“ ‘A mighty lion, terror of the woods,

Was shorn of his great prowess by old age.’

“ ‘A mighty lion, terror of the woods, Was shorn of his great prowess by old age.’

And I, your excellency, am the ass.”

“I am of your opinion on that last point,” said Ivan Fedorovitch, with ill-concealed irritation.

All this was no doubt extremely coarse, and moreover it was premeditated, but after all Ferdishenko had persuaded everyone to accept him as a buffoon.