Page:The Novels of Ivan Turgenev (volume VI).djvu/134

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VIRGIN SOIL

employed', cried Kallomyetsev 'yes, yes employed for money, comme un salarié.. . . Consequently I am his superior, and he ought to bow first.'

'You are very exacting, Kallomyetsev,' interposed Sipyagin, with especial stress on the y in his name; 'all that, if you'll excuse my saying so, strikes one as rather out of date. I have purchased his services, his work, but he remains a free man.'

'He does not feel the curb,' continued Kallomyetsev, 'the curb, le frein! All these reds are like that. I tell you I've a wonderfully sharp nose for them! Ladislas might perhaps compare with me in that respect. If he fell into my hands, that tutor, I'd straighten him up a bit! Wouldn't I make him sit up! He'd sing a very different tune; and shouldn't he touch his hat to me! . . . it would be sweet to see him!'

'Rotten drivel, little blustering idiot!' Nezhdanov was almost shouting from above.. . . But at that instant the door of his room opened, and into it, to the considerable astonishment of Nezhdanov, walked Markelov.

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