Naúm entered, made his bow, and halted at the door. "I have heard that you wish to buy something from me,"--began Lizavéta Prókhorovna, and thought to herself the while:--"What a handsome man this merchant is!" "Exactly so, ma'am." "And precisely what is it?" "Will you not deign to sell your inn?" "What inn?" "Why, the one which stands on the highway, not far from here." "But that inn does not belong to me. That is Akím's inn." "Why is n't it yours? It stands on your land, ma'am." "Assuming that the land is mine .... bought in my name; still the inn is his." "Just so, ma'am. So then, won't you sell it to us, ma'am?" "I am to sell it?" "Just so, ma'am. And we would pay a good price for it." Lizavéta Prókhorovna maintained silence for a while. "Really, this is strange,"--she began again; "what are you saying? But how much would you give?"--she added.--"That is to say, I am not asking for myself, but for Akím." "Why, with all the buildings and, ma'am, dependencies, ma'am ... well ... and, of course, with the land attached to the inn, we would give two thousand rubles, ma'am." "Two thousand rubles! That 's very little,"--replied Lizavéta Prókhorovna. "That 's the proper price, ma'am." "But, have you talked it over with Akím?" "Why should we talk with him, ma'am? The inn is yours, so we have thought best to discuss it with you, ma'am." "But I have already told you .... really, this is astonishing! How is it that you do not understand me?" "Why don't we understand, ma'am? We do." Lizavéta Prókhorovna looked at Naúm, Naúm looked at Lizavéta Prókhorovna. "How is it to be, then, ma'am?"--he began:--"what proposal have you to make on your side, that is to say, ma'am?" "On my side ...." Lizavéta Prókhorovna fidgeted about in her easy-chair.--"In the first place, I tell you that two thousand is not enough, and in the second place ...." "We 'll add a hundred, if you like." Lizavéta Prókhorovna rose. "I see that you are talking at cross-purposes, and I have already told you that I cannot and will not sell that inn. I cannot .... that is to say, I will not." Naúm smiled and made no reply for a while. "Well, as you like, ma'am ...." he remarked, with a slight shrug of the shoulders;--"I will bid you good-day, ma'am."--And he made his bow, and grasped the door-handle. Lizavéta Prókhorovna turned toward him. "However,...." she said, with barely perceptible hesitation,--"you need not go just yet."--She rang the bell; Kiríllovna made her appearance from the boudoir. "Kiríllovna, order the servants to give the merchant tea.--I will see you later on,"--she added, with a slight inclination of her head. Naúm bowed again, and left the room in company with Kiríllovna. Lizavéta Prókhorovna paced up and down the room a couple of times, then rang the bell again. This time a page entered. She ordered him to summon Kiríllovna. In a few moments Kiríllovna entered, with barely a squeak of her new goat's-leather shoes.