"Bloodsucker!" The word came after him in such a piercing shriek that even he felt as if he had been branded with a hot iron.
While Porfiry Vladimirych was holding forth in the entresol, grandmother Arina Petrovna had gathered the young folks around her downstairs, and was talking to them, not without the hope of getting something out of them.
"Well, how are you?" she asked, turned to her eldest grandson, Petenka.
"I'm pretty well, granny. Next month I'll graduate as an officer."
"Really? How many years have you been promising that? Are the examinations so hard? Or what?"
"At the last examination, granny, he failed in his catechism. The priest asked him, 'What is God?' and he answered, 'God is Spirit--is Spirit--and Holy Spirit.'"
"Oh, you poor thing! How is that? Look at those little orphans. I'm sure even they know that."
"Why, certainly. God is invisible Spirit." Anninka hurried to show off her knowledge.
"Omniscient, most Gracious, Omnipotent, Omnipresent," Anninka continued.
"Whither can I go from Thy spirit and whither can I flee from Thy face? Should I rise to Heaven, there wouldst Thou be, should I descend to Hell, there wouldst Thou be."
"I wish you would have answered like that. You would have epaulets by this time. And how about you, Volodya, what are you going to do?"
"Apparently, you go no further than your brother with his 'Spirit--Holy Spirit,' Ah, children, children! You seem to be so bright and yet somehow you can't master your studies at all. I might understand if you had a father who spoiled you. Tell me, how does he treat you now?"
"Does he beat you? Didn't I hear he stopped thrashing you?"
"A little bit, but--the worst is, he pesters us to death."
"I must say, I don't understand. How can a father pester his children?"
"He does though, grandma, awfully. We can't go out without permission, we can't take a thing. It couldn't be worse."
"Well, then, ask permission. Your tongue wouldn't fall out in the effort, I imagine."
"Impossible. You just begin to talk to him, then he doesn't let go of you. 'Don't hurry and wait a while. Gently, gently, take it easy.' Really, granny, his talk is too tiresome for words."
"Granny, he listens to us on the sly behind our doors. Just the other day Piotr caught him in the act."