Pagina 160 di 1294

"She is first-rate," he said. "You can always get money from her.

She is as rich as a Jew, she can give you five thousand roubles

at a time and she is not above taking a pledge for a rouble. Lots

of our fellows have had dealings with her. But she is an awful

old harpy...."

And he began describing how spiteful and uncertain she was, how

if you were only a day late with your interest the pledge was

lost; how she gave a quarter of the value of an article and took

five and even seven percent a month on it and so on. The student

chattered on, saying that she had a sister Lizaveta, whom the

wretched little creature was continually beating, and kept in

complete bondage like a small child, though Lizaveta was at least

six feet high.

"There's a phenomenon for you," cried the student and he laughed.