CASHMERE TURTLENECK SWEATER : he continued, with melancholy triumph, uncovering a third rather large mass of clay, 'you shall behold something which will show you the humility and discernment of your friend. You will realise that he, like a true artist again, feels the need and the use of self-castigation. Behold!' The cloth was lifted and Bersenyev saw two heads, modelled side by side and close as though growing together. . . . He did not at once know what cashmere turtleneck sweater the subject, but looking closer, he recognised in one of them Annushka, in the other Shubin himself. They were, however, rather caricatures than portraits. Annushka was represented as a handsome fat girl with a low forehead, eyes lost in layers of fat, and a saucily turned-up nose. Her thick lips had an insolent curve; her
CASHMERE TURTLENECK SWEATER : whole face expressed sensuality, carelessness, and boldness, not without goodnature. Himself Shubin had modelled as a lean emaciated rake, with sunken cheeks, his thin hair hanging in weak wisps about his face, a meaningless expression in his dim eyes, and his nose sharp and thin as a dead man's. Bersenyev turned away with disgust. 'A nice pair, aren't they, my dear fellow?' said Shubin; 'won't you graciously compose a suitable title? For the first two I have already thought of titles. On the bust shall be inscribed: "A hero resolving to liberate his country." On the statuette: "Look out, sausage-eating Germans!" And for this work what do you think of "The future of the artist Pavel Yakovlitch Shubin?" Will that do?' 'Leave off,' replied Bersenyev. 'Was it worth while cashmere turtleneck sweater waste your CASHMERE TURTLENECK SWEATER : time on such a ----' He could not at once fix on a suitable word. 'Disgusting thing, you mean? No, my dear fellow, excuse me, if anything ought to go to the exhibition, it's that group.' 'It's simply disgusting,' cashmere turtleneck sweater Bersenyev. 'And besides, it's nonsense. You have absolutely no such degrading tendencies to which, unhappily, our artists have such a frequent bent. You have simply libelled yourself.' 'Do you think so?' said Shubin gloomily. 'I have none of them, and if they come upon me, the fault is all one person's. Do you know,' he added, tragically knitting his brows, 'that I have been trying drinking?' 'Nonsense?' 'Yes, I have, by God,' rejoined Shubin; and suddenly grinning and brightening,--'but I didn't like it, my dear boy, the stuff sticks in CASHMERE TURTLENECK SWEATER : my throat, and my head afterwards is a perfect drum. The great Lushtchihin himself--Harlampy Lushtchihin--the greatest drunkard in Moscow, and a Great Russian drunkard too, declared there was nothing to be made of me. In his words, the bottle does not speak to me.' Bersenyev was just going to knock the group over but Shubin stopped him. 'That'll do, my dear cashmere turtleneck sweater don't smash it; it will serve as a lesson, a scare-crow.' Bersenyev laughed. 'If that's what it is, I will spare your scarecrow then,' he said. And now, 'Long live eternal true art!' 'Long live true art!' put in Shubin. 'By art the good is better and the bad is not all loss!' The friends shook hands warmly and parted. XXI Elena's first sensation on awakening was one of happy consternation. CASHMERE TURTLENECK SWEATER : 'Is it possible? Is it possible?' she asked herself, and her heart grew faint with happiness. Recollections came rushing on her . . . she was overwhelmed by them. Then again she was enfolded by the blissful peace of triumph. But in the course of the morning, Elena gradually became possessed by a spirit of unrest, and for the remainder of the day she felt listless and weary. It was true she knew now what she wanted, but that made it no easier for her. That never-to-be forgotten meeting had cast her for ever out of cashmere turtleneck sweater old groove; she was no longer at the same standpoint, she was far away, and yet everything went on about her in its accustomed order, everything pursued its own course as though nothing were changed; the old life moved on its old
| |
|
CASHMERE TURTLENECK SWEATER |