One result was that he seldom turned his head to look at the person with whom he was speaking, but, rather, directed his eyes towards, say, the stove corner or the doorway.

As host and guest crossed the dining-room Chichikov directed a second glance at his companion.

"He is a bear, and nothing but a bear," he thought to himself.

And, indeed, the strange comparison was inevitable.

Incidentally, Sobakevitch's Christian name and patronymic were Michael Semenovitch.