Mikhail Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita -
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and the tram with great attention and some uncomfortable thoughts had begun
to worry him. ' He's not a foreigner . . . he's not a foreigner,' he
thought, ' he's a very peculiar character . . . but I ask you, who is he? .
. . '
'I see you'd like to smoke,' said the stranger unexpectedly, turning
to Bezdomny, ' what sort do you prefer? '
'Do you mean you've got different sorts? ' glumly asked the poet, who
had run out of cigarettes.
'Which do you prefer? ' repeated the mysterious stranger.
'Well, then " Our Brand ",' replied Bezdomny, irritated.
The unknown man immediately pulled a cigarette case out of his pocket
and offered it to Bezdomny.
• " Our Brand " . . .'
The editor and the poet were not so much surprised by the fact that the
cigarette case actually contained ' Our Brand' as by the cigarette case
itself. It was of enormous dimensions, made of solid gold and on the inside
of the cover a triangle of diamonds flashed with blue and white fire.
Their reactions were different. Berlioz thought: ' No, he's a
foreigner.' Bezdomny thought: ' What the hell is he . . .? '
The poet and the owner of the case lit their cigarettes and Berlioz,
who did not smoke, refused.
'I shall refute his argument by saying' Berlioz decided to himself, '
that of course man is mortal, no one will argue with that. But the fact is
that . . .'
However he was not able to pronounce the words before the stranger
spoke:
'Of course man is mortal, but that's only half the problem. The trouble
is that mortality sometimes comes to him so suddenly! And he cannot even say
what he will be doing this evening.'
'What a stupid way of putting the question. ' thought Berlioz and
objected :
'Now there you exaggerate. I know more or less exactly what I'm going
to be doing this evening. Provided of course that a brick doesn't fall on my