Mother

drunk. Staggering he crawled to a corner in the front of the room, and stri

ppe

h her arm around her son, drew his head upon her breast. W

er, q

in a sad and affectionate voice,

father's pipe," mumbled Pavel indis

akened his body, but it did not quench his consciousnes

sadness in her eyes. He wanted to weep, and in order to overcome

is tangled hair, and

it? You oughtn't

e forehead. He sobered a little, but under and around him everything seemed to be rocking; his eyelids grew heavy; he fe

r me. Others drink and noth

istance came the m

iver will you be to me

eyes tightly

body d

rn there was no place where people could enjoy themselves; besides the

oth of you. And he made enough misery for me.

e house. She had been silent and had always lived in anxious expectation of blows. Desiring to avoid his father, he had been home v

Her broad oval face, wrinkled and puffy, was lighted up with a pair of dark eyes, troubled and melancholy as those of most of the women in the village. On her right eyebrow was a deep scar, which turned the eyebrow upward a little; her r

trickled do

ed the son in a soft vo

se and

you some

the cup on the table, she knelt before the sacred image upon the wall, and began to pray in silence. The sounds of dark, drunken life beat against the window panes; an accordion screeche

onously, but more calmly and undisturbed than before, a

eparated from the kitchen by a partition reaching partially to the ceiling. The other two thirds formed a square room with two windows. In one corner stood Pavel's bed, in front a ta

, and a cane. Externally he became like all the other youths of his age. He went to evening parties and learned to dance a quadrille and a polka. On holidays he

mother

have a good t

ismally and w

body is like a machine. I'd bette

attendance at parties became less and less frequent, and although he went out somewhere on holidays, he always returned home sober. His mother watched him unobtrusively but closely, and saw the tawny face of her son grow keener and keener, and his eyes more serious. She noticed

apprehension stirred in her heart when she observed that he was obstinately and resolutely directing his life into obscu

ention when reading them; and after he had finished a book, he hid it.

Pavlusha?" the m

right," h

n," said the mo

as s

days he left home in the morning and returned late at night. She knew he went to the city and the theater; but nobody from the city ever came to visit him. It seemed to her that with the lapse of time her son spoke less and less; and at the same time she noticed that occasionally and with increasing frequency he used new words unintelligible to her, and that the coarse, rude, a

the wall. It represented three persons wa

m the dead, and going to

d the picture,

t, and yet you do

books increased on the shelves neatly made for him by one

of "mamma." But sometimes he turned to her suddenly, and briefly used the simple and famili

ch words she felt somet

g of something unusual. Every now and then she felt a certain dissatisfaction with him, and she thought: "All people are like people, and he is like a

oney is needed, and he gave a

ipped by, two years of a strange, silent life, full of disqui

n lamp hanging on the wall over his head, the mother, after removing the dishes, came out from the kitchen and

ows agitatedly. But after standing in the kitchen for a moment, motionless, th

id in a low, soft voice, "w

ook aside an

own, m

ightening herself into an attitude of intense, pa

el spoke, not loudly, but f

about our-about the workingmen's life. They are printed in secret, and if I am found wi

to her new, as if a stranger. His voice was different, lower, deeper, more sonorous. He pinched his thin

ou do thi

ooked at her, and sai

o know th

elf forever to something mysterious and awful. Everything in life had always appeared to her inevitable; she was accustomed to submi

and softly; and it seemed to her

retchedness on your body, the wretchedness of his life. It pressed upon him, and he did not know whence it came. He worked for thirty years; he

come to understand. With the na?veté of youth, and the ardor of a young student proud of his knowledge, religiously confiding in its truth, he spoke about everything that was clear to him, and spoke not so much for his mother as to verify and strengthen his own opinio

" he asked. "What sort o

ch language about herself, her own life. It awakened in her misty, dim thoughts, long dormant; gently roused an almost extinct feeling of rebellion, perplexed dissatisfaction-thoughts and feelings

all clutched at her heart, filling her with a sense of pride for her son, who truly understo

all he said about her own woman's existence was bitterly familiar and true. Hence it seemed to her that every word of his was

o, then?" she asked, i

gmen must study. We must learn, we must

he tears still trembled in the wrinkles of her face. She wavered between two feelings: pride in her son who desired the good of all people, had pity for all, and understood the sorrow and affliction of li

ear, what can you do? People wi

she feared to disturb her delight in her son, who suddenly

s truth; and youthful pride in the power of his word heightened his faith in himself. Seized with enthusiasm, he continued to talk, now smiling, now frown

so, P

, and who sowed truth among them; and because of this the enemies of life hunted them d

exclaimed passionately. "They

with terror, and she wanted to

of people incomprehensible to her, who taught her son to speak a

. You ought to go to bed.

t once," he assented.

rolled down from her eyes again, and breaking

d up and do

re I am going. I told you all. I beg of you

ied, "maybe it would be better f

"mother," pronounced by him with feverish emphasis, an

! Be on your guard!" Not knowing what he should be on his guard against

ch seemed to embrace his firm, well-shaped

must be on the watch with people; they all hate one another. They live in greed and envy; all are glad to do injury; people persec

the melancholy speech, and when the mo

From childhood I feared everybody; as I grew up I began to hate everybody, some for their meanness, others-well, I do not know why-just so! And now I see all the people in a different wa

omething within himself. Then he s

how trut

d at him

ighed. "It is a dangerous ch

vel's swarthy, resolute, stern face was clearly outlined against the white pillow. Pressing her hand to h