was that Andrei Khrisaufitch,
the doorkeeper, was wearing
unusually shiny boots and a
uniform trimmed with new
gold braid, and that he
wished every one who came
in a happy New Year.
"A room for massage, your
Excellency."
When the general's footsteps
had died away, Andrei
looked over the letters and
found one addressed to him.
He opened it, read a few
lines, and then, still looking
at his newspaper, sauntered
toward the little room downstairs at the end of a passage
where he and his family
lived. His wife Efimia was
sitting on the bed feeding a
baby, her oldest boy was
standing at her knee with his
curly head in her lap, and a
third child was lying asleep
on the bed.
It was morning. Andrei was
standing at the door reading a
paper. At ten o'clock
precisely an old general came
in who was one of the regular
visitors of the establishment.
Behind him came the
postman. Andrei took the
general's cloak, and said:
"A happy New Year to your
Excellency!"
"Thank you, friend, the same
to you!"
Andrei entered their little
room, and handed the letter to
his wife, saying:
And as he mounted the stairs
the general nodded toward a
closed door and asked, as he
did every day, always
forgetting the answer:
"This must be from the
village."
Then he went out again,
without raising his eyes from
his newspaper, and stopped
in the passage not far from
"And what is there in there?"
86