 Book 3, Chapter 16 of Resurrection This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by David Cole, Medway, Massachusetts. Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy. Translated by Louise Mord. Book 3, Chapter 16. Simonson speaks to Necladoff. The voices of officials sounded from the next room. All the prisoners were silent, and a sergeant, followed by two convoy soldiers, entered. The time of the inspection had come. The sergeant counted every one, and when Necladoff's turn came, he addressed him with kindly familiarity. You must not stay any longer, Prince, after the inspection. You must go now. Necladoff knew what this meant, went up to the sergeant, and shoved a three-ruble note into his hand. Ah, well! What is one to do with you? Stay a bit longer, if you like. The sergeant was about to go when another sergeant, followed by a convict, a spare man with a thin beard and a bruise under his eye, came in. It's about the girl I have come, so the convict. Here's Daddy come, came the ringing accents of a child's voice, and a flaxen head appeared from behind Rinceva, who, with Coutuchus and Meri Pavlovna's help, was making a new garment for the child out of one of Rinceva's own petticoats. Yes, daughter, it's me, Bousofkin, the prisoner said softly. She is quite comfortable here, said Meri Pavlovna, looking with pity at Bousofkin's bruised face. Leave her with us. The ladies are making me new clothes, said the girl, pointing to Rinceva's sewing. Nice red ones, she went on prattling. Do you wish to sleep with us, asked Rinceva, caressing the child? Yes, I wish, and Daddy too. No, Daddy caught. Well, leave her then, she said, turning to the father. Yes, you may leave her, said the first sergeant, and went out with the other. As soon as they were out of the room Nabotov went up to Bousofkin, slapped him on the shoulder, and said, I say, old fellow, is it true that Karmenov wishes to exchange? Rinceva's kindly, gentle face turned suddenly sad, and her veil seemed to dim his eyes. We have heard nothing, hardly, he said, and with the same dimness still over his eyes he turned to the child. Well, Aksutka, it seems you are to make yourself comfortable with the ladies any hurried away. It's true about the exchange, and he knows it very well, said Nabotov. What are you going to do? I shall tell the authority to the next town. I know both prisoners by sight, said Nekledov. All was silent, fearing a recommencement of the dispute. Simonson, who had been lying with his arms thrown back behind his head, and not speaking, rose, and determinedly walked up to Nekledov, carefully passing round those who were sitting. Could you listen to me now? Of course, and Nekledov rose and followed him. Katusha looked up with an expression of surprise, and, meeting Nekledov's eyes, she blushed and shook her head. What I want to speak to you about is this, Simonson began, when they had come out into the passage. In the passage the din of the criminals' voices and shouts sounded louder. Nekledov made a face, but Simonson did not seem to take any notice. Knowing of your relations to Katerina Maslova, he began, seriously and frankly, with his kind eyes looking straight into Nekledov's face, I consider it my duty. He was obliged to stop, because two voices were heard disputing and shouting, both at once close to the door. I tell you, Blockhead, they're not mine, one voice shouted. May you choke, you devil, snorted the other. At this moment Mary Pavlovna came out into the passage. How can one talk here, she said? Go in. Vera is alone there. And she went in at the second door, and entered a tiny room, evidently meant for a solitary cell, which was now placed at the disposal of the political women prisoners. Vera Dukova laid covered up, head and all, on the bed. She has got a headache and is asleep, so she cannot hear you, and I will go away, said Mary Pavlovna. On the contrary, stay here, said Simonson. I have no secrets from any one, certainly none from you. All right, said Mary Pavlovna, and moving her whole body from side to side like a child, so as to get further back onto the bed, she settled down to listen, her beautiful hazel eyes seeming to look somewhere far away. Well, then, this is my business, Simonson repeated. Knowing of your relations to Katarina Maslova, I consider myself bound to explain to you my relations to her. Nick Ladov could not help admiring the simplicity and truthfulness with which Simonson spoke to him. What do you mean? I mean that I should like to marry Katarina Maslova. How strange, said Mary Pavlovna, fixing her eyes on Simonson. And so I made up my mind to ask her to be my wife, Simonson continued. What can I do? It depends on her, said Nick Ladov. Yes, but she will not come to any decision without you. Why? As long as your relations with her are unsettled, she cannot make up her mind. As far as I am concerned, it is finally settled. I should like to do what I consider to be my duty, and also to lighten her fate. But on no account would I wish to put any restraint on her. Yes, but she does not wish to accept your sacrifice. It is no sacrifice. And I know that this decision of hers is final. Until then, there is no need to speak to me, said Nick Ladov. She wants you to acknowledge that you think as she does. How can I acknowledge that I must not do what I consider to be my duty? All I can say is that I am not free, but she is. Simonson was silent. Then after thinking a little, he said, Very well, then, I'll tell her. You must not think I am in love with her, he continued. I love her as a splendid, unique human being who has suffered much. I want nothing from her. I have only an awful longing to help her, to lighten her paws. Nick Ladov was surprised to hear the trembling in Simonson's voice. To lighten her position, Simonson continued. If she does not wish to accept your help, let her accept mine. If she consents, I shall ask to be sent to the place where she will be imprisoned. Four years are not an eternity. I would live near her, and perhaps might lighten her fate. And he again stopped to agitate it to continue. What am I to say, said Nick Ladov? I am very glad she has found such a protector as you. That's what I wanted to know, Simonson interrupted. I wanted to know if, loving her and wishing her happiness, you would consider it good for her to marry me. Oh, yes, said Nick Ladov, decidedly. It all depends on her. I only wish that this suffering soul should find rest at Simonson, with such childlike tenderness as no one could have expected from so morose-looking a man. Simonson rose, and stretching his lips out to Nick Ladov. Well shyly, and kissed him. So I shall tell her, and he went away. CHAPTER 17 I HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY What do you think of that, said Mary Pavlovna? In love, quite in love. Now that's a thing I never should have expected. But Valdemar Simonson should be in love, and in the silliest, most boyish manner. It is strange, and to say the truth, it is sad, and she sighed. But she, Catoosha, how does she look at it, do you think, Nick Ladov asked? She, Mary Pavlovna, waited, evidently wishing to give as exact an answer as possible, she. Still you see, in spite of her past, she has one of the most moral natures, and such fine feelings. She loves you, loves you well, and is happy to be able to do you even the negative good of not letting you get entangled with her. Marriage with you would be a terrible fall for her, worse than all that's past, and therefore she will never consent to it, and yet your presence troubles her. Well what am I to do, ought I to vanish? Mary Pavlovna smiled her sweet childlike smile, and said, yes, partly. How is one to vanish partly? I am talking nonsense, but as for her, I should like to tell you that she probably sees the silliness of this rapturous kind of love. He has not spoken to her, and is both flattered and afraid of it. I am not competent to judge in such affairs, you know, still I believe that on his part it is the most ordinary man's feeling, though it is masked. He says that this love arouses his energy and is platonic, but I know that even if it is exceptional, still at the bottom it is degrading. Mary Pavlovna had wandered from the subject, having started on her favourite theme. Well, but what am I to do, Necladov asked? I think you should tell her everything. It is always best that everything should be clear. Have a talk with her. I shall call her. Shall I?" said Mary Pavlovna. If you please, said Necladov, and Mary Pavlovna went. A strange feeling overcame Necladov when he was alone in the little room with a sleeping Vera-dukova, listening to her soft breathing, broken now and then by moans, and to the incessant dirt that came through the two doors that separated him from the criminals. What Semonunzen had told him freed him from the self-imposed duty, which had seemed hard and strange to him in his weak moments, and yet now he felt something that was not merely unpleasant but painful. He had a feeling that this offer of Semonunzen's destroyed the exceptional character of his sacrifice, and thereby lessened its value in his own and others' eyes. If so good a man, who was not bound to her by any kind of tie, wanted to join his fate to hers, then this sacrifice was not so great. There may also have been a mixture of ordinary jealousy. He had got so used to her love that he did not like to admit that she loved another. Then it also upset the plans he had formed of living near her while she was doing her term. If she married Semonunzen, his presence would be unnecessary, and he would have to form new plans. Before he had time to analyze his feelings, the loud din of the prisoner's voices came in with a rush. Something special was going on among them to-day, as the door opened to let Katusha in. She stepped briskly close up to him and said, �Mary Pavlovna has sent me. Yes. I must have a talk with you. Sit down. Valde Mar Semonunzen has been speaking to me. She sat down and folded her arms in her lap and seemed quite calm, but hardly had necklid off uttered Semonunzen's name when she flushed crimson. What did he say, she asked. He told me he wanted to marry you. Her face suddenly puckered up with pain, but she said nothing and only cast down her eyes. He is asking for my consent or my advice. I told him that it all depends entirely on you, that you must decide. Ah! What does it all mean? Why, she muttered, and looked in his eyes with that peculiar squint that always strangely affected necklid off. They sat silent for a few minutes, looking to each other's eyes, and this look told much to both of them. You must decide,� necklid off repeated. What am I to decide? Everything has long been decided. �No, you must decide whether you will accept Mr. Semonunzen's offer,� said necklid off. �What sort of a wife can I be? Are you a convict? Why should I ruin Mr. Semonunzen, too?� she said with a frown. �Well, but if the sentence should be mitigated. �Oh, leave me alone! I have nothing more to say,� she said, and rose to leave the room. CHAPTER XVIII. NEVROFF'S FATE When, following Kutusha, necklid off returned to the men's room, he found everyone there in agitation. Kavatov, who went about all over the place, and who got to know everybody and noticed everything, had just brought news which staggered them all. The news was that he had discovered a note on a wall, written by the revolutionist Petlin, who had been sentenced to hard labour, and who, everyone thought, had long since reached the carer, and now it turned out that he had passed this way quite recently. THE ONLY POLITICAL PRISONER AMONG CRIMINAL CONVICTS On the 17th of August, so run the note, I was sent off alone with the criminals. Nevroff was with me, but hanged himself in the lunatic asylum in Kazan. I am well and in good spirits and hope for the best. All were discussing Petlin's position, and the possible reasons of Nevroff's suicide. Tony Krilsov sat silent and preoccupied, his glistening eyes gazing fixedly in front of him. My husband told me that Nevroff had a vision, while still in the Petropolov-Slovsky prison, said Rinseva. Yes, he was a poet-dreamer. This sort of people cannot stand solitary confinement, said Novodborov. Now I never give my imagination vent when in solitary confinement, but arrange my days most systematically, and in this way always bore it very well. What is there unbearable about it? Why, I used to be glad when they locked me up, said Nevroff cheerfully, wishing to dispel the general depression. A fellow was afraid of everything, of being arrested himself and entangling others, and of spoiling the whole business, and then he gets locked up, and all responsibility is at an end, and he can rest, he can just sit and smoke. You know him well, as Mary Pavlovna, glancing anxiously at the altered haggard expression of Krilsov's face. Nevroff a dreamer, Krilsov suddenly began, panting for breath, as if he had been shouting, or singing, for a long time. Nevroff was a man, such as the earth bears few of, as our doorkeeper used to express it. Yes, he had a nature-like crystal. You could see him right through. He could not lie, he could not dissemble. Not simply thin skinned, but with all his nerves laid bare, as if he were flayed. Yes, his was a complicated, rich nature, not such a, but where is the use of talking, yadded, with a vicious frown. Shall we first educate the people, and then change the forms of life, or first change the forms, and then struggle, using peaceful propaganda or terrorism? So we go on disputing while they kill. They do not dispute, they know their business. They don't care whether dozens, hundreds of men perish, and what men. No, that the best should perish is just what they want. Yes, Herzen said that when the Decemberists were withdrawn from circulation, the average level of our society sank. I should think so indeed. Then Herzen himself, and his fellows were withdrawn. Now is the turn of the Nevroffs. They can't all be got rid of, said Nabotov, in his cheerful tones. There will always be left enough to continue the breed. No, there won't, if we show any pity to them there, Nabotov said, raising his voice, and not letting himself be interrupted. Give me a cigarette. O Anna Toll, it is not good for you, said Mary Pavlovna. Please do not smoke. Oh, leave me alone, he said angrily, and let a cigarette. But it once began to cough into wretch, as if he was going to be sick. Having cleared his throat, though, he went on. What we have been doing is not the thing at all. Not to argue for all to unite, to destroy them, that's it. But they are also human, being said, Nevroff. No they are not human. They who can do what they are doing, no, they are now. I heard that some kind of bombs and balloons have been invented. Well, one ought to go up in such a balloon and sprinkle bombs down on them, as if they were bugs until they were all exterminated, yes, because he was going to continue, but flushing all over, he began coughing worse than before, and a stream of blood rushed from his mouth. Nabotov ran to get ice. Harry Pavlovna brought Valyrian drops, and offered them to him, but he, breathing quickly and heavily, pushed her away with his thin white hand, and kept his eyes closed. When the ice and cold water had eased crilts off a little, and he had been put to bed, Nickladoff, having said good night to everybody, went out with a sergeant who had been waiting for him some time. The criminals were now quiet, and most of them were asleep. Though the people were lying on and under the bed-shells, and in the space between, they could not all be placed inside the rooms, and some of them lay in the passage, with their sacks under their heads, and covered with their cloaks. The moans and sleepy voices came through the open doors, and sounded through the passage. Everywhere lay compact heaps of human beings covered with prison cloaks. Only a few men who were sitting in the bachelor's room by the light of a candle-end, which they put out when they noticed the sergeant, were awake, and an old man who sat naked under the lamp in the passage, picking the vermin off his shirt. The foul air in the political prisoner's rooms seemed pure compared to the stinking closeness here. The smoking lamp shone dimly as through a mist, and it was difficult to breathe. Stepping along the passage one had to look carefully for an empty space, and having put down one foot had to find place for the other. Three persons, who had evidently found no room even in the passage, lay in the anti-room, close to the stinking and leaking tub. One of these was an old idiot, whom Neklodov had often seen marching with the gang. Another was a boy about twelve. He lay between the other two convicts, with his head on the leg of one of them. When he had passed out of the gate, Neklodov took a deep breath, and the lung continued to breathe in deep drafts of frosty air. End of Book 3, Chapter 18, Book 3, Chapter 19 of Resurrection. Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Louise Maud. Book 3, Chapter 19, Why Is It Done? It had cleared up and was starlight, except in a few places the mud was frozen hard, when Neklodov returned to his inn and knocked at one of its dark windows. The broad-shouldered labourer came barefooted to open the door for him and let him in. Through a door on the right, leading to the back premises, came the loud snoring of the carters who slept there, and the sound of many horses chewing oats came from the yard. The front room, where a red lamp was burning in front of the icons, smelt of wormwood and perspiration, and someone with mighty lungs was snoring behind a partition. Neklodov undressed. Put his leather-traveling pillow on the oil-cloth sofa, spread out his rug and lay down, thinking over all he had seen and heard that day, the boy sleeping in the liquid that oozed from the stinking tub, with his head on the convict's leg, seemed more dreadful than all else. Unexpected and important has his conversation with Simonson and Ketusha that evening had been. He did not dwell on it. His situation in relation to that subject was so complicated and indefinite that he drove the thought from his mind, but the picture of those unfortunate beings inhaling the noisome air and lying in the liquid oozing out of the stinking tub, especially that of the boy, with his innocent face, asleep on the leg of a criminal, came all the more vividly to his mind, and he could not get it out of his head, to know that somewhere far away there are men who torture other men by inflicting all sorts of humiliations and inhuman degradation and sufferings on them, or for three months incessantly to look on, while men were inflicting these humiliations and sufferings on other men, is a very different thing. And Nekledov felt it. More than once during these three months he asked himself, Am I mad because I see what others do not, or are they mad that do these things that I see? Yet they, and there were many of them, did what seemed so astonishing and terrible to him with such quiet assurance that what they were doing was necessary and was important and useful work that it was hard to believe they were mad, nor could he, conscious of the clearness of his thoughts, believe he was mad, and all this kept him continually in a state of complexity. This is how the things he saw during these three months impressed Nekledov. From among the people who were free, those were chosen by means of trials and the administration, who were the most nervous, the most hot-tempered, the most excitable, the most gifted, and the strongest, but the least careful and cunning. These people, not a wit more dangerous than many of those who remain free, were first locked in prisons, transported to Siberia, where they were provided for and kept months and years in perfect idleness, and away from nature, their families and useful work, that is, away from the conditions necessary for a natural and moral life, this firstly. Secondly, these people were subjected to all sorts of unnecessary indignity in these different places, chains, shaved heads, shameful clothing, that is, they were deprived of the chief motives that induced the weak to live good lives, the regard for public opinion, the sense of shame, and the consciousness of human dignity. Thirdly, they were continually exposed to dangers, such as the epidemics so frequent in places of confinement, exhaustion, flogging, not to mention accidents, such as sunstrokes, drowning, or conflagrations, when the instinct of self-preservation makes even the kindest, most moral men commit cruel actions and excuse such actions when committed by others. Fourthly, these people were forced to associate with others who were particularly depraved by life, and especially by these very institutions, rakes, murderers, and villains, who act on those who are not yet corrupted by the measures inflicted on them as leaven acts on dough. And fifthly, the fact that all sorts of violence, cruelty, inhumanity are not only tolerated but even permitted by the government when it suits its purposes was impressed on the most forcibly by the inhuman treatment they were subjected to, by the sufferings inflicted on children, women, and old men, by floggings with rods and whips, by rewards offered for bringing a fugitive back, dead or alive, by the separation of husbands and wives, and the uniting them with the wives and husbands of others for sexual intercourse, by shooting or hanging them. To those who were deprived of their freedom, who were in want and misery, acts of violence were evidently still more permissible. All these institutions seemed purposely invented for the production of depravity and vice, condensed to such a degree that no other conditions could produce it, and for the spreading of this condensed depravity and vice broadcast among the whole population. Just as if a problem had been set to find the best, the surest means of depraving the greatest number of persons sought Nekledov, while investigating the deeds that were being done in the prisons and halting stations. Every year hundreds of thousands were brought to the highest pitch of depravity, and when completely depraved they were set free to carry the depravity they had caught in prison among the people. In the prisons of Tamen, Ekaterinburg, Tomsk, and at the halting stations, Nekledov saw how successfully the object society seemed to have set itself, was attained. Ordinary simple men, with a conception of the demands of the social and Christian Russian peasant morality, lost this conception and found a new one, found it chiefly on the idea that any outrage or violence was justifiable if it seemed profitable. After living in a prison those people became conscious with a whole of their being that, judging by what was happening to themselves, all the moral laws, the respect and the sympathy for others which church and the moral teachers preach was really set aside, and that, therefore, they too need not keep the laws. Nekledov noticed the effects of prison life on all the convicts he knew, on Fedorov, on Makar, and even on Taras, who, after two months among the convicts, struck Nekledov by the want of morality in his arguments. Nekledov found out during his journey how tramps, escaping into the marshes, persuade a comrade to escape with them, and then kill him and feed on his flesh. He saw a living man who was accused of this and acknowledged the fact, and the most terrible part was that this was not a solitary but a recurring case. Only by a special cultivation of vice, such as was perpetrated in these establishments, could a Russian be brought to the state of this tramp, who excelled at Nietzsche's newest teaching, and held that everything was possible and nothing forbidden, and who spread this teaching first among the convicts and then among the people in general. The only explanation of all that was being done was the wish to put a stop to crime by fear, by correction, by lawful vengeance, as it was written in the books. But in reality nothing in the least resembling any of these results came to pass. Instead of vice being put a stop to, it only spread further. Instead of being frightened, the criminals were encouraged. Many a tramp returned to prison of his own free will. Instead of being corrected, every kind of vice was systematically instilled, while the desire for vengeance did not weaken by the measures of the government, but was bred in the people who had none of it. Then why is it done, Nekledov asked himself, but could find no answer? And what seemed most surprising was that all this was not being done accidentally, not by mistake, not once, but that he had continued for centuries, with this difference only, that at first the people's nostrils used to be torn and their ears cut off. Then they were branded, and now they were manacled and transported by steam instead of on the old carts. The arguments brought forward by those in government service who said that the things which aroused his indignation were simply due to the imperfect arrangements of the places of confinement, and that they could all be put to rights if prisons of a modern type were built did not satisfy Nekledov, because he knew that what revolted him was not the consequence of a better or worse arrangement of the prisons. He had read of model prisons with electric bells of executions by electricity recommended by Tard, but this refined kind of violence revolted him even more. But what revolted Nekledov most was that there were men in the law-courts and in the ministry who received large salaries taken from the people, for referring to books written by men like themselves and with light motives, and sorting actions that violated laws made by themselves according to different statutes, and in obedience to these statutes sending those guilty of such actions to places where they were completely at the mercy of cruel, hardened inspectors, jailers, convoy soldiers, where millions of them perished body and soul. Now that he had a closer knowledge of prisons, Nekledov found out that all those vices which developed among the prisoners, drunkenness, gambling, cruelty, and all these terrible crimes, even cannibalism, were not casual or due to degeneration or to the existence of monstrosities of the criminal type, as science, going hand in hand with the government, explained it. Not an unavoidable consequence of the incomprehensible delusion that men may punish one another. Nekledov saw that cannibalism did not commence in the marches but in the ministry. He saw that his brother-in-law, for example, and, in fact, all the loggers and officials, from the usher to the minister, did not care in the least for justice or the good of the people about whom they spoke, but only for the rubles they were paid for doing the things that were the source whence all this degradation and suffering flowed. This was quite evident. Can it be then that all this is done simply through misapprehension? Could it not be managed that all these officials should have their salaries secured to them, and a premium paid them besides, so that they should leave off doing all that they were doing now? Nekledov thought. And in spite of the fleas that seemed to spring up round him like water from a fountain whenever he moved, he fell fast asleep. End of Book 3, Chapter 19 Book 3, Chapter 20 of Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy translated by Louise Mord Book 3, Chapter 20 The journey resumed. The carters had left the inn long before Nekledov awoke. The landlady had had her tea, and came in wiping her fat- aspiring neck with her handkerchief, and said that her soldier had brought a note from the halting station. The note was from Mary Pavlovna. He wrote that Trilsov attack was more serious than they had imagined. We wished him to be left behind and to remain with him, but this had not been allowed, so that we shall take him on, but we fear the worst. Please arrange so that if he should be left in the next town, one of us might remain with him. If in order to get the permission to stay, I should be obliged to get married to him. I am, of course, ready to do so. Nekledov sent the young labourer to the post-station to order horses, and began packing up hurriedly. Before he had drunk his second tumbler of tea, the three-horse post-cart drove up to the porch with ringing bells, the wheels rattling on the frozen mud as on stones. Nekledov paid the fat-necked landlady, hurried out and got into the cart, and gave orders to the driver to go on as fast as possible so as to overtake the gang. Just past the gates of the commune pasture-ground they did overtake the carts, loaded with sacks and the sick prisoners as they rattled over the frozen mud that was just beginning to be rolled smooth by the wheels. The officer was not there, he had gone in advance. The soldiers, who had evidently been drinking, followed by the side of the road chatting merrily. There were a great many carts. In each of the first carts sat six invalid criminal conflicts, close packed. On each of the last two were three political prisoners. Novod Varov, Grabetz and Kandratyev sat on one, Rinseva Navetov, and the woman to whom Mary Pavlovna had given up her own place on the other, and on one of the carts lay Kriltsov on a heap of hay, with a pillow under his head, and Mary Pavlovna sat by him on the edge of the cart. Neklodov ordered his driver to stop, got out and went up to Kriltsov. One of the tipsy soldiers waved his hand towards Neklodov, but he made no attention, and started walking by Kriltsov's side, holding on to the side of the cart with his hand, dressed in a sheepskin coat with a fur cap on his head, and his mouth bound up with a handkerchief. He seemed paler and thinner than ever. His beautiful eyes looked very large and brilliant. Shaken from side to side by the joltings of the cart, he lay with his eyes fixed on Neklodov. But when asked about his health, he only closed his eyes and angrily shook his head. All his energy seemed to be needed in order to bear the jolting of the cart. Mary Pavlovna was on the other side. She exchanged a significant glance with Neklodov, which expressed all her anxiety about Kriltsov's state, and then began to talk at once in a cheerful manner. It seems the officer is ashamed of himself, she shouted, so as to be heard above the rattle of the wheels. Kriltsovkin's manacles have been removed, and he is carrying his little girl himself. Ketusha and Simonson are with him, and Vera too, she has taken my place. Kriltsov said something that could not be heard because of the noise, and frowning in the effort to repress his cough shook his head. Then Neklodov stooped towards him, so as to hear, and Kriltsov, freeing his mouth of the handkerchief, whispered. Which better now, only not to catch cold! Neklodov knotted in acquiescence, and again exchanged a glance with Mary Pavlovna. How about the problem of the three bodies, whispered Kriltsov, smiling with great difficulty? The solution is difficult. Neklodov did not understand, but Mary Pavlovna explained that he meant the well-known mathematical problem which defined the position of the sun, moon and earth, which Kriltsov compared to the relations between Neklodov, Ketusha and Simonson. Kriltsov nodded to show that Mary Pavlovna had explained his joke correctly. The decision does not lie with me, Neklodov said. Did you get my note? Will you do it? Mary Pavlovna asked. Certainly, answered Neklodov. And noticing a look of displeasure on Kriltsov's face, he returned to his conveyance, and holding with both hands to the sides of the cart got in, which jolted with him over the ruts of the rough road. He passed the gang which, with its gray cloaks and sheepskin coats, chains and manacles, stretched over three quarters of a mile of the road. On the opposite side of the road Neklodov noticed Ketusha's blue shawl, Viridu Kovr's black coat, and Simonson's crochet cap, white-worsted stockings, with bands like those of sandals tied round him. Simonson was walking with a woman and carrying on a heated discussion. When they saw Neklodov they bowed to him, and Simonson raised his hat in a solemn manner. Neklodov, having nothing to say, did not stop, and was soon ahead of the carts. Having got again on to a smoother part of the road, they drove still more quickly, but they had continually to turn aside to let pass long rows of carts that were moving along the road in both directions. The road, which was caught up by deep ruts, lay through a thick pine forest, mingled with birch trees and larches, bright with yellow leaves, they had not yet sheared. By the time Neklodov had passed about half the gang, he reached the end of the forest. Fields now lay stretched along both sides of the road, and the crosses and cupolas of a monastery appeared in the distance. The clouds dispersed, and he did clear up completely. The leaves, the frozen puddles, and the gilt crosses and cupolas of the monastery, glittered brightly in the sun that had risen above the forest. A little to the right, mountains began to gleam white in the blue-gray distance, and the trap entered a large village. The village street was full of people, both Russians and other nationalities, wearing peculiar caps and cloaks. Sexy men and women crowded in chattered-round booze, track-tears, public houses and carts. The vicinity of a town was noticeable. Giving a pawl and a lash of the whip to the horse on his right, the driver sat down sideways on the right edge of the seat, so that the rains hung over that side, and with evident desire of showing off, he drove quickly down to the river, which had to be crossed by a ferry. The raft was coming towards them, and had reached the middle of the river. About twenty carts were waiting to cross. Niclodov had not long to wait. The raft, which had been pulled far up the stream, quickly approached the landing, carried by the swift waters, the tall, silent, broad-shouldered muscular ferryman, dressed in sheepskins, threw the ropes and moored the raft with practised hand, landed the carts that were on it, and put those that were waiting on the bank on board. The whole raft was filled with vehicles and horses shuffling at the site of the water. The broad, swift river splashed against the sides of the ferry-boats, tightening their moorings. When the raft was full, a Niclodov's cart, with the horses taken out of it, stood closely surrounded by other carts on the side of the raft. The ferryman barred the entrance, and pegged no heed to the prayers of those who had not found room in the raft, unfasten the ropes and set off. All was quiet on the raft. One could hear nothing but the tramp of the ferryman's boots, and the horses changing from foot to foot. End of Book 3, Chapter 20, Book 3, Chapter 21 of Resurrection. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by David Cole Medway, Massachusetts Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy Translated by Louise Mord Book 3, Chapter 21, Just a Worthless Tramp Niclodov stood on the edge of the raft, looking at the broad river. Two pictures kept rising up in his mind. One that had crilled soft, unprepared for death and dying, made a heavy, sorrowful impression on him. The other, that of Catoosha, full of energy, have ingained the love of such a man as Sivinson, and found a true and solid path towards righteousness, should have been pleasant, yet he'd also created a heavy impression on Niclodov's mind, and he could not conquer this impression. The vibrating sounds of a big brass bell reached them from the town. A rough striver, who stood by his side, and the other men on the raft, raised their caps and crossed themselves. All except a short, dishevelled old man, who stood close to the railway, and whom Niclodov had not noticed before. He did not cross himself, but raised his head and looked at Niclodov. This old man wore a patched coat, clothed trousers, and worn and patched shoes. He had a small wallet on his back, and a high fur cap, with the fur much rubbed on his head. Why don't you pray, old chap, as Niclodov's driver, as he replaced and straightened his cap? Are you unbaptised? Who's one to pray to, as the old man quickly, in a determinedly aggressive tone? To whom? To God, of course, said the driver sarcastically. And you just show me where he is, that God. There was something so serious and firm in the expression of the old man, that the driver felt that he had to do with a strong-minded man, and was a bit abashed. And, trying not to show this, not to be silenced, and not to be put to shame before the crowd that was observing them, he answered quickly, Where? In heaven, of course. And you have been up there? Whether I've been or not, everyone knows that you must pray to God. No one has ever seen God at any time. The only begotten son, who is in the bosom of the father, he has declared him, said the old man, in the same rapid manner, and with a severe frown on his brow. It's clear you are not a Christian, but a whole worshiper. You pray to a whole, said the driver, shoving the handle of his whip into his girdle, pulling straight the harness on one of his horses. Someone laughed. What is your faith, dad? Asked a middle-aged man, who stood by his cart on the same side of the raft. I have no kind of faith, because I believe no one, no one but myself, so the old man has quickly and decidedly as before. How can you believe yourself, Niclodov asked, entering into a conversation with him? You might make a mistake. Never in your life, the old man said decidedly, with a toss of his head. Then why are there different faiths, Niclodov asked? It's just because men believe others and do not believe themselves that there are different faiths. I also believed others, and lost myself is in a swamp. Lost myself, so that I had no hope of finding my way out. Old believers and new believers and Judeisers and Krilsi and Popovsky and Bespadovsky and Afstriaks and Molokans and Skoptsi. Every faith praises itself only, and so they all creep about like blind puppies. There are many faiths, but the spirit is one, in me and in you and in him. So that if everyone believes himself, all will be united. Everyone be himself, and all will be as one. The old man spoke loudly and often looked round, evidently wishing that as many as possible should hear him. And have you held long to this faith? I, a long time. This is the twenty-third year that they persecute me. Persecute you, how? As they persecuted Christ, so they persecute me. They seize me, and take me before the courts, and before the priests, the scribes and the Pharisees, once they put me in a madhouse. But they can do nothing because I am free. They say, what is your name? Thinking I shall name myself. But I do not give myself a name. I have given up everything. I have no name, no place, no country, nor anything. I am just myself. What is your name? Man. How old are you? I say. I do not count my years and cannot count them. Because I always was, I always shall be. Who are your parents? I have no parents except God and Mother Earth. God is my Father. And the Tsar? Do you recognize the Tsar, they say? I say, why not? He is his own Tsar, and I am my own Tsar. Where's the good of talking to him, they say? And I say, I do not ask you to talk to me. And so they begin tormenting me. And where are you going now, asked Necladoff? Where God will lead me. I work when I can find work, and why can't I beg? The old man noticed that the raft was approaching the bank and stopped, looking round at the bystanders with a look of triumph. Necladoff got out his purse and offered some money to the old man, but he refused staying. I do not accept this sort of thing, bread I do accept. Well then excuse me. There is nothing to excuse. You have not offended me. And it is not possible to offend me. When the old man put the wallet he had taken off again on his back, meanwhile the post-cart had been landed and the horse is harnessed. I wonder you should care to talk to him, sir, said the driver, when Necladoff, having tipped the bowing ferriman, got into the cart again. He is just a worthless tramp. Book 3, Chapter 22 of Resurrection This is the LibriVox recording, all LibriVox recordings from the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by David Cole Medway, Massachusetts Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy Translated by Louise Maud Book 3, Chapter 22 Necladoff sees the general. When they got to the top of the hill-bank, the driver turned to Necladoff. Which hotel am I to drive to? Which is the best? Nothing could be better than the Siberian, but Dukovs is also good. Drive to whichever you like. The driver again seated himself sideways and drove faster. The town was like all such towns. The same kind of houses with attic windows and green roofs, the same kind of cathedral, the same kind of shops and stores in the principal street, and even the same kind of policemen. Only the houses were almost all of them wooden, and the streets were not paved. In one of the chief streets the driver stopped at the door of a hotel, but there was no room to be had, so he drove to another. And here Necladoff, after two months, found himself once again in surroundings such as he had been accustomed to as far as comfort and cleanliness went. Though the room he was shown to was simple enough, yet Necladoff felt greatly relieved to be there, after two months of post-carts, country-ins and halting stations. His first business was to clean himself of the lice, which he had never been able to get thoroughly rid of after visiting a halting station. When he had unpacked he went to the Russian bath, after which he made himself fit to be seen in a town, put on a starch shirt, trousers that had got rather creased along the seams, a frock coat and an overcoat, and drove to the Governor of the district. The hotelkeeper called in his Voschik, whose well-fared Kyrgyz horse and vibrating trap soon brought Necladoff to the large porch of a big building, in front of which stood sentinels and a policeman. The house had a garden in front and at the back, among the naked branches of aspen and birch trees, there grew thick and dark green pines and furs. The general was not well, and did not receive, but Necladoff asked the footman to hand in his card all the same, and the footman came back with a favourable reply. You are asked to come in. The hall, the footman, the orderly, the staircase, the dancing room, with its well-polished floor were very much the same as in Petersburg, only more imposing and rather dirtier. Necladoff was shown into the cabinet. The general, a bloated, potato-nosed man with a sanguine disposition, large bumps on his forehead, bald head, and puffs under his eyes, sat wrapped in a tartar silk dressing gown, smoking a cigarette, and sipping his tea out of a tumbler in a silver holder. How do you do, sir? Excuse my dressing gown. It is better so than if I had not received you at all, he said, pulling off his dressing gown over his fat neck, with its deep folds at the nape. I am not quite well, and do not go out. What has brought you to our remote region? I am accompanying a gang of prisoners, among whom there is a person closely connected with me, said Necladoff, and now I have come to see your excellency, partly in behalf of this person and partly about another business. The general took a whiff and a sip of tea, put his cigarette in a malachite ash pan, with his narrow eyes fixed on Necladoff, listening seriously. They only are interrupted once to offer him a cigarette. The general belonged to the learned type of military men, who believed that liberal and humane views can be reconciled with their profession. But being my nature a kind and intelligent man, he soon felt the impossibility of such a reconciliation, so as not to feel the inner discord in which he was living. He gave himself up more and more to the habit of drinking, which is so widely spread among military men, and was now suffering from what doctors term alcoholism. He was imbued with alcohol, and if he drank any kind of liquor it made him tipsy. Yet strong drink was an absolute necessity to him. He could not live without it, so he was quite drunk every evening. It had grown so used to this state that he did not real nor talk any special nonsense, and if he did talk nonsense it was accepted as words of wisdom because of the important and high position which he occupied. Only in the morning, just at the time Necladoff came to see him, he was like a reasonable being, could understand what was said to him, and fulfil more or less aptly a proverb he was fond of repeating. He's tipsy, but he's wise, so he's pleasant in two ways. The higher authorities knew he was a drunkard, but he was more educated than the rest, though his education had stopped at the spot where drunkenness had got hold of him. He was bold, atroite, of imposing appearance, and showed tact even when tipsy. Before he was appointed, and was allowed to retain so public and responsible an office. Necladoff told him that the person he was interested in was a woman, that she was sentence though innocent, and that a petition had been sent to the emperor in her behalf. Yes, well said the general. I was promised in Petersburg that the news concerning her fate should be sent to me not later than this month and to this place. The general stretched his hand with its stumpy fingers towards the table and rang a bell, still looking at Necladoff and puffing at his cigarette. So I would like to ask you that this woman should be allowed to remain here until the answer to her petition comes. The footman, an orderly in uniform, came in. Ask if Anna Vasilyevna is up, said the general to the orderly, and bring some more tea. One turning to Necladoff, yes, and what else? My other request concerns a political prisoner who is with the same gang. Dear me, said the general, with a significant shake of his head. He is seriously ill, dying, and he will probably be left here in the hospital, so one of the woman prisoners would like to stay behind with him. She has no relation with his. No, but she is willing to marry him, if that will enable her to remain with him. The general looked fixedly with twinkling eyes at its interlocutor, and evidently with a wish to discomfort him, listened, smoking in silence. When Necladoff had finished, the general took a book off the table, and wetting his finger, quickly turned over the pages, and found the statute relating to marriage. What is she sentenced to, he asked, looking up from the book? She to hard labour. Well then, the position of one sentenced to that cannot be bettered by marriage. Yes, but, excuse me, even if a free man should marry her, she would have to serve her term. The question in such cases is, whose is the heavier punishment, hers or his? They are both sentenced to hard labour. Very well, so they are quits, said the general with a laugh. She's got what he has, only as he is sick, he may be left behind, and, of course, what can be done to lighten his fate shall be done. But as for her, even if she did marry him, she could not remain behind. The general est is having her coffee, the footman announced. The general nodded and continued, However, I shall think about it. What are their names? Put them down here. Necladoff wrote down the names. Necladoff's request to be allowed to see the dying man, the general answered by saying, Neither can I do that. Of course I do not suspect you, but you take an interest in him and in the others, and you have money, and here with us anything can be done with money. I have been told to put down bribery. But how can I put down bribery when everybody takes bribes? And the lower their rank, the more ready they are to be bribed. How can one find it out across more than three thousand miles? There, any official is a little czar, just as I am here, and he laughed. You have in all likelihood been to see the political prisoners. You gave money and got permission to see them, he said with a smile. Is it not so? Yes it is. I quite understand that you had to do it. You pity a political prisoner and wish to see him. And the inspector or the convoy soldier accepts, because he has a salary of twice-twenty co-pecs in the family, and he can't help accepting it. In his place and yours I should have acted in the same way as you and he did. But in my position I do not permit myself to swerve an inch from the letter of the law, just because I am a man, and might be infamous by pity. But I am a member of the executive, and I have been placed in a position of trust on certain conditions, and these conditions I must carry out. Well, so this business is finished. And now let us hear what is going on in the metropolis. When the general began questioning, with the evident desire to hear the news, and to show how very human he was, end of Book 3, Chapter 22, Book 3, Chapter 23 of Resurrection. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by David Cole, Midway, Massachusetts Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy Translated by Louise Mord Book 3, Chapter 23 The sentence commuted By the way, where are you staying as the general, as he was taking leave of Nekledoth, at Dukes? Well it's horrid enough there. Come and dine with us at five o'clock. You speak English? Yes, I do. That's good. You see, an English traveller has just arrived here. He is studying the question of transportation, and examining the prisons of Siberia. Well, he is dining with us tonight, and you come and meet him. We dine at five, and my wife expects punctuality. Then I shall also give you an answer what to do about that woman, and perhaps it may be possible to leave someone behind with the sick prisoner. Having made his bow to the general, Nekledoth drove to the post office, feeling himself in an extremely animated and energetic frame of mind. The post office was a low vaulted room. Several officials sat behind a counter, serving the people, of whom there was quite a crowd. One official sat with his head bent to one side, and kept stamping the envelopes, which he slipped dexterously under the stamp. Nekledoth had not long to wait. As soon as he had given his name, everything that had come for him by post was at once handed to him. There was a good deal, letters and money and books, and the last number of fatherland notes. Nekledoth took all these things to wooden bench. One which, a soldier, with a book in his hand, sat watching for something, took the seat by his side and began sorting the letters. Among them was one registered letter in a fine envelope, with a distinctly stamped bright red seal. He broke the seal, and seeing a letter from Selenin, and some official paper inside the envelope, he felt the blood rush to his face and his heart stood still. It was the answer to Kutusha's petition. What would that answer be? Nekledoth glanced hurriedly through the letter, written in an allegedly small, hard and cramped hand, and breathed the sigh of relief. The answer was a favourable one. Dear friend, wrote Selenin, Our last talk has made a profound impression on me. You were right concerning Maslova. I looked carefully through the case, and see that shocking injustice has been done her. It could be remedied only by the Committee of Petitions, before which you laid it. I managed to assist at the examination of the case, and I enclose here with the copy of the mitigation of the sentence. Your aunt, the Countess Katarina Ivanovna, gave me the address which I am sending this to. The original document has been sent to the place where she was imprisoned before her trial, and will from there be probably sent at once to the principal government office in Siberia. I hasten to communicate this glad news to you, and warmly press your hand, yours, Selenin. The document ran thus. His Majesty's office for the reception of petitions addressed to his Imperial name, here followed the date, by order of the Chief of His Majesty's office for the reception of petitions addressed to his Imperial name. The Menshanka Katarina Maslova is hereby informed that his Imperial Majesty, with reference to her most loyal petition, condescending to her request, deigns to order that her sentence to hard labour should be commuted to one of exile to the less distant dig-strix of Siberia. This was joyful and important news. All that Nekledov could have hoped for Kutusha, and for himself also had happened. It was true that the new position she was in brought new complications with it. While she was a convict, marriage with her could only be fictitious, and would have had no meaning except that he would have been in a position to alleviate her condition. And now there was nothing to prevent their living together, and Nekledov had not prepared himself for that. And besides, what of her relations to Simonson? What was the meaning of her words yesterday? If she consented to a union with Simonson, would it be well? He could not unravel all these questions, and gave up thinking about it. It will all clear itself up later on, he thought. I must not think about it now, but convey the glad news to her as soon as possible, and set her free. He thought that the copy of the document he had received would suffice. So when he left the post office, he told Istvostchik to drive him to the prison. Though he had received no order from the governor to visit the prison that morning, he knew by experience that it was easy to get from the subordinates what the higher officials would not grant. So now he meant to try and get into the prison to bring Ketusha the joyful news, and perhaps to get her set free, and at the same time to inquire about Kreltsof's state of health, and tell him and Mary Pavlovna what the general had said. The prison inspector was a tall, imposing-looking man, with moustaches and whiskers that twisted towards the corners of his mouth. He received Nekledov very gravely, and told him plainly that he could not grant an outsider the permission to interview the prisoners without a special order from his chief. To Nekledov's remark that he had been allowed to visit the prisoners even in the cities he answered. That may be so, but I do not allow it, and his tone implied. You city gentlemen may think to surprise and perplex us, but we in eastern Siberia also know what the law is, and may even teach it you. The copy of a document straight from the emperor's own office did not have any effect on the prison inspector either. He decidedly refused to let Nekledov come inside the prison walls. He only smiled contemptuously at Nekledov's naive conclusion that the copy he had received would suffice to set Maslova free, and declared that a direct order from his own superiors would be needed before anyone could be set at liberty. The only things he agreed to do were to communicate to Maslova that a mitigation had arrived for her, and to promise that he would not detain her at an hour after the order from his chief to liberate her would arrive. He would also give no news of Triltsov, saying he could not even tell if there was such a prisoner, and so Nekledov, having accomplished next to nothing, got into his trap and drove back to his hotel. The strictness of the inspector was chiefly due to the fact that an epidemic of typhus had broken out in the prison, owing to twice the number of prisoners that it was intended for being crowded in it. Miss Voschik, who drove Nekledov, said, Quite a lot of people are dying in the prison every day, some kind of disease having sprung up among them, so that as many as twenty were buried in one day. End of book 3, chapter 23, book 3, chapter 24 of Resurrection. This is a LibriVox recording, all LibriVox recordings in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by David Cole Medway, Massachusetts Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Louise Mord Book 3, chapter 24, The General's Household. In spite of his ineffectual attempt at the prison, Nekledov, still in the same vigorous energetic frame of mind, went to the governor's office to see if the original of the document had arrived from Maslova. It had not arrived, so Nekledov went back to the hotel and wrote without delay to Selenin and the advocate about it. When he had finished writing he looked at his watch, and so it was time to go to the general's dinner party. On the way he again began wondering how Kutusha would receive the news of the mitigation of her sentence, where she would be settled, how he should live with her, what about Simonson, what would his relations to her be. He remembered the change that had taken place in her, and this reminded him of her past. I must forget it for the present, he thought, and again hastened to drive her out of his mind. When the time comes I shall see, he said to himself, and began to think of what he ought to say to the general. The dinner at the general's, with the luxury habitual, to the lives of the wealthy, and those of high rank, to which Nekledov had been accustomed, was extremely enjoyable after he had been so long deprived not only of luxury but even of the most ordinary comforts. The mistress of the house was a Petersburg grand dame of the old school, a maid of honour at the court of Nicholas I, who spoke French quite naturally and Russian very unnaturally. She held herself very erect, and, moving her hands, she kept her elbows close to her waist. She was kindly and somewhat sadly considerate for her husband, and extremely kind to all her visitors, though with a tinge of difference in her behaviour according to their position. She received Nekledov as if he were one of them, and her fine, almost imperceptible flattery made him once again aware of these virtues, and gave him a feeling of satisfaction. She made him feel that she knew of that honest, though rather singular step of his which had brought him to Siberia, and held him to be an exceptional man. This refined flattery and the elegance and luxury of the General's house had the effect of making Nekledov succumb to the enjoyment of the handsome surroundings, the delicate dishes, and the ease and pleasure of intercourse with educated people of his own class, so that the surroundings in the midst of which he had lived for the last months seemed a dream from which he had awakened to reality. Since those of the household, the General's daughter and her husband, and an aide de camp, there were an Englishman, a merchant interested in gold mines, and the Governor of a distant Siberian town. All these people seemed pleasant to Nekledov. The Englishman, a healthy man with a rosy complexion, who spoke a very bad French, but whose command of his own language was very good and oratorically impressive, who had seen a great deal, was very interesting to listen to when he spoke about America, India, Japan, and Siberia. The young merchant interested in the gold mines, the son of a peasant, whose evening dress was made in London, who had diamond studs to his shirt, possessed a fine library, contributed freely to philanthropic work, and held liberal European views, seemed pleasant to Nekledov, as a sample of a quite new and good type of civilized European culture, grafted onto a healthy, uncultivated peasant stem. The Governor of the distant Siberian town was that same man, who had been so much talked about in Petersburg, at the time Nekledov was there. He was plump, with thin, curly hair, soft blue eyes, carefully tended white hands, with rings on his fingers, a pleasant smile, and very big, in the lower part of his body. The master of the house valued this Governor, because of all the officials he was the only one who would not be bribed. The mistress of the house, who was very fond of music and a very good pianist herself, valued him because he was a good musician and played duets with her. Nekledov was in such good humour, that even this man was not unpleasant to him, in spite of what he knew of his vices. The bright energetic aide de camp, with his bluey-gray chin, who was continually offering his services, pleased Nekledov by his good nature. But it was the charming young couple, the General's daughter and her husband, who pleased Nekledov best. The daughter was a plain-looking, simple-minded young woman, wholly absorbed in her two children. Her husband, whom she had fallen in love with and married, after a long struggle with her parents, was a liberal, who had taken honours at the Moscow University, a modest and intellectual young man in government service, who made up statistics and studied chiefly the foreign tribes, which he liked and tried to save from dying out. All of them were not only kind and attentive to Nekledov, but evidently pleased to see him as a new and interesting acquaintance. The General, who came into dinner in uniform, and with a white cross round his neck, greeted Nekledov as a friend, and asked the visitors at the side table to take a glass of vodka and something to wet their appetites. The General asked Nekledov what he had been doing since he left that morning, and Nekledov told him he had been to the post-office, and received the news of the mitigation of that person's sentence that he had spoken of in the morning, and again asked for a permission to visit the prison. The General apparently displeased that business should be mentioned at dinner, frowned and said nothing. Have a glass of vodka, he said, addressing the Englishman, who had just come up to the table. The Englishman drank a glass, and said he had been to see the cathedral in the factory, but would like to visit the Great Transportation Prison. Oh, that will just fit in, said the General to Nekledov. You will be able to go together. Give them a pass, he added, turning to his aid to camp. When would you like to go, Nekledov asked. I prefer visiting the prisons in the evening, the Englishman answered. All are indoors, and there is no preparation. You find them all as they are. Ah, he would like to see it in all its glory. Let him do so. I have written about it, and no attention has been paid to it. Let him find out from foreign publications, the General said. And went up to the dinner table, where the mistress of the house was showing the visitors their places. Nekledov sat between his hostess and the Englishman. In front of him sat the General's daughter and the ex-director of the government department in Petersburg. The conversation at dinner was carried on by fits and starts. Now it was India that the Englishman talked about. Now the Tonkin expedition, that the General strongly disapproved of. Now the universal bribery and corruption in Siberia. All these topics did not interest Nekledov much. But after dinner, over their coffee, Nekledov and the Englishman began a very interesting conversation about Gladstone. And Nekledov thought he had said many clever things that were noticed by his interlocutor. And Nekledov felt it more and more pleasant to be sipping his coffee seated in an easy chair among amiable, well-bred people. And when, at the Englishman's request, the hostess went up to the piano with the ex-director of the government department, and they began to play in well-practice style, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Nekledov fell into a mental state of perfect self-satisfaction to which he had long been a stranger, as though he had only just found out what a good fellow he was. The grand piano was a splendid instrument. The symphony was well performed. At least so it seemed to Nekledov, who knew and liked that symphony. Listening to the beautiful Andante, he felt a tickling in his nose. He was so touched by his many virtues. Nekledov thanked his hostess for the enjoyment that he had been deprived of for so long, and was about to say good-bye and go. When the daughter of the house came up to him, with the determined look and said with a blush, You asked about my children. Would you like to see them? She thinks that everybody wants to see her children's at her mother, smiling at her daughter's winning tactlessness. The prince is not at all interested. On the contrary, I am very much interested, said Nekledov, touched by the overflowing happy mother-love. Just let me see them. She's taking the prince to see the babies, the general shouted, laughing from the card-table, where he sat with his son-in-law, the main owner and the aide-de-camp. Go, go, pay your tribute. The young woman, visibly excited by the thought that judgment was about to be passed on to her children, went quickly towards the inner apartments, followed by Nekledov. In the third, a lofty room, papered with white and lit up by a shaded lamp, stood two small cots and the nurse with a white cape on her shoulders sat between the cots. She had a kindly, true Siberian face, with its high cheekbones. The nurse rose and bowed. The mother stooped over the first cot, in which a two-year-old little girl lay peacefully sleeping, with her little mouth open and her long curly hair tumbled over the pillow. This is Katie, said the mother, straightening the white and blue crochet covalet, from under which a little white foot pushed itself languidly out. Is she not pretty? She's only two years old, you know. Lovely. And this is Vasyuk, as grand-papa calls him. Quite a different type. A Siberian, is he not? As splendid boy, said Nekledov, is he looked at the little fatty lying asleep on his stomach. Yes, said the mother, with a smile full of meaning. Nekledov recalled to his mind chains, shaved heads, fighting debauchery, the dying crawls off. Katusha and the whole of her passed, and he began to feel envious and to wish for what he saw here, which now seemed to him pure and refined happiness. After having repeatedly expressed his admiration of the children, thereby at least partially satisfying their mother, who eagerly drank in this praise, he followed her back to the drawing-room, where the Englishman was waiting for him to go and visit the prison, as they had arranged. Having taken leave of their hosts, the old and the young ones, the Englishman and Nekledov, went out into the porch of the general's house. The weather had changed. It was snowing, and the snow fell densely in large flakes, and already covered the road, the roof and the trees and the garden, the steps of the porch, the roof of the trap, and the back of the horse. The Englishman had a trap of his own, and Nekledov, having told the coachman to drive to the prison, called his his voss-chick, and got in with a heavy sense of having to fulfil an unpleasant duty, and followed the Englishman over the soft snow, through which the wheels turned with difficulty. End of Book 3, Chapter 24. Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy Translated by Louise Mord Book 3, Chapter 25, Maslova's Decision The dismal prison-house, with its sentinel and lamp burning under the gateway, produced an even more dismal impression, with its long row of lighted windows than it had done in the morning, in spite of the white covering that now lay over everything, the porch, the roof, and the walls. The imposing inspector came up to the gate, and read the pass that had been given to Nekledov and the Englishman, by the light of the lamp, shrugged his fine shoulders in surprise, but, in obedience to the order, asked the visitors to follow him in. He led them through the courtyard, and then in it a door to the right and up a staircase into the office. He offered them a seat and asked what he could do for them, and when he heard that Nekledov would like to see Maslova at once, he sent a jailer to fetch her. Then he prepared himself to answer the questions which the Englishman began to put to him, Nekledov acting as interpreter. How many persons is the prison built to hold, the Englishman asked? How many are confined in it? How many men? How many women? Children? How many sentenced to the mines? How many exiles? How many sick persons? Nekledov translated the Englishman's and the inspector's words, without paying any attention to their meaning, and felt an awkwardness he had not in the least expected at the thought of the impending interview. When in the midst of a sentence he was translating for the children, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and the office door opened, and as had happened many times before, a jailer came in, followed by Katusha, and he saw her with a kerchief tied round her head, and in a prison jacket a heavy sensation came over him. I wish to live. I want a family, children. I want a human life. These thoughts flashed through his mind as she entered the room with rapid steps and blinking her eyes. He rose and made a few steps to meet her, and her face appeared hard and unpleasant to him. It was again as it had been at the time when she reproached him. She flushed and turned pale, her fingers nervously twisting a corner of her jacket. She looked up at him, then cast down her eyes. "'You know that a mitigation has come? Yes,' the jailer told me. "'So that as soon as the original document arrives, you may come away and settle where you like. We shall consider.' She interrupted him hurriedly. "'What have I to consider? Where Valdemar Simonson goes, there I shall follow.' In spite of the excitement she was in, she raised her eyes to neclerdoffs and pronounced these words quickly and distinctly as if she had prepared what she had to say. "'Indeed.' "'Well,' Dmitri Ivanovich, you see, he wishes me to live with him, and she stopped, quite frightened and corrected herself. "'He wishes me to be near him. What more can I desire? I must look upon it as happiness. What else is there for me?' One of two things thought he. Either she loves Simonson, and does not in the least require the sacrifice I imagined I was bringing her. Or she still loves me, and refuses me for my own sake, and is burning her ships by uniting her fate with Simonson. And neclerdoff felt ashamed and knew that he was blushing. And you yourself, do you love him, he asked? Nothing or not loving. What does it matter? I have given up all that. And then Valdimar Simonson is quite an exceptional man.' "'Yes, of course,' neclerdoff began. He is a splendid man, and I think. But she again interrupted him, as if afraid that he might say too much, or that she should not say all. "'No, Dmitri Ivanovich, you must forgive me, if I am not doing what you wish.' And she looked at him, with those unfathomable, squinting eyes of her. "'Yes, it evidently must be so. You must live, too.' She said just what he had been telling himself a few moments before. But he no longer thought so now, and felt very differently. He was not only ashamed, but felt sorry, to lose all he was losing with her. "'I did not expect this,' he said. "'Why should you live here and suffer? You have suffered enough. I have not suffered. It was good for me, and I should like to go on serving you if I could.' "'We do not want anything,' she said, and looked at him. "'You have done so much for me as it is. If it had not been for you, she wished to say more, but her voice trembled. "'You certainly have no reason to thank me,' Nekledov said. "'Where is the use of our reckoning? God will make up our account,' she said, and her black eyes began to glisten with the tears that filled them. "'What a good woman you are,' he said. "'I, good,' she said through her tears, and a pathetic smile lit up her face. "'Are you ready?' the Englishman asked. "'Directly,' replied Nekledov, and asked her about Kriltsof. She got over her emotion, and quietly told him all she knew. Kriltsof was very weak, and had been sent into the infirmary. Mary Pavlovna was very anxious, and had asked to be allowed to go to the infirmary as a nurse, but could not get the permission. "'Am I to go?' she asked, noticing that the Englishman was waiting. "'I will not say goodbye. I shall see you again,' said Nekledov, holding out his hand. "'Forgive me,' she said, so low that he could hardly hear her. Their eyes met, and Nekledov knew by the strange look of her squinting eyes, and the pathetic smile, with which she said not goodbye, but forgive me, that of the two reasons that might have led to a resolution. The second was the real one. She loved him, and thought that by uniting herself to him she would be spoiling his life. By going with Simonson she thought she would be setting Nekledov free, and felt glad that she had done what she meant to do, and yet she suffered it parting from him. She pressed his hand, turned quickly, and left the room. Nekledov was ready to go, but saw that the Englishman was noting something down, and did not disturb him, but sat down on a wooden seat by the wall, and suddenly a feeling of terrible weariness came over him. It was not a sleepless night that had tired him, not the journey, not the excitement, but he felt terribly tired of living. He leaned against the back of the bench, shut his eyes, and in a moment fell into a deep heavy sleep. Well, would you like to look around the cells now? the Inspector asked. Nekledov looked up, and was surprised to find himself where he was. The Englishman had finished his notes, and expressed a wish to see the cells. Nekledov, tired and indifferent, followed him. End of Book 3, Chapter 25 Book 3, Chapter 26 of Resurrection This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by David Cole Medway, Massachusetts Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy, Translated by Louise Maud Book 3, Chapter 26 The English Visitor When they had passed the anti-room, and the sickening, stinking corridor, the Englishman and Nekledov, accompanied by the Inspector, entered the first cell, where those sentenced to hard labour were confined. The beds took up the middle of the cell, and the prisoners were all in bed. There were about seventy of them. When the visitors entered, all the prisoners jumped up and stood beside the beds, excepting two, a young man who was in a state of high fever, and an old man who did nothing but groan. The Englishman asked if the young man had long been ill. The Inspector said that he was taken ill in the morning, but that the old man had long been suffering with pains in his stomach, but could not be removed, as the infirmary had been overfilled for a long time. The Englishman shook his head disapprovingly, said he would like to say a few words to these people, asking Nekledov to interpret. He turned out that besides studying the places of exile, and the prisons of Siberia, the Englishman had another object in view, instead of preaching salvation through faith and by the redemption. Tell them, he said, that Christ died for them. If they believe in this, they shall be saved. While he spoke, all the prisoners stood silent with their arms at their sides. This book, Tell them, he continued, says all about it. Can any of them read? There were more than twenty who could. The Englishman took several bound testaments out of a hangbag, and many strung hands with their hard black nails stretched out from beneath the coarse shirt sleeves towards him. He gave away two testaments in this cell. The same thing happened in the second cell. There was the same foul air, the same icon hanging between the windows, the same tub to the left of the door, and they were all lying side by side close to one another, and jumped up in the same manner, and stood stretched full length with their arms by their sides, all but three, two of whom sat up, and one remained lying, and did not even look at the newcomers. These three were also ill. The Englishman made the same speech, and again gave away two books. In the third room four were ill. The Englishman asked why the sick were not put altogether into one cell. The inspector said that they did not wish it themselves, that their diseases were not infectious, and that the medical assistant watched them and attended to them. He has not set foot here for a fortnight, but of the voice. The inspector did not say anything, and led the way to the next cell. Again the door was unlocked, and all got up and stood silent. Again the Englishman gave away testaments. It was the same in the fifth and sixth cells, in those to the right and those to the left. From those cents to hard labour they went on to the exiles, from the exiles to those evicted by the commune, and those who followed of their own free will. Everywhere men, cold, hungry, idle, infected, degraded, imprisoned, were shown off like wild beasts. The Englishman, having given away the appointed number of testaments, stopped giving any more, and made no speeches. The oppressing sight, and especially the stifling atmosphere, quelled even his energy, and he went from cell to cell, saying nothing but all right to the inspector's remarks about what prisoners there were in each cell. The staff followed is in a dream, an evil eye that refused to go on or to go away, and with the same feelings of weariness and hopelessness. Book 3, Chapter 27 of Resurrection. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Philip Griffiths. Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy. Translated by Louise Mould. Book 3, Chapter 27. Kriltsof at Rest. In one of the exiled cells, Nekladov, to his surprise, recognized the strange old man he had seen crossing the ferry that morning. This old man was sitting on the floor by the beds, barefooted, with only a dirty, cinder-colored shirt on, torn on one shoulder, and similar trousers. He looked severely and inquiringly at the newcomers. His emaciated body, visible through the holes of his shirt, looked miserably weak, but in his face was even more concentrated seriousness and animation than when Nekladov saw him crossing the ferry. As in all the other cells, so here also, the prisoners jumped up and stood erect when the official entered, but the old man remained sitting, his eyes glittered, and his brows frowned with wrath. Get up!" the inspector called out to him. The old man did not rise, and only smiled contemptuously. "'Thy servants are standing before thee, I am not thy servant. They bearest the seal.'" The old man pointed to the inspector's forehead. "'What!' said the inspector, threateningly, and made a step towards him. "'I know this man,' Nekladov hastened to say. "'What is he imprisoned for?' "'The police have sent him here, because he has no passport. We ask them not to send such, but they will do it,' said the inspector, casting an angry sighed look at the old man. "'And so it seems thou, too, art one of the Antichrist's army?' the old man said to Nekladov. "'Now, I am a visitor,' said Nekladov. "'What! hast thou come to see how Antichrist tortures men? There, look, he has locked them up in a cage, a whole army of them. Men should eat bread in the sweat of their brow, and he has locked them up with no work to do and feeds them like swine, so that they should turn into beasts.' "'What is he saying?' asked the Englishman. Nekladov told him the old man was blaming the inspector for keeping men in prison. "'Ask him how he thinks one should treat those who do not keep to the laws,' said the Englishman. Nekladov translated the question. The old man laughed in a strange manner, showing his teeth. "'The laws,' he repeated with contempt. He first robbed everybody, took all the earth, all the rights away from men, killed all those who were against him, and then wrote laws forbidding robbery and murder. He should have written these laws before.' Nekladov translated. The Englishman smiled. "'Well, anyhow, ask him how one should treat thieves and murderers at present.' Nekladov again translated his question. "'Tell him he should take the seal of Antichrist off himself,' the old man said, frowning severely. Then there will be no thieves and murderers. Tell him so.' "'He is crazy,' said the Englishman, when Nekladov had translated the old man's words, and shrugging his shoulders he left to sell. "'Do thy business and leave them alone, every one for himself. God knows whom to execute, whom to forgive, and we do not know,' said the old man. Every man be his own chief. Then the chiefs will not be wanted. Go, go!' He added, angrily frowning and looking with glittering eyes at Nekladov, who lingered in the cell. "'Ask thy not looked on long enough how the servants of Antichrist feed lice on men? Go, go!' When Nekladov went out, he saw the Englishman standing by the open door of an empty cell with the inspector, asking what the cell was for. The inspector explained that it was the mortuary. "'Oh,' said the Englishman, when Nekladov had translated, and expressed the wish to go in. The mortuary was an ordinary cell, not very large. A small lamp hung on the wall, and dimly lit up sacks and logs of wood that were piled up in one corner, and four dead bodies lay on the bed-shelves to the right. The first body had a coarse linen shirt and trousers on. It was that of a tall man, with a small beard and half his head shaved. The body was quite rigid. The bluish hands, that had evidently been folded on the breast, had separated. The legs were also apart, and the bare feet were sticking out. Next to him lay a bare-footed old woman in a white petticoat. Her head, with its thin, flat of hair, uncovered, with a little pinched yellow face and a sharp nose. Beyond her was another man, with something lilac on. This color reminded Nekladov of something. He came nearer and looked at the body. The small pointed beard sticking upwards. The firm, well-shaped nose. The high, white forehead. The thin, curly hair. He recognized the familiar features and could hardly believe his eyes. Yesterday he had seen this face, angry, excited, and full of suffering. Now it was quiet, motionless, and terribly beautiful. Yes, it was Kryltsov, or at any rate, the trace that his material existence had left behind. Why had he suffered? Why had he lived? Does he now understand, Nekladov thought, and there seemed to be no answer, seemed to be nothing but death, and he felt faint. Without taking leave of the Englishman, Nekladov asked the inspector to lead him out into the yard, and feeling the absolute necessity of being alone to think over all that had happened that evening, he drove back to his hotel. End of Chapter 27 of Book 3