Chapter 113 Part Three - Nine

Escorted by orderlies, Nekhludoff went again into the dark yard, dimly lit. "Where are you going?" asked one of the escorts, approaching the orderly who was escorting Nekhludoff. "Go to the isolation room, number five." "Can't get through here, it's locked, have to go through that porch." "How is it locked?" "The captain locked it. He went to the village by himself." "Oh, go here then." The orderly led Nekhludoff to another porch, along the boarded path, to another door.While still in the yard, I could hear noisy voices and people's activities, like a swarm of bees about to leave their nest.Nekhludoff approached and opened the door, and the uproar grew louder.Shouting, cursing and laughter could be heard.There was also the clanging of shackles.The air is filled with the familiar stench of feces and coal tar.

The clang of the chains and the pungent stench, the combination of these two things always made Nekhludoff sick, a mental nausea which gradually turned into a physical nausea.These two things are mixed together and feed each other, which really makes people feel very uncomfortable. There is a big smelly wooden barrel in the porch of the inn, which is the "toilet".Nekhludoff stepped through the door, and the first thing he saw was a woman sitting on the edge of the toilet.In front of her stood a man with a shaved head and a pancake-like hat on one side.They were having a lively conversation.Seeing Nekhludoff, the male prisoner winked and said:

"Even the emperor can't hold back his urine!" The woman lowered the hem of her prison robe and lowered her head. Going in from the porch is a passage.The cell doors on either side of the corridor were open.The first is a cell for families, and the second is a large cell for single prisoners.At the other end of the aisle are two small rooms for political prisoners.The house in this inn was originally supposed to accommodate 150 people, but now it accommodates 450 people. It is very crowded. The prisoners cannot fit in the cells, and the corridors are crowded.Some sat or lay on the floor, and some went out with empty teapots, or returned with teapots full of boiling water.Among these was Taras.He caught up with Nekhludoff and greeted him cordially.Taras's amiable face was ugly because of several bruises on his nose and under his eyes.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Nekhludoff. "Something's wrong," said Taras, smiling. "They fight all the time," said the escort, contemptuously. "For the woman," said a prisoner behind them, "he fucked the blind Fetka." "How is Fedosya?" asked Nekhludoff. "It's nothing, she's in good health, I just turned on the water to make tea for her," Taras said as he walked into the cell with the family. Nekhludoff glanced through the door.The entire cell was crowded with men and women, some sitting on the plank bed, some lying under the plank bed.The cell was filled with wet clothes and steam.There was also the constant yelling of the women.Next door is the cell for single prisoners.This cell was even more crowded, even the door and the aisle were full of groups of noisy prisoners.They were wearing wet clothes, they were dispensing something, or solving some problem.The escort explained to Nekhludoff that there was a prisoner in the prison who ran a casino and lent money to other prisoners. If he didn't come out for a while, he would use a piece of paper cut from a card as an IOU. Withhold money from food bills to return to the casino owner.The prisoners who stood near stopped short when they saw the sergeant and a gentleman, and looked at them viciously.Among the money-dividers Nekhludoff found Fedorov, a convict whom he knew.Fedorov was always accompanied by a poor-looking young man with fair skin, puffy face, and frowning brows.In addition, he also saw a tramp with a pockmarked face, a bad nose, and a hideous appearance.It is said that this man killed his companion in the primeval forest and ate his flesh.The vagabond, with a wet prison robe over one shoulder, was standing in the passage, looking mockingly and boldly at Nekhludoff, without making way for him.Nekhludoff walked around him.

Although Nekhludoff was very familiar with this scene, although in the past three months he had often seen these four hundred criminals in various situations: they dragged along the dusty avenue on a hot day. Although he marched in chains, or rested by the roadside, and, on warm days, saw the horrific sight of male and female prisoners in public adultery in the yard of the inn, every time he came among them, he found them as he did now. Focusing on him, I still feel ashamed and guilty.What is especially embarrassing is that, in addition to this sense of shame and guilt, there will also be uncontrollable disgust and fear.He knew that there was nothing he could do about their situation, but he still couldn't get rid of his disgust for them.

"They live very well, these parasites!" Nekhludoff walked towards the door of the political prison, and heard someone behind him say, "What's the trouble with these ghosts, anyway, they don't have stomach pains," said a hoarse voice. Said in a low voice, with unbearable curse words. There was an unfriendly mocking laugh from the crowd.