"You live here, yet you cannot say for certain! And why is the
picture there at all? And why do its eyes look so crooked?"

To all these questions the landlord could return no satisfactory
reply, despite his floundering endeavours.

"The blockhead!" exclaimed the Grandmother in Russian.

Then she proceeded on her way--only to repeat the same story in
front of a Saxon statuette which she had sighted from afar, and
had commanded, for some reason or another, to be brought to her.
Finally, she inquired of the landlord what was the value of the
carpet in her bedroom, as well as where the said carpet had been
manufactured; but, the landlord could do no more than promise to
make inquiries.

"What donkeys these people are!" she commented. Next, she
turned her attention to the bed.

"What a huge counterpane!" she exclaimed. "Turn it back,
please." The lacqueys did so.

"Further yet, further yet," the old lady cried. "Turn it RIGHT
back. Also, take off those pillows and bolsters, and lift up the
feather bed."

The bed was opened for her inspection.

"Mercifully it contains no bugs," she remarked.