And then because
Akulina has the courage to tell you the truth, and to tell you that your
fine Count is no count, and that his friends get from you ten times the
money he earns, then you turn on me like a bear, ready to bite off my
head, and you tell me to choose my language! Is there no shame in you,
Christian Gregorovitch, or is there also no understanding? Am I the mother
of your four children or not? I would like to ask. I suppose you cannot
deny that, whatever else you deny which is true, and you tell me to choose
my language! _Da_, I will choose my language, in truth! _Da_, I will
choose out such a swarm of words as ought to sting your ears like hornets,
if you had not such a leathery skin and such a soft brain inside it. But
why should I? It is thrown away. There is no shame in you. You see
nothing, you care for nothing, you hear no reason, you feel no argument. I
will go home and make soup. I am better there than in the shop. Oh yes! it
is always that. Akulina can make good things to eat, and good tea and good
punch to drink, and Akulina is the Archangel Michael in the kitchen. But
if Akulina says to you, 'Save a penny here, do not lend more than you have
there,' Akulina is a fool and must be told to choose her language, lest it
be too indelicate for the dandified ears of the high-born gentleman! I
should not wonder if, by choosing her language carefully enough, Akulina
ended by making the high-born gentleman understand something after all.
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