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It somehow happened at the beginning of June that Laptev went into the Bubnovsky restaurant with Potchatkin to talk business with him over lunch. Potchatkin had been with the Laptevs a long while, and had entered their service at eight years old.
"The congruity of life with the conceit of the personality," said Potchatkin. And noticing that Yulia did not understand Potchatkin, Makeitchev hastened to explain: "We are humble people and must live according to our position." She inspected the boys' quarters, and then the kitchen, made acquaintance with the housekeeper, and was thoroughly dissatisfied.
Altogether the employees at Laptevs' had a very poor time of it, and this fact was a subject of conversation for the whole market. The worst of it was that the old man, Fyodor Stepanovitch, maintained something of an Asiatic despotism in his attitude to them. Thus, no one knew what wages were paid to the old man's favourites, Potchatkin and Makeitchev.
He was nicknamed Malyuta Skuratov on account of his cruel treatment of the boys and clerks under him. When they went into the restaurant he nodded to a waiter and said: "Bring us, my lad, half a bodkin and twenty-four unsavouries." After a brief pause the waiter brought on a tray half a bottle of vodka and some plates of various kinds of savouries. "Look here, my good fellow," said Potchatkin.
His name was Ivan Vassilitch Potchatkin, and he came from Kashira. Now, congratulating Laptev, he expressed himself as follows: "It's the reward of valour, for the female heart is a strong opponent." Another important person in the warehouse was a clerk called Makeitchev a stout, solid, fair man with whiskers and a perfectly bald head.
Now he was the chief person in the warehouse, but still, as before, he did not know how large his fortune was, whether his business was doing well, how much the senior clerks were paid, and so on. Potchatkin and Makeitchev looked upon him as young and inexperienced, concealed a great deal from him, and whispered mysteriously every evening with his blind old father.
"It all depends upon the fluctuation of credit," Potchatkin answered after a moment's pause. "What do you understand by the fluctuation of credit?" Potchatkin began explaining, but Laptev could make nothing of it, and sent for Makeitchev.
"Give us a plateful of the source of all slander and evil-speaking, with mashed potatoes." The waiter did not understand; he was puzzled, and would have said something, but Potchatkin looked at him sternly and said: "Except." The waiter thought intently, then went to consult with his colleagues, and in the end guessing what was meant, brought a plateful of tongue.
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