Chapter 5 part one - two

The life experience of the female prisoner Maslova is extremely ordinary.She was the illegitimate child of an unmarried female serf.This female serf worked with her mother who raised livestock in the manor of two old landowners.This unmarried woman gave birth to a child every year, and according to the custom of the country, always baptized the child, and then the mother stopped feeding the child who came against her will, because it would affect her. work.So the child soon died of starvation. In this way five children died.All of them were baptized, all of them were nursed, and all of them died.The sixth child, a girl, was born to a passing gypsy.Her fate would have been the same, but one of the two old girls happened to come to the barn and reprimanded the breeder for making a cow-like cream.At that time the mother was lying in the barn with her fat white baby.The old girl yelled at the butter because she didn't taste good, and because she put the pregnant woman in the barn. After scolding, she was about to leave when she saw the baby and thought it was very cute, so she volunteered to be her godmother.She baptized the girl, and out of pity for the goddaughter, she often gave the mother some milk and money.In this way, the girl survived.

The two old girls have called her "Bornborn" ever since. When the child was three years old, her mother fell ill and died.The grandmother who kept the livestock felt that the granddaughter was a burden, so the two old girls took the girl to her side to raise her.This dark-eyed little girl was very lively and lovely, and the two old girls often used her for entertainment. Of the two old girls, the younger sister, Sophia Ivanovna, was the kinder, and it was she who baptized the girl; the older sister, Marya Ivanovna, was the more irritable.Sophia adorned the doll beautifully, and taught her to read, trying to train her to be her adopted daughter.Maria wanted to train her to be an excellent maid, so she was very strict with her. When she was in a bad mood, she would punish her or even beat her.Due to the different attitudes of the two old girls, when the little girl grew up, she became half a maid and half an adopted daughter.Her name was the same, Katyusha, not Kajika, not Kajinka. ①She sewed, tidied the room, wiped the holy images, made tea, cooked vegetables, ground coffee beans, brewed coffee, washed odds and ends, and sometimes sat down to read to two old girls.

-------- ①Her real name was Katerina, Kajika was a vulgar name, Kazinka was an elegant name, and Katyusha was a common nickname. When someone came to talk to her about a matchmaker, she refused all of them, thinking that marrying a man who worked hard for a living must be a hard life.She was used to the comforts of a landowner's house. She lived like this until she was sixteen.When they turned sixteen, the nephew of the two old girls, a wealthy duke and young master who was studying at the university, came to their home.Katyusha fell in love with him secretly, but dared not confess to him, even she dared not admit that she had such a feeling.Two years later, the nephew and young master set out on an expedition, passed by his aunt's house, and stayed for another four days.On the eve of his departure he seduced Katyusha, and on the day of his departure he gave her a hundred-rouble note.It was five months after he was gone that she concluded she was pregnant.

From then on, she became irritable, preoccupied with how to avoid the impending humiliation.She served two old girls, not only perfunctorily, but without even thinking about it, she lost her temper.She contradicted the old girls, said a lot of foul words to them, and felt remorse afterwards, and asked to quit her job. The two old girls were also very dissatisfied with her, so they let her go.She left their house to work as a maid at the prefect's house, but only for three months, because the prefect, in spite of his fifty years, was still obsessed with her.Once, he pushed him so hard that she got angry, called him a bastard and an old ghost, and pushed him away so hard that he was pushed to the ground.She was fired for it.It was impossible for her to find a job again, because she was about to give birth, so she lived in the home of a widow who gave birth and sold bootleg alcohol in the countryside.The delivery went well, but the midwife infected Katyusha with puerperal fever just after delivering a sick country woman.Boys are sent to the Foundling Home as soon as they are born.According to the old woman who brought it, the baby died on arrival there.

When Katyusha came to live with the midwife, she had a total of one hundred and twenty-seven rubles with her: twenty-seven rubles she had earned herself, and one hundred rubles from the prince who had seduced her.When she came out of the midwife's house she had only six rubles left.She doesn't know how to live frugally, is good at spending money, treats people kindly, and always responds to requests.The midwife asked her forty rubles for food and tea for two months, and another twenty-five rubles for sending the baby to the nursery.In addition, the midwife borrowed forty rubles from her to buy a cow.The remaining twenty or so rubles were spent by Katyusha herself on buying clothes and giving gifts.Thus, when Katyusha recovered, she was penniless and had to find work again.She went to work at the forest officer's house.Although the forest officer had a wife, he, like the chief of police, had been obsessed with Katyusha from the first day.Katyusha hated him and tried to avoid him.But he was more cunning and sophisticated than Katyusha, mainly because he was the boss and could order her around as he wished, so he finally found an opportunity and took her.The wife found out about this, and once seeing her husband alone with Katyusha in the room, she threw herself at her and beat her.Not to be outdone, Katyusha fought with each other.As a result, Katyusha was kicked out without even getting her salary.After that, Katyusha came to the city and lived in her aunt's house.My uncle was a bookbinder, and he lived a good life at first, but later the number of customers dwindled, so he used wine to relieve his worries, sold all the things in the house and drank them.

My aunt opened a small laundromat to support her children and her down-and-out husband.The aunt made Maslova work in her laundry.But Maslova was hesitant when she saw the hard life of the women workers in the laundry, so she went to the recommendation company to find a job as a maid for others.She found a family with a wife and two boys in high school.Only a week after entering, the older boy with the moustache, who was in the sixth grade, left his homework and haunted Maslova, refusing to let her rest.The mother blamed Maslova and dismissed her.Maslova did not find a new job, but she happened to meet a lady with rings on her hands and bracelets on her fat bare arms in a job search.When the lady learned of Maslova's situation, she left her address and asked Maslova to come to her house.Maslova went to her.The lady entertained her with pies and rum, and sent her maid to deliver a letter somewhere.In the evening, a tall man with gray beard and hair came into the house.The old man sat down next to Maslova as soon as he arrived, looked at her with shining eyes, and talked to her.The hostess called him to another room, but Maslova heard the hostess say: "He just came from the country, so fresh!" Then the hostess called Maslova and told her that he was Writer, there is a lot of money, as long as she can do what he wants, he will not be reluctant to spend it.She did as he wanted, and he gave her twenty-five rubles, and promised to see her often.She paid off her aunt's living expenses, bought new dresses, hats, and ribbons, and soon ran out of money.A few days later, the writer came to invite her again.she went.He gave her another twenty-five rubles and told her to move to a separate apartment.

Maslova lived in an apartment rented by the writer for her, but fell in love with a cheerful clerk in the same courtyard.She volunteered to tell the writer about it, and then moved to a smaller single-family apartment.The clerk, who at first promised to marry her, then went down town without saying goodbye, apparently deserting her.So Maslova was left alone again.She wanted to continue living in that apartment alone, but they refused.The head of the police station told her that she had to obtain a yellow license① and undergo a doctor's examination before she could live alone.So she went back to her aunt's house.The aunt saw her in the fashionable clothes, shawls and hats, received her politely, and never dared to ask her to be a washerwoman again, thinking that she was now worth a lot.As for Maslova, she did not think of being a washerwoman at all.She looked at the washerwomen in the rooms ahead and felt pity for them.Their faces were pale, their arms were thin, some of them had tuberculosis, and they lived like convicts.There, no matter in winter or summer, the windows are always open, and they wash and iron clothes in the soapy steam at 30 degrees.Maslova could not help being terrified at the thought that she, too, might be subjected to such drudgery.

Just when Maslova had nothing to rely on and had no way of life, a prostitute who was looking for girls for a brothel found her. -------- ①Prostitute license issued by the imperial Russian government. ② refers to the Liege temperature.The freezing point is 0 degrees, the boiling point is 80 degrees, and 30 degrees is equal to 37.5 degrees Celsius. Maslova had been smoking cigarettes for a long time, but in the later stages of her concubine with the clerk and after her abandonment by him, she became more and more attached to the bottle.The reason why she can't do without the wine bottle is not only because the wine tastes mellow, but also because wine can make her forget all the pain she has suffered, temporarily relieve boredom and enhance her self-esteem.And this mental state cannot be maintained without drinking.She felt depressed and ashamed when she didn't drink.

The prostitute entertained her aunt to dinner, got Maslova drunk, ordered her to trade in one of the best brothels in the city, and enumerated to her all the advantages of such a trade.Maslova is faced with a choice: she can become a maid in a humble manner, but in this way she cannot escape the entanglement of men, and has to have temporary and secret adultery with others; Rich long public adultery.She chose the latter option.Besides, she wanted to take revenge in this way on the young duke who had seduced her, on the clerk, and on all the men who had wronged her.At the same time, there is another condition that tempts her and makes her finally make up her mind, that is, the prostitute promises her that she can make any clothes she likes, velvet, faye crepe, satin, bare-chested and bare-armed. Shirts, etc., let the choice.Maslova imagined herself wearing a light-yellow dress with a black velvet trim that exposed her breasts, and could no longer resist the temptation, so she handed over her ID card in exchange for a yellow license.That evening the prostitute hired a carriage and took her to the famous Kitayeva brothel.

-------- ①Silk or wool fabric with horizontal stripes on both sides. From then on, Maslova often violated the commandments of God and human morality, and lived a life of crime.Millions of women live this life, not only licensed but protected by a government concerned with the welfare of its citizens.In the end, nine out of ten such women suffered from severe diseases, prematurely declined, and died prematurely. Drinking and having fun at night, sleepy during the day.At two or three o'clock in the afternoon, they lazily get up from the dirty beds, drink mineral water to sober up, or drink coffee, wear blouses, short jackets or long pajamas, walk around several rooms listlessly, Looking out of the window through the curtain, wearily cursed a few words.Next came washing, oiling, body and hair perfumed, fittings, quarreling with the madam about them, looking in the mirror, painting the eyebrows, eating greasy desserts; Into the magnificent halls brightly lit.The guests came one after another, played music, danced, ate sweets, drank, smoked, and committed adultery.Among the guests were young, middle-aged, half-grown, old, single, married, merchants, shop assistants, Armenians, Jews, Tatars, wealthy Some are poor, some are strong, some are sick, some are drunk, some are sober, some are rough, some are gentle, some are soldiers, some are civil servants, some are college students, and some are high school students.In short, there are all kinds of men with different identities, different ages, and different personalities.There was noise and teasing, fighting and music, smoking and drinking, drinking and smoking, and music from dusk till dawn.It was not until morning that they had to get out and sleep.Every day, every week.Every weekend, they take a car to go to the government agency—the police station, where there are officials and doctors, all of whom are men.Sometimes serious, sometimes frivolous, they trampled on that crime-preventing shame which is endowed not only to man, but even to brutes, by examining the women and issuing them licenses to live with them. The accomplices committed another week of the same crime.It's the same next week.This is the case every day, regardless of winter and summer, and there are no holidays.

Seven years passed in this way for Maslova.During this period, she changed two brothels and stayed in a hospital once.In the seventh year of her entering the brothel and the eighth year after her first loss, when she was only twenty-six years old, something happened that sent her to prison.She spent six months in prison with murderers and thieves and was brought before the court today.