mrs. rand. how delightful.
delighted. delighted.
you must sit with us, my friend, we have much to discuss.
how is my dear friend benjamin feeling?
ah, yes. please give him my regards.
regretfully, mrs. rand - i shall yield the pleasure of your company to others.
i'm sorry we haven't met sooner, mr. gardiner. i had the pleasure of seeing you on television last night and i listened with great interest to your down-to-earth philosophy. i'm not surprised that it was so quickly endorsed by the president. .  tell me, mr. gardiner, just how serious is benjamin's illness? i did not want to upset mrs. rand by discussing it in detail.
yes, so i've heard, a shame.  as you know, we in the soviet union have the keenest interest in developments of the first american financial corporation.  we are pleased to hear that you may fill benjamin's place should he fail to recover. be seated, please, mr. gardiner.
 mr. gardiner, i wish to be quite candid - considering the gravity of your economic situation, shouldn't we, the diplomats, and you, the businessman - get together more often?
to exchange our thoughts - what does a russian know about business? on the other hand, what does an american know about diplomacy?
and i have noticed in you a certain reticence regarding political issues - so why not a coming together? an interchange of opinion? we may find, my friend, that we are not so far from each other, not so far!
bravo! bravo! our chairs are indeed almost touching! and we want to remain seated on them, correct? we don't want them snatched from under us, am i right? because if one goes, the other goes, and then - boom! boom! and we are both down before our time, you see? and neither of us wants that, do you agree?
yes. tell me, mr. gardiner - do you by any chance enjoy krylov's fables? i ask this because there is something.  there is something krylovian about you.
so you know krylov!
so you know your krylov in russian, do you? mr. gardiner, i must confess i had suspected as much all along - i know an educated man when i meet one!
yes, it is very good!
ho! ho! a dash of american humor! vladimar skrapinov!
and yours, sir - chauncey gardiner! how poetic! chauncey, a name of uncertain meaning! and gardiner, a bit of the french, a suggestion of a stroll through the flowers! a beautiful name, my friend!
mrs. rand! you have returned to us!
we must speak again, mr. gardiner, many times!
yes? what have you found?
quietly, please. mr. gardiner, for one, understands our language.
what do you mean there is nothing? that's impossible.
but.  where was this man gardiner before last week?
i see. clearly, such interest on their part is of great political significance.
hmmm.  take this down. i want this quote included in the tass coverage; 'chauncey gardiner, in an intimate discussion with ambassador skrapinov, noted that "unless the leaders of the opposing political systems move the chairs on which they sit closer to each other, all of their seats will be pulled from under them by rapid social and political changes."'
that could be possible.
a coup d'etat! of course, that was foreseen by lenin himself!
big business. i could work with that faction quite nicely, colonel novogrod.
thank you, colonel.