Chapter 13 Part 2 of "The Idiot"

"Can I be of service to you, my lord prince? Have you summoned me now?" Lebedev asked after a moment of silence. The duke was also silent for a minute before answering: "Hi! Well, I want to talk to you about the general...about your being stolen..." "What? What was stolen?" "Come, don't pretend to be confused. Ah, my God, Lukian Timofitch, what are you acting mad about? Money, money, you lost four hundred rubles in your purse that day. Go to Peter Do you understand what the fort came to me that morning?" "Oh! about the four hundred rubles," said Lebedev in a drawn out voice, as if suddenly enlightened, "thank you for your interest, Prince, I am flattered by your interest... But the money has been found, long ago."

"Lost and found! Hey, thank goodness." "You are very kind, indeed four hundred rubles is not a small thing, especially for a poor man who lives by hard work and has to support a large family..." "Don't talk about that!" exclaimed the Duke, quickly returning to what he had just said. "I'm glad you found it. How did you find it?" "It couldn't be easier, the wallet was under the chair where I kept my coat. Apparently the wallet slipped out of the pocket and onto the floor." "What, under the chair? Impossible, you told me that you have searched everywhere, and why did you not look where you should have looked first?"

"Actually? I did. I remember very clearly that I did! I was on all fours, I felt under the chair with my hands, I even moved the chair away, I couldn't believe my eyes, I saw nothing, nothing. , the ground was even more empty than my hand, but I groped again. When people have to find something, they are usually very petty... let alone when the loss is huge and painful: nothing It's empty everywhere, but I've checked it fifteen times anyway." "That's fine, but what's going on?...I'm still at a loss," the Duke grunted dumbfounded, "It was empty before, right? You looked for that place, but you found the money right there, right? No?"

"Yes, I found it right there." The prince looked at Lebedev strangely, and asked suddenly: "General?" "What's the matter with the general?" Lebedev pretended not to understand. "Hey, my God, let me ask you what the General said when you found your purse under the chair. You two did it together." "Before, yes. But this time, frankly, I kept quiet so he wouldn't know. I found the wallet myself." "Why? Did you lose the money?" "I checked my purse, and there's nothing missing, not even a ruble." "You should have come and told me," the Duke pointed out thoughtfully.

"I'm afraid to disturb you, personally, to spoil your own impression, perhaps a particularly good one, if I may say so. Besides, I pretended not to have found anything. I am sure that the money is intact. Afterwards, I closed the wallet and put it back under the chair." "why?" Lebedev laughed, rubbed his hands and answered: "No reason, because I want to investigate further." "So the purse was still there, from the day before yesterday?" "Oh, no, only twenty-four hours. Well, on some level, I hope the general finds the wallet too, because I thought to myself, since I finally found the wallet, why is the general so blind to something so obvious under the chair What? I moved the chair several times, and even changed the position of the chair, making the purse more conspicuous, but the general didn't notice it, and it went on like this for twenty-four hours. It is now obvious that the general is very absent-minded, and it is impossible to understand ;he chatted, told stories, joked, suddenly got angry at me, which baffled me. At last we walked out of the room together. I left the door open on purpose. The purse of the large sum of money was worried, but suddenly became angry and said nothing. We hadn't taken two steps in the street before he left me and went across the street by himself. We didn't meet again in the coffee shop until evening. meet."

"After all, did you get your wallet back?" "No, the purse disappeared under the chair that night." "So where's the wallet now?" Hearing this, Lebedev rose abruptly, stood up straight, looked at the prince cheerfully, and answered with a smile: "Here, the purse slips into the hem of my coat. Here, look, look, look, touch, please." It was true, there was clearly a bag shape at the front and bottom of the left pocket of the coat, and it was immediately recognizable as a leather wallet. "I took out my purse and checked it. There was nothing missing in the four hundred rubles. I put the purse back where I had kept it in the hem of my coat since yesterday morning. Where's my leg?"

"You didn't notice?" "I was not aware of it, cough, cough, cough! Just think, my lord, that although the matter does not deserve your special attention, my pocket, which has always been intact, suddenly has a big hole in it overnight! I want to I understand, after checking the opening, I think someone must have opened it with a knife, which is almost unreal!" "General?" "Yesterday he was very angry all day, and today he is always angry. Sometimes he throws his head up and laughs wildly, or laughs and laughs, and then he becomes so angry that I am really afraid. I am not a soldier after all, duke! Yesterday we were in the cafe together, Somehow the hem of my coat happened to be so bulging that it stood out from all eyes, and the general was annoyed with me, and his face was sullen. He hadn't looked at me in a long time, even if he wasn't drunk or emotional, but yesterday he Staring at me twice made me shudder and my vest was cold. Anyway, I want to get over the purse thing tomorrow, but tonight I'll have to hang out with him in the coffee shop."

"Why do you torture him like this?" cried the prince. "I didn't torture him, Prince, I didn't torture him," Lebedev retorted hastily, "I really love him...and respect him. Believe it or not, he's very important to me now." Precious; I like him more than ever!" He said this in a tone of seriousness and sincerity, which made the duke very angry. "You love him, come on, you're torturing him like this! It's obvious that he's trying to get you back with your wallet, and he put it under a chair in the middle of your coat to get your attention, and he's saying that You show that he doesn't want to mess with you, but simply ask your pardon. Listen, he begs pardon! So he wants you to save face, he trusts your friendship to him. And you spoil such a modest gentleman like this look."

"My lord, my lord, prince," repeated Lebedev, his eyes twinkling, "only you, noble prince, have real insight! For that, I am devoted to you with all my admiration! I am sure! Now, at this moment, let’s say the purse is found, not tomorrow, here, here is all the cash, please take it, noble duke, please keep it until tomorrow. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I will get it back.” "But be very careful, don't tell him you found your wallet. Just let him see that you don't have anything in the hem of your coat, and he will understand." "Really? Wouldn't it be better to tell him I found the lost wallet? Wouldn't it be okay to pretend not to notice anything?"

"No," said the prince thoughtfully, "no, it's too late now, it's too dangerous, really, you'd better say nothing. Be kind to him...but...not too much...you know... " "I know, duke, I know, that is, I know it's difficult to carry out, because you'll have to have your heart to do it well. Besides, I'm still angry, and he's sometimes too haughty with me. He's crying Hugging me, but then insulting me, sneering at me, everything. Well, I packed my purse and put the bottom of my coat on purpose in front of the General. Alas! Alas! Good-bye, duke , bothering you, alarming you, I want to say..."

"Come on, for God's sake, keep silent, as always!" "It's better to say less, it's better to say less!" Even though the matter was over, the Duke remained silent, and even more silent.He waited anxiously for his meeting with the general the next day.