Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 3/15. A Unpleasant Predicament, Part 1/4

Chapter 3 Short Stories This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are on the public page If you want more information or participation Please go to LibriVox.org Recorded by Bruce Peary Short stories by Fyodor Dostoevsky Chapter III An unpleasant prediction. 第一部分 This unpleasant prediction. The resurrection of our beloved fathers. and her brave daughter Fighting for new hope and destiny Begin with an irresistible force. And the arrogance of the heart. A winter in that time. 11 to 12. Three very respectable gentlemen Sitting in a comfortable. Even in the grand room. Tight rooms in two floors. Next to Petersburg. and participated in one. Amazing words. These three gentlemen. All belong to the general level. They sit at a small table. Everyone sits on one. Comfortable and elegant chair. during their conversation. They quietly. And grandly drank a glass of incense The bottle of wine sat on the table On a silver table. and ice. actually is Moderator Called Stephen Nicoflorus Nicoflorus A 65-year-old businessman. They are celebrating his wedding. He also wishes. The move of the house he bought. Also on his birthday. He has never been punished. But the canon is not very large as we have seen Only two givers. Both are Mr. Nico Frovitz's Former colleagues and former affiliates That is A true municipal adviser. And another real city counselor They arrive at the tea house before 9 o'clock. Then start drinking. They know. at half past eleven They must go home. their host. Everyone likes a normal life. say a few words He started his career. Is a small staff without any support Quietly for 45 years. Very knowledgeable about work. descend from heaven He already has two stars. But he was particularly disagreeable Show your own opinion. on any subject. He is also very honest. He didn't do anything. Especially dishonest things. He is a college graduate Because he is an egoist. He has a lot of wisdom But he couldn't show his wisdom. He is particularly disagreeable Self-righteous generosity and passion His generosity to egoism At the end of his life. He's completely absorbed. a heavy Comfortable and systematic solitude Sometimes he will visit. Some people higher than themselves. But since his youth. He was never able Enjoy your own trip. He was in his youth. If he doesn't have the patience to play He can be satisfied. The Society of His Dinner Clock He spent the whole night would lie in his chair Listening silently. It's under the glass box make a sound. in appearance He looks very stylish Seems very normal. He looks well preserved. Seems younger than his years He replied Live a few more years. He is also very cautious Follow the best breeding rules. his studio is a very comfortable He must be somewhere. Responsible for some work. Simply put. He was seen as one. The best man. He has only one heat. More accurately. He has only one desire. That is to own your own house. And the house is like A gentleman's house. Not a commercial investment. His longing was finally realized. He went looking for one. House next to Petersburg It is indeed a good road. But it has a garden And it is an elegant house. New and old decisions This is a good road He doesn't like being at home. Driving to see anyone. Or go to the office He has an angry. chocolate chair An instructor Mi Black There are two more. Small but strong. Another angry horse. Everything is respected. 40 years of discreet elegance Let his heart. filled with comfort. This is why Stephen Nico Froffiths His compassion. He even invited two friends to see him on his birthday. But he was not careful. Hide it. His most intimate. He has some special designs. On one of the guests He lives in the new house Upstairs He wants a guest. Living on the lower floor Designed and arranged. Exactly the same Right. And twice. On that night in the process of conversation. But Stephen Nico Froffiths There was no response. another guest is also a in long years. He has black hair and hair. on his face. There is always shadow. A man of marriage. Like to stay at home He manages the family Like iron. in his office. He has the highest confidence also very understanding Why did he aim? Better yet He will never reach his goal. He is in a good position. He is sitting very hard Although Stephen Nico Froffiths Look at the new reforms Some are not enough But he is not special. worry about them. He's very confident And listen. Ivan Ilek Pralinski of laughter. He is on a new subject. They all drink. very random himself also participated. and Mr. Pralinsky About the latest reforms But We have to say something. about his greatness. Pralinsky, Stephen Ilek Especially He is the main hero of today's story. The actual state counselor. He is only responsible for his greatness. Four months He is a young president. He was also young for many years. Only 43 years old. No more He looks up. I also like to watch. More young He is an angry man. His clothes are very bright His determination of himself. Respected character filled with honor. He showed Some consequences on the shoulder From his earliest days. He already knows How to get Great Society's Honor and Honor And be the counsellor of the State Council He was dreaming a rich Even the great women. He dreamed of many other things. Although he is far from stupid sometime He is a good talker. even like Take a parliamentary posture. He came from a good family. He is the son of a president. brought. is a kind of grand In his childish little time He was wearing The Scarlet's Scarlet be educated in a Buddhist School Although he was there I got very little learning. But he was successful in service and effort. become a president. Officers Watch him is a man of ability even expected He is coming Stephen Nico Frovitz at his beginning. Career in Service and in him He became a president. Post-career Below Never. Think of him as A good businessman. He does not have Any expectations He likes. Is He belongs A good family. have property A lot of buildings. Put it in the house. Responsible for a president. with capable people. Even More is He has Elegant body. Inside accuse him Because Too much imagination 和 Not steady 自己 Sometimes I feel He has too many Love well. Sensitive Strangely to say He sometimes also sometimes will feel of the heart. Gentle Sadly Confusion Heart Hiding A secret pain. He is now Again to admit. as he imagined. at that moment. He fell into a state of unease He suffers from Cancer He called his life 为 Lack of life and privately. unceasingly improve life in the Congress. state under He calls himself. Speaker The Producer of Words Although Of course. gave him a lot of confidence But at least stop him Again half an hour later Raise your head. grow More determined more confident He is in many places. successfully achieved The Honor of a Difficult Libertarian That said to him. Very surprising That night He had four drinks his special. Surprised His special surprise. He wants it every moment. Go surprise Stepan Nikovrav him from before. from before He always respected He even He also sees him. reaction force very hot Flat And indeed feared, on account of his cynicism and ill nature, preserved a treacherous silence, and smiled more frequently than was necessary. They seemed to take me for a schoolboy, flashed across Ivan Ilyich's mind. No, it was time, high time, he went on hotly. We have put it off too long, and to my thinking, humanity is the first consideration. Humanity with our inferiors, remembering that they, too, are men. Humanity will save everything, and bring out all that is,,. Was heard from the direction of Semyon Ivanovich. But why are you giving us such a talking-to? Stepan Nikiforovich protested at last, with an affable smile. I must own, Ivan Ilyich, I have not been able to make out so far what you are maintaining. You advocate humanity, that is, love of your fellow creatures, isn't it? Yes, if you like, I,,, allow me. As far as I can see, that's not the only thing. Love of one's fellow creatures has always been fitting. The reform movement is not confined to that. All sorts of questions have arisen relating to the peace, the law courts, economics, government contracts, morals, and,,. endless, and altogether may give rise to great upheavals, so to say. That is what we have been anxious about, and not simply humanity. Yes, the thing is a bit deeper than that, observed Semyon Ivanovich. I quite understand, and allow me to observe, Semyon Ivanovich, that I can't agree to be inferior to you in depth of understanding, Ivan Ilyich observed sarcastically and with excessive sharpness. However, I will make so bold as to assert, Stepan Nikiforovich, that you have not understood me either. No, I haven't. And yet I maintain and everywhere advance the idea that humanity, and nothing else with one's subordinates, from the official in one's department down to the copying clerk, from the copying clerk down to the house serf, from the servant down to the peasant, humanity, I say, may serve, so to speak, as the cornerstone of the coming reforms and the reformation of things in general. Why? Because. Take a syllogism, I am human. Consequentially, I am loved. I am loved, so confidence is felt in me. There is a feeling of confidence, and so there is trust. There is trust, and so there is love. That is, no, I mean to say that if they trust me, they will believe in the reforms, they will understand, so to speak, the essential nature of them, will, so to speak, embrace each other in a moral sense, and will settle the whole business in a friendly way fundamentally. What are you laughing at, Semyon Ivanovich? Can't you understand? Stepan Nikiforovich raised his eyes without speaking. He was surprised. I fancy I have drunk a little too much, said Semyon Ivanovich sarcastically, and so I am a little slow of comprehension, not quite all my wits about me. Ivan Ilyich winced. We should break down, Stepan Nikiforovich pronounced suddenly after a slight pause of hesitation. How do you mean we should break down? asked Ivan Ilyich, surprised at Stepan Nikiforovich's arrest mark. Why, we should break under the strain. Stepan Nikiforovich evidently did not care to explain further. I suppose you are thinking of new wine in old bottles, Ivan Ilyich replied, not without irony. Well, I can answer for myself anyway. At that moment the clock struck half past even. One sits on and on, but one must go at last, said Semyon Ivanovich, getting up. But Ivan Ilyich was before him. He got up from the table and took his sable cap from the chimney piece. He looked as though he had been consulted. So how is it to be, Semyon Ivanovich? Will you think it over? said Stepan Nikiforovich as he saw the visitors out. About the flat, you mean? I'll think it over, I'll think it over. Well, when you have made up your mind, let me know as soon as possible. Still on business? Mr. Pralinsky observed affably, in a slightly ingratiating tone, playing with his hat. It seemed to him as though they were forgetting him. Stepan Nikiforovich raised his eyes and remained mute, as a sign that he would not detain his visitors. Semyon Ivanovich made haste to bow himself out. Well, after that, what is one to expect? If you don't understand the simple rules of good manners, Mr. Pralinsky reflected to himself and held out his hand to Stepan Nikiforovich in a particularly off-hand way. In the hall, Ivan Ilyich wrapped himself up in his light, expensive fur coat. He tried for some reason not to notice Semyon Ivanovich's shabby raccoon, and they both began descending the stairs. The old man seemed offended, said Ivan Ilyich to the silent Semyon Ivanovich. No, why? answered the latter with cool composition. Servile flunky, Ivan Ilyich thought to himself. They went out at the front door. Semyon Ivanovich's sledge with a grey, ugly horse drive up. What the devil? What has Trifon done with my carriage? cried Ivan Ilyich, not seeing his carriage. The carriage was nowhere to be seen. Stepan Nikiforovich's servant knew nothing about it. They appealed to Varlam, Semyon Ivanovich's coachman, and received the answer that he had been standing there all the time and that the carriage had been there, but now there was no sign of it. An unpleasant predicament, Mr. Shipolenko pronounced. Shall I take you home? Scoundrelly people! Mr, Polinsky cried with fury. He asked me, the rascal, to let him go to a wedding close here in the Petersburg side. Some crony of his was getting married. Deuce-taker! I sternly forbade him to absent himself, and now I'll bet he has gone off there. He certainly has gone there, sir, observed Varlam, but he promised to be back in a minute, to be here in time, that is. Well, there it is. I had a presentiment that this would happen. I'll give it to him. You'd better give him a good logging once or twice at the police station. Then he will do what you tell him, said Semyon Ivanovich as he wrapped the rug round him. Please don't you trouble Semyon Ivanovich. Well, won't you let me take you along? Merci, Bon voyage. Semyon Ivanovich drove off, while Ivan Ilyich set off on foot along the wooden pavement, conscious of a rather acute irritation. Yes, indeed, I'll give it to you now, you rogue. I am going on foot on purpose to make you feel it, to frighten you. He will come back and hear that his master has gone off on foot, the blackguard. Ivan Ilyich had never abused anyone like this, but he was greatly angered. Besides, there was a buzzing in his head. He was not given to drink, so five or six glasses soon affected him. But the night was enchanting. There was a frost, but it was remarkably still and there was no wind. There was a clear starry sky. The full moon was bathing the earth in a soft silver light. It was so lovely that after walking some fifty paces, Ivan Ilyich almost forgot his troubles. He felt particularly pleased. People quickly change from one mood to another when they are a little drunk. He was even pleased with the ugly little wooden houses of the deserted street. It's really a capital thing that I am walking, he thought. It's a lesson to Trifon and a pleasure to me. I really ought to walk softener, and I shall soon pick up a sledge on the great prospect. It's a glorious night. What little houses they all are. I suppose small fry live here, clerks, tradesmen, perhaps. That's Stepan Nikiforovitch. What reactionaries they all are, those old foggies. Foggies, yes, c'est le mot. He is a sensible man, though. He has that bon sens, sober, practical understanding of things. But they are old, old. There is a lack of,,. What is it? There is a lack of something. We shall break down. What did he mean by that? He actually pondered when he said it. He didn't understand me a bit. And yet, how could he help understanding? It was more difficult not to understand it than to understand it. The chief thing is that I am convinced, convinced in my soul. Humanity, the love of one's kind, restore a man to himself, revive his personal dignity, and then, when the ground is prepared, get to work. I believe that's clear. Yes. Allow me, Your Excellence. Take a syllogism, for instance. We meet, for instance, a clerk, a poor downtrodden clerk. Well, who are you? Answer. A clerk. Very good, a clerk. Further. What sort of clerk are you? I am such and such a clerk, he says. Are you in the service? I am. Do you want to be happy? I do. What do you need for happiness? Listen that. Why? Because, and there, the man understands me with a couple of words. The man's mine. The man is caught, so to speak, in a net, and I can do what I like with him. That is for his good. Horrid man, that Semyon Ivanovich! And what a hurry fizz he has! Flog him in the police station. He said that on purpose. No, you are talking rubbish. You can flog, but I'm not going to. I shall punish Trifon with words. I shall punish him with reproaches. He will feel it. As for logging, it's an open question. What about going to Emirates? Oh, damnation, take it, the cursed pavement! He cried out. Suddenly tripping up. And this is the capital. Enlightment! One might break one's leg. I detect that Semyon Ivanovich. A most revolving fizz. He was chuckling at me just now when I said they would embrace each other in a moral sense. Well, and they will embrace each other. And what's that to do with you? I'm not going to embrace you. I'd rather embrace a peasant. If I meet a peasant, I shall talk to him. I was drunk, though, and perhaps did not express myself properly. Possibly I'm not expressing myself right now. I shall never touch wine again. In the evening you babble, and next morning you are sorry for it. After all, I am walking quite steadily. But they are all scoundrels, anyhow. So Ivan Ilyich meditated incoherently and by snatches as he went on striding along the pavement. The fresh air began to affect him, set his mind working. Five minutes later, he would have felt soothed and slept. But all at once, scarcely two paces from the great prospect, he heard music. He looked round. On the other side of the street in a very tumbledown-looking long wooden house of one story, there was a great fete. There was the scraping of violins and the droning of a double bass and the squeaky tooting of a flute playing a very gay quadrille tune. Under the window stood an audience, mainly of women in wadded palaces with kerchiefs on their heads. They were straining every effort to see something through a crack in the shutters. Apparently there was a gay party within. The sound of the thud of dancing feet reached the other side of the street. Ivan Ilyich saw a policeman standing not far off and went up to him. What house is that, brother? he asked, flinging his expensive fur coat open just far enough to allow the policeman to see the imposing decoration on his breast. It belongs to the registration clerk, Seldonimoff, answered the policeman, drawing himself up, instantly discerning the decoration. Seldonimoff? Bah! Seldonimoff, what is he up to? Getting married? Yes, your honor, to a daughter of a titular counselor, Lakopateev, a titular counselor used to serve in the municipal department. That house goes with the bride. So that now the house is Seldonimoff's and not Lakopateev's? Yes, Seldonimoff's, your honor. It was Lakopateev's, but now it is Seldonimoff's. Hm! I am asking you, my man, because I am his chief. I am a general in the same office in which Seldonimoff serves. Just so, your excellence. The policeman drew himself up more stiffly than ever, while Ivan Ilyich seemed to ponder. He stood still and meditated. Yes, Seldonimoff really was in his department and in his own office. He remembered that. He was a little clerk with a salary of ten roubles a month. As Mr. Prolinsky had received his department very recently, he might not have remembered precisely all his subordinates, but Seldonimoff he remembered just because of his surname. It had caught his eye from the very first, so that at the time he had had the curiosity to look with special attention at the possession of such a surname. He remembered now a very young man with a long hooked nose, with tufts of flaxen hair, lean and ill-nourished, in an impossible uniform, and with unmentionables so impossible as to be actually seemingly. He remembered how the thought had flashed through his mind at the time. Shouldn't he give the poor fellow ten roubles for Christmas to spend on his wrist? But as the poor fellow's face was too austere and his expression extremely unfortunate, even exciting repulsion, the good-natured idea somehow faded away of itself, so Seldonimoff did not get his tip. He had been the more surprised when this same Seldonimoff had, not more than a week before, asked for leave to be married. Ivan Ilyich remembered that he had somehow not had time to go into the matter, so that the matter of the marriage had been settled off-hand, in haste. But yet he did remember exactly that Seldonimoff was receiving a wooden house and four hundred roubles in cash as dowry with his bride. The circumstance had surprised him He remembered that he had made a slight jest over the juxtaposition of the names Seldonimoff and Mlekopatev. He remembered all that clearly. He recalled it and grew more and more pensive. It is well known that whole trains of thought sometimes pass through our brains instantly, as though they were sensations without being translated into human speech, still less into literary language. But we will try to translate these sensations of our heroes and present to the reader at least the kernel of them, so to say, what was most essential and nearest to reality in them. For many of our sensations, when translated into ordinary language, seem absolutely unreal. That is why they never find expression, though everyone has them. Of course, Ivan Ilyich's sensations and thoughts were a little incoherent, but you know the reason. Why, flashed through his mind, where we all talk and talk, but when it comes to action it all ends in nothing. Here, for instance, take this Seldonimoff. He has just come from his wedding full of hope and excitement, looking forward to his wedding feast. This is one of the most blissful days of his life. Now he is busy with his guests, is giving a banquet, a modest one, poor but gay and full of genuine gladness. What if he knew that at this very moment I, I, his superior, his chief, him standing by his house listening to the music? Yes, really, how would he feel? No, what would he feel if I suddenly walked in? Hm, of course, at first he would be frightened, he would be dummy with embarrassment. I should be in his way and perhaps should upset everything. Yes, that would be so if any other general went in, but not I. That's a fact, anyone else, Yes, Stepan Nikiforovitch, you did not understand me just now, but here is an example ready for you. Yes, we all make an outcry about acting humanely, but we are not capable of heroism, of fine actions. What sort of heroism? This sort. Consider, in the existing relations of the various members of society, for me, for me, after midnight to go into the wedding of my subordinate a registration clerk at ten rubles a month. Why, it would mean embarrassment, a revolution, the last days of Pompeii, a sensational folly. No one would understand it. Stepan Nikiforovitch would die before he understood it. Why, he said we should break down. Yes, but that's you, old people, inert, paralytic people. But I shan't break down. I will transform the last day of Pompeii to a day of the utmost sweetness for my subordinate, and a wild action to an action normal, patriarchal, lofty, and moral. How? Like this. Kindly listen. Here, I go in, suppose. They are amazed. Leave off dancing. Look wildly at me. Draw back. Quite so, but at once I speak out. I go straight up to the frightened Seldanimov, and with a most cordial, affable smile. In the simplest words I say, This is how it is. I have been at His Excellence Stepan Nikiforovitch's, and I expect you know, close here in the neighborhood. Well, then, lightly, in a laughing way, I shall tell him of my adventure with Tryphon. From Tryphon I shall pass on to saying how I walked here on foot. Well, I heard music, I asked of a policeman, and learned, brother, that it was your wedding. Let me go in, I thought, to my subordinates. Let me see how my clerks enjoy themselves and celebrate their wedding. I suppose you won't turn me out? Turn me out? What a word for a subordinate. How the devil could he dream of turning me out? I fancy that he would be half crazy, that he would rush headlong to seat me in an armchair, would be trembling with delight, would hardly know what he was doing for the first minute. Why, what can be simpler, more elegant than such an action? Why did I go in? That's another question. That is, so to say, the moral aspect of the question. That's the pith. What was I thinking about? Well, of course, they will make me sit down with the most important guest, some titular counselor or a relation who's a retired captain with a red nose. Google describes these eccentrics so capitally. Well, I shall make acquaintance, of course, with the bride. I shall compliment her. I shall encourage the guests. I shall beg them not to stand on ceremony, to enjoy themselves, to go on dancing. I shall make jokes. I shall laugh. In fact, I shall be affable and charming. I am always affable and charming when I am pleased with myself. Hum! The point is that I believe I am still a little, well, not drunk exactly, but, of course, as a gentleman, I shall be quite on an equality with them, and shall not expect any special marks of,,. But morally, morally, it is a different matter. They will understand and appreciate it. My actions will evoke their nobler feelings. Well, I shall stay for half an hour, even for an hour. I shall leave, of course, before supper, but they will be bustling about, baking and roofing. They will be making low bows, but I will only drink a glass, congratulate them and refuse supper. I shall say business, and as soon as I pronounce the word business, all of them will at once have sternly respectful faces. By that I shall delicately remind them that there is a difference between them and me, the earth and the sky. It is not that I want to impress that on them, but it must be done. It's even essential in a moral sense when all is said and done. I shall smile at once, however. I shall even laugh, and then they will all pluck up courage again. I shall jest a little again with the bride. I may even hint that I shall come again in just nine months to stand godfather, and she will be sure to be brought to bed by then. They multiply, you know, like rabbits. And they will all roar with laughter, and the bride will blush. I shall kiss her feelly on the forehead, even give her my blessing, and next day my exploit will be known at the office. Next day I shall be stern again. Next day I shall be reacting again, even implacable. But they will all know what I am like. They will know my heart. They will know my essential nature. He is stern as chief, but as a man he is an angel. And I shall have conquered them. I shall have captured them by one little act which would never have entered your head. They would be mine. I should be their father. They would be my children. Come now, Your Excellence Stepan Nikiforovitch, go and do like wise. But do you know, do you understand, that Seldanimov will tell his children how the general himself feasted and even drink at his wedding? Why, you know, those children would tell their children and those would tell their grandchildren as a most sacred story, that a grand gentleman, a statesman, and I shall be all that by then, did them the honor and so on and so on. Why, I am morally elevating the humiliated. I restore him to himself. Why, he gets a salary of ten rubles a month. If I repeat this five or ten times or something of the sort, I shall gain popularity all over the place. My name will be printed on the hearts of all, and the devil only knows what will come of that popularity. These or something like these were Ivan Ilyich's reflections. A man says all sorts of things sometimes to himself, gentlemen, especially when he is in rather an eccentric condition. All these meditations passed through his mind in something like half a minute, and of course, he might have confined himself to these dreams, and after mentally putting Stepan Nikiforovich to shame, have gone very peacefully home and to bed, and he would have done well. But the trouble of it was that the moment was an eccentric one. As ill luck would have it, at that very instant, the self-satisfied faces of Stepan Nikiforovich and Semyon Ivanovich suddenly rose before his heated imagination. We shall break down, repeated Stepan Nikiforovich, smiling disdainfully. Semyon Ivanovich seconded him with his nastiest smile. Well, we'll see whether we do break down, Ivan Ilyich said resolutely, with a rush of heat to his face. He stepped down from the pavement and with resolve steps went straight across the street towards the house of his registration clerk, Seldonimov. End of chapter three.