task. They say travelling is disagreeable because of the
delay in getting horses but, on the other hand, it is a
diversion. You are travelling for your own amusement,
I suppose?

KHLESTAKOV. No, my father wants me. He's angry
because so far I haven't made headway in the St.
Petersburg service. He thinks they stick the Vladimir in
your buttonhole the minute you get there. I'd like him
to knock about in the government offices for a while.

GOVERNOR [aside]. How he fabricates! Dragging
in his old father, too. [Aloud.] And may I ask whether
you are going there to stay for long?

KHLESTAKOV. I really don't know. You see, my
father is stubborn and stupid--an old dotard as hard as
a block of wood. I'll tell him straight out, "Do what
you will, I can't live away from St. Petersburg." Really,
why should I waste my life among peasants? Our times
make different demands on us. My soul craves enlightenment.

GOVERNOR [aside]. He can spin yarns all right. Lie
after lie and never trips. And such an ugly insignificant-looking
creature, too. Why, it seems to me
I could crush him with my finger nails. But wait, I'll
make you talk. I'll make you tell me things. [Aloud.]
You were quite right in your observation, that one can
do nothing in a dreary out-of-the-way place. Take this
town, for instance. You lie awake nights, you work