NextdayTchervyakovutonanewuniform,hadhishaircutandwenttoBrizzhalov&aos;stoexlain;goingintothegeneral&aos;srecetionroomhesawthereanumberofetitionersandamongthemthegeneralhimself,whowasbeginningtointerviewthem。AfterquestioningseveraletitionersthegeneralraisedhiseyesandlookedatTchervyakov。
"YesterdayattheArcadia,ifyourecollect,yourExcellency,
"thelatterbegan,
"Isneezedand。。。accidentallysattered。。。Exc。。。
"
"Whatnonsense!It&aos;sbeyondanything!WhatcanIdoforyou,
"saidthegeneraladdressingthenextetitioner。
"Hewon&aos;tseak,
"thoughtTchervyakov,turningale;
"thatmeansthatheisangry。。。No,itcan&aos;tbeleftlikethis。。。Iwillexlaintohim。
"
Whenthegeneralhadfinishedhisconversationwiththelastoftheetitionersandwasturningtowardshisinneraartments,Tchervyakovtookastetowardshimandmuttered:
"YourExcellency!IfIventuretotroubleyourExcellency,itissimlyfromafeelingImaysayofregret!。。。Itwasnotintentionalifyouwillgraciouslybelieveme。
"
Thegeneralmadealachrymoseface,andwavedhishand。
"Why,youaresimlymakingfunofme,sir,
"hesaidasheclosedthedoorbehindhim。
"Where&aos;sthemakingfuninit?
"thoughtTchervyakov,
"thereisnothingofthesort!Heisageneral,buthecan&aos;tunderstand。IfthatishowitisIamnotgoingtoaologisetothatfanfaronanymore!Thedeviltakeshim。I&aos;llwritealettertohim,butIwon&aos;tgo。ByJove,Iwon&aos;t。
"
SothoughtTchervyakovashewalkedhome;hedidnotwritealettertothegeneral,heonderedandonderedandcouldnotmakeuthatletter。Hehadtogonextdaytoexlaininerson。
"IventuredtodisturbyourExcellencyyesterday,
"hemuttered,whenthegeneralliftedenquiringeyesuonhim,
"nottomakefunasyouwereleasedtosay。Iwasaologisingforhavingsatteredyouinsneezing。。。andIdidnotdreamofmakingfunofyou。ShouldIdaretomakefunofyou,ifweshouldtaketomakingfun,thentherewouldbenoresectforersons,therewouldbe。。。
"
"Beoff!
"yelledthegeneral,turningsuddenlyurle,andshakingallover。
"What?
"askedTchervyakov,inawhiserturningnumbwithhorror。
"Beoff!
"reeatedthegeneral,staming。
SomethingseemedtogivewayinTchervyakov&aos;sstomach。Seeingnothingandhearingnothinghereeledtothedoor,wentoutintothestreet,andwentstaggeringalong。。。Reachinghomemechanically,withouttakingoffhisuniform,helaydownonthesofaanddied。