“Yes.”
“Is it possible? have mercy!”
“Why is it impossible, when I know?”
“That is enough! Who will listen to you?”
“Doesn’t it really please you?”
“Whom do you take me for? Of course it doesn’t!”
“If you don’t care to listen now, of course I must postpone the rest of my story till you are ready to listen; I hope it will be very soon.”
Endnotes
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It is also sometimes spelt “Cerniscevski,” in the Polish fashion. ↩
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“The disgraceful post,” as it is called, stands upon the scaffold, provided with rings and chains. The convict’s hands are thrust through the rings, and he is fastened so that he cannot move. ↩
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Dyeistvitelnui Statskui Sovyetnik corresponds in the civil rank of the Tchin with that of general of the army. ↩
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Mezzofanti (Giuseppe Gaspardo), chief keeper of the Vatican library, was said to have spoken over one hundred languages. ↩
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The Gostinui Dvor is the name of a great collection of shops under one roof in Saint Petersburg. ↩
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In Russia a married woman has absolutely no legal power; the husband has all the rights and privileges. Chernyshevsky wants to develop the idea of allowing married women equal right with husbands. ↩
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The Russian poet Nekrásof says in his poem, “Ubogaïa i Naryadnaïa” (The Poor Woman and the Luxurious), of just such a girl as Julie:—
Sryet tiébya predaiot poraganyu
I okhotno proshchaïet drugoe;Society condemns you to destruction,
But the rest of the world willingly forgives. -
Váshe Prevoskhoditelstvo, literally, your eminence. ↩
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Osel pronounced As-yól. ↩
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“Kolos ot kólosa, nyé sluikhat i gólosa,” a Russian proverb, meaning that the ear of corn is so far from its neighbor that the sound of the voice cannot reach from the one to the other. ↩
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“Nyé gólodayet i nyé khólodayet,” a play upon words, as though he had said, “Know neither gold nor cold.” ↩
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Dō svidánya, literally, till we meet again. ↩
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Literally, “Why are you sitting like a buka?” that is, why are you bent over like the Slavonic letter B? a popular idiom. ↩
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In the original the following slap at the selfishness and rascality of the average tchinovnik is dealt. The language, not the thought, is a trifle obscure. Kollezhsky secretar is the eighth order of the civil tchin, or order of rank corresponding to major in the army. Kollezhsky sovyestnik is the sixth, corresponding to colonel.
“When the kollezhsky sekratar Ivanof assures the kollezhsky sovyestnik Ivan Ivanuitch that he is devoted to him soul and body, Ivan Ivanuitch knows by his own experience that devotion of soul and body cannot be expected of anybody, and all the more he knows that in private life Ivanof cheated his father five times, and made a very large profit, and in this respect he even excelled Ivan Ivanuitch, who succeeded in cheating his father only three times; but for all that Ivan Ivanuitch believes that Ivanof is devoted to him; that is, he does not believe him, but he is grateful to him; and, although he does not believe him, yet he allows the dust to be thrown in his eyes. Consequently, he believes, although he does not believe.” Which logic is like the old fallacy: One Greek says that all Greeks lie. If all Greeks lie, then he lies; and if he lies, all Greeks tell the truth; therefore he must tell the truth. Then it is true that they lie. ↩
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Gdyé Makár telyat gonyaet (Where Makár drives his calves) is a Russian expression, meaning to go to distant places; often used of people sent to Siberia. ↩
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Drūg moï, mílenki moï. ↩
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Mílenkaïa moya. ↩
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Moï mílenki. ↩
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Dō svidánya, moï milui. ↩
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Moï mílenki. ↩
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Dō svidánya, moï mílenki. ↩
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Moï mílenki. ↩
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Mílenki moï. ↩
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Dō svidánya, moï milui, golubtchik moï. ↩
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Moï mílenki. ↩
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Dō svidánya, moï mílenki. ↩
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Po lyévo. ↩
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Before entering the medical school or any department of the Russian universities, a student is obliged to deposit with the authorities the certificate of his birth and baptism, and the diploma from the gymnasium (attestat zriélosti). That gives him the authority to teach, and shortens his term of service in the army. Without a diploma from the medical school a man cannot practise medicine. ↩
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Nu, razboïnnik, literally, highwayman, murderer. ↩
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Deneg-to stolko tchto kurui nyé kliuiut: a Russian proverb, literally meaning: they have so much money that the chickens will not pick it up. ↩
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The Russian tchin, or hierarchy of rank, was established by Peter the Great. It consists of fourteen grades, with complicated titles in the civil, military, and marine service, the court, etc. The lowest title in the civil rank is “Collegiate Register,” corresponding with cornet in the army. From the fourteenth to the seventh class in the army, from the ninth to the fourth in the civil service, personal nobility is attached. Above those grades nobility is hereditary. Any person who comes under this vast hierarchy is a tchinovnik. ↩
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Nyekonsekventnosti, moderantizm, burzhuaznost. ↩
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Diminutives of Aleksandr, as Nástenka is of Nastasia. The girl’s
