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The Master and Margarita. I was practically hysterical, put in the cat, licking a spoonful of caviar.
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" I was practically hysterical, " put in the cat, licking a spoonful of caviar.
" But what I don't understand is, " said Margarita and gold sparks from the crystal flickered in her eyes, " wouldn't the music and the noise from the ball be audible from outside? "
" Of course not, Your Majesty, " explained Korovyov. " It has to be done so that it isn't. It has to be done as carefully as possible."
" Of course, of course. But what about that man on the stairs... When Azazello and I were coming in... And the other one at the entrance-way... I think he was watching your apartment..."
" You're rightl You're right! " shouted Korovyov. " You're right, dear Margarita Nikolayevnal You've confirmed my suspicions! Yes, he was watching our apartmentl At first I thought he might have been an ab-sentminded professor or a lovesick beau mooning on the staircase. But no, nol Something didn't feel right to me! Aha! So he was watching our apartment! And the one at the entranceway too! And same for the one by the gate! "
" Won't it be interesting if they do come and arrest you? " asked Margarita.
" They'll come all right, enchanting Queen, they'll come! " replied Korovyov. " I feel it in my bones. Not now, of course, but in their good time they're sure to come. But I don't imagine they'll find anything interesting."
" Oh, how upset I was when that baron fell, " said Margarita, evidently still feeling the aftereffects of the first murder she had ever witnessed. " You're probably a very good shot? "
" Not bad, " answered Azazello.
" At what distance? " Margarita asked Azazello rather strangely.
" It depends what I'm shooting at, " answered Azazello reasonably. " It's one thing to hit the critic Latunsky's window with a hammer, and quite another to hit him in the heart"
" The heart! " exclaimed Margarita, clutching her own for some reason. " The heart! " she repeated in a hollow voice.
" What's this about a critic named Latunsky? " asked Woland, squinting at Margarita.
Azazello, Korovyov, and Behemoth looked down in seeming embarrassment, and Margarita answered with a blush, " There's a certain critic by that name. This evening I demolished his entire apartment."
" What do you know! But why? "
" He, Messire, " explained Margarita, " ruined a certain Master."
" But why did you go to all that trouble yourself? " asked Woland.
" Permit me, Messire, " cried the cat joyously, and jumping up.
" You stay put, " muttered Azazello, standing up. " I'll go over there right now..."
" No! " exclaimed Margarita. " No, Messire, I beg you, it's not necessary! "
The Liberation of the Master 239
" As you wish, as you wish, " replied Woland, and Azazello resumed his place.
" So where did we leave off, precious Queen Margot? " said Korovyov. " Ah, yes, the heart. He can hit the heart" Korovyov pointed his long finger at Azazello. " To order, any auricle or any of the ventricles."
Margarita did not grasp the meaning of this immediately, but once she had understood, she exclaimed in amazement, " But they're hidden from view! "
" Dear lady, " twanged Korovyov, " that's the point, that they're hidden! That's the whole point! Anyone can hit a visible target! "
Korovyov took a seven of spades out of the desk drawer, offered it to Margarita, and asked her to mark one of the pips with her finger nail. She marked the one in the upper right-hand corner. Hella hid the card under the pillow and yelled, " Ready! "
Azazello, who was sitting with his back to the pillow, pulled a black automatic pistol out of the pocket of his dress trousers, laid the muzzle on his shoulder, and fired without turning to face the bed, thereby giving Margarita a jolt of pleasant fear. The card was removed from the bullet-pierced pillow. It had been hit where Margarita had marked it.
" I wouldn't want to run into you when you've got a gun in your hands, " said Margarita, looking coquettishly at Azazello. She had a passion for anyone who could do anything really well.
" Precious Queen, " squeaked Korovyov. " Running into him isn't a good idea even when he doesn't have a gun! I give you my word of honor as a former choirmaster and precentor that a meeting with him is unwelcome under any circumstances."
The cat, who had been sitting with a frown on his face during the shooting demonstration, suddenly declared, " I'm going to try to outdo him with the seven card."
Azazello hooted something in reply. But the cat was stubborn and asked for not one, but two guns. Azazello pulled another gun out of his other back trouser pocket and wearing a disdainful smirk, offered both of them to the braggart. They marked two pips on the seven card. The cat made lengthy preparations after turning his back to the pillow. Margarita sat with her fingers in her ears and looked at the owl dozing on the mantelpiece. The cat shot off both guns, whereupon Hella let out a shriek, the dead owl fell off the mantel, and the shattered clock stopped. Hella, one of whose hands was bloodied, howled and dug her nails into the cat's fur, and he responded by grabbing her hair with his claws. They started rolling around the floor in a tangled heap. A goblet fell off the table and smashed to bits.
" Get this crazed she-devil off me! " wailed the cat, as he tried to fight off Hella, who was sitting on his back. The combatants were separated, Korovyov blew on Hella's wounded finger, and it was healed.
" I can't shoot when people are distracting me by talking! " cried