“Enough! Enough whining, old woman. Cossacks aren’t Cossacks so they can hobnob with women! Given half a chance you’d hide them under your skirt and sit on them like a hen. Off with you, quick, and get the table ready. Lay out everything we have. No need for fritters and poppyseed cakes, or any other delicate morsels: just bring out some mutton and some goat, none of that fancy liquor with raisins and other little knickknacks in it. I want my vodka so clear and frothing that it hisses and whirls like it’s possessed”.
Nikolai Gogol, “Tarus Bulba”, 1835.
Set the Bar 