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Pilniak, Boris, 1894-1937

"Tales of the Wilderness"


"You have had sufficient albumen; take hydrates now," rose Lina's
voice, calling to her children.
"Potatoes?"
"Yes."
"And fat?"
"You have had enough fat."
The general smiled craftily, then muttered grumpily:
"That is not eating, that is scientific alimentation." He cut himself
a piece of bacon, ate it with some white bread, and drank more tea
with sweet root and candied melon.
Gradually the occupants of the house roused themselves and half-
dressed, sleepy--carrying their towels, empty samovars, and tooth
brushes--they began to pass along the corridor in front of the
general's open door.
Kirill Lvovich eyed them maliciously as he sat drinking his tea and
inwardly cursed them all.
The Cyclop, Leontyevna, Sergius Andreevich's servant, tramped in
heavily with her man's boots from the Labour Exchange; her solitary
eye peered searchingly into Anna Andreevna's stove.
"I'll see she's not deceiving us over the firewood," she shouted
aggressively: "Oh, what a store she's got!"
"But you have used the birch-wood," the general hit back from his
room.
The Cyclop flew into a rage and slapped her thighs. One of the
periodic scenes ensued.
"What?" Leontyevna cried, "I am not trusted, I am being spied on!
Lina Fedorovna, I am going to complain to the Exchange."
Lina Fedorovna joined in from behind her door.


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