Dearest, you also express a wish to learn the details of my daily life and surroundings. That wish I hasten to satisfy. Let me begin at the beginning, since, by doing so, I shall explain things more systematically5. In the first place, on entering this house, one passes into a very bare hall, and thence along a passage to a mean staircase. The reception room, however, is bright, clean, and spacious6, and is lined with redwood and metal-work. But the scullery you would not care to see; it is greasy7, dirty, and odoriferous, while the stairs are in rags, and the walls so covered with filth8 that the hand sticks fast wherever it touches them. Also, on each landing there is a medley9 of boxes, chairs, and dilapidated wardrobes; while the windows have had most of their panes10 shattered, and everywhere stand washtubs filled with dirt, litter, eggshells, and fish-bladders. The smell is abominable11. In short, the house is not a nice one.
As to the disposition12 of the rooms, I have described it to you already. True, they are convenient enough, yet every one of them has an ATMOSPHERE. I do not mean that they smell badly so much as that each of them seems to contain something which gives forth13 a rank, sickly-sweet odour. At first the impression is an unpleasant one, but a couple of minutes will suffice to dissipate it, for the reason that EVERYTHING here smells—people’s clothes, hands, and everything else—and one grows accustomed to the rankness. Canaries, however, soon die in this house. A naval14 officer here has just bought his fifth. Birds cannot live long in such an air. Every morning, when fish or beef is being cooked, and washing and scrubbing are in progress, the house is filled with steam. Always, too, the kitchen is full of linen15 hanging out to dry; and since my room adjoins that apartment, the smell from the clothes causes me not a little annoyance16. However, one can grow used to anything.
From earliest dawn the house is astir as its inmates17 rise, walk about, and stamp their feet. That is to say, everyone who has to go to work then gets out of bed. First of all, tea is partaken of. Most of the tea-urns belong to the landlady18; and since there are not very many of them, we have to wait our turn. Anyone who fails to do so will find his teapot emptied and put away. On the first occasion, that was what happened to myself. Well, is there anything else to tell you? Already I have made the acquaintance of the company here. The naval officer took the initiative in calling upon me, and his frankness was such that he told me all about his father, his mother, his sister (who is married to a lawyer of Tula), and the town of Kronstadt. Also, he promised me his patronage19, and asked me to come and take tea with him. I kept the appointment in a room where card-playing is continually in progress; and, after tea had been drunk, efforts were made to induce me to gamble. Whether or not my refusal seemed to the company ridiculous I cannot say, but at all events my companions played the whole evening, and were playing when I left. The dust and smoke in the room made my eyes ache. I declined, as I say, to play cards, and was, therefore, requested to discourse20 on philosophy, after which no one spoke21 to me at all—a result which I did not regret. In fact, I have no intention of going there again, since every one is for gambling22, and for nothing but gambling. Even the literary tchinovnik gives such parties in his room—though, in his case, everything is done delicately and with a certain refinement23, so that the thing has something of a retiring and innocent air.
In passing, I may tell you that our landlady is NOT a nice woman. In fact, she is a regular beldame. You have seen her once, so what do you think of her? She is as lanky24 as a plucked chicken in consumption, and, with Phaldoni (her servant), constitutes the entire staff of the establishment. Whether or not Phaldoni has any other name I do not know, but at least he answers to this one, and every one calls him by it. A red-haired, swine-jowled, snub-nosed, crooked25 lout26, he is for ever wrangling27 with Theresa, until the pair nearly come to blows. In short, life is not overly pleasant in this place. Never at any time is the household wholly at rest, for always there are people sitting up to play cards. Sometimes, too, certain things are done of which it would be shameful28 for me to speak. In particular, hardened though I am, it astonishes me that men WITH FAMILIES should care to live in this Sodom. For example, there is a family of poor folk who have rented from the landlady a room which does not adjoin the other rooms, but is set apart in a corner by itself. Yet what quiet people they are! Not a sound is to be heard from them. The father—he is called Gorshkov—is a little grey-headed tchinovnik who, seven years ago, was dismissed from public service, and now walks about in a coat so dirty and ragged29 that it hurts one to see it. Indeed it is a worse coat even than mine! Also, he is so thin and frail30 (at times I meet him in the corridor) that his knees quake under him, his hands and head are tremulous with some disease (God only knows what!), and he so fears and distrusts everybody that he always walks alone. Reserved though I myself am, he is even worse. As for his family, it consists of a wife and three children. The eldest31 of the latter—a boy—is as frail as his father, while the mother—a woman who, formerly32, must have been good looking, and still has a striking aspect in spite of her pallor—goes about in the sorriest of rags. Also I have heard that they are in debt to our landlady, as well as that she is not overly kind to them. Moreover, I have heard that Gorshkov lost his post through some unpleasantness or other—through a legal suit or process of which I could not exactly tell you the nature. Yes, they certainly are poor—Oh, my God, how poor! At the same time, never a sound comes from their room. It is as though not a soul were living in it. Never does one hear even the children—which is an unusual thing, seeing that children are ever ready to sport and play, and if they fail to do so it is a bad sign. One evening when I chanced to be passing the door of their room, and all was quiet in the house, I heard through the door a sob3, and then a whisper, and then another sob, as though somebody within were weeping, and with such subdued33 bitterness that it tore my heart to hear the sound. In fact, the thought of these poor people never left me all night, and quite prevented me from sleeping.
Well, good-bye, my little Barbara, my little friend beyond price. I have described to you everything to the best of my ability. All today you have been in my thoughts; all today my heart has been yearning34 for you. I happen to know, dearest one, that you lack a warm cloak. To me too, these St. Petersburg springs, with their winds and their snow showers, spell death. Good heavens, how the breezes bite one! Do not be angry, beloved, that I should write like this. Style I have not. Would that I had! I write just what wanders into my brain, in the hope that I may cheer you up a little. Of course, had I had a good education, things might have been different; but, as things were, I could not have one. Never did I learn even to do simple sums!—Your faithful and unchangeable friend,
MAKAR DIEVUSHKIN.
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1
ails
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| v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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2
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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3
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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4
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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5
systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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6
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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7
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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8
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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9
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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10
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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11
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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12
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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13
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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14
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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15
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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16
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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17
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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18
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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19
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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20
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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21
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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22
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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23
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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24
lanky
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| adj.瘦长的 | |
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25
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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26
lout
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| n.粗鄙的人；举止粗鲁的人 | |
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27
wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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28
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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29
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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30
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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31
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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32
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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33
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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34
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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