place of honour, hung a portrait of the Empress Katherine II, full
length, a copy from Lampi's well-known portrait--the object of special
reverence, one may say adoration, for the master of the house. From the
ceiling depended crystal chandeliers in bronze fittings, very small and
very dusty.

Alexyei Sergyeitch himself was a very squat, pot-bellied, little old
man, with a plump, but agreeable face all of one colour, with sunken
lips and very vivacious little eyes beneath lofty eyebrows. He brushed
his scanty hair over the back of his head; it was only since the year
1812 that he had discarded powder. Alexyei Sergyeitch always wore a grey
"redingote" with three capes which fell over his shoulders, a striped
waistcoat, chamois-leather breeches and dark-red morocco short boots
with a heart-shaped cleft, and a tassel at the top of the leg; he wore a
white muslin neckerchief, a frill, lace cuffs, and two golden English
"onions,"[31] one in each pocket of his waistcoat. In his right hand he
generally held an enamelled snuff-box with "Spanish" snuff, while his
left rested on a cane with a silver handle which had been worn quite
smooth with long use. Alexyei Sergyeitch had a shrill, nasal voice, and
was incessantly smiling, amiably, but somewhat patronisingly, not
without a certain self-satisfied pompousness. He also laughed in an
amiable manner, with a fine, thin laugh like a string of wax pearls. He
was courteous and affable, in the ancient manner of Katherine's day, and
moved his hands slowly and with a circular motion, also in ancient
style. On account of his weak legs he could not walk, but he was wont
to trip with hurried little steps from one arm-chair to another
arm-chair, in which he suddenly seated himself--or, rather, he fell into
it, as softly as though he had been a pillow.

As I have already said, Alexyei Sergyeitch never went anywhere, and
associated very little with the neighbours, although he was fond of
society,--for he was loquacious! He had plenty of society in his own
house, it is true: divers Nikanor Nikanoritches, Sevastyei
Sevastyeitches, Fedulitches, and Mikheitches, all poverty-stricken petty
nobles, in threadbare kazak coats and short jackets, frequently from his
own noble shoulders, dwelt beneath his roof, not to mention the poor
gentlewomen in cotton-print gowns, with black kerchiefs on their
shoulders, and worsted reticules in their tightly-clenched
fingers,--divers Avdotiya Savishnas, Pelageya M