16 - Dethroned, Ignatii Potapenko.

16 - Dethroned, Ignatii Potapenko.  
In this collection of Russian stories, editor and compiler Thomas Seltzer selects from a range of the best examples of 19th and early 20th century Russian literature. As a survey of famous authors at the height of the powers, as well as some writers who have been unjustly neglected, this anthology is indispensable.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter sixteen of Best Russian Short Stories. This is a
liberriyvox recording. All liberyvox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit libriyvox dot org.
Recording by alg Pug Best Russian Short Stories edited and

(00:21):
compiled by Thomas Seltzer dethroned by I. N. Potapenko. Well,
Captain Zirubkin's wife called out impatiently to her husband, rising
from the sofa and turning to face him as he entered.
He doesn't know anything about it, he replied, indifferently, as
if the matter were of no interest to him. Then

(00:43):
he asked, in a business like tone, nothing from me
from the office. How should I know? Am I? Your errand? Boy?
Are they dilly dally? If only the package doesn't come
too late? It's so important, idiot? Who is an idiot? You?
With your indifference, your stupid egoism. The captain said nothing.

(01:06):
He was neither surprised nor insulted. On the contrary, the
smile on his face was as though he had received
a compliment. These wifely animad versions, probably oft heard by
no means, interfered with his domestic peace. It can't be
that the man doesn't know when his wife is coming
back home. Missus Rubkin continued excitedly. She's written to him

(01:28):
every day of the four months he's been away. The
postmaster told me, sir Semyonov, oh, Semyonov, has any one
from the office been here? I don't know, your excellency,
came in a loud, clear voice from back of the room.
Why don't you know where have you been? I went
to a Bramca, your excellency. The tailor again, Yes, your excellency,

(01:54):
the tailor a Bramka. The captain spat in annoyance. And
where crinker he went to market? Your excellency, was he
told to go to market? Yes, your excellency. The captain
spat again. Why do you keep spitting such vulgar manners?
His wife cried angrily. You behave at home like a

(02:17):
drunken subaltern. You haven't the least consideration for your wife.
You are so coarse in your behavior towards me. Do
please go to your office? Seme enough, your excellency. If
the package comes, please have it sent back to the
office and say I've gone there and listen. Some one
must always be here. I won't have everybody out of

(02:38):
the house at the same time, do you hear, yes,
your excellency. The captain put on his cap to go
in the doorway. He turned and addressed his wife, Please, Tasha,
don't send all the servants out on your errands at
the same time. Something important may turn up and then
there's nobody here to attend to it. He went out,

(03:00):
and his wife remained reclining on the sofa corner, as
if his plea were no concern of hers. But scarcely
had he left the house when she called out, Semyonov,
come here quick. A barefooted, unshaven man in dark blue
pantaloons and cotton shirt presented himself. His stocky figure and
red face made a wholesome appearance. He was the captain's

(03:23):
orderly hurt your service, your excellency, listen, Seminov, you don't
seem to be stupid. I don't know your excellency. For
goodness sake, drop, your excellency, I am not your superior officer. Yes,
your excell idiot. But the lady's manner towards the servant

(03:45):
was far friendlier than toward her husband. Semyonov had in
his power to perform important services for her while a
captain had not come up to her expectations. Listen, Seminov,
how do you and the doctor's men get long together?
Are you friendly? Yes, your excellency intolerable, cried the lady,

(04:07):
jumping up. Stop using that silly title. Can't you speak
like a sensible man. Semonov had been standing in the
stiff attitude of attention, with the palms of his hands
at the seams of his trousers. Now he suddenly relaxed
and even wiped his nose with his fist. That's the
way we are taught to do, he said, carelessly, with

(04:29):
a clownish grin. The gentleman. The officers insist on it.
Now tell me you are on good terms with the
doctor's men you mean Podmar and Shchukock. Of course, we're friends.
Very well. Then go straight to them and try to
find out when missus Sheldon is expected back. They ought

(04:53):
to know. They must be getting things ready against her return,
cleaning her bedroom and fixing it up. Do you understand,
But be careful to find out right, and also be
very careful not to let on for whom you are
finding it out. Do you understand of course, I understand. Well,

(05:13):
then go but one more thing. Since you are going out,
you may as well stop at a Bramka again and
tell him to come here right away. You understand, but
his excellency gave me orders to stay at home, said Seminov,
scratching himself behind his ears. Please don't answer back, just
do as I tell you. Go on now, that's your service,

(05:38):
and the orderly, impressed by the lady's severe military tone,
left the room. Missus Rubkin remained reclining on the sofa
for a while. Then she rose and walked up and
down the room, and finally went to her bedroom, where
her two little daughters were playing in their nurses care.
She scolded them a bit and returned to her former

(05:58):
place on the couch. Her every movement betrayed great excitement.
Tatiana Grigoryevna Zarubkin was one of the most looked up
to ladies of the s Regiment, and even of the
whole town of Tchimiirsk, where the regiment was quartered. To
be sure, you hardly could say that outside the regiment

(06:20):
the town could boast any ladies at all. There were
very respectable women, decent wives, mothers, daughters, and widows of
honorable citizens. But they all dressed in cotton and flannel,
and on high holidays made a shell of cheap cashmere gowns,
over which they wore gay shawls with borders of wonderful arabesques.

(06:42):
Their hats and other head gear gave not the faintest
evidence of good taste, so they could scarcely be dubbed ladies.
They were satisfied to be called women. One of them
almost had the name of her husband's trade or position
tacked to her name. Missus Gray so and so, Missus
mayor so and so, Missus Miliner so and so, et cetera.

(07:07):
Genuine ladies in the Russian society sense had never come
to the town before the s Regiment had taken up
its quarters there. And it goes without saying that the
ladies of the regiment had nothing in common and therefore
no intercourse with the women of the town. They were
so dissimilar that they were like creatures of a different species.

(07:28):
There is no disputing that Tatyana Grigoryevna Tzarubkin was one
of the most looked up to of the ladies. She
invariably played the most important part at all the regimental affairs,
the amateur theatricals, the social evenings, the afternoon teas. If
the captain's wife was not to be present, it was

(07:49):
a foregone conclusion that the affair would not be a success.
The most important point was that missus Zorubkin had the
untarnished reputation of being the best dressed of all the ladies.
She was always the most distinguished looking at the annual ball.
Her gown for the occasion, ordered from Moscow, was always

(08:10):
chosen with the great's regard for her charms and defects,
and it was always exquisitely beautiful. A new fashion could
not gain admittance to the other ladies of the regiment
except by way of the captain's wife. Thanks to her
good taste in dressing, the stately blonde was queen at
all the balls and in all the salons of Chimirsk.

(08:33):
Another advantage of hers was that, although she was nearly forty,
she still looked fresh and youthful, so that the young
officers were constantly hovering about her and paying her homage.
November was a very lively month in the regiment's calendar.
It was on the tenth of November that the annual
ball took place. The ladies, of course, spent their best

(08:57):
efforts in preparation for this event. Needless to say that
in all his arduous activities, abramk Stiftik, the lady's tailor,
played a prominent role. He was the one man in
Chimisk who had any understanding at all for the subtle
art of the feminine toilet. Preparations had begun in his

(09:17):
shop in August, already within the last weeks. His modest parlor,
furnished with six shabby chairs placed about a round table
and a fly specked mirror on the wall. The atmosphere,
heavy with the smell of onions and herring, had been
filled from early morning to the evening hours with the
most charming and elegant of the fairer sex. There was

(09:40):
trying on, a discussion of styles and selection of material.
It was all very nerve racking for the ladies. The
only one who had never appeared in this parlor was
the captain's wife. That had been a thorn in a
Brumke's flesh. He had spent days and nights going over
in his mind how he could rid this lady of

(10:01):
the In his opinion wretched habit of ordering her clothes
from Moscow for this ball. However, as she herself had
told him, she had not ordered a dress, but only
material from out of town, from which he deduced that
he was to make the gown for her. But there
was only one week left before the ball, and still

(10:21):
she had not come to him. A Braumka was in
a state of feverishness. He longed once to make a
dress for missus Zerubkin. It would add to his glory.
He wanted to prove that he understood his trade just
as well as any tailor in Moscow, and that it
was quite superfluous for her to order her gowns outside
of Chimirsk. He would come out the triumphant competitor of Moscow.

(10:46):
As each day passed and Missus Rubken did not appear
in his shop, his nervousness increased. Finally, she ordered a
dressing jacket from him, but not a word said of
a ball gown. What was he to think of it? So,
when Semyonov told him that Missus Rubkin was expecting him
at her home, it goes without saying that he instantly

(11:07):
removed the dozen pins in his mouth as he was
trying on a customer's dress, told one of his assistants
to continue with the fitting, and instantly set off to
call on the captain's wife. In this case, it was
not a question of a mere ball gown, but the
acquisition of the best customer in town. Although Abramka wore
a silk hat and a suit in keeping with the

(11:29):
silk hat, still he was careful not to ring at
the front entrance, but always knocked at the back door
at another time, when the captain's orderly was not in
the house. For the captain's orderly also performed the duties
of the captain's cook, he might have knocked long and loud.
On other occasions, a cannon might have been shot off

(11:50):
right next to Tatyana Grigrebnyev's ears, and she would not
have lifted her fingers to open the door. But now
she instantly caught the sound of the modest knocking and
opened the back door herself. For Abramka, Oh, she cried, delightedly,
you Abramka. She really wanted to address him less familiarly,

(12:10):
as was more befitting, so dignified a man in a
silk hat, But every one called him Abramka, and he
would have been very much surprised had he been honored
with his full name, abram Truleevitch Stifftick. So she thought
it best to address him as the others did. Mister
Abramka was tall and thin. There was always a melancholy

(12:32):
expression in his pale face. He had a little stoop,
a long and very heavy grayish beard. He had been
practicing his profession for thirty years. Ever since his apprenticeship
he had been called Abramka, which did not strike him
as at all derogatory or unfitting. Even his shingle read
ladies tailor Abramka Stiftick the most valid proof that he

(12:56):
had deemed his name immaterial, but that the chief thing
to him was his art. As a matter of fact,
he had attained, if not perfection in tailoring, yet remarkable skill.
To this all the ladies of the s regiment could
attest with conviction. A Brumka removed his silk hat, stepped
into the kitchen and said, gravely, with profound feeling, missus Zarubkin,

(13:22):
I am entirely at your service. Come into the reception room.
I have something very important to speak to you about.
A Brumka followed in silence. He stepped softly on tiptoe,
as if afraid of waking some one. Sit down, Abramka, listen,
but give me your word of honor. You won't tell
any one. Tatiana Grigorovna began reddening a bit. She was

(13:46):
ashamed to have let the tailor Abramka into her secret,
but since there was no getting round it, she quieted
herself and in an instant had regained her ease. I
don't know what you are speaking of, missus Zarubkin, A
brumka rejoined, He assumed a somewhat injured manner. Have you

(14:07):
ever heard of a brumka ever babbling anything out? You
certainly know that in my profession, you know everybody has
some secret to be kept. Oh, you must have misunderstood me,
a brumka. What sort of secrets do you mean? Well,
one lady is a little bit one sided. Another lady,

(14:31):
he pointed to his breast, he's not quite full enough.
Another lady has scrawny arms. Such things as that have
to be covered up, or filled out, or laced in
so as to look better. That is where our art
comes in. But we are in duty bound not to
say anything about it, Tatiana Grigoryevna smiled, Well, I can

(14:57):
assure you I am all right that way. There's nothing
about me that needs to be covered up or filled out. Eh,
as if I didn't know that everybody knows that missus
Rubkin's figure is perfect, a Brumka cried, trying to flatter
his new customer. Missus Rubkin laughed and made up her

(15:17):
mind to remember everybody knows that Missus Arriubkin's figure is perfect.
Then she said, you know that the ball is to
take place in a week. Yes, indeed, Missus Zarubkin, in
only one week. Unfortunately, only one week, replied Abrumka, sighing.

(15:39):
But you remember your promise to make my dress for
me for the ball this time, Missus Zarubkin. A Brumka cried,
laying his hand on his heart. And I said that
I was not willing to make it. No, indeed, I
said it must be made and made right for Missus Rubkin.
It must be better than for any one else. That's

(16:02):
the way I feel about it. Splendid just what I
wanted to know. But why don't you show me your material?
Why don't you say to me here a brumker here,
is the stuff make a dress. A brumku would work
on it day and night. Ahem, that's just it. I

(16:22):
can't order it. That's where the trouble comes in. Tell me,
a brumker, what is the shortest time you need for
making the dress? Listen, the very shortest. A brumcu shrugged
his shoulders. Well, it's a week too much for a
ball dress such as yours will want. It's got to
be so it can't be pasted together. You yourself know that,

(16:47):
missus Arubkin. But supposing I ordered only three days before
the ball, a bruncher started only three days before the
ball a ball dress? Am I a god god? Missus Erubkin,
I am nothing but the lady's tailor, a brumka stiff dick. Well,
then you are a nice tailor, said Tatiana Grigoryevna scornfully.

(17:11):
In Moscow they made a ball dress for me in
two days, A Brumka jumped up, as if at a
shot and beat his breast. Is that so, then, I say,
missus Erubkin, he cried pathetically. If they made a bowl
gown for you in Moscow in tea days, very well,

(17:32):
then I will make a bowl gown for you. If
I must in one day, I will neither eat nor sleep,
and I won't let my help off either for one minute.
How does that suit you? Sit down, a Brumka, thank
you very much. I hope I shall not have to
put such a strain on you. It really does not
depend upon me, otherwise I should have ordered the dress

(17:54):
from you long ago. It doesn't depend on yer? Then
upon her? Does it depend? Ahem? It depends upon But now, Abramka,
Remember this is just between you and me. It depends
upon Missus Sheldon, upon Missus Chaldon, the doctor's wife. Why

(18:16):
she isn't even here. That's just it. That's why I
have to wait. How is it that a clever man
like you, a Braumca, doesn't grasp the situation? Hem ahem,
Let me see, a Brumca racked his brains for a
solution of the riddle. How could it be that Missus Sheldon,
who was away, should have anything to do with Missus

(18:38):
Rubkin's order for a gown. No, that passed his comprehension.
She certainly will get back in time for the ball,
said Missus Rubkin, to give him a cue. Well, yes,
and certainly we'll bring a dress back with her, certainly
addressed from abroad, something we have never seen here, something

(19:00):
highly original, Missus Erbkin, A Braumka cried, as if a
truth of tremendous import had been revealed to him. Missus Theerbkin,
I understand why, certainly, yes, but that will be pretty hard.
That's just it. A Brumker reflected a moment, then said,

(19:22):
I assure you, Missus Erubkin, you need not be a
bit uneasy. I will make a dress for you that
will be just as grand as the one from abroad.
I assure you your dress will be the most illigant
one at the ball, just as it always has been.
I tell you my name won't be a Braumke shift.

(19:43):
If his eager asseverations seem not quite to satisfy the
captain's wife, her mind was not quite set at ease,
she interrupted him. But the style of Brunker, the style.
You can't possibly guess what the latest fashion is abroad.
I shouldn't I know what the lady's fashion is, Missus Arubkin.

(20:04):
In Kiev, I have a friend he publishes fashion plates.
I will telegraph to him and he will immediately send
me pictures of the lady's French models. The telegram will
cost only eighty cents Missus Erubkin, and I swear to
you I will copy any dress he sends. Missus Sheldon
can't possibly have a dress like that. All very well

(20:27):
and good, and that's what we'll do. Still, we must
wait until Missus Sheldon comes back. Don't you see a
prumka I must have exactly the same style that she has.
Can't you see that? Nobody can say that she is
in the latest fashion. At this point, Semyonov entered the
room cautiously. He was wearing the oddest looking jacket and

(20:48):
the captain's old boots. His hair was rumpled, and his
eyes were shining suspiciously. There's every sign that he'd used
the renural of friendship with the doctor's men as a
pretext for a boose. We had to stabed them. Subread
to your excellency, he said saucily, but catching his mistress's
threatening look, he lowered his head guiltily. Idiot. She ordered

(21:11):
him face about, be off with you to the kitchen.
In his befuddlement, Semyonov had not noticed a Brumker's presence.
Now he became aware of him. Faced about and retired
to the kitchen sheepishly. What an impenite fernay, said Abramkin reproachfully.
Oh you wouldn't believe, said the captain's wife, but instantly

(21:32):
followed Seminov into the kitchen. Semyonov, aware of his awful misdemeanor,
tried to stand up straight and give a report. She
will come back, your excellency day after to morrow, toward evening,
she said a telegram. Is that true? Now? I swear
it's true. Shchukock saw it himself. All right, very good,

(21:55):
you'll get something for this, Yes, your excellency, Silent su
Goose Gone's at the table, and Brumpty remained about ten
minutes longer with the captain's wife, and on leaving said,
let me show you once again, Missus Erubkin, in need
and worry, jes select this dial an hour. Make a

(22:17):
gown for you that the best tailor in Paris can't beat.
He pressed his hand to his heart in token of
his intention to do everything in his power for Missus Serubkin.
It was seven o'clock in the evening. Missus Sheldon and
her trunk had arrived hardly half an hour before here
the captain's wife was already there paying visit, which was

(22:38):
a sign of the warm friendship that existed between the
two women. They kissed each other and fell to talking.
The doctor, a tall man of forty five, seemed discomfited
by the visit and passed unfriendly side glances at his guest.
He had hoped to spend that evening undisturbed with his wife,
and he well knew that when the ladies of the

(22:59):
regiment came to call upon each other for only a second,
it meant a whole evening of listening to idle talk.
You won't believe me, dear, how bored I was the
whole time. You're aware how I longed for you, Natalia Semyonova,
But you probably never gave us a thought. Eh, how
can you see anything like that? I was thinking of

(23:20):
you every minute, every second. If I hadn't been obliged
to finish the cure, I should have returned long ago.
No matter how beautiful it may be away from whom sill,
the only place to live is among those that are
near and dear to you. These were only the preliminary soundings.
They lasted with variations, for a quarter of an hour. First,

(23:41):
Missus Sheldon narrated a few incidents of the trip. Then
Missus Rubkin gave a report of some of the chief
happenings in the life of the regiment. When the conversation
was in full swing and the samovar was singing on
the table and the pancakes were spreading their appetizing odor,
the captain's wife suddenly cried, I wondered the fashions are
abroad now, I say, you must have feasted your eyes

(24:03):
on them. Missus Sheldon simply replied with a scornful gesture. Eh,
other people may like them, but I don't care for
them one bit. I am glad we here don't get
to see them until a year later. You know, Tatyana Grigoryevna,
you sometimes see the ugliest styles, really, asked the captain's

(24:23):
wife eagerly, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. The great moment
of complete revelation seemed to have arrived perfectly hideous. I
tell you, just imagine. You know how nice the plain's
skirts were, then why change them? But no, to be
in the style now the skirts have to be dreamed.
Why It's just a sign of the complete lack of imagination,

(24:47):
and in lyon they got out a new kind of silk.
But that is still a French secret. Why the secret?
The silk is certainly being worn already, Yes, but one
does see it being worn already. But when it was
first manufactured, the greatest secret was made of it. They
were free. The Germans would imitate, you understand, Oh, but

(25:08):
what is the latest style? I really can't explain it
to you. All I knew is it is something awful.
She can't explain. That means you don't want to explain. Oh,
the cunning one, What a sly look she has in
her eyes, so thought the captain's wife. From the very
beginning of the conversation. The two warm friends, it need

(25:29):
scarcely be said, were mutually distrustful. Each had the conviction
that everything the other said was to be taken in
the very opposite sense. They were of about the same age,
Missus Sheldon possibly one or two years younger than Missus Zirubkin.
Missus Sir Rubkin was rather plump and had heavy, light hair.

(25:49):
Her appearance was blooming. Missus Sheldon was slim, though well proportioned.
She was a brunette with a pale complexion. And large
dark eyes are two types of beauty, very largely to
divide the gentlemen of the regiment into two camps of admirers.
But women are never content with halves. Missus Urubkin wanted

(26:10):
to see all the offers of the regiment at her feet,
and so did Missus Sheldon. It naturally led to great
rivalry between the two women, of which they were both conscious,
though they always had the friendliest smiles for each other.
Missus Sheldon tried to give a different turn to the conversation,
do you think the ball will be interesting this year?

(26:32):
Why should it be interesting? Rejoined the captain's wife, scornfully.
Always the same people, the same old humdrum jog trot.
I suppose the ladies had been besieging your poor Abramca.
I really can't tell you. I am concerned. I have
scarcely looked at what he made for me him. How's that?

(26:54):
Didn't you? Audio address from Moscow? Again? No, it really
does not pay. I am sick of the bother of
it all. Why all that trouble for whom our offers
don't care a bit how one dresses. They haven't the
least taste. Hum, there's something back of that thought, Missus Sheldon,
the captain's wife, continued, with apparent indifference. I can guess

(27:19):
what a gorgeous dress you had made abroad, certainly in
the latest fashion, a Missus Sheldon laughed innocently. How could
I get the time from during my cure to think
of a dress? As a matter of fact, I completely
forgot the ball thought of it at the last moment
and bought the first piece of goods. I laid my
hands on pink. Oh no, how can you say pink?

(27:44):
Light blue? Then you can't call it exactly light blue.
It's a very undefined sort of color. I really wouldn't
know what to call it. But it certainly must have
some sort of a shade. You may believe me or
not if you choose, but I really don't know. It's
a very indefinite sade. Is it Soura's silk? No? I

(28:07):
can't bear it sooner? It doesn't keep the folds. Well,
I suppose it's creep de Champ. Heavens, No, creep de
Champ is much too expensive for me. Then what can
it be? Oh wait a minute, what is the name
of that goods? You know? There are so many funny
new names. Now they don't make any sense. Then show

(28:30):
me your dress, dearest, do please show me your dress.
Missus Sheldon seemed to be highly embarrassed. I am so sorry.
I can't. It is way down at the bottom of
the trunk. There is the trunk you see yourself. I
couldn't unpack it now. The trunk close to the wall
was covered with oilcloth and tied tight with heavy cords.

(28:53):
The captain's wife devoured it with her eyes. She would
have liked to see through and through it. She had
nothing to say say in reply, for it certainly was
impossible to ask her friend, tired out from her recent journey,
to begin to unpack right away and take out all
her things, just to show her her new dress. Yet
she could not tear her eyes away from the trunk.

(29:15):
There was a magic in it that held her enthralled.
Had she been alone, she would have begun to unpack
it herself, nor even ask the help of the servant
to undo the knots Now, there was nothing left for
her but to turn her eyes sorrowfully away from the
fascinating object and to take up another topic of conversation
to which she would be utterly indifferent. But she couldn't

(29:37):
think of anything else to talk about. Missus Sheldon must
have prepared herself beforehand. She must have suspected something. So
now Missus Rubkin pinned her last hope to a brunker's inventiveness.
She glanced at the clock. Dear me, she exclaimed, as
if surprised at the lateness of the hour. I must
be going. I do want to disturb you any longer either.

(29:59):
Dear you must be very tired. I hope you rest well.
She shook hands with Missus Sheldon, kissed her and left.
A brumke stiff Dick had just taken off his coat
and was doing some ironing in his shirt sleeves when
a peculiar figure appeared in his shop. It was that
of a stocky orderly in a well worn uniform without

(30:21):
buttons and old galoshes instead of boots. His face was
gloomy looking and was covered with a heavy growth of hair.
A brumker knew this figure well. It seemed always just
to have awakened from the deepest sleep. Ah, Shukock, what
do you want, Missus Sheldon would like you to call

(30:42):
upon her, said Shukock. He behaved as if he had
come on a terribly serious mission. Eh. That's say your
landy has come back a hand about it. You see,
I'm very busy still. You may tell her I'm coming
right away. I'm just wont to finish ironing Missus Connor

(31:02):
Potkins's dress. Abramka simply wanted to keep up appearances was
always when he was sent for. But his joy at
the summons to Missus Sheldon was so great that, to
the astonishment of his helpers and Schuycock, he left immediately.
He found Missus Sheldon alone. She had not slept well
the two nights before, and had risen late that morning.

(31:25):
Her husband had left long before for the military hospital.
She was sitting beside her open trunk, taking her things
out very carefully. And ye dare, Missus Chaldon, welcome back
to chimisk I. Congratulate you on your happy arrival. Eh
how do you do? Hebramka, said Missus Sheldon, delightedly. We

(31:46):
haven't seen each other for a long time, have we.
I was rather homesick for you, eh, Missus Chaldon. He
must have had a very good time abroad. But what
do you need me for? You certainly brought a dress
back with you. A bramca always comes in handy, said
Missus Sheldon jestingly. We ladies of the regimen are quite

(32:07):
helpless without a bramca. Take a seat a braumca seated himself.
He felt much more at ease in Missus Chaldon's home
than in Missus Rubkin's. Missus Sheldon did not order her
clothes from Moscow. She was a steady customer of his.
In this room he had many a time circled about
the doctor's wife with a yard measure, pins, chalk, and scissors,

(32:30):
and kneeled down beside her, raised himself to his feet,
bent over again, and stood puzzling over some difficult proble
of dress making. How low to cut the dress out
at the neck, how long to make the train, how
wide the hem? And so on. None of the ladies
the regiment ordered as much from him as Missus Chaldon.

(32:50):
Her grandmother would send her material from Kiev, or the
doctor would go on a professional trip to Tchernikov and
would always bring some goods back with him. Sometimes her
aunt in Varonesch would make a gift of some silk,
and Bramcae is always ready to say Missus Chaldon first,
said the tailor, though seized with a little pang, as

(33:11):
if bitten by guilty conscience? Are you sure you are
telling the truth? Is it? Bramc always to be depended upon, eh?
Is he? She looked at him searchingly from beneath dripping lids.
What a question, rejoined Abramcer. His face quivered slightly, his
feeling of discomfort was waxing, and a bramca Ever, Eh,

(33:35):
things can happen, But all right, never mind. I brought
a dress along with me. I had to have it
made in a great hurry, and there is just a
little more to be done on it. Now. If I
give you this dress to finish, can I be sure
that you positively won't tell another's soul how it is made?
Missus Chaldon, Oh, Missus Chaldon, said abramk reproachfully. Nevertheless, the

(33:59):
expression of his face was not so reassuring as usual.
You give me your word of honor? Certainly my name
isn't a Bramke stiff dick. If I well, all right,
I will trust you, but be careful. You know whom
you must be careful here is that, Missus Chaldon, Oh,

(34:19):
you know very well who I mean? No, you needn't
put your hand on your heart. She was here to
see me yesterday and tried in every way she could
to find out how my dress is made, but she
couldn't get it out of me. A Brumcus, sighed Missus
Sheldon seemed to suspect his betrayal. I am right, am
I not? She has not had her dress made yet,

(34:41):
has she? She waited to see my dress, didn't she.
And she told you to copy the style, didn't she.
Missus Sheldon asked, with honest naivety. But I warn you,
a brumker, if you give away the least little thing
about my dress, then all is over between you and me.
Remember that a Brumcu's hand went to heart again, and
the jester carried the same sense of conviction as of

(35:04):
old Missus Chaldon Algon spent like that wait a moment.
Missus Sheldon left the room about ten minutes past, during
which Abramka had plenty of time to reflect. How could
he have given the captain's wife a promise like that
so lightly? What was the captain's wife to him as
compared with the doctor's wife. Missus Rubkin had never given

(35:26):
him a really decent order? Just a few things for
the house and some mending. Supposing he were now to
perform this great service for her, would that mean he
would depend upon her for the future. Was any woman
to be depended upon? She would wear this dress out
and go back to ordering her clothes from Moscow again.
But Missus Chalton, she was very different. He could forgive

(35:48):
her having brought this one dress along from abroad. What
woman in Russia would have refrained when abroad from buying
a new dress. Missus Sheldon would continue to be a
steady customer all the same. The door opened, a Brumkea
rose involuntarily and clasped his hands in astonishment. Well, he

(36:09):
exclaimed rapturously that his address that is my my. He
was so stunned he could find nothing more to say.
And how charming Missus Sheldon looked in her wonderful gown.
Her tall, slim figure seemed to have been made for it.
What simple, yet elegant lines. At first glance, she would
think it was nothing more than an ordinary house gown.

(36:31):
But only at first glance. If you looked at it again,
you could tell right away that it met all the
requirements of a fancy ball gown. What struck a Brumka
most was that it had no waist line, that it
did not consist of bodice and skirt. That was strange.
It was just caught lightly together under the bosom, which

(36:53):
had brought out in relief. Draped over the hole was
the sort of upper garment of exquisite old rose lace
inmbroidered with large silk flowers which fell from the shoulders
and broadened out in bold superb lines. The dress was
cut low an edge, with a narrow strip of black
down round the bosom, round the bottom of the lace drapery,

(37:15):
and around the hem of the skirt. A wonderful fan
of feathers to match the down edging gave the finishing touch. Well,
how do you like it, a Braumka, asked Missus Sheldon,
with a triumphant smile. Glorious, glorious. I haven't the words
at my command? What a dress? No, I couldn't make

(37:36):
a dress like that, And how beautifully it FETs you
as if you had been born in it? Missus Sheldon,
what do you call the style? Empire? Empire? He queried?
Is that a new style? Well, well, what people don't
think of tailors like us might just as well throw

(37:56):
our needles and scissors away. Now. Listen, I wouldn't have
sarn it to you if there were not this sewing
to be done on it. You are the only one
who will have seen it before the ball. I am
not even letting my husband look at it. Ah, missus Shaldon,
you can rely upon me as upon a rock. But
after the ball, may I copy it? Oh? Yes, after

(38:19):
the ball, copy it as much as you please. But
not now, not for anything in the world. There were
no doubts in Abrumka's mind when he left the doctor's house.
He had arrived at his decision that superb creation had
conquered him. It would be a piece of audacity on
his part, he felt, even to think of imitating such
a gown. Why it was not a gown. It was

(38:42):
a dream, a fantastic vision, without a bodice, without puffs
or frills or tawdry trimmings of any sort, simplicity itself.
And yet so shekh. Back in his shop, he opened
the package of fashion plates that had just arrived from Kiev.
He turned the pages and stared in astonishment. What was that?

(39:03):
Could he trust his eyes? An empire gown? There it
was with the broad, voluptuous drapery of lace hanging from
the shoulders and the edging of down almost exactly the
same thing as Missus Chaldon's. He glanced up and saw
Semyonov outside the window. He had certainly come to fetch
him to the captain's wife. He must have ordered him

(39:25):
to watch the tailor's movements, and must have learnt that
he had just been at Missus Sheldon's. Seminov entered and
told him his mistress wanted to see him right away.
Abrunka slammed the fashion magazine shut, as if afraid Semenov
might catch a glimpse of the new Empire fashion and
give the secret away. I will come immediately, he said crossly.

(39:46):
He picked up his fashion plates, put the yard measure
in his pocket, rammed his silk hat sorrowfully on his head,
and set off for the captain's house. He found Missus
Rubkin pacing the room. Excitedly greeted her, but carefully avoided
meeting her eyes. Well, what did you find out nothing,
Missus Zerubkin, said Abrumka dejectedly. Unfortunately I couldn't find out

(40:11):
a thing, idiot, I have no patience with you. Where
are the fashion plates, eh, Missus Zarubkin. She turned the pages,
looked at one picture after the other, and suddenly her
eyes shone and her cheeks reddened. Oh, Empire, the very thing,
Empire is the very latest. Make this one for me,
she cried commandingly, A brumka turned pale. Empire. Missus Erubkin,

(40:37):
I can't make that ampire dressed for you, he murmured.
Why not, asked the captain's wife, giving him a searching look,
Because because I can't. Oh you can't. You know why
you can't Because that is the start of Missus Sheldon's dress,
So that is reliability you burst so about, great, Missus Zbkin.

(41:00):
I'll make any other dress she choose, but it is
absolutely impossible for me to make this fun ad edne
to your fashion. Please, do you hear me? Get out
of here and don't ever show your face again, missus,
get out of here, repeated the captain's wife, quite beside herself.
The poor tailor stuck his yard measure, which had already

(41:20):
taken out, back into his pocket and left. Half an
hour later, the captain's wife was entering a train for
Kiev carrying a large package which contained material for address.
The captain had accompanied her to the station with a
packer in his forehead. That was five days before the ball.
At the ball, two expensive Empire gowns stood out conspicuously

(41:42):
from among the more or less elegant gowns which had
been finished in the shop of a brumkes Shtifftic Ladies tailor.
The one gown adorned Missus Sheldon's figure, the other the
figure of the captain's wife. Missus Urubkin, had bought her
gown ready made at Kiev and had returned only two
hours before the beginning of the ball. She had scarcely

(42:03):
had time to dress. Perhaps it would have been better
had she not appeared at this one of the annual balls,
had she not taken that fateful trip to Kiev, for
in comparison with the make and style of Missus Sheldon's
dress which had been brought abroad, hers was like the
botched imitation of an amateur. That was evident to everybody.

(42:24):
Though the captain's wife had her little circle of partisans
who maintained with exaggerated eagerness that she looked extraordinarily fascinating
in her dress, and Missus Sheldon still could not rival her,
But there was no mistaking it. There was little justice
in this contention. Everybody knew better what was worst of all,
Missus Rubkin herself knew better. Missus Sheldon's triumph was complete.

(42:49):
The two ladies gave each other the same friendly smiles
as always, but one of them was experiencing the fine
disdain under the derision of the conqueror, while the other
was burning inside with the furious resentment of a dethroned goddess,
Goddess of the annual ball. From that time on, a
Brumca cautiously avoided passing the Captain's house. End of Dethroned

(43:14):
by I. N. Potapenko, recording by Algie pug Perth, Western Australia,