Oblomov / Обломов. Книга для чтения на английском языке

В«Well, sir, I daresay I might take this awayВ», said Zakhar, picking up the plate with a condescending air.

«Only that? And what about the dust on the walls – the cobwebs?» Oblomov said, pointing to the walls.

В«I usually sweep the walls before Easter, sir. I clean the icons then, too, and take off the cobwebsВ».

«And the books and pictures – when do you dust them?»

«The books and pictures, sir, I do before Christmas: Anisya and I turn out all the book-cases then. How do you expect me to clean the place now? You’re at home all day, aren’t you?»

«I sometimes go to the theatre or visit friends – that’s when you ought to do it».

«Can’t do things at night, can I, sir?»

Oblomov gave him a reproachful look, shook his head, and sighed. Zakhar cast an indifferent glance out of the window and sighed, too. The master seemed to think: «Well, my dear chap, you’re even more of an Oblomov than I am». And Zakhar, quite likely, thought to himself: «Fiddlesticks! All you’re good at is to use high-sounding and aggravating words – you don’t care a fig for the dust and the cobwebs!»

«Don’t you realize», said Oblomov, «that moths thrive on dust? And sometimes I can even see a bug on the wall!»

«I’ve got fleas as well, sir», Zakhar remarked unconcernedly.

«You think that’s all right, do you?» Oblomov said. «Why, it’s vermin!»

Zakhar grinned all over his face, so that his eyebrows and side-whiskers parted, and a red flush spread all over his face.

«Isn’t my fault, sir, if there are bugs in the world», he said with naive surprise. «I didn’t invent them, did I?»

«It’s because of the dirt», Oblomov interrupted him. «What nonsense you do talk!»

«I didn’t invent dirt, either».

«You’ve got mice running about in your room at night – I can hear them».

«I didn’t invent the mice, either. There are lots of these creatures everywhere, sir: mice and moths and bugs».

В«How is it other people have neither moths nor bugs?В»

Zakhar’s face expressed incredulity, or rather a calm certainty that this never happened.

«I’ve got lots of everything, sir», he said obstinately. «You can’t expect me to see to every bug. I can’t crawl into their cracks, can I?»

He seemed to be thinking to himself: В«And what would sleep be like without a bug?В»

«Sweep up the dirt out of the corners – then there won’t be any», Oblomov instructed him.