Chapter 12 twelve

twelve Afterwards, Andrei Yefimitch noticed a mysterious atmosphere around him.The orderlies, nurses, and patients in the hospital always looked at him questioningly when they met him, and then talked about something in private.In the past, he liked to meet Martha, the daughter of the chief purser in the hospital garden. Now whenever he came to her with a smile and wanted to touch her little head, she always ran away for some reason.Mikhail Averlianitch, the postmaster, listened to him, no longer always being "quite right," but murmured with unaccountable anxiety: "Yes, yes, yes..." At the same time, if She looked at him thoughtfully and sadly.For some reason he began to persuade his friends to give up vodka and beer, but he was a very polite man, so he couldn't speak directly, and always hinted at him, sometimes about a battalion commander, a wonderful person, sometimes about the regiment The priest, a lovely young man, said that they drank a lot and were often sick, but when they quit drinking, everything was cured.His colleague Hobotov, who came two or three times, also advised him to stop drinking, and for no reason recommended that he take potassium bromide drops.

① A sedative. In August Andrey Yefimitch received a letter from the mayor asking him to come and discuss an important matter.He came to the city hall at the appointed time, and there Andrei Yefimitch met the military governor, the superintendent of the county school appointed by the government, the city senator, Hobotov, and another fat The light-haired gentleman, upon introduction, is a physician.The doctor, who had a difficult Polish surname, lived on a stud farm thirty miles from the city, and had come here by the way. "Here is a report from your hospital," said the city senator to Andrei Yefimitch after everyone had greeted each other and sat down around the table. It's the size of a pharmacy, and it should be moved to the side house. Of course, it can be moved, it's not a problem. The point is that the side house needs some renovation."

"Yes, I'm afraid it can't be done without repairs," said Andrey Yefimitch after a moment's consideration, "for example, if the side room at the corner of the yard is used as a pharmacy, then I think the cost will be at least ② five hundred rubles. It's an unproductive expense." ②The original text is Latin. Everyone was silent for a moment. "I had the honor to present it ten years ago," Andrei Yefimitch continued in a low voice. "If this hospital is to be kept as it is, it will be an unaffordable luxury for the city. The hospital was opened in the forties. It was built in the 1990s, but the conditions were not the same as they are today. The city now spends too much money on unnecessary buildings and superfluous jobs. I think this money can be maintained in other ways. Two exemplary hospitals."

"Then let us do something else!" said the city senator hastily. "I have had the honor to report: handing over the medical establishment to the Zemstvo administration." "Yes, you hand over the money to the Zemstvo, and it will pocket itself." The light-haired doctor laughed. "Historically," agreed the city senator, laughing too. Andrey Yefimitch looked downcastly at the fair-haired doctor and said: "Be fair." There was another silence.Tea was served.The military officer was somehow embarrassed, touched Andrey Yefimitch's hand across the table, and said:

"You have completely forgotten us, doctor. But you are a monk: you don't play cards and you don't love women. You must be bored with us." Everyone talked about how dreary life was for the upper classes in this city.There was no theatre, no music, and at a recent club dance there were two dozen ladies with two male partners.The young people don't dance, they always crowd around the snack bar, or they play cards.Andrey Yefimitch, not looking at anyone, began slowly and calmly to say that the townspeople spend all their energies, hearts, and wits in playing cards and gossip, and do not and do not want to spend their time in It is a pity, a pity, to be unwilling to enjoy the pleasures of wisdom in interesting conversation and reading.Wisdom alone is interesting and noteworthy; all the rest are petty and insignificant.Hobotov had been listening attentively to what his colleague said, and suddenly asked:

"Andrey Yefimitch, what day is it?" After hearing the answer, he and the light-haired doctor began to ask Andrey Yefimitch in the tone of an examiner who he himself did not think was wise: what day is it today, how many days are there in a year, and in the sixth ward Whether or not there lived a great prophet. In answer to the last question Andrey Yefimitch blushed and said: "Yes, it is a patient, but he is an interesting young man." No one asked him any questions after that. While he was putting on his overcoat in the hall, the military officer put his hand on his shoulder and said with a sigh:

"It's time for us old men to retire!" Only after leaving the city hall did Andrey Yefimitch realize that this was a committee ordered to examine his intelligence.He blushed as he thought of the questions that had been asked of him, and for some reason now for the first time in his life he felt sorry and sad for medicine. "My God," he thought, remembering how the two doctors had examined him just now, "you know they were taking psychiatry courses and taking exams not long ago, how can they be so ignorant now? They don't even know psychiatry. There is no concept."

For the first time in his life he felt insulted and angry. That evening the postmaster came to see him.Mihail Averyanitch went up to him without saying hello, took both of his hands, and said excitedly: "My dear, my friend, please show me that you believe in my good intentions and consider me your friend... my dear!" he went on excitedly, not allowing Andrey Yefimitch to say anything. "I love you because you are educated and noble of soul. Listen to me, my dear friend. The medical code requires doctors to hide the truth from you, but I, as a soldier, only tell the truth: You are sick! Forgive me, dear But it's true, my friend, and those around you have already noticed it. Just now Dr. Yevgeny Fedoritch told me that in order to benefit your health, you must rest and relax. Absolutely true! Great! Yes! I will ask for leave in a few days, and I also want to go out for a change of air. Please show that you are my friend, and we will go together! We will go together as usual."

"I think I am perfectly healthy," said Andrey Yefimitch after a moment, "and I cannot go. Allow me to express our friendship in another way." To go on a long journey, not knowing where to go, what is the need, without books, without Daryushka, without beer, completely changing the way of life that has been cultivated for twenty years-this idea seemed to him at first to be irrational and ridiculous.But he remembered the conversation at the city hall, and the heavy heart he felt on the way home from the city hall, and he felt that it would be okay to leave the city for a while and leave these fools who thought he was crazy.

"And where are you going yourself?" "To Moscow, to Petersburg, to Warsaw... I spent the happiest five years of my life in Warsaw. What a beautiful city! Let's go together, dear friend!"