Chapter 84 artwork

artwork Sasha Smirnov, his mother's only son, with something under his arm wrapped in the number 223 of Bourse Gazette, came into Dr. Koshelkov's consulting room with a sad face. "Oh, dear boy!" said the doctor, addressing him. "Well, how's your body? Any good news for me? " Sasha began to close her eyes, put her hands on her heart, and said in an excited voice: "My mother greets you, Ivan Nikolaevich, and told me to thank you. ... I am a single seedling of my mother, you saved my life, ... cured my serious illness. ...neither of us know how to thank you. "

"Come on, boy!" interrupted the doctor, limp with joy. "I'm just doing what other people would do in my position." "I am my mother's only seedling. . . . We are poor, of course, and cannot repay you for your efforts. . . . We are ashamed, doctor, but, mother and I ... my mother's only seedling, sincerely I beg you to accept our thank you, ... here, here is this thing, ... it is very expensive, it is bronze ... a precious work of art." "Don't do that!" said the doctor, frowning. "Hey, why is this necessary?" "No, please, you must not refuse," Sasha continued muttering, opening the paper packet. "If you don't accept it, you will break the heart of my mother and me. ... This thing is very good, ... it is made of bronze. ... It was passed down to us by my father who passed away, and we have kept it as a precious souvenir . . . my father buys antique bronzes and sells them to antique lovers. . . . and now my mother and I do the same.”

Sasha unwrapped the item and placed it solemnly on his desk. This is a low bronze candelabra, a work of art.There were portraits carved on it: two full-length women stood on pedestals, dressed like Eve, and I have neither the courage nor the proper temperament to describe their poses.The two women smiled provocatively, and in any case, from the appearance, if they hadn't had to support the candlestick, they seemed to jump off the pedestal and fight around the room, but in such a situation, readers, It's indecent to even think about it. The doctor looked at the gift, scratched the back of his ears slowly, cleared his throat, and blew his nose hesitantly.

"Yeah, this thing is really good," he stammered, "but...how can I tell you, it's...it's too rude....It's nothing compared to a woman wearing a topless dress, the devil knows this What is it..." "Why do you say that?" "Even the seductive snake-spirit could think of nothing worse. Yes, a monstrosity like this on the table would make the whole house filthy!" "What a strange attitude you have towards art, doctor!" said Sasha displeased. "You know it's a work of art, look! It's so beautiful, so elegant, it fills one's heart with admiration, and tears well up in one's throat! Seeing such beauty, one forgets everything in the world.  … You Look, how lively, what kind of atmosphere, what kind of charm!"

"All this I know very well, my dear," interrupted the doctor. "But you know, I'm a man with a wife and children. I often have children running around in my room, and I often have ladies visiting." "Of course, if you look at it from a worldly perspective," said Sasha, "then, of course, this highly artistic work becomes something else. . . . But, doctor, you should stand taller than the common man , especially because of your refusal to accept it, which deeply hurt my mother and me. I am the only seedling of my mother,...you saved my life....We give you what we consider most precious . . . There is only one thing I regret: there is only one candelabrum, and it cannot be paired.

..." "Thank you, dear friend, I am very grateful. . . . Please do your respects to Mamma, but, really, judge for yourself: I have children running about here, and ladies. . . . Ah, but, leave it here! It doesn't make sense to you anyway. " "There's not much to say," Sasha said cheerfully. "You put the candelabrum here, here, next to the vase. What a pity: there is no pair! What a pity! Well, good-bye, doctor." After Sasha left, the doctor looked at the candlestick for a long time, scratched the back of his ears, and remained silent in thought.

"It's so good that there's no need to argue about it," he thought. "It would be a pity to throw it away. . . . But you can't keep it. . . . Well! . . . Here comes the problem! To whom to give it, or Donate to who?" He pondered for a long time, remembering that his good friend, lawyer Ukhov, had done things for him, and he was still in debt to the lawyer. "Excellent," the doctor decided to himself. "He's ashamed to take my money since he's my friend, and it would be very fitting if I gave him this thing. Then I'll give him the damn thing! It just so happens that he's a bachelor and doesn't know anything about such things." And he doesn't care..." The doctor didn't put the matter off until later, put on his overcoat, took the candlestick, and went to the Ukhovs' house.

"Hello, friend!" he said, finding the lawyer at home. "I've come to you. . . . I've come to say thank you for what you've done for me, old man. . . . You won't ask for money, so, well, at least you'll take this,  … Look, man. ... This thing is so beautiful! " The lawyer was indescribably happy when he saw this thing. "It turned out to be such a thing!" He laughed loudly. "Oh, hell with it, it's the devil's idea! Wonderful! Charming! Where did you get such a lovely thing?" At first the lawyer was overjoyed, but then he looked at the door tremblingly and said: "But you, brother, take your present. I can't accept it. . . . " "Why?" said the doctor in horror.

"Because . . . my mother and my lawyers often come to me, . . . and I am ashamed to be seen by the servants." "No, no,...you are not allowed to refuse!" The doctor said, shaking his hands. "You are so wrong! This is a work of art,... so lively,... lifelike....I don't want to say any more! You are going to make me angry!" "At least it should be painted with some color, or hung with some small fig leaves..." But the doctor shook his hands more vigorously, ran out of Ukhov's apartment, and was very satisfied when he thought that the gift had finally been taken off his hands. I went home by car. ... After he left, the lawyer looked at the candelabra, stretched out his fingers to touch it from side to side, and then, like a doctor, racked his brains for a long time on a question: what should I do with this gift?

"It's a good thing," he thought, "it's a pity to throw it away, and it's not a good thing to keep. Better to give it to someone else. . . . Then I'll just give the candelabra to the comedian Shashikin this evening.That bad bag likes this kind of stuff, besides, it happened to be his welfare show today. . . . "He did what he said. That same evening the candelabra was wrapped up and taken to the comedian Shashikin. The comedian's dressing room was filled with men throughout the evening, just to admire the gift. ...the dressing room was always full of excited shouts and horse-neighing laughter. If an actress came up to the door and asked, "Can I come in?" " Immediately the comedian's husky voice said: "No, no, dear!I'm not fully dressed! "

When the show was over, the comedian shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, saying, "Well, where do I put this shit? I live in someone else's house! Actresses hang out at my place! It's not a photograph." , can be hidden in a drawer!" "You, sir, sell it," suggested the barber, who was helping the comedian out of his costume. "There lives an old woman on the outskirts of the city, who buys antique bronzes. ... Just go and find Smirnova. ...everyone knows her. " Comedians heeded his word. ... Two days later, the doctor Koshelkov sat in the consulting room, put a finger on his forehead, and was thinking about the problem of bile acid.Suddenly the door opened and Sasha Smirnov rushed into the consulting room.He is full of smiles, radiant, and his whole body exudes a happy demeanor. He held something in his hand, wrapped in newspaper. "Doctor!" he said out of breath. "Think of my joy! It is your luck that we have finally matched your candelabra! . . . Mother is very happy. . . . I am a single seedling from my mother. . . . life. ..." Shaking with gratitude, Sasha held a candelabra before the doctor. The doctor opened his mouth to say a word, but nothing came out: his tongue froze. "Notes" ①The name of the newspaper in Moscow. ② is naked.