Leo Tolstoy

“ Once more Ikonin opened his mouth, and once more remained silent.
" Come! You are not the only one to be examined. Do you mean to answer or do you not?" said the youngish professor, but Ikonin did not even look at him. He was gazing fixedly at his ticket and uttered not a single word. The professor in the spectacles scanned him through his glasses, then over them, then without them (for, indeed, he had time to take them off, to wipe their lenses carefully, and to replace them) . Still not a word from Ikonin. ”

“ The Examination In History "I konin and Tenieff!" suddenly shouted some one from the professors` end of the hall.
"Go on, Ikonin! You are being called," said a tall, red-faced gymnasium student near me. "But who is this BARtenieff or MORtenieff or somebody? I don`t know him."
"It must be you," whispered St. Jerome loudly in my ear.
"MY name is IRtenieff," I said to the red-faced student. "Do you think that was the name they were calling out?"
"Yes. Why on earth don`t you go up? " he replied. "Lord, what a dandy!" ”

“ Behind the table to which we were summoned sat three Professors, none of whom acknowledged our salutations. A youngish professor was shuffling a bundle of tickets like a pack of cards; another one, with a star on his frockcoat, was gazing hard at a gymnasium student, who was repeating something at great speed about Charles the Great, and adding to each of his sentences the word nakonetz [= the English colloquialism "you know."] while a third one--an old man in spectacles--proceeded to bend his head down as we approached, and, peering at us through his glasses, pointed silently to the tickets. ”