The Aristocrat

“The Little Aristocrat” is one of the many satirical stories by the great Russian satirist M.M. Zoshchenko. Being a unique satirist among his contemporaries, Zoshchenko placed his characters in such atypical situations that they looked funny and grotesque.
That’s exactly what we see in Gregory Ivanovich—the plumber, the hero of “The Little Aristocrat,” whose voice the entire narration is carried by. He tells about how his fascination with an aristocrat ended—an “aristocrat,” in truth, not really one, though she fit the hero’s stereotypical picture: she should wear a hat, “little stockings on her are fildecosic,” and have “a golden tooth.”
All the main character’s speech is full of colloquialisms and puns—and it makes readers laugh.
Zoshchenko’s work is still relevant because human vices are inextinguishable and only change in form over time.