Chapter 20 Part 1 - Seventeen

Thus the whole evening passed, and night fell.The doctor went to bed.The two aunts also rested.Nekhludoff knew that Matrona was at the moment in her aunt's bedroom, and that Katyusha was alone in the maids' room.He went up the steps again.It was dark, damp, and warm outside.There was a white mist in the air.In spring, such fog can melt away the remaining snow, and perhaps the fog itself is formed by melting the remaining snow.A hundred paces in front of the house there was a creek under the cliff, and from there came a strange noise, that of the cracking of ice. Nekhludoff went down the steps, over the snow-covered pond, to the window of the maid's room.His heart was beating so fast in his chest that he could hear it.Now he held his breath, now he let out a long sigh.A small lamp was burning in the maids' room.Katyusha sat alone at the table, meditating, her eyes staring straight ahead.Nekhludoff looked at her for some time without moving, eager to see what she would do when she thought no one was watching.She sat motionless for about two minutes, then raised her eyes, smiled slightly, shook her head as if reproaching herself, then changed her posture, put her arms on the table suddenly, and stared blankly at her. forward.

He stood looking at her, unconsciously listening to the beating of his own heart and the strange sound coming from the creek at the same time.There, on the misty river, a continuous slow change was taking place: now something was wheezing and wheezing, now it was cracking, now it was collapsing with a crash, now the thin ice collided like glass and released Crisp sound. He stood looking at Katyusha's pensive, tormented face, which was full of inner struggles, and he felt pity for her, but strangely enough, this pity only strengthened his desire for her. He is completely controlled by lust.

He knocked on the window.She trembled all over as if she had been electrocuted, with a look of horror on her face.Then she jumped up, went to the window, and pressed her face to the pane.She shaded her eyes with her hands and recognized him, but the look of terror on her face didn't fade.She looked very serious, he had never seen her like this before.She didn't smile until he smiled slightly, as if she only smiled to cater to him.She didn't want to laugh at all, all she had was fear.He gestured to her to come out.She shook her head, unable to express it, but still stood by the window.He put his face close to the glass window again, and was about to call her out, but at that moment she turned towards the door, evidently someone had called her.Nekhludoff moved away from the window.The fog was so thick that the windows could not be seen five steps away from the house, only a dark shadow with what seemed to be a large red light in the middle.From the other side of the river there was still the strange sound of panting, collapsing, cracking, and crashing ice.In the nearby foggy courtyard, a rooster crowed, and several nearby roosters responded to it, and then from a distant village, roosters crowed in unison.However, except for the other side of the river, the surrounding area is still quiet.At this time the rooster crowed for the second time.

Nekhludoff walked up and down the corner of the house twice, stepped on the pond several times, and returned to the window of the maid's room.The lamp was still on, and Katyusha was still sitting at the table, as if she could not make up her mind about something.As soon as he reached the window, she glanced at him.He knocked on the window.She ran out of the house without seeing who was knocking.He heard the click of the door hook, and then the outer door creaked open.He waited for her on the porch and immediately put his arms around her silently.She clung to him, raised her head, and brought her lips to meet his kiss.They stood in the dry place around the corner of the porch, and he was tormented by unfulfilled desire.Suddenly the door creaked again, and Matrona's angry voice came again:

"Katyusha!" She broke free from his arms and went back to the maid's room.He heard the latch click again.Then all was still again, and the light in the window was gone, and there was only mist and the sound of the river. Nekhludoff went to the window and saw no one.He knocked on the window, but no one answered.Nekhludoff returned to the house by the front steps, but could not sleep.He took off his boots and walked barefoot from the passage to her door, which was next to Matrona's.At first he heard only Matrona's peaceful snoring, and just as he was about to go in, he heard her coughing and turning over, making the bed creak.He held his breath and stood motionless for about five minutes.When all was quiet again, and the peaceful snoring was heard again, he made his way over the unsqueakable floors until he came to her door.There was no sound at all.She was clearly not asleep because her snoring could not be heard.No sooner had he called "Katyusha" in a low voice than she jumped up, went to the door, and angrily--so he felt-- persuaded him to go away.

"What does this sound like? Oh, how can it work? Auntie and the others will hear it," she said in her mouth, but her whole body seemed to say, "I belong to you." Only Nekhludoff knew this. "Hey, you open it. I beg you," he said incoherently. She was silent, and then he heard a hand fumbling for the latch.The latch snapped open, and he slipped through the open door. He grabbed her. She was wearing only a thick, stiff shirt with her arms bare.He picked her up and walked out the door. "Oh! what are you doing?" she murmured. But he ignored her and carried her all the way to his room.

"Oh! Come on, let go," she said, but she clung to him tightly. When she walked out of his room silently, trembling all over, without saying a word or answering his words, he came to the steps and stood there, trying to think about the meaning of what had just happened. It was a little brighter outside the house.The crackling and thumping and whirring of the ice on the other side of the river was louder.In addition to these noises, the sound of gurgling water has now been added.The mist began to sink, and a waning moon emerged from behind the fog, illuminating the dark and gloomy ground desolately.

"What's the matter with me, good luck or bad luck?" he asked himself. "It happens all the time, it happens to everyone," he answered himself, and went to bed in his room.