All the efforts of several hundred thousand people,
crowded in a small space, to disfigure the land on which
they lived; all the stone they covered it with to keep it
barren; how so diligently every sprouting blade of grass
was removed; all the smoke of coal and naphtha; all the
cutting down of trees and driving off of cattle could not
shut out the spring, even from the city. The sun was
shedding its light; the grass, revivified, was blooming
forth, where it was left uncut, not only on the greenswards
of the boulevard, but between the flag-stones, and
the birches, poplars and wild-berry trees were unfolding
their viscous leaves; the limes were unfolding their buds;
the daws, sparrows and pigeons were joyfully making
their custo... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The history of the prisoner Maslova was a very common
one. Maslova was the daughter of an unmarried
menial who lived with her mother, a cowherd, on the
estate of two spinsters. This unmarried woman gave
birth to a child every year, and, as is the custom in the
villages, baptized them; then neglected the troublesome
newcomers, and they finally starved to death.
Thus five children died. Every one of these was baptized,
then it starved and finally died. The sixth child,
begotten of a passing gypsy, was a girl, who would have
shared the same fate, but it happened that one of the two
old maidens entered the cow-shed to reprimand the milkmaids
for carelessness in skimming the cream, and there
saw the mother with the healthy and beaut... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
At the time when Maslova, exhausted by the long
walk, was approaching with the armed convoy the building
in which court was held, the same nephew of the
ladies that brought her up, Prince Dmitri Ivanovitch
Nekhludoff, who deceived her, lay on his high, soft,
spring feather-bed, in spotless Holland linen, smoking a
cigarette. He was gazing before him, contemplating
the events of the previous day and considering what he
had before him for that day. As he thought of the previous
evening, spent at the Korchagins, a wealthy and
influential family, whose daughter, rumor had it, he was
to marry, he sighed, and throwing away the butt of his
cigarette, he was on the point of taking another from the
silver cigarette holder, but changed h... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Having breakfasted, Nekhludoff went to the cabinet to
see for what hour he was summoned to appear at court,
and to answer the Princess' note. In the work-room
stood an easel with a half-finished painting turned face
downward, and on the wall hung studies in drawing. On
seeing that painting, on which he had worked two years,
and those drawings, he called to mind the feeling of impotence,
which he experienced of late with greatest force,
to make further advance in the art. He explained this
feeling by the development of a fine esthetic taste, and yet
this consciousness caused him unpleasant sensations.
Seven years before he had retired from active service
he decided that his true vocation in life was painting, and
from the height... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
There was great commotion in the corridors of the
court when Nekhludoff entered.
The attendants flitted to and fro breathlessly, delivering
orders and documents. Police captains, lawyers and
clerks passed now one way, now the other; complainants
and defendants under bail leaned sadly against the walls,
or were sitting and waiting.
"Where is the Circuit Court?" asked Nekhludoff of one
of the attendants.
"Which one? There is a civil division and a criminal
one."
"I am a juror."
"Criminal division. You should have said so. This
way, to the right, then turn to your left. The second
door."
Nekhludoff went as directed.
At the door two men stood waiting. One was a tall,
stout merchant, a good-natured man, who had evidently
partak... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The presiding justice arrived early. He was a tall, stout
man, with long, grayish side-whiskers. He was married,
but, like his wife, led a very dissolute life. They did not
interfere with each other. On the morning in question he
received a note from a Swiss governess, who had lived in
his house during the summer, and was now passing on her
way from the South to St. Petersburg. She wrote that
she would be in town between three and six o'clock p. m.,
and wait for him at the "Hotel Italia." He was, therefore,
anxious to end his day's sitting before six o'clock, that he
might meet the red-haired Clara Vasilievna.
Entering his private chamber, and locking the door behind
him, he produced from the lower shelf of a book-case
two dumb... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Finally Matvei Nikitich arrived, and the usher, a long-necked
and lean man, with a sideling gait and protruding
lower lip, entered the jury-room.
The usher was an honest man, with a university education,
but he could not hold any employment on account of
his tippling habit. A countess, his wife's patroness, had
obtained him his present position three months ago; he
still retained it, and was exceedingly glad.
"Are you all here, gentlemen?" he asked, putting on his
pince-nez and looking through it.
"I think so," said the cheerful merchant.
"Let us see," said the usher, and drawing a sheet of
paper from his pocket, began to call the names of the jury,
looking at those that responded to their names now
through his pince-nez, now ... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The presiding justice looked over the papers, asked
some questions of the usher, and receiving affirmative
answers, ordered that the prisoners be brought into
court. Immediately a door beyond the grating opened,
and two gendarmes with unsheathed swords and caps on
their heads, stepped into the court-room. Behind them
came a freckled, red-haired man and two women. The
man was dressed in prisoner's garb which was too long
and too wide for him. As he entered the court-room
he held up with outspread fingers the sleeves which were
too long. Without looking at the judges or the spectators,
his attention was absorbed by the bench around
which he was led. When he had passed around he carefully
seated himself on the edge, and making roo... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
After he had finished the instructions, the presiding
justice turned to the prisoners.
"Simon Kartinkin, rise!" he said.
Simon sprang up nervously. The muscles of his cheeks
began to twitch still quicker.
"What is your name?"
"Simon Petroff Kartinkin," he said quickly, in a sharp
voice, evidently prepared for the question.
"What estate?"
"Peasant."
"What government, district?"
"Government of Tula, district of Krapivensk, Kupian
township, village of Borki."
"How old are you?"
"Thirty-four; born in eighteen hundred——"
"What faith?"
"Of the Russian orthodox faith."
"Are you married?"
"O, no!"
"What is your occupation?"
"I was employed in the Hotel Mauritania."
"Were you ever arrested before?"
"I was never arre... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The indictment read as follows:
"On the 17th of January, 18—, suddenly died in the
Hotel Mauritania, merchant of the second guild, Therapont
Emelianovich Smelkoff.
"The local police physician certified that the cause of
death of said Smelkoff was rupture of the heart, caused
by excessive use of liquor.
"The body of Smelkoff was interred.
"On the 21st day of January, a townsman and comrade
of Smelkoff, on returning from St. Petersburg, and hearing
of the circumstances of his death, declared his suspicion
that Smelkoff was poisoned with a view of robbing
him of the money he carried about his person.
"This suspicion was confirmed at the preliminary inquest,
by which it was established: 1. That Smelkoff had
drawn from the b... (From: WikiSource.)
When the reading of the indictment was finished, the
justiciary, having consulted with his associates, turned to
Kartinkin with an expression on his face which plainly
betokened confidence in his ability to bring forth all the
truth.
"Simon Kartinkin," he called, leaning to the left.
Simon Kartinkin rose, put out his chest, incessantly
moving his cheeks.
"You are charged, together with Euphemia Bochkova
and Katherine Maslova, with stealing from the trunk of
the merchant Smelkoff money belonging to him, and subsequently
brought arsenic and induced Maslova to administer
it to Smelkoff, by reason of which he came to his
death. Are you guilty or not guilty?" he said, leaning to
the right.
"It is impossible, because our business i... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Yes, it was Katiousha.
The relations of Nekhludoff to Katiousha were the following:
Nekhludoff first met Katiousha when he went to stay
one summer out at the estate of his aunts in order that
he might quietly prepare his thesis on the private ownership
of land. Ordinarily he lived on the estate of his
mother, near Moskow, with his mother and sister. But
that year his sister married, and his mother went abroad.
Nekhludoff had to write a composition in the course of
his university studies, and decided to pass the summer
at his aunts'. There in the woods it was quiet, and there
was nothing to distract him from his studies. Besides,
the aunts loved their nephew and heir, and he loved them,
loved their old-fashioned way of living.
... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
For three years afterwards Nekhludoff did not see
Katiousha. But when, as staff-officer, he was on his way
to his army post, he paid a short visit to his aunts, but an
entirely different man. Three years ago he was an honest,
self-denying youth, ready to devote himself to every good
cause; now he was a corrupt and refined egotist, given
over to personal enjoyment. Then, the world appeared to
him as a mystery which he joyfully and enthusiastically
tried to solve; now, everything in this world was plain
and simple, and was determined by those conditions of
life in which he found himself. Then, it was necessary
and important to hold communion with nature and with
those people who lived, thought and felt before him
(philosophers, p... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Nekhludoff called at his aunts because their manor lay
on the road through which his regiment had preceded him,
and also because they requested him to do so, but principally
in order that he might see Katiousha. It may be
that in the depth of his soul there was already a mischievous
intention toward Katiousha, prompted by his now unbridled
animal ego, but he was not aware of it, he merely
desired to visit those places in which he lived so happily,
and see his somewhat queer, but amiable and good-natured,
aunts, who always surrounded the atmosphere around him
with love and admiration, and also to see the lovely
Katiousha, of whom he had such pleasant recollections.
He arrived toward the end of March, on Good Friday,
in the seaso... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
That morning service formed the brightest and most
impressive reminiscence of Nekhludoff's after life.
The darkness of the night was only relieved here and
there by white patches of snow, and as the stallion, splashing
through the mud-pools, and his ears pricked up at the
sight of the fire-pots surrounding the church, entered its
enclosure, the service had already begun.
The peasants, recognizing Maria Ivanovna's nephew,
led his horse to the driest spot, where he dismounted,
then they escorted him to the church filled with a holiday
crowd.
To the right were the male peasants; old men in homespun
coats and bast shoes, and young men in new cloth
caftans, bright-colored belts and boots. To the left the
women, with red silk 'kerch... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Returning from the church, Nekhludoff broke his fast
with the aunts, and to repair his strength, drank some
brandy and wine—a habit he acquired in the army—and
going to his room immediately fell asleep with his clothes
on. He was awakened by a rap at the door. By the rap
he knew that it was she, so he rose, rubbing his eyes and
stretching himself.
"Is it you, Katiousha? Come in," he said, rising.
She opened the door.
"You are wanted to breakfast," she said. She was in
the same white dress, but without the bow in her hair.
As she looked in his eyes she brightened up, as if she
had announced something unusually pleasant.
"I shall come immediately," he answered, taking a comb
to rearrange his hair.
She lingered for a... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Thus the entire evening passed, and when night came
the doctor went to bed. The aunts were also preparing
to retire. Nekhludoff knew that Matriena Pavlovna was
in the aunts' dormitory, and that Katiousha was in the
servants' quarters—alone. He again went out on the perron.
It was dark, damp and warm, and that white mist
which in the spring thaws the last snow, filled the air.
Strange noises came from the river, which was a hundred
feet from the house. It was the breaking up of the ice.
Nekhludoff came down from the perron, and stepping
over pools and the thin ice-covering formed on the snow,
walked toward the window of the servants' quarters. His
heart beat so violently that he could hear it; his breathing
at times stoppe... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
On the following day the brilliant and jovial Shenbok
called at the aunts for Nekhludoff, and completely
charmed them with his elegance, amiability, cheerfulness,
liberality, and his love for Dmitri. Though his liberality
pleased the aunts, they were somewhat perplexed by the
excess to which he carried it. He gave a ruble to a blind
beggar; the servants received as tips fifteen rubles, and
when Sophia Ivanovna's lap-dog, Suzette, hurt her leg so
that it bled, he volunteered to bandage it, and without a
moment's consideration tore his fine linen handkerchief
(Sophia Ivanovna knew that those handkerchiefs were
worth fifteen rubles a dozen) and made bandages of it for
the dog. The aunts had never seen such men, nor did
they know t... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Nekhludoff was in this state of mind when he left the
court-room and entered the jury-room. He sat near the
window, listening to the conversations of his fellow jurymen,
and smoked incessantly.
The cheerful merchant evidently sympathized with
Merchant Smelkoff's manner of passing his time.
"Well, well! He went on his spree just like a Siberian!
Seems to have known a good thing when he saw it. What
a beauty!"
The foreman expressed the opinion that the whole case
depended on the expert evidence. Peter Gerasimovich
was jesting with the Jewish clerk, and both of them burst
out laughing. Nekhludoff answered all questions in
monosyllables, and only wished to be left in peace.
When the usher with the sidling gait called the jury
int... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
As if to spite him, the case dragged out to a weary
length. After the examination of the witnesses and the
expert, and after all the unnecessary questions by the
prosecutor and the attorneys, usually made with an important
air, the justiciary told the jury to look at the exhibits,
which consisted of an enormous ring with a diamond
rosette, evidently made for the forefinger, and a
glass tube containing the poison. These were sealed and
labeled.
The jury were preparing to view these things, when
the prosecutor rose again and demanded that before the
exhibits were examined the medical report of the condition
of the body be read.
The justiciary was hurrying the case, and though he
knew that the reading of the report would only bri... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
When the examination of the exhibits was over, the
justiciary announced the investigation closed, and, desiring
to end the session, gave the word to the prosecutor,
in the hope that as he, too, was mortal, he might also wish
to smoke or dine, and would have pity on the others. But
the prosecutor pitied neither himself nor them. When
the word was given him, he rose slowly, displaying his
elegant figure, and, placing both hands on the desk, and
slightly bending his head, he cast a glance around the
court-room, his eyes avoiding the prisoners.
"Gentlemen of the jury, the case which is now to be
submitted to your consideration," he began his speech,
prepared while the indictment and reports were being
read, "is a characteristic c... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
After the last words of the prisoners had been heard,
and the lengthy arguments over the form in which the
questions were to be put to the jury were over, the questions
were finally agreed upon, and the justiciary began
to deliver his instructions to the jury.
Although he was anxious to finish the case, he was so
carried away that when he started to speak he could not
stop himself. He told the jury at great length that if
they found the prisoners guilty, they had the right to return
a verdict of guilty, and if they found them not guilty,
they had the right to return a verdict of not guilty. If,
however they found them guilty of one charge, and not
guilty of the other, they might bring in a verdict of guilty
of the one and not g... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The justiciary finally finished his speech and handed the
list of questions to the foreman. The jury rose from
their seats, glad of an opportunity to leave the court-room,
and, not knowing what to do with their hands, as if
ashamed of something, they filed into the consultation-room.
As soon as the door closed behind them a gendarme,
with drawn sword resting on his shoulder, placed
himself in front of it. The judges rose and went out.
The prisoners also were led away.
On entering the consultation-room the jury immediately
produced cigarettes and began to smoke. The sense of
their unnatural and false position, of which they were to
a greater or less degree cognizant, while sitting in the
court-room, passed away as soon as they e... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The apprehensions of Peter Gerasimovitch were justified.
On returning from the consultation-room the justiciary
produced a document and read the following:
"By order of His Imperial Majesty, the Criminal Division
of the —— Circuit Court, in conformity with the finding
of the jury, and in accordance with ch. 771, s. 3, and
ch. 776, s. 3, and ch. 777 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
this 28th day of April, 188—, decrees that Simon
Kartinkin, thirty-three years of age, and Katherine Maslova,
twenty-seven years of age, be deprived of all civil
rights, and sent to penal servitude, Kartinkin for eight,
Maslova for the term of four years, under conditions prescribed
by ch. 25 of the Code. Euphemia Bochkova is depriv... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The conversation with the justiciary and the pure air
somewhat calmed Nekhludoff. The feeling he experienced
he now ascribed to the fact that he had passed the
day amid surroundings to which he was unaccustomed.
"It is certainly a remarkable coincidence! I must do
what is necessary to alleviate her lot, and do it quickly.
Yes, I must find out here where Fanarin or Mikishin
lives." Nekhludoff called to mind these two well-known
lawyers.
Nekhludoff returned to the court-house, took off his
overcoat and walked up the stairs. In the very first corridor
he met Fanarin. He stopped him and told him
that he had some business with him. Fanarin knew him
by sight, and also his name. He told Nekhludoff that he
would be glad to do anything... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
"Walk in, Your Excellency, you are expected," said the
fat porter, pushing open the swinging, oaken door of the
entrance. "They are dining, but I was told to admit
you."
The porter walked to the stairway and rang the bell.
"Are there any guests?" Nekhludoff asked, while taking
off his coat.
"Mr. Kolosoff, also Michael Sergeievich, besides the
family," answered the porter.
A fine-looking lackey in dress coat and white gloves
looked down from the top of the stairs.
"Please to walk in, Your Excellency," he said.
Nekhludoff mounted the stairs, and through the spacious
and magnificent parlor he entered the dining-room.
Around the table were seated the entire family, except
Princess Sophia Vasilievna, who never left her own apartme... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Princess Sophia Vasilievna had finished her meal of
choice and nourishing dishes, which she always took
alone, that no one might see her performing that unpoetical
function. A cup of coffee stood on a small table
near her couch, and she was smoking a cigarette. Princess
Sophia Vasilievna was a lean and tall brunet, with
long teeth and large black eyes, who desired to pass for
a young woman.
People were making unpleasant remarks about her relations
with the doctor. Formerly Nekhludoff had paid
no attention to them. But to-day, the sight of the doctor,
with his oily, sleek head, which was parted in the middle,
sitting near her couch, was repulsive to him.
Beside the Princess sat Kolosoff, stirring the coffee. A
glass of liquor w... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
"It is shameful and disgusting," Nekhludoff meditated,
while returning home on foot along the familiar streets.
The oppressive feeling which he had experienced while
speaking to Missy clung to him. He understood that
nominally, if one may so express himself, he was in the
right; he had never said anything to bind himself to her;
had made no offer, but in reality he felt that he had bound
himself to her, that he had promised to be hers. Yet he
felt in all his being that he could not marry her.
"It is shameful and disgusting," he repeated, not only
of his relations to Missy, but of everything. "Everything
is disgusting and shameful," he repeated to himself, as he
ascended the steps of his house.
"I shall take no supper," he said ... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
It was six o'clock when Maslova returned to her cell,
weary and foot-sore from the long tramp over the stone
pavement. Besides, she was crushed by the unexpectedly
severe sentence, and was also hungry.
When, during a recess, her guards had lunched on
bread and hard-boiled eggs her mouth watered and she
felt that she was hungry, but considered it humiliating to
ask them for some food. Three hours after that her hunger
had passed, and she only felt weak. In this condition she
heard the sentence. At first she thought that she misunderstood
it; she could not believe what she heard, and
could not reconcile herself to the idea that she was a convict.
But, seeing the calm, serious faces of the judges
and the jury, who received the ver... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The cell in which Maslova was confined was an oblong
room, twenty feet by fifteen. The kalsomining of the
walls was peeled off, and the dry boards of the cots occupied
two-thirds of the space. In the middle of the
room, opposite the door, was a dark iron, with a wax candle
stuck on it, and a dusty bouquet of immortelles hanging
under it. To the left, behind the door, on a darkened
spot of the floor, stood an ill-smelling vat. The
women had been locked up for the night.
There were fifteen inmates of this cell, twelve women
and three children.
It was not dark yet, and only two women lay in their
cots; one a foolish little woman—she was constantly crying—who
had been arrested because she had no written
evidence of her... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
