Vladimir Nabokov. Un hombre ocupado : Клуб изучающих испанский языкVladimir Nabokov. Un hombre ocupado
Vladimir Nabokov. A BUSY MAN
owing merrier. The conversation was, of course, conducted in Russian; the landlady did not understand a word of it, yet giggled, rolled in futile coquetry her poorly penciled eyes, and kept up a private soliloquy, but nobody listened to her. Graf every now and then consulted his wristwatch under the table, yearned for the nearest churchtower to strike midnight, drank orange juice, and took his pulse. By midnight the vodka gave out and the landlady, staggering and laughing her head off, fetched a bottle of cognac. "Well, your health, staraya morda" (old fright), one of the guests coldly addressed her, and she naively, trustfully, clinked glasses with him, and then stretched toward a