Page 138 - the-idiot

The prince took his note. Ferdishenko rose.
‘I came here to warn you,’ he said. ‘In the first place, don’t
lend me any money, for I shall certainly ask you to.’
‘Very well.’
‘Shall you pay here?’
‘Yes, I intend to.’
‘Oh! I DON’T intend to. Thanks. I live here, next door to
you; you noticed a room, did you? Don’t come to me very
often; I shall see you here quite often enough. Have you seen
the general?’
‘No.’
‘Nor heard him?’
‘No; of course not.’
‘Well, you’ll both hear and see him soon; he even tries
to borrow money from me. Avis au lecteur. Good-bye; do
you think a man can possibly live with a name like Ferdish-
enko?’
‘Why not?’
‘Good-bye.’
And so he departed. The prince found out afterwards that
this gentleman made it his business to amaze people with
his originality and wit, but that it did not as a rule ‘come
off.’ He even produced a bad impression on some people,
which grieved him sorely; but he did not change his ways
for all that.
As he went out of the prince’s room, he collided with yet
another visitor coming in. Ferdishenko took the opportu-
nity of making several warning gestures to the prince from
behind the new arrival’s back, and left the room in con-

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