But most frequently of all he had no money, and would sit whole
evenings through near his mistress, patiently and jealously
awaiting her when Sonka through chance was taken by some guest.
And when she would return and sit down beside him, he would,
without being perceived, overwhelm her with reproaches, trying not
to turn the general attention upon himself and without turning his
head in her direction. And in her splendid, humid, Hebraic eyes
during these conversations there was always a martyr-like but meek
expression.
There arrived a large company of Germans, employed in an optical
shop; there also arrived a party of clerks from the fish and
gastronomical store of Kereshkovsky, and two young people very
well known in the Yamas--both bald, with sparse, soft, delicate
hairs around the bald spots: Nicky the Book-keeper and Mishka the
Singer--so were they both called in the houses. They also were met
very cordially, just like Karl Karlovich of the optical shop and
Volodka of the fish store--with raptures, cries and kisses,
flattering to their self-esteem.
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