The original of this work is read in just 8 minutes. We recommend reading it without abbreviations, so interesting.
: Masquerade ball. The drunken masked gentleman insulted the intellectuals and made a scandal. When he tore off his mask, everyone recognized him as a famous millionaire and, having swallowed an insult, wrapped the incident as a joke.
The city club hosted a charity masquerade ball. By twelve o'clock in the morning five intellectuals without masks retired to the silence room to stay in silence, read newspapers and take a nap.
Suddenly, an unknown gentleman in a mask, a coachman’s suit and a hat with peacock feathers burst into the reading room. The gentleman was accompanied by two masked ladies and a footman with bottles of alcohol.
Speaking rudely and simply, the lord demanded that the intellectuals move in, since he wanted to continue the holiday here.
Revered a little and will be with you; and so very smart, and you’ll spoil your eyes, and most importantly - I don’t want it and that’s it.
Then he invited the banker Zhestyakov to drink and tore the newspaper from his hands, insulted the treasurer of the orphaned court, and then he began to expel everyone from the reading room.
Zhestyakov - Director of the Bank, a member of the local intelligentsia
Intellectuals began to resent, called the gentleman with peacock feathers impudent.Zhestyakov first sent for the duty foreman, then for the police Evstrat Spiridonych.
Yevstrat Spiridonych - senior police officer, an old man in a police uniform, with a hoarse voice and a well-groomed mustache
Evstrat Spiridonych appeared, yelled at the gentleman with peacock feathers, then called all the policemen who were in the club and began to write the protocol.
The scandal turned out so that the dancing stopped and everyone crowded at the door to the reading room.
The gentleman with the peacock feathers was all very amused. When the protocol was written, he tore off the mask and turned out to be Pyatigorov, known for his scandals and charity.
Egor Nilyich Pyatigorov - millionaire, manufacturer and hereditary honorary citizen, brawler and rude boor, wide and squat man
The paled intellectuals left the reading room silently and scattered throughout the club in despondency. Yevstrat Spiridonych left, grunting annoyingly, like a man who had done terrible stupidity. The ball ended, and the guests went home.
At two in the morning, Pyatigorov, completely drunk, left the reading room and went to the ballroom and fell asleep in an armchair. Pleasantly smiling, the intelligentsia picked up a hereditary honorary citizen and loaded them into the crew, while Zhestyakov admired how cleverly and funny he had them.
After spending a millionaire, the intellectuals cheered up. Zhestyakov reassured himself that Pyatigorov shook his hand at parting — that means he was not angry, and Yevstrat Spiridonych sighed:
A scoundrel, a vile man, but a benefactor ... You can’t!
