And what about you? I bet you are a civil councillor by now? Eh?"
"No dear boy, go higher than that," said the fat man. "I have risen to privy councillor already . . . I have two stars."
Anton Chekhov. Love and Other Stories
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These papers are delivered to a set of artists, very dexterous in finding out the mysterious meanings of words, syllables, and letters: for instance, they can discover a close stool, to signify a privy council; a flock of geese, a senate;