The other man looked at him in fear, and thought of the stories of which he had received vague intimation, of charged mines beneath the tsar's palace, of chiefs of police struck down by knives like wild boars, of his mistress, the only woman he had loved, hanged at Moscow one rainy morning, while in the crowd he kissed her with his eyes for the last time.
Saisi de peur, l'autre le regardait, songeait aux histoires dont il avait reçu la vague confidence, des mines chargées sous les palais du tzar, des chefs de la police abattus a coups de couteau ainsi que des sangliers, une maîtresse a lui, la seule femme qu'il eut aimée, pendue a Moscou, un matin de pluie, pendant que, dans la foule, il la baisait des yeux, une derniere fois.