Oblomov / Обломов. Книга для чтения на английском языке

I’m dining at Prince Tyumenev’s. The Goryunovs will be there and she – my darling Lydia», he added in a whisper. «Why have you given up the prince? It’s such a gay house! So wealthy! And their country cottage! Buried in flowers! They’ve added a balcony to it – gothique. I understand they’re going to have dances there in the summer – tableaux vivants! You’ll be coming, won’t you?»

«No, I don’t think I will».

«Oh, what a splendid house! On their Wednesday at homes last winter there were never fewer than fifty people there – sometimes, indeed, there were as many as a hundred!»

В«Good heavens, I can imagine how horribly boring it must have beenВ».

В«Boring! How can you say that? The more the merrier. Lydia, too, used to come, but I never noticed her there, then suddenly -

In vain to banish her from my mind I try,

And by reason, my passion to tame» —

he sang, and without thinking sat down in the arm-chair, but jumped up immediately and began dusting his clothes.

В«How awfully dusty your room is!В» he said.

«It’s all Zakhar’s fault!» Oblomov complained.

«Well, I must be off», said Volkov. «Must get those camelias for Misha’s bouquet. Au revoir».

В«Come and have tea with me in the evening, after the ballet, and tell me all about itВ», Oblomov invited him.

«I’m sorry, I’ve promised to go to the Mussinskys’; it’s their At Home to-day. Won’t you come, too? I’ll introduce you».

В«No, thank you. What should I do there?В»

«At the Mussinskys’? Why, half the town is there! What should you do there? It’s a house where they talk about everything».

«That’s what I find so boring – talking about everything», said Oblomov.

«Well, why don’t you go to the Mezdrovs’?» Volkov interrupted him. «There they talk about one thing only – art. All you hear there is – the Venetian school, Bach and Beethoven, Leonardo da Vinci…»

«Always the same thing – how boring!» said Oblomov with a yawn.

«There’s no pleasing you. Why, there are hundreds of houses you can go to. Everyone has definite visiting days now: the Savinovs have dinners on Thursdays, the Maklashins on Fridays, the Vyaznikovs on Sundays, Prince Tyumenev on Wednesdays. I’m engaged every day of the week», Volkov concluded with shining eyes.