Mikhail Bulgakov. The Fateful Eggs -
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The house committee was immediately deprived of Professor Persikov's
present. The galoshes disappeared in a newspaper. Highly delighted, the
cherub in the service jacket rose to his feet and began to pump the
Professor's hand, even delivering a small speech, the gist of which was as
follows: it did the Professor honour ... the Professor could rest assured
... he would not be disturbed any more, either at the Institute or at home
... steps would be taken, his chambers were perfectly safe...
"But couldn't you shoot the reporters?" asked Persikov, looking over
his spectacles.
His question cheered the visitors up no end. Not only the small gloomy
one, but even the tinted one in the hall gave a big smile. Beaming and
sparkling, the cherub explained that that was impossible.
"But who was that scoundrel who came here?"
The smiles disappeared at once, and the cherub replied evasively that
it was just some petty speculator not worth worrying about. All the same he
trusted that the Professor would treat the events of this evening in
complete confidence, and the visitors left.
Persikov returned to his study and the diagrams, but he was not
destined to study them. The telephone's red light went on, and a female
voice suggested that the Professor might like to marry an attractive and
amorous widow with a seven-roomed apartment. Persikov howled down the
receiver:
"I advise you to get treatment from Professor Rossolimo..." and then
the phone rang again.
This time Persikov softened somewhat, because the person, quite a
famous one, who was ringing from the Kremlin enquired at length with great
concern about Persikov's work and expressed the desire to visit his
laboratory. Stepping back from the telephone, Persikov wiped his forehead
and took off the receiver. Then trumpets began blaring and the shrieks of