‘and my friend, Tonkosheev, in his Spanish romance, El Trovador � ’

‘Ah! is that the book with the question-marks turned upside down?’ Zina�da interrupted.

‘Yes. That’s the custom with the Spanish. I was about to observe that Tonkosheev � ’

‘Come! you’re going to argue about classicism and romanticism again,’ Zina�da interrupted him a second time.’ We’d much better play �

‘Forfeits?’ put in Lushin.

‘No, forfeits are a bore; at comparisons.’ (This game Zina�da had invented herself. Some object was mentioned, every one tried to compare it with something, and the one who chose the best comparison got a prize.)