The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (e book reader TXT) đ
- Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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âWith full confidence I venture to rest assured that you will not take my letter in a sense derogatory to yourself, and at the same time that you will not refuse to explain yourself expressly on this occasion by letter, sending the same by my man.
âIn expectation of your reply, I have the honour, dear sir, to remain,
âYour humble servant,
âY. Golyadkin.â
âWell, that is quite all right. The thingâs done, it has come to letter-writing. But who is to blame for that? He is to blame himself: by his own action he reduces a man to the necessity of resorting to epistolary composition. And I am within my rightsâŠ.â
Reading over his letter for the last time, Mr. Golyadkin folded it up, sealed it and called Petrushka. Petrushka came in looking, as usual, sleepy and cross about something.
âYou will take this letter, my boy⊠do you understand?â
Petrushka did not speak.
âYou will take it to the department; there you must find the secretary on duty, Vahramyev. He is the one on duty today. Do you understand that?â
âI understand.â
âI understand! He canât even say, I understand, sir! You must ask the secretary, Vahramyev, and tell him that your master desired you to send his regards, and humbly requests him to refer to the address book of our office and find out where the titular councillor, Golyadkin, is living?â
Petrushka remained mute, and, as Mr. Golyadkin fancied, smiled.
âWell, so you see, Pyotr, you have to ask him for the address, and find out where the new clerk, Golyadkin, lives.â
âYes.â
âYou must ask for the address and then take this letter there. Do you understand?â
âI understand.â
âIf there⊠where you have to take the letter, that gentleman to whom you have to give the letter, that Golyadkin⊠What are you laughing at, you blockhead?â
âWhat is there to laugh at? What is it to me! I wasnât doing anything, sir. itâs not for the likes of us to laughâŠ.â
âOh, well⊠if that gentleman should ask, âHow is your master, how is heâ; if he⊠well, if he should ask you anything - you hold your tongue, and answer, My master is all right and begs you for an answer to his letter. Do you understand?â
âYes, sir.â
âWell, then, say, My master is all right and quite well, say and is just getting ready to pay a call: and he asks you, say, for an answer in writing. Do you understand?â
âYes.â
âWell, go along, then.â
âWhy, what a bother I have with this blockhead too! Heâs laughing, and thereâs nothing to be done. Whatâs he laughing at? Iâve lived to see trouble. Here Iâve lived like this to see trouble. Though perhaps it may all turn out for the bestâŠ. That rascal will be loitering about for the next two hours now, I expect; heâll go off somewhere elseâŠ. Thereâs no sending him anywhere. What a misery it is!⊠What misery has come upon me!â
Feeling his troubles to the full, our hero made up his mind to remain passive for two hours till Petrushka returned. For an hour of the time he walked about the room, smoked, then put aside his pipe and sat down to a book, then he lay down on the sofa, then took up his pipe again, then again began running about the room. He tried to think things over but was absolutely unable to think about anything. At last the agony of remaining passive reached the climax and Mr. Golyadkin made up his mind to take a step. âPetrushka will come in another hour,â he thought. âI can give the key to the porter, and I myself can, so to speak⊠I can investigate the matter: I shall investigate the matter in my own way.â
Without loss of time, in haste to investigate the matter, Mr. Golyadkin took his hat, went out of the room, locked up his flat, went in to the porter, gave him the key, together with ten kopecks - Mr. Golyadkin had become extraordinarily free-handed of late - and rushed off. Mr. Golyadkin went first on foot to the Ismailovsky Bridge. It took him half an hour to get there. When he reached to goal of his journey he went straight into the yard of the house so familiar to him, and glanced up at the windows of the civil councillor Berendyevâs flat. Except for three windows hung with red curtains all the rest was dark.
âOlsufy Ivanovitch has no visitors today,â thought Mr. Golyadkin; âthey must all be staying at home today.â
After standing for some time in the yard, our hero tried to decide on some course of action. but he was apparently not destined to reach a decision. Mr. Golyadkin changed his mind, and with a wave of his hand went back into the street.
âNo, thereâs no need for me to go today. What could I do here?⊠No, Iâd better, so to speak⊠Iâll investigate the matter personally.â
Coming to this conclusion, Mr. Golyadkin rushed off to his office. He had a long way to go. It was horribly muddy, besides, and the wet snow lay about in thick drifts. But it seemed as though difficulty did not exist for our hero at the moment. He was drenched through, it is true, and he was a ood deal spattered with mud.
âBut thatâs no matter, so long as the object is obtained.â
And Mr. Golyadkin certainly was nearing his goal. The dark mass of the huge government building stood up black before his eyes.
âStay,â he thought; âwhere am I going, and what am I going to do here? Suppose I do find out where he lives? Meanwhile, Petrushka will certainly have come back and brought me the answer. I am only wasting my precious time, I am simply wasting my time. Though shouldnât I, perhaps, go in and see Vahramyev? But, no, Iâll go laterâŠ. Ech! There was no need to have gone out at all. But, there, itâs my temperament! Iâve a knack of always seizing a chance of rushing ahead of things, whether there is a need to or not⊠. Hâm!⊠what time is it? It must be nine by now. Petrushka might come and not find me at home. It was pure folly on my part to go out⊠Ech, it is really a nuisance!â
Sincerely acknowledging that he had been guilty of an act of folly, our hero ran back to Shestilavotchny Street. He arrived there, weary and exhausted. From the porter he learned that Petrushka has not dreamed of turning up yet.
âTo be sure! I foresaw it would be so,â thought our hero; and meanwhile itâs nine oâclock. Ech, heâs such a good-for-nothing chap! Heâs always drinking somewhere! Mercy on us! What a day had fallen to my miserable lot!â
Reflecting in this way, Mr. Golyadkin unlocked his flat, got a light, took off his outdoor things, lighted his pipe and, tired, worn-out, exhausted and hungry, lay down on the sofa and waited for Petrushka. The candle burnt dimly; the light flickered on the wallâŠ. Mr. Golyadkin gazed and gazed, and thought and thought, and fell asleep at last, worn out.
It was late when he woke up. The candle had almost burnt down, was smoking and on the point of going out. Mr. Golyadkin jumped up, shook himself, and remembered it all, absolutely all. behind the screen he heard Petrushka snoring lustily. Mr. Golyadkin rushed to the window - not a light anywhere. he opened the movable pane - all was still; the city was asleep as though it were dead: so it must have been two or three oâclock; so it proved to be, indeed; the clock behind the partition made an effort and struck two. Mr. Golyadkin rushed behind the partition.
He succeeded, somehow, though only after great exertions, in rousing Petrushka, and making him sit up in his bed. At that moment the candle went out completely. About ten minutes passed before Mr. Golyadkin succeeded in finding another candle and lighting it. In the interval Petrushka had fallen asleep again.
âYou scoundrel, you worthless fellow!â said Mr. Golyadkin, shaking him up again. âWill you get up, will you wake?â After half an hour of effort Mr. Golyadkin succeeded, however, in rousing his servant thoroughly, and dragging him out from behind the partition. Only then, our hero remarked the fact that Petrushka was what is called dead-drunk and could hardly stand on his legs.
âYou good-for-nothing fellow!â cried Mr. Golyadkin; âyou ruffian! Youâll be the death of me! Good heavens! whatever has he done with the letter? Ach, my God! where is it?⊠And why did I write it? As though there were any need for me to have written it! I went scribbling away out of pride, like a noodle! Iâve got myself into this fix out of pride! That is what dignity does for you, you rascal, that is dignity! ⊠Come, what have you done with the letter, you ruffian? To whom did you give it?â
âI didnât give any one any letter; and I never had any letter ⊠so there!â
Mr. Golyadkin wrung his hands in despair.
âListen, Pyotr⊠listen to me, listen to meâŠâ
âI am listeningâŠâ
âWhere have you been? - answerâŠâ
âWhere have I been⊠Iâve been to see good people! What is it to me!â
âOh, Lord, have mercy on us! Where did you go, to begin with? Did you go to the department?⊠Listen, Pyotr, perhaps youâre drunk?â
âMe drunk! If I should be struck on the spot this minute, not a drop, not a drop - so thereâŠ.â
âNo, no, itâs no matter youâre being drunkâŠ. I only asked; itâs all right your being drunk; I donât mind, Petrushka, I donât mindâŠ. Perhaps itâs only that you have forgotten, but youâll remember it all. Come, try to remember - have you been to that clerkâs, to Vahramyevâs; have you been to him or not?â
âI have not been, and thereâs no such clerk. Not if I were this minuteâŠâ
âNo, no, Pyotr! No, Petrushka, you know I donât mind. Why, you see I donât mindâŠ. Come, what happened? To be sure, itâs cold and damp in the street, and so a man has a drop, and itâs no matter. I am not angry. Iâve been drinking myself today, my boyâŠ. Come, think and try and remember, did you go to Vahramyev?â
âWell, then, now, this is how it was, itâs the truth - I did go, if this very minuteâŠâ
âCome, that is right, Petrushka, that is quite right that youâve been. you see Iâm not angryâŠ. Come, come,â our hero went on, coaxing his servant more and more, patting him on the shoulder and smiling to him, âcome, you had a little nip, you scoundrelâŠ. You had two-pennâorth of something I suppose? Youâre a sly rogue! Well, thatâs no matter; come, you see that Iâm not angry⊠. Iâm not angry, my boy, Iâm not angryâŠ.â
âNo, Iâm not a sly rogue, say what you likeâŠ. I only went to see some good friends. Iâm not a rogue, and I never have been a rogueâŠ.â
âOh, no, no, Petrushka; listen, Petrushka, you know Iâm not scolding when I called you a rogue. I said that in fun, I said it in a good sense. You see, Petrushka, it is sometimes a compliment to a man when you call him a rogue, a cunning fellow, that heâs a sharp chap and would not let any one take him in. Some men like it⊠Come, come, it doesnât matter! Come, tell me, Petrushka, without keeping anything back, openly, as
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