Poor Folk Anthology

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

  "Marie, if you'd tell me what's beginning … or else I … if you don't, what am I to make of it?"

  "You are a useless, theoretical babbler. Oh, curse everything on earth!"

  "Marie, Marie!" He seriously thought that she was beginning to go mad.

  "Surely you must see that I am in the agonies of childbirth," she said, sitting up and gazing at him with a terrible, hysterical vindictiveness that distorted her whole face. "I curse him before he is born, this child!"

  "Marie," cried Shatov, realising at last what it meant. "Marie … but why didn't you tell me before." He pulled himself together at once and seized his cap with an air of vigorous determination.

  "How could I tell when I came in here? Should I have come to you if I'd known? I was told it would be another ten days! Where are you going? … Where are you going? You mustn't dare!"

  "To fetch a midwife! I'll sell the revolver. We must get money before anything else now."

  "Don't dare to do anything, don't dare to fetch a midwife! Bring a peasant woman, any old woman, I've eighty kopecks in my purse… . Peasant women have babies without midwives… . And if I die, so much the better… ."

  "You shall have a midwife and an old woman too. But how am I to leave you alone, Marie!"

  But reflecting that it was better to leave her alone now in spite of her desperate state than to leave her without help later, he paid no attention to her groans, nor her angry exclamations, but rushed downstairs, hurrying all he could.

  First of all he went to Kirillov. It was by now about one o'clock in the night. Kirillov was standing in the middle of the room.

  "Kirillov, my wife is in childbirth."

  "How do you mean?"

  "Childbirth, bearing a child!"

  "You … are not mistaken?"

  "Oh, no, no, she is in agonies! I want a woman, any old woman, I must have one at once… . Can you get one now? You used to have a lot of old women… ."

  "Very sorry that I am no good at childbearing," Kirillov answered thoughtfully; "that is, not at childbearing, but at doing anything for childbearing … or … no, I don't know how to say it."

  "You mean you can't assist at a confinement yourself? But that's not what I've come for. An old woman, I want a woman, a nurse, a servant!"

  "You shall have an old woman, but not directly, perhaps … If you like I'll come instead… ."

  "Oh, impossible; I am running to Madame Virginsky, the midwife, now."

  "A horrid woman!"

  "Oh, yes, Kirillov, yes, but she is the best of them all. Yes, it'll all be without reverence, without gladness, with contempt, with abuse, with blasphemy in the presence of so great a mystery, the coming of a new creature! Oh, she is cursing it already!"

  "If you like I'll … "

  "No, no, but while I'm running (oh, I'll make Madame Virginsky come), will you go to the foot of my staircase and quietly listen? But don't venture to go in, you'll frighten her; don't go in on any account, you must only listen … in case anything dreadful happens. If anything very bad happens, then run in."

  "I understand. I've another rouble. Here it is. I meant to have a fowl to-morrow, but now I don't want to, make haste, run with all your might. There's a samovar all the night."

  Kirillov knew nothing of 'the present design against Shatov, nor had he had any idea in the past of the degree of danger that threatened him. He only knew that Shatov had some old soores with "those people," and although he was to some extent involved with them himself through instructions he had received from abroad (not that these were of much consequence, however, for he had never taken any direct share in anything), yet of late he had given it all up, having left off doing anything especially for the "cause," and devoted himself entirely to a life of contemplation. Although Pyotr Stepanovitch had at the meeting invited Liputin to go with him to Kirillov's to make sure that the latter would take upon himself, at a given moment, the responsibility for the "Shatov business," yet in his interview with Kirillov he had said no word about Shatov nor alluded to him in any wayprobably considering it impolitic to do so, and thinking that Kirillov could not be relied upon. He put off speaking about it till next day, when it would be all over and would therefore not matter to Kirillov; such at least was Pyotr Stepanovitch's judgment of him. Liputin, too, was struck by the fact that Shatov was not mentioned in spite of what Pyotr Stepanovitch had promised, but he was too much agitated to protest.

  Shatov ran like a hurricane to Virginsky's house, cursing the distance and feeling it endless.

  He had to knock a long time at Virginsky's; every one had been asleep a long while. But Shatov did not scruple to bang at the shutters with all his might. The dog chained up in the yard dashed about barking furiously. The dogs caught it up all along the street, and there was a regular babel of barking.

  "Why are you knocking and what do you want?" Shatov heard at the window at last Virginsky's gentle voice, betraying none of the resentment appropriate to the "outrage." The shutter was pushed back a little and the casement was opened.

  "Who's there, what scoundrel is it?" shrilled a female voice which betrayed all the resentment appropriate to the "outrage." It was the old maid, Virginsky's relation.

  "I am Shatov, my wife has come back to me and she is just confined… ."

  "Well, let her be, get along."

  "I've come for Arina Prohorovna; I won't go without Arina Prohorovna!"

  "She can't attend to every one. Practice at night is a special line. Take yourself off to Maksheyev's and don't dare to make that din," rattled the exasperated female voice. He could hear Virginsky checking her; but the old maid pushed him away and would not desist.

  "I am not going away!" Shatov cried again.

  "Wait a little, wait a little," Virginsky cried at last, overpowering the lady. "I beg you to wait five minutes, Shatov. I'll wake Arina Prohorovna. Please don't knock and don't shout… . Oh, how awful it all is!"

  After five endless minutes, Arina Prohorovna made her appearance.

  "Has your wife come?" Shatov heard her voice at the window, . and to his surprise it was not at all ill-tempered, only as usual peremptory, but Arina Prohorovna could not speak except in a peremptory tone.

  "Yes, my wife, and she is in labour."

  "Marya Ignatyevna?"

  "Yes, Marya Ignatyevna. Of course it's Marya Ignatyevna."

  A silence followed. Shatov waited. He heard a whispering in the house.

  "Has she been here long?" Madame Virginsky asked again.

  "She came this evening at eight o'clock. Please make haste."

  Again he heard whispering, as though they were consulting. "Listen, you are not making a mistake? Did she send you for me herself?"

  "No, she didn't send for you, she wants a peasant woman, so as not to burden me with expense, but don't be afraid, I'll pay you."

  "Very good, I'll come, whether you pay or not. I always thought highly of Marya Ignatyevna for the independence of her sentiments, though perhaps she won't remember me. Have you got the most necessary things?"

  "I've nothing, but I'll get everything, everything."

  "There is something generous even in these people," Shatov reflected, as he set off to Lyamshin's. "The convictions and the man are two very different things, very likely I've been very unfair to them! … We are all to blame, we are all to blame … and if only all were convinced of it!"

  He had not to knock long at Lyamshin's; the latter, to Shatov's surprise, opened his casement at once, jumping out of bed, barefoot and in his night-clothes at the risk of catching cold; and he was hypochondriacal and always anxious about his health. But there was a special cause for such alertness and haste: Lyamshin had been in a tremor all the evening, and had not been able to sleep for excitement after the meeting of the quintet; he was haunted by the dread of uninvited and undesired visitors. The news of Shatov's giving information tormented him more than anything… . And suddenly there was this terrible loud knocking at the window as though to justify his fears.<
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  He was so frightened at seeing Shatov that he at once slammed the casement and jumped back into bed. Shatov began furiously knocking and shouting.

  "How dare you knock like that in the middle of the night?" shouted Lyamshin, in a threatening voice, though he was numb with fear, when at least two minutes later he ventured to open the casement again, and was at last convinced that Shatov had come alone.

  "Here's your revolver for you; take it back, give me fifteen roubles."

  "What's the matter, are you drunk? This is outrageous, I shall simply catch cold. Wait a minute, I'll just throw my rug over me."

  "Give me fifteen roubles at once. If you don't give it me, I'll knock and shout till daybreak; I'll break your window-frame."

  "And I'll shout police and you'll be taken to the lock-up."

  "And am I dumb? Can't I shout 'police' too? Which of us has most reason to be afraid of the police, you or I?"

  "And you can hold such contemptible opinions! I know what you are hinting at… . Stop, stop, for God's sake don't go on knocking! Upon my word, who has money at night? What do you want money for, unless you are drunk?"

  "My wife has come back. I've taken ten roubles off the price, I haven't fired it once; take the revolver, take it this minute!"

  Lyamshin mechanically put his hand out of the casement and took the revolver; he waited a little, and suddenly thrusting his head out of the casement, and with a shiver running down his spine, faltered as though he were beside himself.

  "You are lying, your wife hasn't come back to you… . It's … it's simply that you want to run away."

  "You are a fool. Where should I run to? It's for your Pyotr Verhovensky to run away, not for me. I've just been to the midwife, Madame Virginsky, and she consented at once to come to me. You can ask them. My wife is in agony; I need the money; give it me!"

  A swarm of ideas flared up in Lyamshin's crafty mind like a shower of fireworks. It all suddenly took a different colour, though still panic prevented him from reflecting.

  "But how … you are not living with your wife?"

  "I'll break your skull for questions like that."

  "Oh dear, I understand, forgive me, I was struck all of a heap… . But I understand, I understand … is Arina Prohorovna really coming? You said just now that she had gone? You know, that's not true. You see, you see, you see what lies you tell at every step."

  "By now, she must be with my wife … don't keep me … it's not my fault you are a fool."

  "That's a lie, I am not a fool. Excuse me, I really can't … "

  And utterly distraught he began shutting the casement again for the third time, but Shatov gave such a yell that he put his head out again.

  "But this is simply an unprovoked assault! What do you want of me, what is it, what is it, formulate it? And think, only think, it's the middle of the night!"

  "I want fifteen roubles, you sheep's-head!"

  "But perhaps I don't care to take back the revolver. You have no right to force me. You bought the thing and the matter is settled, and you've no right… . I can't give you a sum like that in the night, anyhow. Where am I to get a sum like that?"

  "You always have money. I've taken ten roubles off the price, but every one knows you are a skinflint."

  "Come the day after to-morrow, do you hear, the day after to-morrow at twelve o'clock, and I'll give you the whole of it, that will do, won't it?"

  Shatov knocked furiously at the window-frame for the third time.

  "Give me ten roubles, and to-morrow early the other five."

  "No, the day after to-morrow the other five, to-morrow I swear I shan't have it. You'd better not come, you'd better not come."

  "Give me ten, you scoundrel!"

  "Why are you so abusive. Wait a minute, I must light a candle; you've broken the window… . Nobody swears like that at night. Here you are!" He held a note to him out of the window.

  Shatov seized itit was a note for five roubles.

  "On my honour I can't do more, if you were to murder me, I couldn't; the day after to-morrow I can give you it all, but now I can do nothing."

  "I am not going away!" roared Shatov.

  "Very well, take it, here's some more, see, here's some more, and I won't give more. You can shout at the top of your voice, but I won't give more, I won't, whatever happens, I won't, I won't."

  He was in a perfect frenzy, desperate and perspiring. The two notes he had just given him were each for a rouble. Shatov had seven roubles altogether now.

  "Well, damn you, then, I'll come to-morrow. I'll thrash you, Lyamshin, if you don't give me the other eight."

  "You won't find me at home, you fool!" Lyamshin reflected quickly.

  "Stay, stay!" he shouted frantically after Shatov, who was already running off. "Stay, come back. Tell me please, is it true what you said that your wife has come back?"

  "Fool!" cried Shatov, with a gesture of disgust, and ran home as hard as he could.

  I may mention that Anna Prohorovna knew nothing of the resolutions that had been taken at the meeting the day before. On returning home overwhelmed and exhausted, Virginsky had not ventured to tell her of the decision that had been taken, yet he could not refrain from telling her halfthat is, all that Verhovensky had told them of the certainty of Shatov's intention to betray them; but he added at the same time that he did not quite believe it. Arina Prohorovna was terribly alarmed. This was why she decided at once to go when Shatov came to fetch her, though she was tired out, as she had been hard at work at a confinement ah! the night before. She had always been convinced that "a wretched creature like Shatov was capable of any political baseness," but the arrival of Marya Ignatyevna put things in a different light. Shatov's alarm, the despairing tone of his entreaties, the way he begged for help, clearly showed a complete change of feeling in the traitor: a man who was ready to betray himself merely for the sake of ruining others would, she thought, have had a different air and tone. In short, Arina Prohorovna resolved to look into the matter for herself, with her own eyes.* Virginsky was very glad of her decision, he felt as though a hundredweight had been lifted off him! He even began to feel hopeful: Shatov's appearance seemed to him utterly incompatible with Verhovensky's supposition.

  Shatov was not mistaken: on getting home he found Arina Prohorovna already with Marie. She had just arrived, had contemptuously dismissed Kirillov, whom she found hanging about the foot of the stairs, had hastily introduced herself to Marie, who had not recognised her as her former acquaintance, found her in "a very bad way," that is ill-tempered, irritable and in "a state of cowardly despair," and within five minutes had completely silenced all her protests.

  "Why do you keep on that you don't want an expensive midwife?" she was saying at the moment when Shatov came in. "That's perfect nonsense, it's a false idea arising from the abnormality of your condition. In the hands of some ordinary old woman, some peasant midwife, you'd have fifty chances of going wrong and then you'd have more bother and expense than with a regular midwife. How do you know I am an expensive midwife? You can pay afterwards; I won't charge you much and I answer for my success; you won't die in my hands, I've seen worse cases than yours. And I can send the baby to a foundling asylum to-morrow, if you like, and then to be brought up in the country, and that's all it will mean. And meantime you'll grow strong again, take up some rational work, and in a very short time you'll repay Shatov for sheltering you and for the expense, which will not be so great."

  "It's not that … I've no right to be a burden… ."

  "Rational feelings and worthy of a citizen, but you can take my word for it, Shatov will spend scarcely anything, if he is willing to become ever so little a man of sound ideas instead of the fantastic person he is. He has only not to do anything stupid, not to raise an alarm, not to run about the town with his tongue out. If we don't restrain him he will be knocking up all the doctors of the town before the morning; he waked all the dogs in my street. There's no need of doctors I've said already. I'll answer for
everything. You can hire an old woman if you like to wait on you, that won't cost much. Though he too can do something besides the silly things he's been doing. He's got hands and feet, he can run to the chemist's without offending your feelings by being too benevolent. As though it were a case of benevolence! Hasn't he brought you into this position? Didn't he make you break with the family in which you were a governess, with the egoistic object of marrying you? We heard of it, you know … though he did run for me like one possessed and yell so all the street could hear. I won't force myself upon anyone and have come only for your sake, on the principle that all of us are bound to hold together! And I told him so before I left the house. If you think I am in the way, good-bye, I only hope you won't have trouble which might so easily be averted."

  And she positively got up from the chair. Marie was so helpless, in such pain, andthe truth must be confessedso frightened of what was before her that she dared not let her go. But this woman was suddenly hateful to her, what she said was not what she wanted, there was something quite different in Marie's soul. Yet the prediction that she might possibly die in the hands of an inexperienced peasant woman overcame her aversion. But she made up for it by being more exacting and more ruthless than ever with Shatov. She ended by forbidding him not only to look at her but even to stand facing her. Her pains became more violent. Her curses, her abuse became more and more frantic.

  "Ech, we'll send him away," Arina Prohorovna rapped out. "I don't know what he looks like, he is simply frightening you; he is as white as a corpse! What is it to you, tell me please, you absurd fellow? What a farce!"

  Shatov made no reply, he made up his mind to say nothing. "I've seen many a foolish father, half crazy in such cases. But they, at any rate … "

  "Be quiet or leave me to die! Don't say another word! I won't have it, I won't have it!" screamed Marie.

  "It's impossible not to say another word, if you are not out of your mind, as I think you are in your condition. We must talk of what we want, anyway: tell me, have you anything ready? You answer, Shatov, she is incapable."