we'll discuss the matter tomorrow," concluded the obstinate

fitter. "And in the meantime, palsie, have a nice time at the spring. I'm

off. Simbievich has me by the throat. I've no strength left. Can you expect

a man to thrive on mineral water?"

And resplendent in the sunlight, Mechnikov went off.

Ostap looked severely at Ippolit Matveyevich.

"The time we have," he said, "is the money we don't have. Pussy, we

must decide on a career. A hundred and fifty thousand roubles, zero zero

kopeks awaits us. We only need twenty roubles for the treasure to be ours.

We must not be squeamish. It's sink or swim. I choose swim."

Ostap walked around Ippolit Matveyevich thoughtfully.

"OS with your jacket, marshal," he said suddenly, "and make it snappy."

He took the jacket from the surprised Vorobyaninov, threw it on the

ground, and began stamping on it with his dusty boots.

"What are you doing?" howled Vorobyaninov. "I've been wearing that

jacket for fifteen years, and it's as good as new."

"Don't get excited, it soon won't be. Give me your hat. Now, sprinkle

your trousers with dust and pour some mineral water over them. Be quick

about it."

In a few moments Ippolit Matveyevich was dirty to the point of

revulsion.

"Now you're all set and have every chance of earning honest money."

"What am I supposed to do?" asked Ippolit Matveyevich tearfully. "You

know French, I hope? "

"Not very well. What I learned at school." "Hm . . . then we'll have to

operate with what you learned at school. Can you say in French, 'Gentleman,

I haven't eaten for six days'?"

"M'sieu," began Ippolit Matveyevich, stuttering, "m'sieu . . . er . . .

je ne mange .. , that's right, isn't it? Je ne mange pas . . . er How do you

say 'six'? Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six. It's: 'Je ne mange pas six

jours' "

"What an accent, Pussy! Anyway, what do you expect from a beggar. Of

course a beggar in European Russia wouldn't speak French as well as

Milerand. Right, pussy, and how much German do you know?"

"Why all this?" exclaimed Ippolit Matveyevich. "Because," said Ostap

weightily, "you're now going to the Flower Garden, you're going to stand in

the shade and beg for alms in French, German and Russian, emphasizing the

fact that you are an ex-member of the Cadet faction of the Tsarist Duma. The

net profit will go to Mechnikov. Understand?"

Ippolit Matveyevich was transfigured. His chest swelled up like the

Palace bridge in Leningrad, his eyes flashed fire, and his nose seemed to

Ostap to be pouring forth smoke. His moustache slowly began to rise.

"Dear me," said the smooth operator, not in the least alarmed. "Just

look at him! Not a man, but a dragon."

"Never," suddenly said Ippolit Matveyevich, "never has Vorobyaninov

held out his hand."

"Then you can stretch out your feet, you silly old ass!" shouted Ostap.

"So you've never held out your hand?"

"No, I have not."

"Spoken like a true gigolo. You've been living off me for the last

three months. For three months I've been providing you with food and drink

and educating you, and now you stand like a gigolo in the third position and

say . . . Come off it, Comrade! You've got two choices. Either you go right

away to the Flower Garden and bring back ten roubles by nightfall, or else

I'm automatically removing you from the list of shareholders in the

concession. I'll give you five to decide yes or no. One. . ."

"Yes," mumbled the marshal.

"In that case, repeat the words."

"M'sieu, je ne mange pas six jours. Geben Sie mir bitte etwas Kopek fur

ein Stuck Brot. Give something to an ex-member of the Duma."

"Once again. Make it more heart-rending."

Ippolit Matveyevich repeated the words.

"All right. You have a latent talent for begging. Off you go.

The rendezvous is at midnight here by the spring. That's not for

romantic reasons, mind you, but simply because people give more in the

evening."

"What about you?" asked Vorobyaninov. "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry about me. As usual, I shall be where things are most

difficult."

The friends went their ways.

Ostap hurried to a small stationery shop, bought a book of receipts

with his last ten-kopek bit, and sat on a stone block for an hour or so,

numbering the receipts and scribbling something on each one.

"System above all," he muttered to himself. "Every public kopek must be

accounted for."

The smooth operator marched up the mountain road that led round Mashuk

to the site of Lermontov's duel with Martynov, passing sanatoriums and rest

homes.

Constantly overtaken by buses and two-horse carriages, he arrived at

the Drop.

A narrow path cut in the cliff led to a conical drop. At the end of the

path was a parapet from which one could see a puddle of stinking malachite

at the bottom of the Drop. This Drop is considered one of the sights of

Pyatigorsk and is visited by a large number of tourists in the course of a

day.

Ostap had seen at once that for a man without prejudice the Drop could

be a source of income.

"What a remarkable thing," mused Ostap, "that the town has never

thought of charging ten kopeks to see the Drop. It seems to be the only

place where the people of Pyatigorsk allow the sightseers in free. I will

remove that blemish on the town's escutcheon and rectify the regrettable

omission."

And Ostap acted as his reason, instinct, and the situation in hand

prompted.

He stationed himself at the entrance to the Drop and, rustling the

receipt book, called out from time to time:

"Buy your tickets here, citizens. Ten kopeks. Children and servicemen

free. Students, five kopeks. Non-union members, thirty kopeks!"

It was a sure bet. The citizens of Pyatigorsk never went to the Drop,

and to fleece the Soviet tourists ten kopeks to see "Something" was no great

difficulty. The non-union members, of whom there were many in Pyatigorsk,

were a great help.

They all trustingly passed over their ten kopeks, and one ruddy-cheeked

tourist, seeing Ostap, said triumphantly to his wife:

"You see, Tanyusha, what did I tell you? And you said there was no

charge to see the Drop. That couldn't have been right, could it, Comrade?"

"You're absolutely right. It would be quite impossible not to charge

for entry. Ten kopeks for union members and thirty for non-members."

Towards evening, an excursion of militiamen from Kharkov arrived at the

Drop in two wagons. Ostap was alarmed and was about to pretend to be an

innocent sightseer, but the militiamen crowded round the smooth operator so

timidly that there was no retreat. So he shouted in a rather harsh voice:

"Union members, ten kopeks; but since representatives of the militia

can be classed as students and children, they pay five kopeks."

The militiamen paid up, having tactfully inquired for what purpose the

money was being collected.

"For general repairs to the Drop," answered Ostap boldly. "So it won't

drop too much."

While the smooth operator was briskly selling a view of the malachite

puddle, Ippolit Matveyevich, hunching his shoulders and wallowing in shame,

stood under an acacia and, avoiding the eyes of the passers-by, mumbled his

three phrases. "M'sieu, je ne mange pas six jours. . . . Geben Sle Mir. . ."

People not only gave little, they somehow gave unwillingly. However, by

exploiting his purely Parisian pronunciation of the word mange and pulling

at their heart-strings by his desperate position as an ex-member of the

Tsarist Duma, he was able to pick up three roubles in copper coins.

The gravel crunched under the feet of the holidaymakers. The orchestra

played Strauss, Brahms and Grieg with long pauses in between. Brightly

coloured crowds drifted past the old marshal, chattering as they went, and

came back again. Lermontov's spirit hovered unseen above the citizens trying

matsoni on the verandah of the buffet. There was an odour of eau-de-Cologne

and sulphur gas.

"Give to a former member of the Duma," mumbled the marshal.

"Tell me, were you really a member of the State Duma?" asked a voice

right by Ippolit Matveyevich's ear. "And did you really attend meetings? Ah!

Ah! First rate!"

Ippolit Matveyevich raised his eyes and almost fainted. Hopping about

in front of him like a sparrow was Absalom Vladimirovich Iznurenkov. He had

changed his brown Lodz suit for a white coat and grey trousers with a

playful spotted pattern. He was in unusual spirits and from time to time

jumped as much as five or six inches off the ground. Iznurenkov did not

recognize Ippolit Matveyevich and continued to shower him with questions.

"Tell me, did you actually see Rodzyanko? Was Purishkevich really bald?

Ah! Ah! What a subject! First rate!"

Continuing to gyrate, Iznurenkov shoved three roubles into the confused

marshal's hand and ran off. But for some time afterwards his thick thighs

could be glimpsed in various parts of the Flower Garden, and his voice

seemed to float down from the trees.

"Ah! Ah! 'Don't sing to me, my beauty, of sad Georgia.' Ah! Ah! They

remind me of another life and a distant shore.' 'And in the morning she

smiled again.' First rate!"

Ippolit Matveyevich remained standing, staring at the ground. A pity he

did so. He missed a lot.

In the enchanting darkness of the Pyatigorsk night, Ellochka Shukin

strolled through the park, dragging after her the submissive and newly

reconciled Ernest Pavlovich. The trip to the spa was the finale of the hard

battle with Vanderbilt's daughter. The proud American girl had recently set

sail on a pleasure cruise to the Sandwich Isles in her own yacht.

"Hoho!" echoed through the darkness. "Great, Ernestula! Ter-r-rific!"

In the lamp-lit buffet sat Alchen and his wife, Sashchen. Her cheeks

were still adorned with sideburns. Alchen was bashfully eating shishkebab,

washing it down with Kahetinsky wine no. 2, while Sashchen, stroking her

sideburns, waited for the sturgeon she had ordered.

After the liquidation of the second pensioners' home (everything had

been sold, including the cook's cap and the slogan, "By carefully

masticating your food you help society"), Alchen had decided to have a

holiday and enjoy himself. Fate itself had saved the full-bellied little

crook. He had decided to see the Drop that day, but did not have time. Ostap

would certainly not have let him get away for less than thirty roubles.

Ippolit Matveyevich wandered off to the spring as the musicians were

folding up their stands, the holidaymakers were dispersing, and the courting

couples alone breathed heavily in the narrow lanes of the Flower Garden.

"How much did you collect?" asked Ostap as soon as the marshal's

hunched figure appeared at the spring.

"Seven roubles, twenty-nine kopeks. Three roubles in notes. The rest,

copper and silver."

"For the first go-terrific! An executive's rate! You amaze me, Pussy.

But what fool gave you three roubles, I'd like to know? You didn't give him

change, I hope?"

"It was Iznurenkov."

"What, really? Absalom! Why, that rolling stone. Where has he rolled

to! Did you talk to him? Oh, he didn't recognize you!"

"He asked all sorts of questions about the Duma. And laughed."

"There, you see, marshal, it's not really so bad being a beggar,

particularly with a moderate education and a feeble voice. And you were

stubborn about it, tried to give yourself airs as though you were the Lord

Privy Seal. Well, Pussy my lad, I haven't been wasting my time, either.

Fifteen roubles. Altogether that's enough."

The next morning the fitter received his money and brought them two

chairs in the evening. He claimed it was not possible to get the third chair

as the sound effects were playing cards on it.

For greater security the friends climbed practically to the top of

Mashuk.

Beneath, the lights of Pyatigorsk shone strong and steady. Below

Pyatigorsk more feeble lights marked Goryachevodsk village. On the horizon

Kislovodsk stood out from behind a mountain in two parallel dotted lines.

Ostap glanced up at the starry sky and took the familiar pliers from

his pocket.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 882