“Oh, yes, the famous prince,” just as they would have said, “Of course, he is famous!” about Shakespeare, who had written the Aeneid . But they recognized him from the explanations of the stout officer, who told them that he was a brother of Prince Iván, an uncle of the Chíkins, of Countess Prut, in short, the well-known⁠—

“He must be very rich, if he is a brother of Prince Iván,” remarked one of the young men, “if the fortune has been returned to him. It has been returned to some.”

“What a lot of exiles are returning nowadays!” remarked another. “Really, fewer seem to have been sent away, than are returning now. Zhikínski, tell us that story of the 18th!” he turned to an officer of sharpshooters, who had the reputation of being a good storyteller.

“Do tell it!”