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Consequently I led the fat merchant a verbal chase, and baffled him until he capitulated with, "Excuse me. Take no offense, I beg, sudarynya. I only asked so by chance." Then I told him with the same result. This was not the last time, by many, that I was put through my national catechism in Kieff. Every Kievlyanin to whom I spoke quizzed me.
"Is that all they called you?" she inquired, with a disdainful sniff. "No; they said that I was 'a real general-ess. They knew their business, you see. And they said 'madame' instead of 'sudarynya.* Was there any other title which they could have bestowed on me for the money?"
*Sudarynya is the genuine Russian word for "madam," but, like spasibo, "thank you," it is used only by the lower classes. Many merchants who know no French except madame use it as a delicate compliment to the patron's social position. She confessed, with a pitying sigh, that there was not, but returned to her plaint over the sinfully wasted kopeks.
He was a tall, slender young fellow, about seven-and-twenty years of age. Though he used the customary forms, "Give me something, sudarynya* if only a few kopeks, Khristi radi!" there was something about him, despite his rags, there was an elegance of accent in his language, to which I was not accustomed in the "poor brethren" generally. * Madam. For Christ's sake.
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