AN INADVERTENCE

An Inadvertence

Paraffin kills. That is good paraffin kills. Cheap paraffin just makes you deathly ill.

And if you happen to drink some cheap paraffin and you want to laugh your head off -- then this story is the antidote you're looking for.

Strizhin, the nephew of Madame Ivanov, usually does the right thing but he lets his hair down at a party and he pays the price. People who party all the time know how to party -- Strizhin is a novice and he inadvertently almost poisons himself.

And this is where the comedy begins.

Nothing can top a dying man begging for some help being lectured by an old maid with a fiery temperament and little compassion. But the fun is just getting started.

Off he goes to get some much needed first-aid but all he finds is more words of admonishment from a chemist who does a Rodney Dangerfield routine on him "I get no respect, I tell ya."

It's just not Strizhin's night.  Or possibly his life.

The One-Party-Wonder goes to sleep thinking he won't be waking up again and then to his surprise he manages to make it through thanks to good old fashioned parsimony.

Cheapness saves Strizhin but the humor here is well-earned.