WEBVTT

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Chapter six and Unpleasant Predicament, Part
four. The worst of it was that

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Pseldonimov's circumstances were far worse than could
have been imagined in spite of the unattractedness

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of his presence surroundings. And while
Ivan Ilyitch is lying on the floor and

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Pseldonimov is standing over him, tearing
his hair in despair, we will break

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off the thread of our story and
say a few explanatory words about Porphyry Petrovitch

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Pseldonimov. Not more than a month
before his wedding, he was in a

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state of hopeless destitution. He came
from a province where his father had served

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in some department and where he had
died while awaiting his trial on some charge.

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When five months before his wedding,
Pseldonimov, who had been in hopeless

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misery in Petersburg for a whole year
before, got his berth at ten roubles

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a month. He revived both physically
and mentally, but he was soon crushed

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by circumstances again. There were only
two Pseldonimovs left in the world, himself

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and his mother, who had left
the province after her husband's death. The

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mother and son barely existed in the
freezing cold and sustained life on the most

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dubious substances. There were days when
Peldonimov himself went with a jug to the

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fontanka for water to drink. When
he got his place, he succeeded in

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settling with his mother in a corner. She took in washing, while for

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four months he scraped together every farthing
to get himself boots and an overcoat.

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And what troubles he had to endure
At his office, his superiors approached him

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with the question how long was it
since he had had a bath? There

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was a rumor about him that under
the collar of his uniform there were nests

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of bugs. But Seldonimov was a
man of strong character. On the surface,

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he was mild and meek. He
had the merest smattering of education.

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He was practically never heard to talk
of anything. I do not know for

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certain whether he thought, made plans
and theories, had dreams. But on

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the other hand, there was being
formed within him an instinctive, furtive,

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unconscious determination to fight his way out
of his wretched circumstances. He had the

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persistence of an ant. Destroy an
ant's nest, and they will begin at

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once re erecting it, destroy it
again, and they will begin again without

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wearying. He was a constructive house
building animal. One could see from his

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brow that he would make his way, would build his nest, and perhaps

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even saved for a rainy day.
His mother was the only creature in the

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world who loved him, and she
loved him beyond everything. She was a

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woman of resolute character, hard working
and indefatigable, and at the same time

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good natured. So perhaps they might
have lived in their corner for five or

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six years till their circumstances changed,
if they had not come across the retired

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titular councilor Mlekopetaiev, who had been
a clerk in the treasury and had served

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at one time in the provinces,
but had lately settled in Petersburg and had

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established himself there with his family.
He knew Pseldonimov and had at one time

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been under some obligation to his father. He had a little money, not

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a large sum, of course,
but there it was. How much it

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was No one knew, not his
wife, nor his older daughter, nor

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his relations. He had two daughters, and as he was an awful bully,

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a drunkard, a domestic tyrant,
and in addition to that an invalid.

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He took it into his head one
day to marry one of his daughters

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to pseldonimov I knew his father.
He would say he was a good fellow,

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and his son will be a good
fellow. Mlekopitayev did exactly as he

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liked. His word was law.
He was a very queer bully. For

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the most part, he spent his
time sitting in an armchair, having lost

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the use of his legs from some
disease, which did not, however,

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prevent him from drinking vodka. For
days together he would be drinking and swearing.

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He was an ill natured man.
He always wanted to have some one

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whom he could be continually tormenting,
and for that purpose he kept several distant

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relations. His sister, a sickly
and peevish woman, two of his wives

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sisters, also ill natured and very
free with their tongues, and his old

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aunt, who had, through some
accident a broken rib. He kept another

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dependent, also a Russianized German,
for the sake of her talent for entertaining

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him with stories from the Arabian nights. His sole gratification consisted in during at

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all these unfortunate women and abusing them
every minute with all his energies, though

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the latter, not accepting his wife, who had been born with toothache,

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dared not utter a word in his
presence. He set them at loggerheads at

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one another, inventing and fostering spiteful
backbiting and dissensions among them, and then

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laughed and joist, seeing how they
were ready to tear one another to pieces.

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He was very much delighted when his
elder daughter, who had lived in

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great poverty for ten years with her
husband, an officer of some sort,

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and was at last left a widow, came to live with him with three

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little sickly children. He could not
endure her children, but as her arrival

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had increased the material upon which he
could work his daily experiments, the old

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man was very much pleased. All
these ill natured women and sickly children,

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together with their tormentor, were crowded
together in a wooden house on Petersburg's side,

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and did not get enough to eat
because the old man was stingy and

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gave out to the money of farthing
at a time, though he did not

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grudge himself vodka. They did not
get enough sleep because the old man suffered

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from sleeplessness and insisted on being amused. In short, they were all in

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misery and cursed their fate. It
was at that time that Malekopatayev's eye fell

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upon Pseldonimov. He was struck by
his long nose and submissive air. His

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weakly and unprepossessing younger daughter had just
reached the age of seventeen. Though she

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had at one time attended a German
school, she had acquired scarcely anything but

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the alphabet. Then she grew up
rickety and anemik in fear of her crippled,

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drunken father's crutch, in a bedlam
of domestic backbiting, eavesdropping, and

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scolding. She had never had any
friends or any brains. She had for

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a long time been eager to be
married. In company, she sat mute,

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but at home with her mother and
the woman of the household, she

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was spiteful and cantankerous. She was
particularly fond of pinching and smacking her sister's

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children, telling tales of their pilfering
bread and sugar, and this led to

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endless and implacable strife with her elder
sister. Her old father himself offered her

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to sel down him off. Miserable
as the latter's position was, he yet

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asked for a little time to consider
his mother, and he hesitated for a

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long time. But with the young
lady there was to come as dowry a

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house, and though it was a
nasty little wooden house of one story,

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yet it was property of a kind. Moreover, they would give with her

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four hundred rules, and how long
it would take him to save it up

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himself. What am I taking the
man into my house for, shouted the

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drunken bully. In the first place, because you were all females, and

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I am sick of female society.
I want sell donhim off too, to

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dance to my piping, for I
am his benefactor. And in the second

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place, I am doing it because
you are all cross and don't want it.

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So I'll do it to spite you. What I have said. I

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have said, and you beat her
porfiry when she is your wife. She

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has been possessed of seven devils ever
since she was born. You beat them

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out of her, and I'll get
the stick ready. Pseldonimov made no answer,

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but he was almost decided. Before
the wedding, his mother and he

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were taken into the house, washed
clothed, provided with boots and money for

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the wedding. The old man took
them under his protection, possibly just because

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the whole family was prejudiced against them. He positively liked Pseldonimov's mother so that

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he actually restrained himself and did not
jur at her. On the other hand,

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he made Svaldonimov dance the Cossack dance
a week before the wedding. Well,

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that's enough. I only wanted to
see whether you remembered your position before

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me or not, he said at
the end of the dance. He allowed

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just enough money for the wedding with
nothing despair, and invited all his relations

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and acquaintances. On Pseldonimov's side,
there was no one but the young man

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who wrote for the Firebrand and Akim
Petrovitch, the guest of honor. Pseldonimov

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was perfectly aware that his bride cherished
an aversion for him, and that she

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was set upon marrying the officer instead
of him, but he put up with

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everything. He had made a compact
with his mother to do so. The

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old father had been drunk and abusive
in foul tongue the whole of the wedding

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day and during the party In the
evening, the whole family took refuge in

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the back rooms and were crowded there
to suffocation. The front rooms were devoted

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to the dance and the supper.
At last, when the old man fell

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asleep dead drunk, at eleven o'clock, the bride's mother, who had been

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particularly displeased with Pseldonimov's mother that day, made up her mind to lay aside

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her wreath, become gracious and joined
the company. Ivan Ilyitch's arrival had turned

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everything upside down. Madame Blakopatayev was
overcome with embarrassment and began grumbling that she

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had not been told that the general
had been invited. She was assured that

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he had come uninvited, but was
so stupid as to refuse to believe it.

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Champagne had to be got. Peldonimov's
mother had only one rouble, while

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Pseldonimov himself had not one farthing.
He had to grovel before his ill natured

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mother in law to beg for the
money for one bottle and then for another.

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They pleaded for the sake of his
future position in service for his career.

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They tried to persuade her. She
did at last give from her own

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purse, But she forced Pseldonimov to
swallow such a cupful of gall and bitterness

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that more than once he ran into
the room where the nuptial couch had been

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prepared, and madly clutching at his
hair and trembling all over with impotent rage,

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he buried his head in the bed
destined for the joys of paradise.

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No, indeed, ivan Iliaitch had
no notion of the price paid for the

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two bottles of Jackson he had drunk
that evening. What was the horror,

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the misery, and even the despair
of Pseldonimov. When ivan Ilyitch's visit it

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ended in this unexpected way, he
had a prospect again of no end of

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misery, and perhaps a night of
tears and outcries from his peevish bride and

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upbraidings from her unreasonable relations. Even
apart from this, his head ache already

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and there was dizziness and mist before
his eyes. And here ivan Iliaitch needed

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looking after. At three o'clock at
night, he had to hunt for a

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doctor or a carriage to take him
home. And a carriage it must be,

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for it would be impossible to let
an ordinary cabby take him in that

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condition. And where could he get
the money even for a carriage. Madame

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Lakopatayev, furious that the general had
not addressed two words to her and had

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not even looked at her supper,
declared that she had not a farthing.

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Possibly, she really had not a
farthing? Where could he get it?

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What was he to do? Yes, indeed he had good cause to tear

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his hair. Meanwhile, Ivan Ilyitch
was moved to a little leather sofa that

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stood in the dining room. While
they were clearing the tables and putting them

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away, Pseldonimov was rushing all over
the place to borrow money, even tried

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to get it from the servants,
but it appeared that nobody had any.

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He even ventured to trouble Akim Petrovitch, who had stayed after the other guests.

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But good natured as he was,
the latter was reduced to such bewilderment

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and even alarm at the mention of
money that he uttered the most unexpected and

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foolish phrases. Another time, with
pleasure, he muttered, but now you

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really must excuse me, and taking
his cap, he ran as fast as

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he could out of the house.
Only the good natured youth who had talked

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about the dream book was any use
at all, and even that came to

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nothing. He too stayed after the
others, showing genuine sympathy with Pseldonimov's misfortunes.

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At last, Pseldonimov, together with
his mother and the young man,

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decided in consultation not to send for
a doctor, but rather to fetch a

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carriage and take the invalid home,
and meanwhile to try certain domestic remedies till

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the carriage arrived, such as moistening
his temples at his head with cold water,

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putting ice on his head, and
so on. Pseldonimov's mother undertook this

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task. The friendly youth flew off
in search of a carriage, as there

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were not even ordinary cabs to be
found on the Petersburg side at that hour.

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He went off to some livery stables
at a distance to wake up the

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coach. They began bargaining and declared
that five roubles would be little to ask

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for a carriage at that time of
night. They agreed to come, however,

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for three When at last, just
before five o'clock the young men arrived

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at Pseldonimov's with the carriage, they
had changed their minds. It appeared that

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Ivan Ilieitch, who was still unconscious, had become so seriously unwell, was

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moaning and tossing so terribly that to
move him and take him home in such

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a condition was impossible and actually unsafe. What will it lead to next?

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Said Pseldonimov, utterly disheartened. What
was to be done? A new problem

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arose. If the invalid remained in
the house, where should he be moved?

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And where could they put him?
There were only two bedsteads in the

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house, one large double bed in
which old Lacopaitaiev and his wife slept,

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and another double bed of imitation walnut, which had just been purchased and was

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destined for the newly married couple.
All the other inhabitants of the house slept

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on the floor, side by side
on feather beds, for the most part,

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in bad condition and stuffy, anything
but presentable in fact, And even

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of these the supply was insufficient.
There was not one to spair. Where

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could the invalid be put? A
feather bed might perhaps have been found,

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It might, in the last resort, have been pulled from under some one.

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But where and on what could a
bed have been made up? It

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seemed that the bed must be made
up in the drawing room. For that

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room was the furthest from the bosom
of the family, and had a door

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into the passage. But on what
could the bed be made surely not upon

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chairs. We all know that beds
can only be made up on chairs for

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schoolboys when they come home for the
weekend, and it would be terribly lacking

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in respect to make up a bed
in that way for a personage like Ivan

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Iliitch. What he said next morning
when he found himself lying on chairs,

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Seldonimov would not hear of that the
only alternative was to put him on the

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bridle couch. This bridal couch,
as we have mentioned already, was in

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a little room that opened out of
the dining room. On the bedstead was

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a double mattress, actually newly bought
firsthand clean sheets, four pillows in pink

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00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:53.039
calico, covered with frilled muslin cases. The quilt was of pink satin,

201
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and it was quilted in patterns.
Muslin curtains hung down from a golden ring

202
00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.839
overhead. In fact, it was
all just as it should be, and

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the guests who had all visited the
bridle chamber had admired the decoration of it.

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Though the bride could not endure Seldonimov. She had several times in the

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course of the evening run in to
have a look at it on the sly

206
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What was her indignation her wrath when
she learned that they meant to move an

207
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invalid suffering from something not unlike a
mild attack of cholera to her bridal couch.

208
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The bride's mother took her part,
broke into abuse, and vowed she

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would complain to her husband next day, But Seldonimov asserted himself and insisted Ivan

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Iliach was moved into the bridal chamber
and a bed was made up on chairs

211
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for the young people. The bride
whimpered, would have liked to pinch him,

212
00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:03.839
but dared not disobey. Her papa
had a crutch with which she was

213
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very familiar, and she knew that
her papa would call her to account next

214
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day. To console her, they
carried the pink satin quilt and pillows in

215
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muslin cases into the drawing room.
At that moment, the youth arrived with

216
00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:26.000
the carriage and was horribly alarmed that
the carriage was not wanted. He was

217
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:29.839
left to pay for it himself,
and he never had as much as a

218
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ten Kopek piece. Seldonimov explained that
he was utterly bankrupt. They tried to

219
00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:41.359
parley with the driver, but he
began to be noisy and even to batter

220
00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:45.519
on the shutters. How it ended, I don't know exactly. I believe

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00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:51.319
the youth was carried off to Pesky
by way of a hostage, to foth

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Rosdenski Street, where he hoped to
rouse a student who was spending the night

223
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at a friend's and to try whether
he had any money. It was going

224
00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:04.359
on for six o'clock in the morning, when the young people were left alone

225
00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:11.599
and shut up in the drawing room. Pseldonimov's mother spent the whole night by

226
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the bedside of the sufferer. She
installed herself on a rug on the floor

227
00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:21.400
and covered herself with an old coat, but could not sleep because she had

228
00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:26.559
to get up every minute. Ivan
Iliach had a terrible attack of colic.

229
00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:33.240
Madame Pseldonimov, a woman of courage
and greatness of soul, undressed him with

230
00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:37.960
her own hands, took off all
his things, looked after him as if

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he were her own son, and
spent the whole night carrying basins etcepter from

232
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the bedroom across the passage, and
bringing them back empty. And yet the

233
00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:53.680
misfortunes of that night were not yet
over. Not more than ten minutes after

234
00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:59.599
the young people had been shut up
alone in the drawing room, a piercing

235
00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:03.319
shriek was suddenly heard, not a
cry of joy, but a shriek of

236
00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:08.440
the most sinister kind. The screams
were followed by a noise, a crash,

237
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as though the fog of chairs,
and instantly there burst into the still

238
00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:21.599
dark room a perfect crowd of exclaiming
and frightened women, attired in every kind

239
00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:27.039
of des abille. These women who
were the bride's mother, her older sister,

240
00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:32.240
abandoning for a moment, the sick
children, and her three aunts,

241
00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:36.880
even the one with a broken rib, dragged herself in. Even the cook

242
00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:41.039
was there, and the German lady
told stories whose own feather bed the best

243
00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:47.000
in the house, and her only
property had been forcibly dragged from under her

244
00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:52.880
for the young couple trailed in together
with the others. All these respectable and

245
00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:57.839
sharp eyed ladies had a quarter of
an hour before made their way on tiptoe

246
00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:03.680
from the kitchen across the passage,
and were listening in the ante room,

247
00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:11.000
devoured by unaccountable curiosity. Meanwhile,
someone lighted a candle, and a surprising

248
00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:18.119
spectacle met the eyes of all the
chairs supporting the broad feather bed. Only

249
00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:22.759
at the sides had parted under the
weight, and the feather bed had fallen

250
00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:26.559
between them on the floor. The
bride was sobbing with anger. This time

251
00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:33.440
she was mortally offended. Seldonimov morally
shattered, stood like a criminal caught in

252
00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:41.200
a crime. He did not even
attempt to defend himself. Shrieks and exclamations

253
00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:47.319
sounded on all sides. Seldonimov's mother
ran up at the noise, but the

254
00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:52.000
bride's mamma, on this occasion,
got the upper hand. She began by

255
00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:56.799
showering strange and for the most part
quite undeserved reproaches such as, a nice

256
00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:00.519
husband, you are after this,
what are you good for after such a

257
00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:06.480
disgrace? And so on, and
at last carried her daughter away from her

258
00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:12.039
husband, undertaking to bear the full
responsibility for doing so with her ferocious husband,

259
00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:18.079
who would demand an explanation. All
the others followed her out, exclaiming

260
00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:23.880
and shaking their heads. No one
remained with Sseldonimov except his mother, who

261
00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:30.720
tried to comfort him but he sent
her away at once. He was beyond

262
00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.960
consolation. He made his way to
the sofa and sat down in the most

263
00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:40.559
gloomy confusion of mind. Just as
he was barefooted and in nothing but his

264
00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:45.880
night attire. His thoughts whirled in
a tangled criss cross in his mind.

265
00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:51.160
At times he mechanically looked about the
room, where only a little while ago

266
00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:56.680
the dancers had been whirling madly,
and in which the cigarette smoke still lingered.

267
00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:02.400
Cigarette ends and sweetmeat papers still littered. The slopped and dirty floor,

268
00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:08.039
The wreck of the nuptial couch and
the overturned chairs bore witness to the transitoriness

269
00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:14.759
of the fondest and surest earthly hopes
and dreams. He sat like this almost

270
00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:18.599
an hour. The most oppressive thoughts
kept coming into his mind, such as

271
00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:25.079
the doubt what was in store for
him in the office. Now he recognized

272
00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:30.799
with painful clearness that he would have
at all costs to exchange into another department,

273
00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:37.000
that he could not possibly remain where
he was after all that had happened

274
00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:42.759
that evening. He thought too of
Mlekopitayev, who would probably make him dance

275
00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:48.640
the Cossack dance. Next day to
test his meekness. He reflected too that

276
00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:56.480
though Mlekopitayev had given fifty roubles for
the wedding festivities, every farthing of which

277
00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:00.279
had been spent, he had not
thought of giving him the four hundred roubles.

278
00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:04.559
Yet no mention had been made of
it, in fact, and indeed

279
00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:11.160
even the house had not been formally
made over to him. He thought two

280
00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:14.440
of his wife, who had left
him at the most critical moment of his

281
00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:18.319
life, of the tall officer who
had dropped on one knee before her.

282
00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:23.400
He had noticed that already he thought
of the seven devils, which, according

283
00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:29.079
to the testimony of her own father, were in possession of his wife,

284
00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:33.720
and of the crutch. In readiness
to drive them out. Of course,

285
00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:41.079
he felt equal to bearing a great
deal. But destiny had let loose such

286
00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:47.359
surprises upon him that he might well
have doubts of his fortitude, so pchel

287
00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:53.519
Donimov mused dolefully. Meanwhile, the
candle end was going out, its fading

288
00:26:53.599 --> 00:27:00.720
light falling straight upon cel Donimov's profile
through a colossal shadow of it on the

289
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:06.799
wall, with a drawn out neck, a hooked nose, and with two

290
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:11.240
tufts of hair sticking out in his
forehead and on the back of his head.

291
00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:15.240
At last, when the air was
growing cool with the chill of early

292
00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:22.000
morning, he got up, frozen
and spiritually numb, crawled to the feather

293
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:27.000
bed that was lying between the chairs, and without rearranging anything, without putting

294
00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:33.119
out the candle end, without even
laying the pillow under his head, fell

295
00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:37.079
into a leaden, death like sleep, such as the sleep of men condemned

296
00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:42.200
to flogging on the moral must be. On the other hand, what could

297
00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:48.920
be compared with the agonizing night spent
by Ivan Ilyitch Pralynsky on the bridal couch

298
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:55.759
of the unlucky Peldonimov. For some
time, headache, vomiting, and other

299
00:27:55.880 --> 00:28:00.839
most unpleasant symptoms did not leave him
for one second. He was in the

300
00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:07.799
torments of hell. The faint glimpses
of consciousness that visited his brain lighted up

301
00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:12.319
such an abyss of horrors, such
gloomy and revolting pictures, that it would

302
00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:18.440
have been better for him not to
have returned to consciousness. Everything was still

303
00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:22.920
in a turmoil in his mind.
However, he recognized Pseldonimov's mother, for

304
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:29.480
instance, hurt her gentle admonition such
as be patient, my dear be patient,

305
00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:33.519
good sir, it won't be so
bad. Presently he recognized her,

306
00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:41.000
but could give no logical explanation of
her presence beside him. Revolting Phantom's haunted

307
00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:48.880
him most frequently of all, he
was haunted by Semyon Ivanovitch, but looking

308
00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:55.480
more intently, he saw that it
was not Semyon Ivanitch but Pseldonimov's nose.

309
00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.119
He had visions too, of the
free and easy artist, and the officer,

310
00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:06.440
and the old lady with her face
tied up. What interested him most

311
00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:11.240
of all was the gilt ring which
hung over his head, through which the

312
00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:15.359
curtains hung. He could distinguish it
distinctly in the dim light of the candle

313
00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:21.640
end which lighted up the room,
and he kept wondering inwardly what was the

314
00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:25.880
object of that ring? Why was
it there? What did it mean?

315
00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:30.079
He questioned the old lady several times
about it, but apparently did not say

316
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:36.680
what he meant, and she evidently
did not understand it. However much he

317
00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:41.240
struggled to explain. At last.
By morning, the symptoms had ceased,

318
00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:47.359
and he fell into a sleep,
a sound sleep without dreams. He slept

319
00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:52.119
about an hour, and when he
woke he was almost completely conscious, with

320
00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:56.519
an insufferable headache and a disgusting taste
in his mouth and on his tongue,

321
00:29:57.079 --> 00:30:02.359
which seemed turned into a piece of
cloth. He sat up in bed,

322
00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:07.160
looked about him, and pondered,
the pale light of morning peeping through the

323
00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:11.319
cracks of the shutters in a narrow
streak quivered on the wall. It was

324
00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:18.759
about seven o'clock in the morning.
But when ivan Iliach suddenly grasped the position

325
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:22.960
and recalled all that had happened to
him since the evening, When he remembered

326
00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:29.640
all his adventures at supper, the
failure of his magnanimous action, his speech

327
00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:33.440
at table, When he realized all
at once, with horrifying clearness, all

328
00:30:33.480 --> 00:30:37.880
that might come of this now,
all that people would say and think of

329
00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:42.880
him. When he looked round and
saw to what a mournful and hideous condition

330
00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:48.759
he had reduced the peaceful bridal couch
of his clerk. Oh, then such

331
00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:55.759
deadly shame, such agony, overwhelmed
him that he uttered a shriek, hid

332
00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:59.559
his face in his hands, and
fell back on the pillow in despair.

333
00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:04.279
A minute later, he jumped out
of bed, saw his clothes carefully folded

334
00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:10.519
and brushed on a chair beside him, and seizing them, and as quickly

335
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:15.400
as he could, in desperate haste, began putting them on, looking round

336
00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:22.519
and seeming terribly frightened at something.
On another chair close by lay his greatcoat

337
00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:26.319
and fur cap, and his yellow
gloves were in his cap. He meant

338
00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:33.680
to steal away secretly, but suddenly
the door opened and the elder Madame Pseldonimov

339
00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:38.039
walked in with an earthenware jog and
basin. A towel was hanging over her

340
00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:44.359
shoulder. She set down the jog
and without further conversation, told him that

341
00:31:44.440 --> 00:31:48.640
he must wash. Come, my
good, sir, wash, You can't

342
00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:55.200
go without washing. And at that
instant Ivan Iliaitch recognized that if there was

343
00:31:55.319 --> 00:31:59.839
one being in the whole world whom
he need not fear, and before whom

344
00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:05.279
he need not feel ashamed, it
was that old lady he washed, And

345
00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:09.160
long afterwards, at painful moments of
his life, he recalled, among other

346
00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:15.559
pangs of remorse, all the circumstances
of that waking, and that earthenware basin,

347
00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:21.480
and the china jug filled with cold
water in which there were still floating

348
00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:28.039
icicles, and the oval cake of
soap at fifteen copecks in pink paper with

349
00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:32.039
letters embossed on it, evidently bought
for the bridal pair, though it fell

350
00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:37.960
to ivan Iliach to use it,
and the old lady with a linen towel

351
00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:43.440
over her left shoulder. The cold
water refreshed him. He dried his face,

352
00:32:43.880 --> 00:32:47.680
and without even thanking his sister of
bercy, he snatched up his hat

353
00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:54.200
flung over his shoulders, the coat
handed him by seldon him off and crossing

354
00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:59.559
the passage and the kitchen, where
the cat was already mewing, and the

355
00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:05.440
cook sitting up in her bed,
staring after him with greedy curiosity, ran

356
00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:08.880
out into the yard and into the
street, and threw himself into the first

357
00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:15.720
sledge he came across. It was
a frosty morning, a chilly yellow fog

358
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:22.000
still hid the house and everything.
Ivan Iliatch turned up his collar. He

359
00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:25.759
thought that everyone was looking at him, that they were all recognizing him.

360
00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:31.720
All For eight days he did not
leave the house or show himself at the

361
00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:37.960
office. He was ill, wretchedly
ill, but more morally than physically.

362
00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:43.559
He lived through a perfect hell in
those days, and they must have been

363
00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:47.440
reckoned to his account. In the
other world there were moments when he thought

364
00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:54.079
of becoming a monk and entering a
monastery. There really were his imagination indeed

365
00:33:54.240 --> 00:34:01.799
took special excursions during that period.
He pictured subdued, subterranean singing and open

366
00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:07.920
coffin, living in a solitary cell, forests and caves. But when he

367
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:14.599
came to himself, he recognized almost
at once that all this was dreadful nonsense

368
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:21.159
and exaggeration, and was ashamed of
this nonsense. Then began attacks of moral

369
00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:27.719
agony on the theme of his existence
of monkey. Then shame flamed up again

370
00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:31.599
in his soul, took complete possession
of him at once, consumed him like

371
00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:37.840
fire and reopened his wounds. He
shuddered as pictures of all sorts rose before

372
00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:43.280
his mind. What would people say
about him? What would they think when

373
00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:46.960
he walked into his office? What
a whisper would dog his steps for a

374
00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:52.920
whole year, ten years, his
whole life, His story would go down

375
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:58.400
to posterity. He sometimes fell into
such dejection that he was ready to go

376
00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:05.960
straight off to Semyon Ivanovitch and ask
for his forgiveness and friendship. He did

377
00:35:05.960 --> 00:35:10.199
not even justify himself. There was
no limit to his blame of himself.

378
00:35:10.760 --> 00:35:19.599
He could find no externuating circumstances,
and was ashamed of trying to. He

379
00:35:19.719 --> 00:35:23.360
had thoughts, too, of resigning
his post at once and devoting himself to

380
00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:30.920
human happiness as a simple citizen in
solitude. In any case, he would

381
00:35:30.920 --> 00:35:36.599
have completely to change his whole circle
of acquaintances, and so thoroughly as to

382
00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:42.239
eradicate all memory of himself. Then
the thought occurred to him that this too

383
00:35:42.440 --> 00:35:47.400
was nonsense, and that if he
adopted greater severity with his subordinates, it

384
00:35:47.480 --> 00:35:52.480
might all be set right. Then
he began to feel hope and courage again.

385
00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:59.280
At last, at the expiration of
eight days of hesitation and agonies,

386
00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:04.119
he felt that he could not endure
to be an uncertainty any longer, and

387
00:36:04.599 --> 00:36:09.320
umboumata, he made up his mind
to go to the office. He had

388
00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:14.800
pictured a thousand times over his return
to the office. As he sat at

389
00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:19.920
home in misery, with horror and
conviction, he told himself that he would

390
00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:25.360
certainly hear behind him an ambiguous whisper, would see ambiguous faces, would intercept

391
00:36:25.480 --> 00:36:31.400
ominous smiles. What was his surprise
when nothing of the sort happened. He

392
00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:37.519
was greeted with respect. He was
met with bows. Everyone was grave,

393
00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:42.239
everyone was busy. His heart was
filled with joy. As he made his

394
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:46.039
way to his own room, he
set to work at once with the utmost

395
00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:52.480
gravity. He listened to some reports
and explanations, subtle, doubtful points.

396
00:36:52.119 --> 00:36:58.039
He felt as though he had never
explained knotty points and given his decisions so

397
00:36:58.199 --> 00:37:04.320
intelligently, so je diciously as that
morning he saw that they were satisfied with

398
00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:08.159
him, that they respected him,
that he was treated with respect. The

399
00:37:08.159 --> 00:37:15.960
most thin skinned sensitiveness could not have
discovered anything. At last, Akim Petrovitch

400
00:37:16.119 --> 00:37:22.960
made his appearance with some documents.
The sight of him sent a stab to

401
00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:28.840
Ivan Ilieitch's heart, but only for
an instant. He went into the business

402
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:34.840
with Akima Petrovitch, talked with dignity, explained things, and showed him what

403
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:38.360
was to be done. The only
thing he noticed was that he avoided looking

404
00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:45.639
at Akim Petrovitch for any length of
time, or rather Akim Petrovitch seemed afraid

405
00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:50.800
of catching his eye. But at
last Akim Petrovitch had finished and began to

406
00:37:50.840 --> 00:37:54.880
collect his papers. And there is
one other matter. He began as dryly

407
00:37:54.960 --> 00:38:01.039
as he could, the kerk Seldonimov's
petition to be transferred to another department.

408
00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:08.800
His excellency, Semyon Ivanovitch Hipulenko has
promised him a post. He pegs,

409
00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:15.840
your gracious assent, Your excellency,
Oh, so he's being transferred, said

410
00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:20.559
ivan Ilyitch, and he felt as
though a heavy weight had rolled off his

411
00:38:20.679 --> 00:38:25.199
heart. He glanced at Akim Petrovitch, and at that instant their eyes met

412
00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:30.800
certainly, I for my part,
I will use, answered ivan Ilyitch.

413
00:38:31.159 --> 00:38:37.400
I am ready. Akima Petrovitch evidently
wanted to slip away as quickly as he

414
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:44.039
could, but in a rush of
generous feeling, ivan Ilyitch determined to speak

415
00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:50.159
out. Apparently some inspiration had come
to him again tell him. He began

416
00:38:50.679 --> 00:38:58.159
bending a candid glance full of profound
meaning upon Akima Petrovitch. Tell Pseldonimov that

417
00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:02.000
I feel no ill will I do
not that. On the contrary, I

418
00:39:02.039 --> 00:39:07.519
am ready to forget all that has
passed, to forget it all, but

419
00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:13.480
all at once. Ivan Ilieitch broke
off, looking with wonder at the strange

420
00:39:13.599 --> 00:39:20.440
behavior of Akim Petrovitch, who suddenly
seemed transformed from a sensible person into a

421
00:39:20.519 --> 00:39:25.800
fearful fool. Instead of listening and
hearing ivan Iliaitch to the end, he

422
00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:32.840
suddenly flushed Crimson in the silliest way, began with positively unseemly haste, making

423
00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:38.639
strange little bows, and at the
same time edging towards the door. His

424
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:44.320
whole appearance betrayed a desire to sink
through the floor, or more accurately,

425
00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:49.639
to get back to his table as
quickly as possible. Ivan Iliaitch, left

426
00:39:49.639 --> 00:39:53.360
alone, got up from his chair
in confusion. He looked in the looking

427
00:39:53.400 --> 00:40:00.480
glass without noticing his face. No
severity, severity, and nothing but severity.

428
00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:07.159
He whispered almost unconsciously, and suddenly
a vivid flush overspread his face.

429
00:40:07.639 --> 00:40:13.559
He felt suddenly more ashamed, more
weighed down than he had been in the

430
00:40:13.679 --> 00:40:19.559
most insufferable moments of his eight days
of tribulation. I did break down,

431
00:40:19.719 --> 00:40:27.599
he said to himself, and sank
helplessly into his chair. End of suction six