fur overcoat worth five hundred rubles, and one's wife a
shawl--

GOVERNOR. [testily]. And supposing greyhound
puppies are the only bribes you take? You're an atheist,
you never go to church, while I at least am a firm believer
and go to church every Sunday. You--oh, I
know you. When you begin to talk about the Creation
it makes my flesh creep.

AMMOS. Well, it's a conclusion I've reasoned out with
my own brain.

GOVERNOR. Too much brain is sometimes worse than
none at all.-- However, I merely mentioned the courthouse.
I dare say nobody will ever look at it. It's an
enviable place. God Almighty Himself seems to watch
over it. But you, Luka Lukich, as inspector of schools,
ought to have an eye on the teachers. They are very
learned gentlemen, no doubt, with a college education,
but they have funny habits--inseparable from the profession,
I know. One of them, for instance, the man with
the fat face--I forget his name--is sure, the moment he
takes his chair, to screw up his face like this. [Imitates
him.] And then he has a trick of sticking his hand under
his necktie and smoothing down his beard. It doesn't
matter, of course, if he makes a face at the pupils; perhaps
it's even necessary. I'm no judge of that. But
you yourself will admit that if he does it to a visitor, it
may turn out very badly. The Inspector, or anyone