Mikhail Bulgakov. The Fateful Eggs -
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"Send him in here, that authorised whatever he is," he said to Maria
Stepanovna.
"What can I do for you?" Persikov asked in a tone that made the
authorised whatever he was shudder perceptibly. Persikov shifted his
spectacles from his nose to his forehead and back again, and looked his
visitor up and down. The latter glistened with hair cream and precious
stones, and a monocle sat in his right eye. "What a foul-looking face,"
Persikov thought to himself for some reason.
The guest began in circuitous fashion by asking permission to smoke a
cigar, as a result of which Persikov reluctantly invited him to take a seat.
Then the guest began apologising at length for having come so late. "But
it's impossible to catch ... oh, tee-hee, pardon me ... to find the
Professor at home in the daytime." (The guest gave a sobbing laugh like a
hyena.)
"Yes, I'm very busy!" Persikov answered so curtly that the visitor
shuddered visibly again.
Nevertheless he had taken the liberty of disturbing the famous
scientist. Time is money, as they say ... the Professor didn't object to his
cigar, did he?
"Hrmph, hrmph, hrmph," Persikov replied. He'd given him permission."
"You have discovered the ray of life, haven't you, Professor?"
"Balderdash! What life? The newspapers invented that!"
"Oh, no, tee-hee-hee..." He perfectly understood the modesty that is an
invariable attribute of all true scholars... of course... There had been
telegrams today... In the cities of Warsaw and Riga they had already heard
about the ray. Professor Persikov's name was on everyone's lips... The whole
world was following his work with bated breath... But everyone knew how hard
it was for scholars in Soviet Russia. Entre nous, soi-dis... There wasn't
anyone else listening, was there? Alas, they didn't appreciate academic work