The Master and Margarita

by Mikhail Bulgakov

She said that I should give everything up and spend what remained of the 100,000 on a trip south to the Black Sea. “She was very insistent, and so as to avoid a quarrel with her (something told me that I wouldn’t make it to the Black Sea), I promised to do it right away. But she said she would get me the ticket herself. Then I took out all my money, that is, around 10,000 rubles, and gave it to her. “ ‘Why so much?’ she asked me in amazement. “I told her something about my being afraid of thieves and wanting her to take care of the money for me until my departure. She took it, put it in her bag, and began kissing me, saying that she would rather die than leave me alone in the condition I was in, but that she was expected at home, was bowing to necessity, and would be back the next day. She begged me not to be afraid of anything.