Whether Mr. Prohartchin had certain incorrigible14 defects, or whether his companions were, every one of them, to blame, there seemed to be misunderstandings on both sides from the first. We must observe here that all Ustinya Fyodorovna's new lodgers without exception got on together like brothers; some of them were in the same office; each one of them by turns lost all his money to the others at faro, preference and bixe; they all liked in a merry hour to enjoy what they called the fizzing moments of life in a crowd together; they were fond, too, at times of discussing lofty subjects, and though in the end things rarely passed off without a dispute, yet as all prejudices were banished16 from the whole party the general harmony was not in the least disturbed thereby17. The most remarkable18 among the lodgers were Mark Ivanovitch, an intelligent and well-read man; then Oplevaniev; then Prepolovenko, also a nice and modest person; then there was a certain Zinovy Prokofyevitch, whose object in life was to get into aristocratic society; then there was Okeanov, the copying clerk, who had in his time almost wrested19 the distinction of prime favourite from Semyon Ivanovitch; then another copying clerk called Sudbin; the plebeian20 Kantarev; there were others too. But to all these people Semyon Ivanovitch was, as it were, not one of themselves. No one wished him harm, of course, for all had from the very first done Prohartchin justice, and had decided21 in Mark Ivanovitch's words that he, Prohartchin, was a good and harmless fellow, though by no means a man of the world, trustworthy, and not a flatterer, who had, of course, his failings; but that if he were sometimes unhappy it was due to nothing else but lack of imagination. What is more, Mr. Prohartchin, though deprived in this way of imagination, could never have made a particularly favourable23 impression from his figure or manners (upon which scoffers are fond of fastening), yet his figure did not put people against him. Mark Ivanovitch, who was an intelligent person, formally undertook Semyon Ivanovitch's defence, and declared in rather happy and flowery language that Prohartchin was an elderly and respectable man, who had long, long ago passed the age of romance. And so, if Semyon Ivanovitch did not know how to get on with people, it must have been entirely24 his own fault.
The first thing they noticed was the unmistakable parsimony25 and niggardliness26 of Semyon Ivanovitch. That was at once observed and noted27, for Semyon Ivanovitch would never lend any one his teapot, even for a moment; and that was the more unjust as he himself hardly ever drank tea, but when he wanted anything drank, as a rule, rather a pleasant decoction of wild flowers and certain medicinal herbs, of which he always had a considerable store. His meals, too, were quite different from the other lodgers'. He never, for instance, permitted himself to partake of the whole dinner, provided daily by Ustinya Fyodorovna for the other boarders. The dinner cost half a rouble; Semyon Ivanovitch paid only twenty-five kopecks in copper28, and never exceeded it, and so took either a plate of soup with pie, or a plate of beef; most frequently he ate neither soup nor beef, but he partook in moderation of white bread with onion, curd29, salted cucumber, or something similar, which was a great deal cheaper, and he would only go back to his half rouble dinner when he could stand it no longer....
Here the biographer confesses that nothing would have induced him to allude30 to such realistic and low details, positively31 shocking and offensive to some lovers of the heroic style, if it were not that these details exhibit one peculiarity32, one characteristic, in the hero of this story; for Mr. Prohartchin was by no means so poor as to be unable to have regular and sufficient meals, though he sometimes made out that he was. But he acted as he did regardless of obloquy34 and people's prejudices, simply to satisfy his strange whims35, and from frugality36 and excessive carefulness: all this, however, will be much clearer later on. But we will beware of boring the reader with the description of all Semyon Ivanovitch's whims, and will omit, for instance, the curious and very amusing description of his attire37; and, in fact, if it were not for Ustinya Fyodorovna's own reference to it we should hardly have alluded38 even to the fact that Semyon Ivanovitch never could make up his mind to send his linen39 to the wash, or if he ever did so it was so rarely that in the intervals40 one might have completely forgotten the existence of linen on Semyon Ivanovitch. From the landlady41's evidence it appeared that "Semyon Ivanovitch, bless his soul, poor lamb, for twenty years had been tucked away in his corner, without caring what folks thought, for all the days of his life on earth he was a stranger to socks, handkerchiefs, and all such things," and what is more, Ustinya Fyodorovna had seen with her own eyes, thanks to the decrepitude42 of the screen, that the poor dear man sometimes had had nothing to cover his bare skin.
Such were the rumours45 in circulation after Semyon Ivanovitch's death. But in his lifetime (and this was one of the most frequent occasions of dissension) he could not endure it if any one, even somebody on friendly terms with him, poked46 his inquisitive47 nose uninvited into his corner, even through an aperture48 in the decrepit43 screen. He was a taciturn man difficult to deal with and prone49 to ill health. He did not like people to give him advice, he did not care for people who put themselves forward either, and if any one jeered50 at him or gave him advice unasked, he would fall foul51 of him at once, put him to shame, and settle his business. "You are a puppy, you are a featherhead, you are not one to give advice, so there—you mind your own business, sir. You'd better count the stitches in your own socks, sir, so there!"
Semyon Ivanovitch was a plain man, and never used the formal mode of address to any one. He could not bear it either when some one who knew his little ways would begin from pure sport pestering52 him with questions, such as what he had in his little trunk.... Semyon Ivanovitch had one little trunk. It stood under his bed, and was guarded like the apple of his eye; and though every one knew that there was nothing in it except old rags, two or three pairs of damaged boots and all sorts of rubbish, yet Mr. Prohartchin prized his property very highly, and they used even to hear him at one time express dissatisfaction with his old, but still sound, lock, and talk of getting a new one of a special German pattern with a secret spring and various complications. When on one occasion Zinovy Prokofyevitch, carried away by the thoughtlessness of youth, gave expression to the very coarse and unseemly idea, that Semyon Ivanovitch was probably hiding and treasuring something in his box to leave to his descendants, every one who happened to be by was stupefied at the extraordinary effects of Zinovy Prokofyevitch's sally. At first Mr. Prohartchin could not find suitable terms for such a crude and coarse idea. For a long time words dropped from his lips quite incoherently, and it was only after a while they made out that Semyon Ivanovitch was reproaching Zinovy Prokofyevitch for some shabby action in the remote past; then they realized that Semyon Ivanovitch was predicting that Zinovy Prokofyevitch would never get into aristocratic society, and that the tailor to whom he owed a bill for his suits would beat him—would certainly beat him—because the puppy had not paid him for so long; and finally, "You puppy, you," Semyon Ivanovitch added, "here you want to get into the hussars, but you won't, I tell you, you'll make a fool of yourself. And I tell you what, you puppy, when your superiors know all about it they will take and make you a copying clerk; so that will be the end of it! Do you hear, puppy?" Then Semyon Ivanovitch subsided53, but after lying down for five hours, to the intense astonishment54 of every one he seemed to have reached a decision, and began suddenly reproaching and abusing the young man again, at first to himself and afterwards addressing Zinovy Prokofyevitch. But the matter did not end there, and in the evening, when Mark Ivanovitch and Prepolovenko made tea and asked Okeanov to drink it with them, Semyon Ivanovitch got up from his bed, purposely joined them, subscribing55 his fifteen or twenty kopecks, and on the pretext56 of a sudden desire for a cup of tea began at great length going into the subject, and explaining that he was a poor man, nothing but a poor man, and that a poor man like him had nothing to save. Mr. Prohartchin confessed that he was a poor man on this occasion, he said, simply because the subject had come up; that the day before yesterday he had meant to borrow a rouble from that impudent57 fellow, but now he should not borrow it for fear the puppy should brag58, that that was the fact of the matter, and that his salary was such that one could not buy enough to eat, and that finally, a poor man, as you see, he sent his sister-in-law in Tver five roubles every month, that if he did not send his sister-in-law in Tver five roubles every month his sister-in-law would die, and if his sister-in-law, who was dependent on him, were dead, he, Semyon Ivanovitch, would long ago have bought himself a new suit.... And Semyon Ivanovitch went on talking in this way at great length about being a poor man, about his sister-in-law and about roubles, and kept repeating the same thing over and over again to impress it on his audience till he got into a regular muddle59 and relapsed into silence. Only three days later, when they had all forgotten about him, and no one was thinking of attacking him, he added something in conclusion to the effect that when Zinovy Prokofyevitch went into the hussars the impudent fellow would have his leg cut off in the war, and then he would come with a wooden leg and say; "Semyon Ivanovitch, kind friend, give me something to eat!" and then Semyon Ivanovitch would not give him something to eat, and would not look at the insolent60 fellow; and that's how it would be, and he could just make the best of it.
All this naturally seemed very curious and at the same time fearfully amusing. Without much reflection, all the lodgers joined together for further investigation62, and simply from curiosity determined63 to make a final onslaught on Semyon Ivanovitch en masse. And as Mr. Prohartchin, too, had of late—that is, ever since he had begun living in the same flat with them—been very fond of finding out everything about them and asking inquisitive questions, probably for private reasons of his own, relations sprang up between the opposed parties without any preparation or effort on either side, as it were by chance and of itself. To get into relations Semyon Ivanovitch always had in reserve his peculiar33, rather sly, and very ingenuous64 man?uvre, of which the reader has learned something already. He would get off his bed about tea-time, and if he saw the others gathered together in a group to make tea he would go up to them like a quiet, sensible, and friendly person, hand over his twenty kopecks, as he was entitled to do, and announce that he wished to join them. Then the young men would wink65 at one another, and so indicating that they were in league together against Semyon Ivanovitch, would begin a conversation, at first strictly proper and decorous. Then one of the wittier66 of the party would, à propos of nothing, fall to telling them news consisting most usually of entirely false and quite incredible details. He would say, for instance, that some one had heard His Excellency that day telling Demid Vassilyevitch that in his opinion married clerks were more trustworthy than unmarried, and more suitable for promotion68; for they were steady, and that their capacities were considerably69 improved by marriage, and that therefore he—that is, the speaker—in order to improve and be better fitted for promotion, was doing his utmost to enter the bonds of matrimony as soon as possible with a certain Fevronya Prokofyevna. Or he would say that it had more than once been remarked about certain of his colleagues that they were entirely devoid70 of social graces and of well-bred, agreeable manners, and consequently unable to please ladies in good society, and that, therefore, to eradicate71 this defect it would be suitable to deduct72 something from their salary, and with the sum so obtained, to hire a hall, where they could learn to dance, acquire the outward signs of gentlemanliness and good-breeding, courtesy, respect for their seniors, strength of will, a good and grateful heart and various agreeable qualities. Or he would say that it was being arranged that some of the clerks, beginning with the most elderly, were to be put through an examination in all sorts of subjects to raise their standard of culture, and in that way, the speaker would add, all sorts of things would come to light, and certain gentlemen would have to lay their cards on the table—in short, thousands of similar very absurd rumours were discussed. To keep it up, every one believed the story at once, showed interest in it, asked questions, applied73 it to themselves; and some of them, assuming a despondent74 air, began shaking their heads and asking every one's advice, saying what were they to do if they were to come under it? It need hardly be said that a man far less credulous75 and simple-hearted than Mr. Prohartchin would have been puzzled and carried away by a rumour44 so unanimously believed. Moreover, from all appearances, it might be safely concluded that Semyon Ivanovitch was exceedingly stupid and slow to grasp any new unusual idea, and that when he heard anything new, he had always first, as it were, to chew it over and digest it, to find out the meaning, and struggling with it in bewilderment, at last perhaps to overcome it, though even then in a quite special manner peculiar to himself alone....
In this way curious and hitherto unexpected qualities began to show themselves in Semyon Ivanovitch.... Talk and tittle-tattle followed, and by devious77 ways it all reached the office at last, with additions. What increased the sensation was the fact that Mr. Prohartchin, who had looked almost exactly the same from time immemorial, suddenly, à propos of nothing, wore quite a different countenance78. His face was uneasy, his eyes were timid and had a scared and rather suspicious expression. He took to walking softly, starting and listening, and to put the finishing touch to his new characteristics developed a passion for investigating the truth. He carried his love of truth at last to such a pitch as to venture, on two occasions, to inquire of Demid Vassilyevitch himself concerning the credibility of the strange rumours that reached him daily by dozens, and if we say nothing here of the consequence of the action of Semyon Ivanovitch, it is for no other reason but a sensitive regard for his reputation. It was in this way people came to consider him as misanthropic79 and regardless of the proprieties80. Then they began to discover that there was a great deal that was fantastical about him, and in this they were not altogether mistaken, for it was observed on more than one occasion that Semyon Ivanovitch completely forgot himself, and sitting in his seat with his mouth open and his pen in the air, as though frozen or petrified81, looked more like the shadow of a rational being than that rational being itself. It sometimes happened that some innocently gaping82 gentleman, on suddenly catching83 his straying, lustreless84, questioning eyes, was scared and all of a tremor85, and at once inserted into some important document either a smudge or some quite inappropriate word. The impropriety of Semyon Ivanovitch's behaviour embarrassed and annoyed all really well-bred people.... At last no one could feel any doubt of the eccentricity86 of Semyon Ivanovitch's mind, when one fine morning the rumour was all over the office that Mr. Prohartchin had actually frightened Demid Vassilyevitch himself, for, meeting him in the corridor, Semyon Ivanovitch had been so strange and peculiar that he had forced his superior to beat a retreat.... The news of Semyon Ivanovitch's behaviour reached him himself at last. Hearing of it he got up at once, made his way carefully between the chairs and tables, reached the entry, took down his overcoat with his own hand, put it on, went out, and disappeared for an indefinite period. Whether he was led into this by alarm or some other impulse we cannot say, but no trace was seen of him for a time either at home or at the office....
We will not attribute Semyon Ivanovitch's fate simply to his eccentricity, yet we must observe to the reader that our hero was a very retiring man, unaccustomed to society, and had, until he made the acquaintance of the new lodgers, lived in complete unbroken solitude87, and had been marked by his quietness and even a certain mysteriousness; for he had spent all the time that he lodged88 at Peski lying on his bed behind the screen, without talking or having any sort of relations with any one. Both his old fellow-lodgers lived exactly as he did: they, too were, somehow mysterious people and spent fifteen years lying behind their screens. The happy, drowsy89 hours and days trailed by, one after the other, in patriarchal stagnation90, and as everything around them went its way in the same happy fashion, neither Semyon Ivanovitch nor Ustinya Fyodorovna could remember exactly when fate had brought them together.
"It may be ten years, it may be twenty, it may be even twenty-five altogether," she would say at times to her new lodgers, "since he settled with me, poor dear man, bless his heart!" And so it was very natural that the hero of our story, being so unaccustomed to society was disagreeably surprised when, a year before, he, a respectable and modest man, had found himself, suddenly in the midst of a noisy and boisterous91 crew, consisting of a dozen young fellows, his colleagues at the office, and his new house-mates.
The disappearance92 of Semyon Ivanovitch made no little stir in the lodgings93. One thing was that he was the favourite; another, that his passport, which had been in the landlady's keeping, appeared to have been accidentally mislaid. Ustinya Fyodorovna raised a howl, as was her invariable habit on all critical occasions. She spent two days in abusing and upbraiding94 the lodgers. She wailed95 that they had chased away her lodger like a chicken, and all those spiteful scoffers had been the ruin of him; and on the third day she sent them all out to hunt for the fugitive96 and at all costs to bring him back, dead or alive. Towards evening Sudbin first came back with the news that traces had been discovered, that he had himself seen the runaway97 in Tolkutchy Market and other places, had followed and stood close to him, but had not dared to speak to him; he had been near him in a crowd watching a house on fire in Crooked98 Lane. Half an hour later Okeanov and Kantarev came in and confirmed Sudbin's story, word for word; they, too, had stood near, had followed him quite close, had stood not more than ten paces from him, but they also had not ventured to speak to him, but both observed that Semyon Ivanovitch was walking with a drunken cadger99. The other lodgers were all back and together at last, and after listening attentively100 they made up their minds that Prohartchin could not be far off and would not be long in returning; but they said that they had all known beforehand that he was about with a drunken cadger. This drunken cadger was a thoroughly101 bad lot, insolent and cringing102, and it seemed evident that he had got round Semyon Ivanovitch in some way. He had turned up just a week before Semyon Ivanovitch's disappearance in company with Remnev, had spent a little time in the flat telling them that he had suffered in the cause of justice, that he had formerly103 been in the service in the provinces, that an inspector104 had come down on them, that he and his associates had somehow suffered in a good cause, that he had come to Petersburg and fallen at the feet of Porfiry Grigoryevitch, that he had been got, by interest, into a department; but through the cruel persecution105 of fate he had been discharged from there too, and that afterwards through reorganization the office itself had ceased to exist, and that he had not been included in the new revised staff of clerks owing as much to direct incapacity for official work as to capacity for something else quite irrelevant106—all this mixed up with his passion for justice and of course the trickery of his enemies. After finishing his story, in the course of which Mr. Zimoveykin more than once kissed his sullen107 and unshaven friend Remnev, he bowed down to all in the room in turn, not forgetting Avdotya the servant, called them all his benefactors108, and explained that he was an undeserving, troublesome, mean, insolent and stupid man, and that good people must not be hard on his pitiful plight109 and simplicity110. After begging for their kind protection Mr. Zimoveykin showed his livelier side, grew very cheerful, kissed Ustinya Fyodorovna's hands, in spite of her modest protests that her hand was coarse and not like a lady's; and towards evening promised to show the company his talent in a remarkable character dance. But next day his visit ended in a lamentable111 dénouement. Either because there had been too much character in the character-dance, or because he had, in Ustinya Fyodorovna's own words, somehow "insulted her and treated her as no lady, though she was on friendly terms with Yaroslav Ilyitch himself, and if she liked might long ago have been an officer's wife," Zimoveykin had to steer112 for home next day. He went away, came back again, was again turned out with ignominy, then wormed his way into Semyon Ivanovitch's good graces, robbed him incidentally of his new breeches, and now it appeared he had led Semyon Ivanovitch astray.
As soon as the landlady knew that Semyon Ivanovitch was alive and well, and that there was no need to hunt for his passport, she promptly113 left off grieving and was pacified114. Meanwhile some of the lodgers determined to give the runaway a triumphal reception; they broke the bolt and moved away the screen from Mr. Prohartchin's bed, rumpled115 up the bed a little, took the famous box, put it at the foot of the bed; and on the bed laid the sister-in-law, that is, a dummy116 made up of an old kerchief, a cap and a mantle117 of the landlady's, such an exact counterfeit118 of a sister-in-law that it might have been mistaken for one. Having finished their work they waited for Semyon Ivanovitch to return, meaning to tell him that his sister-in-law had arrived from the country and was there behind his screen, poor thing! But they waited and waited.
Already, while they waited, Mark Ivanovitch had staked and lost half a month's salary to Prepolovenko and Kantarev; already Okeanov's nose had grown red and swollen119 playing "flips120 on the nose" and "three cards;" already Avdotya the servant had almost had her sleep out and had twice been on the point of getting up to fetch the wood and light the stove, and Zinovy Prokofyevitch, who kept running out every minute to see whether Semyon Ivanovitch were coming, was wet to the skin; but there was no sign of any one yet—neither Semyon Ivanovitch nor the drunken cadger. At last every one went to bed, leaving the sister-in-law behind the screen in readiness for any emergency; and it was not till four o'clock that a knock was heard at the gate, but when it did come it was so loud that it quite made up to the expectant lodgers for all the wearisome trouble they had been through. It was he—he himself—Semyon Ivanovitch, Mr. Prohartchin, but in such a condition that they all cried out in dismay, and no one thought about the sister-in-law. The lost man was unconscious. He was brought in, or more correctly carried in, by a sopping121 and tattered122 night-cabman. To the landlady's question where the poor dear man had got so groggy123, the cabman answered: "Why, he is not drunk and has not had a drop, that I can tell you, for sure; but seemingly a faintness has come over him, or some sort of a fit, or maybe he's been knocked down by a blow."
They began examining him, propping124 the culprit against the stove to do so more conveniently, and saw that it really was not a case of drunkenness, nor had he had a blow, but that something else was wrong, for Semyon Ivanovitch could not utter a word, but seemed twitching125 in a sort of convulsion, and only blinked, fixing his eyes in bewilderment first on one and then on another of the spectators, who were all attired126 in night array. Then they began questioning the cabman, asking where he had got him from. "Why, from folks out Kolomna way," he answered. "Deuce knows what they are, not exactly gentry127, but merry, rollicking gentlemen; so he was like this when they gave him to me; whether they had been fighting, or whether he was in some sort of a fit, goodness knows what it was; but they were nice, jolly gentlemen!"
Semyon Ivanovitch was taken, lifted high on the shoulders of two or three sturdy fellows, and carried to his bed. When Semyon Ivanovitch on being put in bed felt the sister-in-law, and put his feet on his sacred box, he cried out at the top of his voice, squatted128 up almost on his heels, and trembling and shaking all over, with his hands and his body he cleared a space as far as he could in his bed, while gazing with a tremulous but strangely resolute129 look at those present, he seemed as it were to protest that he would sooner die than give up the hundredth part of his poor belongings130 to any one....
Semyon Ivanovitch lay for two or three days closely barricaded131 by the screen, and so cut off from all the world and all its vain anxieties. Next morning, of course, every one had forgotten about him; time, meanwhile, flew by as usual, hour followed hour and day followed day. The sick man's heavy, feverish132 brain was plunged133 in something between sleep and delirium134; but he lay quietly and did not moan or complain; on the contrary he kept still and silent and controlled himself, lying low in his bed, just as the hare lies close to the earth when it hears the hunter. At times a long depressing stillness prevailed in the flat, a sign that the lodgers had all gone to the office, and Semyon Ivanovitch, waking up, could relieve his depression by listening to the bustle135 in the kitchen, where the landlady was busy close by; or to the regular flop136 of Avdotya's down-trodden slippers137 as, sighing and moaning, she cleared away, rubbed and polished, tidying all the rooms in the flat. Whole hours passed by in that way, drowsy, languid, sleepy, wearisome, like the water that dripped with a regular sound from the locker138 into the basin in the kitchen. At last the lodgers would arrive, one by one or in groups, and Semyon Ivanovitch could very conveniently hear them abusing the weather, saying they were hungry, making a noise, smoking, quarrelling, and making friends, playing cards, and clattering139 the cups as they got ready for tea. Semyon Ivanovitch mechanically made an effort to get up and join them, as he had a right to do at tea; but he at once sank back into drowsiness140, and dreamed that he had been sitting a long time at the tea-table, having tea with them and talking, and that Zinovy Prokofyevitch had already seized the opportunity to introduce into the conversation some scheme concerning sisters-in-law and the moral relation of various worthy22 people to them. At this point Semyon Ivanovitch was in haste to defend himself and reply. But the mighty141 formula that flew from every tongue—"It has more than once been observed"—cut short all his objections, and Semyon Ivanovitch could do nothing better than begin dreaming again that to-day was the first of the month and that he was receiving money in his office.
Undoing142 the paper round it on the stairs, he looked about him quickly, and made haste as fast as he could to subtract half of the lawful143 wages he had received and conceal144 it in his boot. Then on the spot, on the stairs, quite regardless of the fact that he was in bed and asleep, he made up his mind when he reached home to give his landlady what was due for board and lodging; then to buy certain necessities, and to show any one it might concern, as it were casually145 and unintentionally, that some of his salary had been deducted146, that now he had nothing left to send his sister-in-law; then to speak with commiseration147 of his sister-in-law, to say a great deal about her the next day and the day after, and ten days later to say something casually again about her poverty, that his companions might not forget. Making this determination he observed that Andrey Efimovitch, that everlastingly148 silent, bald little man who sat in the office three rooms from where Semyon Ivanovitch sat, and hadn't said a word to him for twenty years, was standing15 on the stairs, that he, too, was counting his silver roubles, and shaking his head, he said to him: "Money!" "If there's no money there will be no porridge," he added grimly as he went down the stairs, and just at the door he ended: "And I have seven children, sir." Then the little bald man, probably equally unconscious that he was acting149 as a phantom150 and not as a substantial reality, held up his hand about thirty inches from the floor, and waving it vertically151, muttered that the eldest152 was going to school, then glancing with indignation at Semyon Ivanovitch, as though it were Mr. Prohartchin's fault that he was the father of seven, pulled his old hat down over his eyes, and with a whisk of his overcoat he turned to the left and disappeared. Semyon Ivanovitch was quite frightened, and though he was fully61 convinced of his own innocence153 in regard to the unpleasant accumulation of seven under one roof, yet it seemed to appear that in fact no one else was to blame but Semyon Ivanovitch. Panic-stricken he set off running, for it seemed to him that the bald gentleman had turned back, was running after him, and meant to search him and take away all his salary, insisting upon the indisputable number seven, and resolutely154 denying any possible claim of any sort of sisters-in-law upon Semyon Ivanovitch. Prohartchin ran and ran, gasping155 for breath.... Beside him was running, too, an immense number of people, and all of them were jingling156 their money in the tailpockets of their skimpy little dress-coats; at last every one ran up, there was the noise of fire engines, and whole masses of people carried him almost on their shoulders up to that same house on fire which he had watched last time in company with the drunken cadger. The drunken cadger—alias Mr. Zimoveykin—was there now, too, he met Semyon Ivanovitch, made a fearful fuss, took him by the arm, and led him into the thickest part of the crowd. Just as then in reality, all about them was the noise and uproar157 of an immense crowd of people, flooding the whole of Fontanka Embankment between the two bridges, as well as all the surrounding streets and alleys158; just as then, Semyon Ivanovitch, in company with the drunken cadger, was carried along behind a fence, where they were squeezed as though in pincers in a huge timber-yard full of spectators who had gathered from the street, from Tolkutchy Market and from all the surrounding houses, taverns159, and restaurants. Semyon Ivanovitch saw all this and felt as he had done at the time; in the whirl of fever and delirium all sorts of strange figures began flitting before him. He remembered some of them. One of them was a gentleman who had impressed every one extremely, a man seven feet high, with whiskers half a yard long, who had been standing behind Semyon Ivanovitch's back during the fire, and had given him encouragement from behind, when our hero had felt something like ecstasy160 and had stamped as though intending thereby to applaud the gallant161 work of the firemen, from which he had an excellent view from his elevated position. Another was the sturdy lad from whom our hero had received a shove by way of a lift on to another fence, when he had been disposed to climb over it, possibly to save some one. He had a glimpse, too, of the figure of the old man with a sickly face, in an old wadded dressing-gown, tied round the waist, who had made his appearance before the fire in a little shop buying sugar and tobacco for his lodger, and who now, with a milk-can and a quart pot in his hands, made his way through the crowd to the house in which his wife and daughter were burning together with thirteen and a half roubles in the corner under the bed. But most distinct of all was the poor, sinful woman of whom he had dreamed more than once during his illness—she stood before him now as she had done then, in wretched bark shoes and rags, with a crutch162 and a wicker-basket on her back. She was shouting more loudly than the firemen or the crowd, waving her crutch and her arms, saying that her own children had turned her out and that she had lost two coppers163 in consequence. The children and the coppers, the coppers and the children, were mingled164 together in an utterly165 incomprehensible muddle, from which every one withdrew baffled, after vain efforts to understand. But the woman would not desist, she kept wailing166, shouting, and waving her arms, seeming to pay no attention either to the fire up to which she had been carried by the crowd from the street or to the people about her, or to the misfortune of strangers, or even to the sparks and red-hot embers which were beginning to fall in showers on the crowd standing near. At last Mr. Prohartchin felt that a feeling of terror was coming upon him; for he saw clearly that all this was not, so to say, an accident, and that he would not get off scot-free. And, indeed, upon the woodstack, close to him, was a peasant, in a torn smock that hung loose about him, with his hair and beard singed167, and he began stirring up all the people against Semyon Ivanovitch. The crowd pressed closer and closer, the peasant shouted, and foaming168 at the mouth with horror, Mr. Prohartchin suddenly realized that this peasant was a cabman whom he had cheated five years before in the most inhuman169 way, slipping away from him without paying through a side gate and jerking up his heels as he ran as though he were barefoot on hot bricks. In despair Mr. Prohartchin tried to speak, to scream, but his voice failed him. He felt that the infuriated crowd was twining round him like a many-coloured snake, strangling him, crushing him. He made an incredible effort and awoke. Then he saw that he was on fire, that all his corner was on fire, that his screen was on fire, that the whole flat was on fire, together with Ustinya Fyodorovna and all her lodgers, that his bed was burning, his pillow, his quilt, his box, and last of all, his precious mattress170. Semyon Ivanovitch jumped up, clutched at the mattress and ran dragging it after him. But in the landlady's room into which, regardless of decorum, our hero ran just as he was, barefoot and in his shirt, he was seized, held tight, and triumphantly171 carried back behind the screen, which meanwhile was not on fire—it seemed that it was rather Semyon Ivanovitch's head that was on fire—and was put back to bed. It was just as some tattered, unshaven, ill-humoured organ-grinder puts away in his travelling box the Punch who has been making an upset, drubbing all the other puppets, selling his soul to the devil, and who at last ends his existence, till the next performance, in the same box with the devil, the negroes, the Pierrot, and Mademoiselle Katerina with her fortunate lover, the captain.
Immediately every one, old and young, surrounded Semyon Ivanovitch, standing in a row round his bed and fastening eyes full of expectation on the invalid172. Meantime he had come to himself, but from shame or some other feeling, began pulling up the quilt over him, apparently173 wishing to hide himself under it from the attention of his sympathetic friends. At last Mark Ivanovitch was the first to break silence, and as a sensible man he began saying in a very friendly way that Semyon Ivanovitch must keep calm, that it was too bad and a shame to be ill, that only little children behaved like that, that he must get well and go to the office. Mark Ivanovitch ended by a little joke, saying that no regular salary had yet been fixed174 for invalids175, and as he knew for a fact that their grade would be very low in the service, to his thinking anyway, their calling or condition did not promise great and substantial advantages. In fact, it was evident that they were all taking genuine interest in Semyon Ivanovitch's fate and were very sympathetic. But with incomprehensible rudeness, Semyon Ivanovitch persisted in lying in bed in silence, and obstinately176 pulling the quilt higher and higher over his head. Mark Ivanovitch, however, would not be gainsaid178, and restraining his feelings, said something very honeyed to Semyon Ivanovitch again, knowing that that was how he ought to treat a sick man. But Semyon Ivanovitch would not feel this: on the contrary he muttered something between his teeth with the most distrustful air, and suddenly began glancing askance from right to left in a hostile way, as though he would have reduced his sympathetic friends to ashes with his eyes. It was no use letting it stop there. Mark Ivanovitch lost patience, and seeing that the man was offended and completely exasperated179, and had simply made up his mind to be obstinate177, told him straight out, without any softening181 suavity182, that it was time to get up, that it was no use lying there, that shouting day and night about houses on fire, sisters-in-law, drunken cadgers, locks, boxes and goodness knows what, was all stupid, improper183, and degrading, for if Semyon Ivanovitch did not want to sleep himself he should not hinder other people, and please would he bear it in mind.
This speech produced its effects, for Semyon Ivanovitch, turning promptly to the orator184, articulated firmly, though in a hoarse185 voice, "You hold your tongue, puppy! You idle speaker, you foul-mouthed man! Do you hear, young dandy? Are you a prince, eh? Do you understand what I say?"
Hearing such insults, Mark Ivanovitch fired up, but realizing that he had to deal with a sick man, magnanimously overcame his resentment186 and tried to shame him out of his humour, but was cut short in that too; for Semyon Ivanovitch observed at once that he would not allow people to play with him for all that Mark Ivanovitch wrote poetry. Then followed a silence of two minutes; at last recovering from his amazement187 Mark Ivanovitch, plainly, clearly, in well-chosen language, but with firmness, declared that Semyon Ivanovitch ought to understand that he was among gentlemen, and "you ought to understand, sir, how to behave with gentlemen."
Mark Ivanovitch could on occasion speak effectively and liked to impress his hearers, but, probably from the habit of years of silence, Semyon Ivanovitch talked and acted somewhat abruptly188; and, moreover, when he did on occasion begin a long sentence, as he got further into it every word seemed to lead to another word, that other word to a third word, that third to a fourth and so on, so that his mouth seemed brimming over; he began stuttering, and the crowding words took to flying out in picturesque189 disorder190. That was why Semyon Ivanovitch, who was a sensible man, sometimes talked terrible nonsense. "You are lying," he said now. "You booby, you loose fellow! You'll come to want—you'll go begging, you seditious fellow, you—you loafer. Take that, you poet!"
"I tell you what," answered Semyon Ivanovitch, "fools rave67, drunkards rave, dogs rave, but a wise man acts sensibly. I tell you, you don't know your own business, you loafer, you educated gentleman, you learned book! Here, you'll get on fire and not notice your head's burning off. What do you think of that?"
"Why ... you mean.... How do you mean, burn my head off, Semyon Ivanovitch?"
Mark Ivanovitch said no more, for every one saw clearly that Semyon Ivanovitch was not yet in his sober senses, but delirious192.
But the landlady could not resist remarking at this point that the house in Crooked Lane had been burnt owing to a bald wench; that there was a bald-headed wench living there, that she had lighted a candle and set fire to the lumber193 room; but nothing would happen in her place, and everything would be all right in the flats.
"But look here, Semyon Ivanovitch," cried Zinovy Prokofyevitch, losing patience and interrupting the landlady, "you old fogey, you old crock, you silly fellow—are they making jokes with you now about your sister-in-law or examinations in dancing? Is that it? Is that what you think?"
"Now, I tell you what," answered our hero, sitting up in bed and making a last effort in a paroxysm of fury with his sympathetic friends. "Who's the fool? You are the fool, a dog is a fool, you joking gentleman. But I am not going to make jokes to please you, sir; do you hear, puppy? I am not your servant, sir."
Semyon Ivanovitch would have said something more, but he fell back in bed helpless. His sympathetic friends were left gaping in perplexity, for they understood now what was wrong with Semyon Ivanovitch and did not know how to begin. Suddenly the kitchen door creaked and opened, and the drunken cadger—alias Mr. Zimoveykin—timidly thrust in his head, cautiously sniffing194 round the place as his habit was. It seemed as though he had been expected, every one waved to him at once to come quickly, and Zimoveykin, highly delighted, with the utmost readiness and haste jostled his way to Semyon Ivanovitch's bedside.
It was evident that Zimoveykin had spent the whole night in vigil and in great exertions195 of some sort. The right side of his face was plastered up; his swollen eyelids196 were wet from his running eyes, his coat and all his clothes were torn, while the whole left side of his attire was bespattered with something extremely nasty, possibly mud from a puddle198. Under his arm was somebody's violin, which he had been taking somewhere to sell. Apparently they had not made a mistake in summoning him to their assistance, for seeing the position of affairs, he addressed the delinquent199 at once, and with the air of a man who knows what he is about and feels that he has the upper hand, said: "What are you thinking about? Get up, Senka. What are you doing, a clever chap like you? Be sensible, or I shall pull you out of bed if you are obstreperous200. Don't be obstreperous!"
This brief but forcible speech surprised them all; still more were they surprised when they noticed that Semyon Ivanovitch, hearing all this and seeing this person before him, was so flustered202 and reduced to such confusion and dismay that he could scarcely mutter through his teeth in a whisper the inevitable203 protest.
"Go away, you wretch," he said. "You are a wretched creature—you are a thief! Do you hear? Do you understand? You are a great swell204, my fine gentleman, you regular swell."
"No, my boy," Zimoveykin answered emphatically, retaining all his presence of mind, "you're wrong there, you wise fellow, you regular Prohartchin," Zimoveykin went on, parodying205 Semyon Ivanovitch and looking round gleefully. "Don't be obstreperous! Behave yourself, Senka, behave yourself, or I'll give you away, I'll tell them all about it, my lad, do you understand?"
Apparently Semyon Ivanovitch did understand, for he started when he heard the conclusion of the speech, and began looking rapidly about him with an utterly desperate air.
Satisfied with the effect, Mr. Zimoveykin would have continued, but Mark Ivanovitch checked his zeal206, and waiting till Semyon Ivanovitch was still and almost calm again began judiciously207 impressing on the uneasy invalid at great length that, "to harbour ideas such as he now had in his head was, first, useless, and secondly208, not only useless, but harmful; and, in fact, not so much harmful as positively immoral209; and the cause of it all was that Semyon Ivanovitch was not only a bad example, but led them all into temptation."
Every one expected satisfactory results from this speech. Moreover by now Semyon Ivanovitch was quite quiet and replied in measured terms. A quiet discussion followed. They appealed to him in a friendly way, inquiring what he was so frightened of. Semyon Ivanovitch answered, but his answers were irrelevant. They answered him, he answered them. There were one or two more observations on both sides and then every one rushed into discussion, for suddenly such a strange and amazing subject cropped up, that they did not know how to express themselves. The argument at last led to impatience210, impatience led to shouting, and shouting even to tears; and Mark Ivanovitch went away at last foaming at the mouth and declaring that he had never known such a blockhead. Oplevaniev spat197 in disgust, Okeanov was frightened, Zinovy Prokofyevitch became tearful, while Ustinya Fyodorovna positively howled, wailing that her lodger was leaving them and had gone off his head, that he would die, poor dear man, without a passport and without telling any one, while she was a lone76, lorn woman and that she would be dragged from pillar to post. In fact, they all saw clearly at last that the seed they had sown had yielded a hundred-fold, that the soil had been too productive, and that in their company, Semyon Ivanovitch had succeeded in overstraining his wits completely and in the most irrevocable manner. Every one subsided into silence, for though they saw that Semyon Ivanovitch was frightened, the sympathetic friends were frightened too.
"What?" cried Mark Ivanovitch; "but what are you afraid of? What have you gone off your head about? Who's thinking about you, my good sir? Have you the right to be afraid? Who are you? What are you? Nothing, sir. A round nought211, sir, that is what you are. What are you making a fuss about? A woman has been run over in the street, so are you going to be run over? Some drunkard did not take care of his pocket, but is that any reason why your coat-tails should be cut off? A house is burnt down, so your head is to be burnt off, is it? Is that it, sir, is that it?"
"You ... you ... you stupid!" muttered Semyon Ivanovitch, "if your nose were cut off you would eat it up with a bit of bread and not notice it."
"I may be a dandy," shouted Mark Ivanovitch, not listening; "I may be a regular dandy, but I have not to pass an examination to get married—to learn dancing; the ground is firm under me, sir. Why, my good man, haven't you room enough? Is the floor giving way under your feet, or what?"
"Well, they won't ask you, will they? They'll shut one up and that will be the end of it?"
"The end of it? That's what's up? What's your idea now, eh?"
"Why, they kicked out the drunken cadger."
"Yes; but you see that was a drunkard, and you are a man, and so am I."
"Yes, I am a man. It's there all right one day and then it's gone."
"Gone! But what do you mean by it?"
"Why, the office! The off—off—ice!"
"Yes, you blessed man, but of course the office is wanted and necessary."
"It is wanted, I tell you; it's wanted to-day and it's wanted to-morrow, but the day after to-morrow it will not be wanted. You have heard what happened?"
"Why, but they'll pay you your salary for the year, you doubting Thomas, you man of little faith. They'll put you into another job on account of your age."
"Salary? But what if I have spent my salary, if thieves come and take my money? And I have a sister-in-law, do you hear? A sister-in-law! You battering-ram...."
"A sister-in-law! You are a man...."
"Yes, I am; I am a man. But you are a well-read gentleman and a fool, do you hear?—you battering-ram—you regular battering-ram! That's what you are! I am not talking about your jokes; but there are jobs such that all of a sudden they are done away with. And Demid—do you hear?—Demid Vassilyevitch says that the post will be done away with...."
"Ah, bless you, with your Demid! You sinner, why, you know...."
"In a twinkling of an eye you'll be left without a post, then you'll just have to make the best of it."
"Why, you are simply raving, or clean off your head! Tell us plainly, what have you done? Own up if you have done something wrong! It's no use being ashamed! Are you off your head, my good man, eh?"
"He's off his head! He's gone off his head!" they all cried, and wrung212 their hands in despair, while the landlady threw both her arms round Mark Ivanovitch for fear he should tear Semyon Ivanovitch to pieces.
"You heathen, you heathenish soul, you wise man!" Zimoveykin besought213 him. "Senka, you are not a man to take offence, you are a polite, prepossessing man. You are simple, you are good ... do you hear? It all comes from your goodness. Here I am a ruffian and a fool, I am a beggar; but good people haven't abandoned me, no fear; you see they treat me with respect, I thank them and the landlady. Here, you see, I bow down to the ground to them; here, see, see, I am paying what is due to you, landlady!" At this point Zimoveykin swung off with pedantic214 dignity a low bow right down to the ground.
After that Semyon Ivanovitch would have gone on talking; but this time they would not let him, they all intervened, began entreating215 him, assuring him, comforting him, and succeeded in making Semyon Ivanovitch thoroughly ashamed of himself, and at last, in a faint voice, he asked leave to explain himself.
"Very well, then," he said, "I am prepossessing, I am quiet, I am good, faithful and devoted; to the last drop of my blood you know ... do you hear, you puppy, you swell? ... granted the job is going on, but you see I am poor. And what if they take it? do you hear, you swell? Hold your tongue and try to understand! They'll take it and that's all about it ... it's going on, brother, and then not going on ... do you understand? And I shall go begging my bread, do you hear?"
"Senka," Zimoveykin bawled216 frantically217, drowning the general hubbub218 with his voice. "You are seditious! I'll inform against you! What are you saying? Who are you? Are you a rebel, you sheep's head? A rowdy, stupid man they would turn off without a character. But what are you?"
"Well, that's just it."
"What?"
"Well, there it is."
"How do you mean?"
"Why, I am free, he's free, and here one lies and thinks...."
"What?"
"What if they say I'm seditious?"
"Se—di—tious? Senka, you seditious!"
"Stay," cried Mr. Prohartchin, waving his hand and interrupting the rising uproar, "that's not what I mean. Try to understand, only try to understand, you sheep. I am law-abiding. I am law-abiding to-day, I am law-abiding to-morrow, and then all of a sudden they kick me out and call me seditious."
"What are you saying?" Mark Ivanovitch thundered at last, jumping up from the chair on which he had sat down to rest, running up to the bed and in a frenzy219 shaking with vexation and fury. "What do you mean? You sheep! You've nothing to call your own. Why, are you the only person in the world? Was the world made for you, do you suppose? Are you a Napoleon? What are you? Who are you? Are you a Napoleon, eh? Tell me, are you a Napoleon?"
But Mr. Prohartchin did not answer this question. Not because he was overcome with shame at being a Napoleon, and was afraid of taking upon himself such a responsibility—no, he was incapable220 of disputing further, or saying anything.... His illness had reached a crisis. Tiny teardrops gushed221 suddenly from his glittering, feverish, grey eyes. He hid his burning head in his bony hands that were wasted by illness, sat up in bed, and sobbing222, began to say that he was quite poor, that he was a simple, unlucky man, that he was foolish and unlearned, he begged kind folks to forgive him, to take care of him, to protect him, to give him food and drink, not to leave him in want, and goodness knows what else Semyon Ivanovitch said. As he uttered this appeal he looked about him in wild terror, as though he were expecting the ceiling to fall or the floor to give way. Every one felt his heart soften180 and move to pity as he looked at the poor fellow. The landlady, sobbing and wailing like a peasant woman at her forlorn condition, laid the invalid back in bed with her own hands. Mark Ivanovitch, seeing the uselessness of touching223 upon the memory of Napoleon, instantly relapsed into kindliness224 and came to her assistance. The others, in order to do something, suggested raspberry tea, saying that it always did good at once and that the invalid would like it very much; but Zimoveykin contradicted them all, saying there was nothing better than a good dose of camomile or something of the sort. As for Zinovy Prokofyevitch, having a good heart, he sobbed225 and shed tears in his remorse226, for having frightened Semyon Ivanovitch with all sorts of absurdities227, and gathering228 from the invalid's last words that he was quite poor and needing assistance, he proceeded to get up a subscription229 for him, confining it for a time to the tenants230 of the flat. Every one was sighing and moaning, every one felt sorry and grieved, and yet all wondered how it was a man could be so completely panic-stricken. And what was he frightened about? It would have been all very well if he had had a good post, had had a wife, a lot of children; it would have been excusable if he were being hauled up before the court on some charge or other; but he was a man utterly insignificant231, with nothing but a trunk and a German lock; he had been lying more than twenty years behind his screen, saying nothing, knowing nothing of the world nor of trouble, saving his half-pence, and now at a frivolous232, idle word the man had actually gone off his head, was utterly panic-stricken at the thought he might have a hard time of it.... And it never occurred to him that every one has a hard time of it! "If he would only take that into consideration," Okeanov said afterwards, "that we all have a hard time, then the man would have kept his head, would have given up his antics and would have put up with things, one way or another."
All day long nothing was talked of but Semyon Ivanovitch. They went up to him, inquired after him, tried to comfort him; but by the evening he was beyond that. The poor fellow began to be delirious, feverish. He sank into unconsciousness, so that they almost thought of sending for a doctor; the lodgers all agreed together and undertook to watch over Semyon Ivanovitch and soothe233 him by turns through the night, and if anything happened to wake all the rest immediately. With the object of keeping awake, they sat down to cards, setting beside the invalid his friend, the drunken cadger, who had spent the whole day in the flat and had asked leave to stay the night. As the game was played on credit and was not at all interesting they soon got bored. They gave up the game, then got into an argument about something, then began to be loud and noisy, finally dispersed234 to their various corners, went on for a long time angrily shouting and wrangling235, and as all of them felt suddenly ill-humoured they no longer cared to sit up, so went to sleep. Soon it was as still in the flat as in an empty cellar, and it was the more like one because it was horribly cold. The last to fall asleep was Okeanov. "And it was between sleeping and waking," as he said afterwards, "I fancied just before morning two men kept talking close by me." Okeanov said that he recognized Zimoveykin, and that Zimoveykin began waking his old friend Remnev just beside him, that they talked for a long time in a whisper; then Zimoveykin went away and could be heard trying to unlock the door into the kitchen. The key, the landlady declared afterwards, was lying under her pillow and was lost that night. Finally—Okeanov testified—he had fancied he had heard them go behind the screen to the invalid and light a candle there, "and I know nothing more," he said, "I fell asleep, and woke up," as everybody else did, when every one in the flat jumped out of bed at the sound behind the screen of a shriek236 that would have roused the dead, and it seemed to many of them that a candle went out at that moment. A great hubbub arose, every one's heart stood still; they rushed pell-mell at the shriek, but at that moment there was a scuffle, with shouting, swearing, and fighting. They struck a light and saw that Zimoveykin and Remnev were fighting together, that they were swearing and abusing one another, and as they turned the light on them, one of them shouted: "It's not me, it's this ruffian," and the other who was Zimoveykin, was shouting: "Don't touch me, I've done nothing! I'll take my oath any minute!" Both of them looked hardly like human beings; but for the first minute they had no attention to spare for them; the invalid was not where he had been behind the screen. They immediately parted the combatants and dragged them away, and saw that Mr. Prohartchin was lying under the bed; he must, while completely unconscious, have dragged the quilt and pillow after him so that there was nothing left on the bedstead but the bare mattress, old and greasy237 (he never had sheets). They pulled Semyon Ivanovitch out, stretched him on the mattress, but soon realized that there was no need to make trouble over him, that he was completely done for; his arms were stiff, and he seemed all to pieces. They stood over him, he still faintly shuddered238 and trembled all over, made an effort to do something with his arms, could not utter a word, but blinked his eyes as they say heads do when still warm and bleeding, after being just chopped off by the executioner.
At last the body grew more and more still; the last faint convulsions died away. Mr. Prohartchin had set off with his good deeds and his sins. Whether Semyon Ivanovitch had been frightened by something, whether he had had a dream, as Remnev maintained afterwards, or there had been some other mischief—nobody knew; all that can be said is, that if the head clerk had made his appearance at that moment in the flat and had announced that Semyon Ivanovitch was dismissed for sedition239, insubordination, and drunkenness; if some old draggle-tailed beggar woman had come in at the door, calling herself Semyon Ivanovitch's sister-in-law; or if Semyon Ivanovitch had just received two hundred roubles as a reward; or if the house had caught fire and Semyon Ivanovitch's head had been really burning—he would in all probability not have deigned240 to stir a finger in any of these eventualities. While the first stupefaction was passing over, while all present were regaining241 their powers of speech, were working themselves up into a fever of excitement, shouting and flying to conjectures242 and suppositions; while Ustinya Fyodorovna was pulling the box from under his bed, was rummaging243 in a fluster201 under the mattress and even in Semyon Ivanovitch's boots; while they cross-questioned Remnev and Zimoveykin, Okeanov, who had hitherto been the quietest, humblest, and least original of the lodgers, suddenly plucked up all his presence of mind and displayed all his latent talents, by taking up his hat and under cover of the general uproar slipping out of the flat. And just when the horrors of disorder and anarchy244 had reached their height in the agitated245 flat, till then so tranquil246, the door opened and suddenly there descended247 upon them, like snow upon their heads, a personage of gentlemanly appearance, with a severe and displeased-looking face, behind him Yaroslav Ilyitch, behind Yaroslav Ilyitch his subordinates and the functionaries248 whose duty it is to be present on such occasions, and behind them all, much embarrassed, Mr. Okeanov. The severe-looking personage of gentlemanly appearance went straight up to Semyon Ivanovitch, examined him, made a wry249 face, shrugged250 his shoulders and announced what everybody knew, that is, that the dead man was dead, only adding that the same thing had happened a day or two ago to a gentleman of consequence, highly respected, who had died suddenly in his sleep. Then the personage of gentlemanly, but displeased-looking, appearance walked away saying that they had troubled him for nothing, and took himself off. His place was at once filled (while Remnev and Zimoveykin were handed over to the custody251 of the proper functionaries), by Yaroslav Ilyitch, who questioned some one, adroitly252 took possession of the box, which the landlady was already trying to open, put the boots back in their proper place, observing that they were all in holes and no use, asked for the pillow to be put back, called up Okeanov, asked for the key of the box which was found in the pocket of the drunken cadger, and solemnly, in the presence of the proper officials, unlocked Semyon Ivanovitch's property. Everything was displayed: two rags, a pair of socks, half a handkerchief, an old hat, several buttons, some old soles, and the uppers of a pair of boots, that is, all sorts of odds253 and ends, scraps254, rubbish, trash, which had a stale smell. The only thing of any value was the German lock. They called up Okeanov and cross-questioned him sternly; but Okeanov was ready to take his oath. They asked for the pillow, they examined it; it was extremely dirty, but in other respects it was like all other pillows. They attacked the mattress, they were about to lift it up, but stopped for a moment's consideration, when suddenly and quite unexpectedly something heavy fell with a clink on the floor. They bent255 down and saw on the floor a screw of paper and in the screw some dozen roubles. "A-hey!" said Yaroslav Ilyitch, pointing to a slit256 in the mattress from which hair and stuffing were sticking out. They examined the slit and found that it had only just been made with a knife and was half a yard in length; they thrust hands into the gap and pulled out a kitchen knife, probably hurriedly thrust in there after slitting257 the mattress. Before Yaroslav Ilyitch had time to pull the knife out of the slit and to say "A-hey!" again, another screw of money fell out, and after it, one at a time, two half roubles, a quarter rouble, then some small change, and an old-fashioned, solid five-kopeck piece—all this was seized upon. At this point it was realized that it would not be amiss to cut up the whole mattress with scissors. They asked for scissors.
Meanwhile, the guttering258 candle lighted up a scene that would have been extremely curious to a spectator. About a dozen lodgers were grouped round the bed in the most picturesque costumes, all unbrushed, unshaven, unwashed, sleepy-looking, just as they had gone to bed. Some were quite pale, while others had drops of sweat upon their brows: some were shuddering259, while others looked feverish. The landlady, utterly stupefied, was standing quietly with her hands folded waiting for Yaroslav Ilyitch's good pleasure. From the stove above, the heads of Avdotya, the servant, and the landlady's favourite cat looked down with frightened curiosity. The torn and broken screen lay cast on the floor, the open box displayed its uninviting contents, the quilt and pillow lay tossed at random260, covered with fluff from the mattress, and on the three-legged wooden table gleamed the steadily261 growing heap of silver and other coins. Only Semyon Ivanovitch preserved his composure, lying calmly on the bed and seeming to have no foreboding of his ruin. When the scissors had been brought and Yaroslav Ilyitch's assistant, wishing to be of service, shook the mattress rather impatiently to ease it from under the back of its owner, Semyon Ivanovitch with his habitual262 civility made room a little, rolling on his side with his back to the searchers; then at a second shake he turned on his face, finally gave way still further, and as the last slat in the bedstead was missing, he suddenly and quite unexpectedly plunged head downward, leaving in view only two bony, thin, blue legs, which stuck upwards263 like two branches of a charred264 tree. As this was the second time that morning that Mr. Prohartchin had poked his head under his bed it at once aroused suspicion, and some of the lodgers, headed by Zinovy Prokofyevitch, crept under it, with the intention of seeing whether there were something hidden there too. But they knocked their heads together for nothing, and as Yaroslav Ilyitch shouted to them, bidding them release Semyon Ivanovitch at once from his unpleasant position, two of the more sensible seized each a leg, dragged the unsuspected capitalist into the light of day and laid him across the bed. Meanwhile the hair and flock were flying about, the heap of silver grew—and, my goodness, what a lot there was!... Noble silver roubles, stout265 solid rouble and a half pieces, pretty half rouble coins, plebeian quarter roubles, twenty kopeck pieces, even the unpromising old crone's small fry of ten and five kopeck silver pieces—all done up in separate bits of paper in the most methodical and systematic266 way; there were curiosities also, two counters of some sort, one napoléon d'or, one very rare coin of some unknown kind.... Some of the roubles were of the greatest antiquity267, they were rubbed and hacked268 coins of Elizabeth, German kreutzers, coins of Peter, of Catherine; there were, for instance, old fifteen-kopeck pieces, now very rare, pierced for wearing as earrings269, all much worn, yet with the requisite270 number of dots ... there was even copper, but all of that was green and tarnished271.... They found one red note, but no more. At last, when the dissection272 was quite over and the mattress case had been shaken more than once without a clink, they piled all the money on the table and set to work to count it. At the first glance one might well have been deceived and have estimated it at a million, it was such an immense heap. But it was not a million, though it did turn out to be a very considerable sum—exactly 2497 roubles and a half—so that if Zinovy Prokofyevitch's subscription had been raised the day before there would perhaps have been just 2500 roubles. They took the money, they put a seal on the dead man's box, they listened to the landlady's complaints, and informed her when and where she ought to lodge4 information in regard to the dead man's little debt to her. A receipt was taken from the proper person. At that point hints were dropped in regard to the sister-in-law; but being persuaded that in a certain sense the sister-in-law was a myth, that is, a product of the defective273 imagination with which they had more than once reproached Semyon Ivanovitch—they abandoned the idea as useless, mischievous274 and disadvantageous to the good name of Mr. Prohartchin, and so the matter ended.
When the first shock was over, when the lodgers had recovered themselves and realized the sort of person their late companion had been, they all subsided, relapsed into silence and began looking distrustfully at one another. Some seemed to take Semyon Ivanovitch's behaviour very much to heart, and even to feel affronted275 by it. What a fortune! So the man had saved up like this! Not losing his composure, Mark Ivanovitch proceeded to explain why Semyon Ivanovitch had been so suddenly panic-stricken; but they did not listen to him. Zinovy Prokofyevitch was very thoughtful, Okeanov had had a little to drink, the others seemed rather crestfallen276, while a little man called Kantarev, with a nose like a sparrow's beak277, left the flat that evening after very carefully packing up and cording all his boxes and bags, and coldly explaining to the curious that times were hard and that the terms here were beyond his means. The landlady wailed without ceasing, lamenting278 for Semyon Ivanovitch, and cursing him for having taken advantage of her lone, lorn state. Mark Ivanovitch was asked why the dead man had not taken his money to the bank. "He was too simple, my good soul, he hadn't enough imagination," answered Mark Ivanovitch.
"Yes, and you have been too simple, too, my good woman," Okeanov put in. "For twenty years the man kept himself close here in your flat, and here he's been knocked down by a feather—while you went on cooking cabbage-soup and had no time to notice it.... Ah-ah, my good woman!"
"Oh, the poor dear," the landlady went on, "what need of a bank! If he'd brought me his pile and said to me: 'Take it, Ustinyushka, poor dear, here is all I have, keep and board me in my helplessness, so long as I am on earth,' then, by the holy ikon I would have fed him, I would have given him drink, I would have looked after him. Ah, the sinner! ah, the deceiver! He deceived me, he cheated me, a poor lone woman!"
They went up to the bed again. Semyon Ivanovitch was lying properly now, dressed in his best, though, indeed, it was his only suit, hiding his rigid279 chin behind a cravat280 which was tied rather awkwardly, washed, brushed, but not quite shaven, because there was no razor in the flat; the only one, which had belonged to Zinovy Prokofyevitch, had lost its edge a year ago and had been very profitably sold at Tolkutchy Market; the others used to go to the barber's.
They had not yet had time to clear up the disorder. The broken screen lay as before, and exposing Semyon Ivanovitch's seclusion281, seemed like an emblem282 of the fact that death tears away the veil from all our secrets, our shifty dodges283 and intrigues284. The stuffing from the mattress lay about in heaps. The whole room, suddenly so still, might well have been compared by a poet to the ruined nest of a swallow, broken down and torn to pieces by the storm, the nestlings and their mother killed, and their warm little bed of fluff, feather and flock scattered285 about them.... Semyon Ivanovitch, however, looked more like a conceited286, thievish old cock-sparrow. He kept quite quiet now, seemed to be lying low, as though he were not guilty, as though he had had nothing to do with the shameless, conscienceless, and unseemly duping and deception287 of all these good people. He did not heed288 now the sobs289 and wailing of his bereaved290 and wounded landlady. On the contrary, like a wary291, callous292 capitalist, anxious not to waste a minute in idleness even in the coffin293, he seemed to be wrapped up in some speculative294 calculation. There was a look of deep reflection in his face, while his lips were drawn295 together with a significant air, of which Semyon Ivanovitch during his lifetime had not been suspected of being capable. He seemed, as it were, to have grown shrewder, his right eye was, as it were, slyly screwed up. Semyon Ivanovitch seemed wanting to say something, to make some very important communication and explanation and without loss of time, because things were complicated and there was not a minute to lose.... And it seemed as though they could hear him.
"What is it? Give over, do you hear, you stupid woman? Don't whine296! Go to bed and sleep it off, my good woman, do you hear? I am dead; there's no need of a fuss now. What's the use of it, really? It's nice to lie here.... Though I don't mean that, do you hear? You are a fine lady, you are a regular fine lady. Understand that; here I am dead now, but look here, what if—that is, perhaps it can't be so—but I say what if I'm not dead, what if I get up, do you hear? What would happen then?"
The End
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1
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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3
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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lodger
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| n.寄宿人，房客 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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lodgers
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| n.房客，租住者( lodger的名词复数 ) | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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toady
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| v.奉承；n.谄媚者，马屁精 | |
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incorrigible
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| adj.难以纠正的，屡教不改的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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plebeian
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| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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24
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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parsimony
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| n.过度节俭，吝啬 | |
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niggardliness
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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29
curd
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| n.凝乳；凝乳状物 | |
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30
allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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32
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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obloquy
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| n.斥责，大骂 | |
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WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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frugality
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| n.节约，节俭 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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41
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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42
decrepitude
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| n.衰老；破旧 | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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44
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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46
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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47
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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48
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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49
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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50
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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52
pestering
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的现在分词 ) | |
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53
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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54
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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55
subscribing
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| v.捐助( subscribe的现在分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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56
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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57
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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58
brag
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| v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的 | |
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59
muddle
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| n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱 | |
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60
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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61
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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62
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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63
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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64
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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65
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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66
wittier
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| 机智的，言辞巧妙的，情趣横生的( witty的比较级 ) | |
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67
rave
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| vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬 | |
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68
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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69
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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70
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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71
eradicate
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| v.根除，消灭，杜绝 | |
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72
deduct
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| vt.扣除，减去 | |
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73
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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74
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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75
credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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76
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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77
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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78
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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79
misanthropic
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| adj.厌恶人类的，憎恶（或蔑视）世人的；愤世嫉俗 | |
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80
proprieties
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| n.礼仪，礼节；礼貌( propriety的名词复数 )；规矩；正当；合适 | |
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81
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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82
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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83
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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84
lustreless
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| adj.无光泽的，无光彩的，平淡乏味的 | |
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85
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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86
eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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87
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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88
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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89
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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90
stagnation
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| n. 停滞 | |
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91
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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92
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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93
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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94
upbraiding
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| adj.& n.谴责（的）v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的现在分词 ) | |
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95
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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97
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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98
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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99
cadger
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| n.乞丐；二流子；小的油容量；小型注油器 | |
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100
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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101
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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102
cringing
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| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
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103
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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104
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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105
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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106
irrelevant
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| adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的 | |
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107
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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108
benefactors
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| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
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109
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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110
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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111
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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112
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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113
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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114
pacified
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| 使（某人）安静( pacify的过去式和过去分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平 | |
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115
rumpled
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| v.弄皱，使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
dummy
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| n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头 | |
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117
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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118
counterfeit
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| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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119
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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120
flips
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| 轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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121
sopping
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| adj. 浑身湿透的 动词sop的现在分词形式 | |
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122
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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123
groggy
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| adj.体弱的；不稳的 | |
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124
propping
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| 支撑 | |
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125
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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126
attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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127
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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128
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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129
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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130
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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131
barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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132
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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133
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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134
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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135
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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136
flop
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| n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下 | |
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137
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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138
locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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139
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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140
drowsiness
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| n.睡意；嗜睡 | |
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141
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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142
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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143
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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144
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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145
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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146
deducted
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| v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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147
commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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148
everlastingly
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| 永久地，持久地 | |
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149
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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150
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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151
vertically
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| adv.垂直地 | |
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152
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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153
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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154
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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155
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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156
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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157
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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158
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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159
taverns
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| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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160
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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161
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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162
crutch
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| n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱 | |
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163
coppers
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| 铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币 | |
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164
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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165
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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166
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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167
singed
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| v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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168
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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169
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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170
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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171
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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172
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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173
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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174
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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175
invalids
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| 病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 ) | |
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176
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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177
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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178
gainsaid
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| v.否认，反驳( gainsay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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179
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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180
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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181
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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182
suavity
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| n.温和；殷勤 | |
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183
improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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184
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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185
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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186
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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187
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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188
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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189
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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190
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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191
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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192
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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193
lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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194
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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195
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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196
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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197
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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198
puddle
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| n.(雨)水坑，泥潭 | |
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199
delinquent
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| adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者 | |
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200
obstreperous
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| adj.喧闹的，不守秩序的 | |
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201
fluster
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| adj.慌乱，狼狈，混乱，激动 | |
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202
flustered
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| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
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203
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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204
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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205
parodying
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| v.滑稽地模仿，拙劣地模仿( parody的现在分词 ) | |
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206
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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207
judiciously
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| adv.明断地，明智而审慎地 | |
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208
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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209
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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210
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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211
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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212
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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213
besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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214
pedantic
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| adj.卖弄学问的；迂腐的 | |
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215
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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216
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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217
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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218
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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219
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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220
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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221
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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222
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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223
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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224
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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225
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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226
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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227
absurdities
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| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
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228
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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229
subscription
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| n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方） | |
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230
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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231
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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232
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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233
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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234
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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235
wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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236
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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237
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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238
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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239
sedition
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| n.煽动叛乱 | |
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240
deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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241
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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242
conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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243
rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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244
anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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245
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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246
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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247
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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248
functionaries
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| n.公职人员，官员( functionary的名词复数 ) | |
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249
wry
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| adj.讽刺的；扭曲的 | |
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250
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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251
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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252
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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253
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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254
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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255
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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256
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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257
slitting
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| n.纵裂（缝）v.切开，撕开( slit的现在分词 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
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258
guttering
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| n.用于建排水系统的材料；沟状切除术；开沟 | |
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259
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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260
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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261
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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262
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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263
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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264
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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266
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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267
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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268
hacked
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| 生气 | |
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269
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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270
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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271
tarnished
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| （通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏 | |
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272
dissection
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| n.分析；解剖 | |
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273
defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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274
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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275
affronted
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| adj.被侮辱的，被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 )；相遇 | |
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276
crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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277
beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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278
lamenting
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| adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 ) | |
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279
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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280
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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281
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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282
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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283
dodges
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| n.闪躲( dodge的名词复数 )；躲避；伎俩；妙计v.闪躲( dodge的第三人称单数 )；回避 | |
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284
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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285
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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286
conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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287
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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288
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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289
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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290
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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291
wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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292
callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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293
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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294
speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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295
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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296
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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