"The person you call Ivan knows nothing . . . his name is Petrov . . . he's stupid like all these Russians . . . a stupid,lying drunkard . . . all those people from the East . . . when they come here, you see, our mild manners bewilder them . . . they can't see straight, they can't hear straight, they don't know what they are . . . in their country they get flogged every day . . . when the beatings stop, they get delirious . . . that's what happened to this Petrov, whom you call Ivan . . . he takes me for a florist! . . . yes, I have flowers . . . but to adorn my apartment, not to sell . . . he drops in now and then . . . to sell me his cream . . . I've told him a hundred times: I'm a lawyer, Petrov!' . . . To make him remember, I should have to beat him black and blue . . . force of habit. . ."