There is no disputing that Tatyana Grigoryevna Zarubkin was one of the most looked-up-to of the ladies. She invariably played the most important part at all the regimental affairs—the amateur theatricals9, the social evenings, the afternoon teas. If the captain’s wife was not to be present, it was a foregone conclusion that the affair would not be a success.
The most important point was that Mrs. Zarubkin had the untarnished reputation of being the best-dressed of all the ladies. She was always the most distinguished10 looking at the annual ball. Her gown for the occasion, ordered from Moscow, was always chosen with the greatest regard for her charms and defects, and it was always exquisitely11 beautiful. A new fashion could not gain admittance to the other ladies of the regiment except by way of the captain’s wife. Thanks to her good taste in dressing12, the stately blonde was queen at all the balls and in all the salons13 of Chmyrsk. Another advantage of hers was that although she was nearly forty she still looked fresh and youthful, so that the young officers were constantly hovering14 about her and paying her homage15.
November was a very lively month in the regiment’s calendar. It was on the tenth of November that the annual ball took place. The ladies, of course, spent their best efforts in preparation for this event. Needless to say that in these arduous16 activities, Abramka Stiftik, the ladies’ tailor, played a prominent role. He was the one man in Chmyrsk who had any understanding at all for the subtle art of the feminine toilet. Preparations had begun in his shop in August already. Within the last weeks his modest parlour—furnished with six shabby chairs placed about a round table, and a fly-specked mirror on the wall—the atmosphere heavy with a smell of onions and herring, had been filled from early morning to the evening hours with the most charming and elegant of the fairer sex. There was trying-on and discussion of styles and selection of material. It was all very nerve-racking for the ladies.
The only one who had never appeared in this parlour was the captain’s wife. That had been a thorn in Abramka’s flesh. He had spent days and nights going over in his mind how he could rid this lady of the, in his opinion, wretched habit of ordering her clothes from Moscow. For this ball, however, as she herself had told him, she had not ordered a dress but only material from out of town, from which he deduced that he was to make the gown for her. But there was only one week left before the ball, and still she had not come to him. Abramka was in a state of feverishness17. He longed once to make a dress for Mrs. Zarubkin. It would add to his glory. He wanted to prove that he understood his trade just as well as any tailor in Moscow, and that it was quite superfluous18 for her to order her gowns outside of Chmyrsk. He would come out the triumphant19 competitor of Moscow.
As each day passed and Mrs. Zarubkin did not appear in his shop, his nervousness increased. Finally she ordered a dressing-jacket from him—but not a word said of a ball gown. What was he to think of it?
So, when Semyonov told him that Mrs. Zarubkin was expecting him at her home, it goes without saying that he instantly removed the dozen pins in his mouth, as he was trying on a customer’s dress, told one of his assistants to continue with the fitting, and instantly set off to call on the captain’s wife. In this case, it was not a question of a mere4 ball gown, but of the acquisition of the best customer in town.
Although Abramka wore a silk hat and a suit in keeping with the silk hat, still he was careful not to ring at the front entrance, but always knocked at the back door. At another time when the captain’s orderly was not in the house—for the captain’s orderly also performed the duties of the captain’s cook—he might have knocked long and loud. On other occasions a cannon20 might have been shot off right next to Tatyana Grigoryevna’s ears and she would not have lifted her fingers to open the door. But now she instantly caught the sound of the modest knocking and opened the back door herself for Abramka.
“Oh!” she cried delightedly. “You, Abramka!”
She really wanted to address him less familiarly, as was more befitting so dignified21 a man in a silk hat; but everybody called him “Abramka,” and he would have been very much surprised had he been honoured with his full name, Abram Srulevich Stiftik. So she thought it best to address him as the others did.
Mr. “Abramka” was tall and thin. There was always a melancholy22 expression in his pale face. He had a little stoop, a long and very heavy greyish beard. He had been practising his profession for thirty years. Ever since his apprenticeship23 he had been called “Abramka,” which did not strike him as at all derogatory or unfitting. Even his shingle24 read: “Ladies’ Tailor: Abramka Stiftik”—the most valid25 proof that he deemed his name immaterial, but that the chief thing to him was his art. As a matter of fact, he had attained26, if not perfection in tailoring, yet remarkable27 skill. To this all the ladies of the S—— Regiment could attest28 with conviction.
Abramka removed his silk hat, stepped into the kitchen, and said gravely, with profound feeling:
“Come into the reception room. I have something very important to speak to you about.”
Abramka followed in silence. He stepped softly on tiptoe, as if afraid of waking some one.
“Sit down, Abramka, listen—but give me your word of honour, you won’t tell any one?” Tatyana Grigoryevna began, reddening a bit. She was ashamed to have to let the tailor Abramka into her secret, but since there was no getting around it, she quieted herself and in an instant had regained30 her ease.
“I don’t know what you are speaking of, Mrs. Zarubkin,” Abramka rejoined. He assumed a somewhat injured manner. “Have you ever heard of Abramka ever babbling31 anything out? You certainly know that in my profession—you know everybody has some secret to be kept.”
“Oh, you must have misunderstood me, Abramka. What sort of secrets do you mean?”
“Well, one lady is a little bit one-sided, another lady”—he pointed32 to his breast—“is not quite full enough, another lady has scrawny arms—such things as that have to be covered up or filled out or laced in, so as to look better. That is where our art comes in. But we are in duty bound not to say anything about it.”
Tatyana Grigoryevna smiled.
“Well, I can assure you I am all right that way. There is nothing about me that needs to be covered up or filled out.”
“Oh, as if I didn’t know that! Everybody knows that Mrs. Zarubkin’s figure is perfect,” Abramka cried, trying to flatter his new customer.
Mrs. Zarubkin laughed and made up her mind to remember “Everybody knows that Mrs. Zarubkin’s figure is perfect.” Then she said:
“You know that the ball is to take place in a week.”
“Yes, indeed, Mrs. Zarubkin, in only one week; unfortunately, only one week,” replied Abramka, sighing.
“But you remember your promise to make my dress for me for the ball this time?”
“Mrs. Zarubkin,” Abramka cried, laying his hand on his heart. “Have I said that I was not willing to make it? No, indeed, I said it must be made and made right—for Mrs. Zarubkin, it must be better than for any one else. That’s the way I feel about it.”
“Splendid! Just what I wanted to know.”
“But why don’t you show me your material? Why don’t you say to me, ‘Here, Abramka, here is the stuff, make a dress?’ Abramka would work on it day and night.”
“Ahem, that’s just it—I can’t order it. That is where the trouble comes in. Tell me, Abramka, what is the shortest time you need for making the dress? Listen, the very shortest?”
“Well, is a week too much for a ball dress such as you will want? It’s got to be sewed, it can’t be pasted together, You, yourself, know that, Mrs. Zarubkin.”
“But supposing I order it only three days before the ball?”
Abramka started.
“Only three days before the ball? A ball dress? Am I a god, Mrs. Zarubkin? I am nothing but the ladies’ tailor, Abramka Stiftik.”
“Well, then you are a nice tailor!” said Tatyana Grigoryevna, scornfully. “In Moscow they made a ball dress for me in two days.”
Abramka jumped up as if at a shot, and beat his breast.
“Is that so? Then I say, Mrs. Zarubkin,” he cried pathetically, “if they made a ball gown for you in Moscow in two days, very well, then I will make a ball gown for you, if I must, in one day. I will neither eat nor sleep, and I won’t let my help off either for one minute. How does that suit you?”
“Sit down, Abramka, thank you very much. I hope I shall not have to put such a strain on you. It really does not depend upon me, otherwise I should have ordered the dress from you long ago.”
“It doesn’t depend upon you? Then upon whom does it depend?”
“Ahem, it depends upon—but now, Abramka, remember this is just between you and me—it depends upon Mrs. Shaldin.”
“Upon Mrs. Shaldin, the doctor’s wife? Why she isn’t even here.”
“That’s just it. That is why I have to wait. How is it that a clever man like you, Abramka, doesn’t grasp the situation?”
“Hm, hm! Let me see.” Abramka racked his brains for a solution of the riddle34. How could it be that Mrs. Shaldin, who was away, should have anything to do with Mrs. Zarubkin’s order for a gown? No, that passed his comprehension.
“She certainly will get back in time for the ball,” said Mrs. Zarubkin, to give him a cue.
“Well, yes.”
“And certainly will bring a dress back with her.”
“Certainly!”
“A dress from abroad, something we have never seen here—something highly original.”
“Mrs. Zarubkin!” Abramka cried, as if a truth of tremendous import had been revealed to him. “Mrs. Zarubkin, I understand. Why certainly! Yes, but that will be pretty hard.”
“That’s just it.”
Abramka reflected a moment, then said:
“I assure you, Mrs. Zarubkin, you need not be a bit uneasy. I will make a dress for you that will be just as grand as the one from abroad. I assure you, your dress will be the most elegant one at the ball, just as it always has been. I tell you, my name won’t be Abramka Stiftik if—”
His eager asseverations seemed not quite to satisfy the captain’s wife. Her mind was not quite set at ease. She interrupted him.
“But the style, Abramka, the style! You can’t possibly guess what the latest fashion is abroad.”
“Why shouldn’t I know what the latest fashion is, Mrs. Zarubkin? In Kiev I have a friend who publishes fashion-plates. I will telegraph to him, and he will immediately send me pictures of the latest French models. The telegram will cost only eighty cents, Mrs. Zarubkin, and I swear to you I will copy any dress he sends. Mrs. Shaldin can’t possibly have a dress like that.”
“All very well and good, and that’s what we’ll do. Still we must wait until Mrs. Shaldin comes back. Don’t you see, Abramka, I must have exactly the same style that she has? Can’t you see, so that nobody can say that she is in the latest fashion?”
At this point Semyonov entered the room cautiously. He was wearing the oddest-looking jacket and the captain’s old boots. His hair was rumpled35, and his eyes were shining suspiciously. There was every sign that he had used the renewal36 of friendship with the doctor’s men as a pretext37 for a booze.
“I had to stand them some brandy, your Excellency,” he said saucily38, but catching39 his mistress’s threatening look, he lowered his head guiltily.
“Idiot,” she yelled at him, “face about. Be off with you to the kitchen.”
In his befuddlement40, Semyonov had not noticed Abramka’s presence. Now he became aware of him, faced about and retired41 to the kitchen sheepishly.
“What an impolite fellow,” said Abramka reproachfully.
“Oh, you wouldn’t believe—” said the captain’s wife, but instantly followed Semyonov into the kitchen.
Semyonov aware of his awful misdemeanour, tried to stand up straight and give a report.
“She will come back, your Excellency, day after to-morrow toward evening. She sent a telegram.”
“Is that true now?”
“I swear it’s true. Shuchok saw it himself.”
“All right, very good. You will get something for this.”
“Yes, your Excellency.”
“Silence, you goose. Go on, set the table.”
Abramka remained about ten minutes longer with the captain’s wife, and on leaving said:
“Let me assure you once again, Mrs. Zarubkin, you needn’t worry; just select the style, and I will make a gown for you that the best tailor in Paris can’t beat.” He pressed his hand to his heart in token of his intention to do everything in his power for Mrs. Zarubkin.
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1
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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3
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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arabesques
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| n.阿拉伯式花饰( arabesque的名词复数 )；错综图饰；阿拉伯图案；阿拉贝斯克芭蕾舞姿（独脚站立，手前伸，另一脚一手向后伸） | |
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6
dubbed
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| v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制 | |
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7
tacked
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| 用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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theatricals
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| n.（业余性的）戏剧演出，舞台表演艺术；职业演员；戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 )；剧场的；炫耀的；戏剧性的 | |
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10
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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12
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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salons
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| n.（营业性质的）店( salon的名词复数 )；厅；沙龙（旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所）；（大宅中的）客厅 | |
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14
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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feverishness
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superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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24
shingle
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| n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短 | |
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25
valid
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| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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31
babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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35
rumpled
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| v.弄皱，使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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saucily
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| adv.傲慢地，莽撞地 | |
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39
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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40
befuddlement
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| 迷惘，昏迷，失常 | |
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41
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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