Oblomov - Ivan Goncharov [247]
‘But I told you he was a rascally fellow!’
‘A rascally fellow, is it? We’ve seen plenty of rascals! Why didn’t you tell me he had influence? Why, he’s on familiar terms with the General, just as you are with me. Would I have had anything to do with him, if I’d known?’
‘But,’ Tarantyev retorted, ‘it’s perfectly legal!’
‘Perfectly legal!’ Ivan Matveyevich again mimicked him. ‘Just try and say it there: why, your tongue will stick to the roof of your mouth. Do you know what the General asked me?’
‘What?’ Tarantyev asked curiously.
‘Is it true that you and some other blackguard made the landowner Oblomov drunk and forced him to sign an IOU in your sister’s name?’
‘Did he actually say “and some other blackguard”?’ asked Tarantyev.
‘Yes, he did.’
‘Who can that blackguard be?’ Tarantyev asked again.
His friend looked at him.
‘I don’t expect you know, do you?’ he said bitterly. ‘It couldn’t be you by any chance, could it?’
‘Me? So I’ve got mixed up in it too?’
‘You’d better thank the German and your country neighbour. The German, you see, has sniffed it all out, cross-questioned everybody….’
‘You should have mentioned someone else, old man, and told them I had nothing to do with it.’
‘Should I now? Why, what sort of a saint are you?’
‘But what did you say when the General asked whether it was true that you and some other blackguard…? That was when you should have tried to bluff him.’
‘Bluff him? You can’t bluff a fellow like that! You should have seen those green eyes of his! I tried my best to say that the whole thing was not true, that it was a slander, that I knew nothing about any Oblomov, and that it was all Tarantyev’s fault, but I just couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. I merely threw myself on his mercy.’
‘Well, they’re not going to prosecute you, are they?’ Tarantyev asked hoarsely. ‘Mind, I had nothing to do with it. Now, you, old man – –’
‘You had nothing to do with it? No, sir, if we are in for it, you will be the first. Who was it persuaded Oblomov to drink? Who abused and threatened him?’
‘But it was your idea,’ said Tarantyev.
‘Why, are you a minor, by any chance? I know nothing whatever about the whole business.’
‘That’s not fair, old man! Think how much money you had through me, and I’ve only had three hundred roubles.’
‘You don’t want me to take the whole blame on myself, do you? Clever, aren’t you? No, sir, I know nothing about it. I was just asked by my sister to witness an IOU at a notary’s, for, being a woman, she doesn’t understand such things – that’s all. You and Zatyorty were the witnesses, so it’s your responsibility!’
‘You should have had a good talk to your sister – how did she dare to go against her own brother?’ said Tarantyev.
‘My sister’s a fool – what can I do with her?’
‘What about her?’
‘About her? She goes on crying and insisting that Oblomov owes her nothing and that she never gave him any money.’
‘But you have an IOU from her,’ said Tarantyev. ‘You won’t lose your money.’
Ivan Matveyevich took his sister’s IOU out of his pocket, tore it up, and gave it to Tarantyev.
‘Here, I’ll make you a present of it, if you like,’ he added. ‘What can I take from her? Her house and the kitchen garden? I wouldn’t get a thousand for it: it’s all falling to pieces. And, anyway, what do you take me for – an infidel? Do you want me to let her go begging with her children?’
‘So they are going to prosecute us, are they?’ Tarantyev asked timidly. ‘Well, old man, we’ll have to do our best to get off as lightly as possible. You’ll have to get me out of it, old man.’
‘Who’s going to prosecute you? There won’t be any prosecution. The General, it is true, threatened to send me out of town, but the German interceded. He doesn’t want to disgrace Oblomov.’
‘You don’t say so, old man! Ugh, what a weight off my mind! Let’s have a drink!’ said Tarantyev.
‘Have a drink? Out of whose income, pray? Not yours, by any chance?’
‘What about