Chapter 9 "Duel" Eight

Eight It wasn't until very late, nearly eleven o'clock, that everyone began to get in the carriage and prepare to go home.All were seated except Nadezhda Fyodorovna and Atchmianov, who were running after each other on the opposite bank, laughing loudly. "Hurry up, everyone!" Samoylenko called to them. "You shouldn't drink to the ladies," said von Koren softly. Laevsky, very tired from the picnic, from von Koren's hatred, from his own thoughts, went towards Nadezhda Fyodorovna.When she was elated and joyful, feeling as light as a feather, panting, laughing, grabbed his arms, and pressed her head to his chest, he took a step back and said sharply: "You look like this!" Looks like... a whore."

The remark was so rude that even he felt sorry for her.She saw hatred, pity, anger at himself in his angry and tired face, and she was instantly discouraged.She realized that she had gone too far, that she had acted too boldly, and she felt sad, feeling heavy, fat, brutish, drunk, and as soon as she saw an empty carriage she got into it with Atchmianov.Laevsky and Kirilin rode in a carriage, the zoologist with Samoylenko, the deacon with the women, and the carriage set off. "Look, they, these macaques, look like this..." began Von Koren, wrapped his coat tightly around him, and closed his eyes. "You heard it just now: she didn't want to study little beetles and ladybugs because the people were suffering. That's what all the macaques say about our people. They're a servile, cunning race, ten generations old. Whips and fists are terrified. They tremble, squirm, and kowtow only when they see violence; but as soon as these macaques are released in a free place, and no one comes to grab them by the neck, they will be unrestrained and willful. You see how brave they become when they go to art exhibitions, museums, theaters, or when they are criticizing science. You see, freelancers get called more often than liars, because three-quarters of society is slaves, macaques like that.

Never will a slave hold out his hand to you and thank you sincerely for your work. " "I don't know what you want!" Samoylenko yawned. "The poor woman was frank and wanted to talk to you about intellectual matters, and you drew conclusions from it. You were angry with him for some reason, and now you are angry with her because she talked to him Live together. But she's a nice woman!" "Oh, come on! Just an ordinary concubine, dissolute and vulgar. Listen, Alexandr Daviditch, if you meet an ordinary village woman who doesn't live with her husband, who doesn't do anything but laugh, you'll tell her: Go to work.So why are you timid and afraid to tell the truth in this situation?Was it because Nadezhda Fyodorovna was in love with a civil servant instead of a sailor? "

"Then what am I going to do with her?" Samoylenko said angrily. "Should I beat her up or something?" "Don't condone evil. We curse evil behind our backs all the time. It's like putting your hand in your pocket and making a contemptuous gesture at a wicked person. I'm a zoologist, or a sociologist, . . . it's the same thing. What about you?" , are physicians. Society trusts us. It is our duty to tell society what a terrible harm the presence of ladies like Nadezhda Ivanovna is to society and to future generations." "Not Ivanovna, but Fyodorovna," corrected Samoylenko. "So what should society do?"

"Society? That's its business. In my opinion, the most straightforward and correct way is coercion. You should manu militari, send her to her husband, and if her husband refuses to take her, send her to hard labor, Or send it to Jiliang Institute or something like that.” "Hey!" Samoylenko sighed.He was silent for a while, and then asked in a low voice: "A few days ago you said that people like Laevsky should be eliminated... Then tell me: if that... Suppose, the government or society entrusts you to Eliminate him, then you... can you do it?" "My hands don't shake."

"Notes" ①French: use military force.