Илья Ильф – The Twelve Chairs / Двенадцать стульев. Книга для чтения на английском языке (страница 17)
«A small sum…»
«„Is nearer one's heart“, as Maupassant used to say. The information will be paid for».
«All right then, seventy roubles».
«Why so much? Are oats expensive nowadays?»
The old man quivered slightly, wriggling his spine.
«Joke if you will…»
«I accept, dad. Cash on delivery. When shall I come?»
«Have you the money on you?»
Ostap eagerly slapped his pocket.
«Then now, if you like», said Korobeinikov triumphantly.
He lit a candle and led Ostap into the next room. Besides a bed, obviously slept in by the owner of the house himself, the room contained a desk piled with account books and a wide office cupboard with open shelves. The printed letters A, B, C down to the rearguard letter Z were glued to the edges of the shelves. Bundles of orders bound with new string lay on the shelves.
«Oho!» exclaimed the delighted Ostap. «A full set of records at home».
«A complete set», said the record-keeper modestly. «Just in case, you know. The communal services don't need them and they might be useful to me in my old age. We're living on top of a volcano, you know. Anything can happen. Then people will rush off to find their furniture, and where will it be? It will be here. This is where it will be. In the cupboard. And who will have preserved it? Who will have looked after it? Korobeinikov! So the gentlemen will say thank you to the old man and help him in his old age. And I don't need very much; ten roubles an order will do me. Otherwise, they might as well look for the wind in the field. They won't find the furniture without me».
Ostap looked at the old man in rapture.
«A marvellous office», he said. «Complete mechanization. You're an absolute hero of labour!»
The flattered record-keeper began explaining the details of his pastime. He opened the thick registers.
«It's all here», he said, «the whole of Stargorod. All the furniture. Who it was taken from and who it was given to. And here's the alphabetical index-the mirror of life! Whose furniture do you want to know about? Angelov, first-guild merchant? Certainly. Look under A. A, Ak, Am, Am, Angelov. The number? Here it is-82742. Now give me the stock book. Page 142. Where's Angelov? Here he is. Taken from Angelov on December 18, 1918: Baecker grand piano, one, no. 97012; piano stools, one, soft; bureaux, two; wardrobes, four (two mahogany); bookcases, one … and so on. And who was it all given to? Let's look at the distribution register. The same number. Issued to. The bookcase to the town military committee, three wardrobes to the Skylark boarding school, another wardrobe for the personal use of the Stargorod province food office. And where did the piano go? The piano went to the old-age pensioners' home, and it's there to this day».
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