Mikhail Zoshchenko is one of the most famous Russian humourists and writers of the first half of 20th century. His texts, and in particular the short stories written in 1920s–1930s, are true masterpieces and had an extraordinary success in Russia, echoed in an immediate reception abroad. The aim of this contribution is to analyse some samples from the ten Italian translations of one of his most iconic short stories, Aristokratka (1924). Particular attention will be given to the way the translators dealt with the different aspects of the language used by Zoshchenko, a perfect specimen of a modern realisation of the skaz.