Full Transcript for Russian Tsar Era Classics — The Lady with the Dog, by Anton Chekhov

and how to behave. And even 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:04.979 to be silent with them was easy for him. In his 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:08.620 appearance, in his character, in his whole nature 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:12.150 there was something attractive, elusive. that 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:15.430 disposed women in his favor and drew them to 00:03:15.430 --> 00:03:19.610 him. He knew this, and he himself was drawn to 00:03:19.610 --> 00:03:24.719 them by some force of his own. Experience many 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.800 times over, bitter experience indeed, had taught 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:32.539 him long ago that every intimacy which at first 00:03:32.539 --> 00:03:36.560 so pleasantly diversifies life and presents itself 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:40.360 as a sweet and easy adventure will inevitably 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:44.819 with respectable people especially with Muscovites, 00:03:45.259 --> 00:03:49.120 slow to move and irresolute, grow into a whole 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.699 problem, an extraordinarily complicated one, 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:56.759 and that, in the end, the position becomes burdensome. 00:03:57.780 --> 00:04:00.020 But at every new meeting with an interesting 00:04:00.020 --> 00:04:03.800 woman, that experience somehow slipped from his 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:07.580 memory, and he wanted to live, and everything 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:12.610 seemed so simple and amusing. And then one evening 00:04:12.610 --> 00:04:15.590 he was dining in the garden, and the lady in 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:18.629 the beret came unhurriedly to take the next table. 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.779 Her expression, her walk, her dress, and the 00:04:22.779 --> 00:04:25.560 way her hair was arranged, told him that she 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:29.259 was of good society, married, in Yalta for the 00:04:29.259 --> 00:04:33.360 first time, and alone, that she was bored here. 00:04:34.569 --> 00:04:37.170 There is a great deal of untruth in the tales 00:04:37.170 --> 00:04:40.949 of the impurity of local morals. He despised 00:04:40.949 --> 00:04:44.040 them. and knew that such tales are mostly composed 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:46.980 by people who would themselves gladly sin if 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:50.529 they knew how. But when the lady sat down at 00:04:50.529 --> 00:04:54.370 the next table, three steps from him, he remembered 00:04:54.370 --> 00:04:57.670 those tales of easy conquests and excursions 00:04:57.670 --> 00:05:00.290 into the mountains, and the tempting thought 00:05:00.290 --> 00:05:04.110 of a swift, fleeting liaison, a romance with 00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:08.129 an unknown woman whose name he did not know suddenly 00:05:08.129 --> 00:05:12.100 took possession of him. He beckoned the spits 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:15.180 to him in a friendly way, and when it came up, 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:19.319 shook his finger at it. The spits growled. Gerov 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:22.889 shook his finger again. The lady glanced at him 00:05:22.889 --> 00:05:26.610 and at once lowered her eyes. He doesn't bite, 00:05:27.029 --> 00:05:31.399 she said, and blushed. May I give him a bone? 00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:36.079 And when she nodded her head in assent, he asked 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:40.889 affably. Have you been in Yalta long? About five 00:05:40.889 --> 00:05:45.250 days, and I am already dragging through my second 00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:49.829 week here They were silent for a little time 00:05:49.829 --> 00:05:53.550 goes quickly and yet it is so dull here She said 00:05:53.550 --> 00:05:58.079 not looking at him It is only the done thing 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:02.079 to say it is dull here a man lives somewhere 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:06.279 in Bellevue or gistra At home and is not bored, 00:06:06.980 --> 00:06:11.970 but let him come here Oh, how dull! Oh, the dust! 00:06:12.529 --> 00:06:16.689 You would think he had come from Grenada." She 00:06:16.689 --> 00:06:19.790 laughed. Then both went on eating in silence, 00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:23.129 like strangers. But after dinner they walked 00:06:23.129 --> 00:06:26.750 side by side, and there began the playful light 00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:30.050 talk of free, contented people, to whom it is 00:06:30.050 --> 00:06:32.850 all the same where they go or what they talk 00:06:32.850 --> 00:06:36.959 about. They strolled and talked of how strangely 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:41.060 the sea was lit. The water was of a lilac color, 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:46.060 so soft and warm, and over it a golden strip 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:49.819 ran from the moon. They talked of how stifling 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:53.649 it was after the hot day. Gurev told her that 00:06:53.649 --> 00:06:57.449 he was a Muscovite, a philologist by education, 00:06:57.889 --> 00:07:01.250 but served in a bank, that he had once trained 00:07:01.250 --> 00:07:04.550 to sing in a private opera, but had given it 00:07:04.550 --> 00:07:09.170 up, that he had two houses in Moscow. And from 00:07:09.170 --> 00:07:12.089 her he learned that she had grown up in Petersburg, 00:07:12.750 --> 00:07:15.649 but had married in S, where she had lived two 00:07:15.649 --> 00:07:19.009 years now, that she would stay in Yalta another 00:07:19.009 --> 00:07:22.610 month or so, and that her husband, who also needed 00:07:22.610 --> 00:07:26.050 a rest, would perhaps come for her. She could 00:07:26.050 --> 00:07:28.730 not at all explain where her husband served, 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:31.629 in the provincial government or in the provincial 00:07:31.629 --> 00:07:35.129 Zemstow board, and that struck her herself as 00:07:35.129 --> 00:07:38.680 funny. and Gurov learned besides that her name 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:43.129 was Anna Sergeyevna. Afterwards, in his room, 00:07:43.449 --> 00:07:46.430 he thought about her, that tomorrow she would 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:50.139 most likely meet him again. It was bound to be 00:07:50.139 --> 00:07:54.620 so. Going to bed, he remembered that quite recently

00:07:54.620 --> 00:07:58.279 she had been a schoolgirl, studying, just as 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:01.839 his daughter was now. He remembered how much 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:05.199 timidity and angularity there still was in her 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:09.170 life. in her conversation with a stranger. It 00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:12.050 must be the first time in her life that she was 00:08:12.050 --> 00:08:15.230 alone, in surroundings where she was followed 00:08:15.230 --> 00:08:20.129 and looked at and spoken to with one secret purpose 00:08:20.129 --> 00:08:25.029 only, of which she could not but be aware. He 00:08:25.029 --> 00:08:28.629 remembered her thin, delicate neck, her beautiful 00:08:28.629 --> 00:08:32.379 gray eyes. There is something pathetic about 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:36.029 her all the same, he thought. and began to fall 00:08:36.029 --> 00:08:56.340 asleep. By way of disclosure, this program accepts 00:08:56.340 --> 00:08:59.480 tips payable exclusively in likes and subscriptions. 00:09:00.299 --> 00:09:02.440 The cost to you is nil, the encouragement to 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:06.019 us considerable. Tip generously if you'd be so 00:09:06.019 --> 00:09:08.639 kind. It rather proves the work is not for nothing. 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:14.429 Part 2 A week had passed since they met. It was 00:09:14.429 --> 00:09:19.059 a holiday. Indoors it was stifling. and outside 00:09:19.059 --> 00:09:21.679 the dust whirled in eddies in the streets and 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.740 blew people's hats off. One was thirsty all day, 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:29.419 and Gurov kept going into the pavilion and offering 00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:33.340 Anna Sergeyevna now syrup and water, now an ice. 00:09:34.110 --> 00:09:37.759 There was nowhere to escape to. In the evening, 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:40.840 when it grew a little calmer, they went to the 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:44.000 pier to watch the steamer come in. There were 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.559 many people strolling on the pier, Some had gathered 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:51.460 to meet somebody and held bouquets, and two features 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:55.220 of the fashionable Yalta crowd showed up distinctly. 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.240 The elderly ladies were dressed like young ones, 00:09:58.539 --> 00:10:02.220 and there were a great many generals. Because 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:05.360 of the rough sea, the steamer arrived late, when 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.799 the sun had already set, and turned about for 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:11.840 a long time before coming alongside the pier. 00:10:12.769 --> 00:10:15.659 Anna Sergeyevna, looked through her lorgnet at 00:10:15.659 --> 00:10:18.720 the steamer and the passengers as though looking 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:22.000 for acquaintances, and when she turned to Gurov, 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.860 her eyes shone. She talked a great deal, and 00:10:25.860 --> 00:10:29.139 her questions were abrupt, and she herself at 00:10:29.139 --> 00:10:32.500

once forgot what she had asked. Then she lost 00:10:32.500 --> 00:10:36.299 her lorgnet in the crowd. The fashionable crowd 00:10:36.299 --> 00:10:39.700 was dispersing. Faces could no longer be made 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:43.690 out. The wind had quite dropped. But Gerov and 00:10:43.690 --> 00:10:46.870 Anna Sergeyevna stood on, as though waiting to 00:10:46.870 --> 00:10:50.049 see whether anyone else would come off the steamer. 00:10:50.429 --> 00:10:53.649 Anna Sergeyevna was silent now, and smelt the 00:10:53.649 --> 00:10:58.009 flowers without looking at Gerov. The weather 00:10:58.009 --> 00:11:01.539 has turned better towards evening. Where shall 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:05.809 we go now? Shall we drive somewhere? She made 00:11:05.809 --> 00:11:10.039 no answer. Then he looked at her intently, suddenly 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:13.279 put his arm round her and kissed her on the lips. 00:11:13.529 --> 00:11:16.730 and was enveloped by the fragrance and the moisture 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:20.090 of the flowers. And at once he glanced round 00:11:20.090 --> 00:11:24.700 fearfully. Had anyone seen? Let us go to your 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:29.220 rooms, he said softly, and both walked quickly. 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:33.919 In her room it was stifling and smelt of the 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.700 scent she had bought at the Japanese shop. Gurov, 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:41.289 looking at her now, thought, What meetings there 00:11:41.289 --> 00:11:45.350 are in life! From the past he kept memories of 00:11:45.350 --> 00:11:48.889 carefree, good -natured women, merry with love, 00:11:49.269 --> 00:11:52.190 grateful to him for happiness, however brief, 00:11:52.710 --> 00:11:56.149 and of women like his wife, who loved without 00:11:56.149 --> 00:12:00.549 sincerity, with superfluous talk, affectedly, 00:12:00.669 --> 00:12:03.870 with hysteria, with an expression as though it 00:12:03.870 --> 00:12:07.269 were not love or passion, but something much 00:12:07.269 --> 00:12:11.429 more significant. and of two or three very beautiful, 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:16.110 cold women, across whose faces a predatory expression 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:21.029 suddenly flashed, a stubborn desire to seize, 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:26.500 to snatch from life more than it can give. They 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:29.419 had been women no longer in their first youth, 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:34.700 capricious, unreasoning, domineering, unintelligent, 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:38.389 and when Gurov grew cold to them, their beauty 00:12:38.389 --> 00:12:41.710 aroused hatred in him, and the lace on their 00:12:41.710 --> 00:12:46.399 linen seemed to him then like scales. But here 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:50.159 there was still the same timidity, the angularity 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:54.659 of inexperienced youth, an awkward feeling, and 00:12:54.659 --> 00:12:57.580 there was an impression of dismay, as though 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:01.269 someone had suddenly knocked at the door. Anna 00:13:01.269 --> 00:13:05.419 Sergeyevna, this lady with the dog, took what 00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:09.159 had happened in a peculiar way, very seriously, 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:13.279 as though it were her fault, so it seemed, and 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.649 it was strange and out of place. Her features 00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:20.169 sank and drooped, and her long hair hung sadly 00:13:20.169 --> 00:13:24.210 at the sides of her face. She sat, lost in thought, 00:13:24.750 --> 00:13:28.789 in a dejected pose, like a sinner in an old painting. 00:13:29.309 --> 00:13:32.470 It is not good. You are the first now who will 00:13:32.470 --> 00:13:36.460 not respect me. There was a watermelon on the 00:13:36.460 --> 00:13:40.940 table in the room. Gurov cut himself a slice 00:13:40.940 --> 00:13:45.230 and began to eat, unhurriedly. At least half 00:13:45.230 --> 00:13:49.870 an hour passed in silence. Anna Sergeyevna was 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:53.710 touching. She breathed the purity of a respectable, 00:13:53.990 --> 00:13:57.679 naive woman who had lived very little. The single 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.840 candle burning on the table barely lit her face. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:04.000 But it could be seen that she was wretched at 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:09.080 heart. Why should I cease to respect you? You 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:12.659 don't know yourself what you are saying. May 00:14:12.659 --> 00:14:16.740 God forgive me. This is horrible She said and 00:14:16.740 --> 00:14:21.370 her eyes filled with tears You seem to be justifying 00:14:21.370 --> 00:14:25.730 yourself How can I justify myself? I am a bad 00:14:25.730 --> 00:14:29.029 low woman. I despise myself and I am not thinking 00:14:29.029 --> 00:14:32.269 of justification It is not my husband I have 00:14:32.269 --> 00:14:36.309 deceived but myself and not now only I have been 00:14:36.309 --> 00:14:39.740 deceiving myself for a long time My husband may 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:43.419 be an honest, good man, but he is a lackey. I 00:14:43.419 --> 00:14:45.879 don't know what he does there, how he serves, 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.360 but I know only that he is a lackey. When I married 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:52.820 him, I was 20. I was tormented by curiosity. 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:56.679 I wanted something better. There must be, I told 00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:00.720 myself, another life. I wanted to live, to live 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:04.720 and to live. Curiosity burned me. You don't understand 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:08.029 this, but I swear to God, I could no longer control 00:15:08.029 --> 00:15:11.269 myself. Something came over me. I could not be 00:15:11.269 --> 00:15:14.570 held back. I told my husband I was ill and came 00:15:14.570 --> 00:15:17.629 here. And here I went about as though in a fever, 00:15:17.950 --> 00:15:21.169 like a mad woman. And now I have become a vulgar, 00:15:21.370 --> 00:15:25.269 worthless woman whom anyone may despise." Gurov 00:15:25.269 -->

00:15:28.889 was already bored with listening. He was irritated 00:15:28.889 --> 00:15:33.429 by the naive tone, by this penitence so unexpected 00:15:33.429 --> 00:15:37.049 and so out of place. If there had been no tears 00:15:37.049 --> 00:15:40.210 in her eyes, one might have thought she was joking 00:15:40.210 --> 00:15:45.710 or playing a part. I don't understand. What is 00:15:45.710 --> 00:15:50.090 it you want? She hit her face on his breast and 00:15:50.090 --> 00:15:53.720 pressed close to him. Believe me. Believe me. 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:57.240 I beg you. I love an honest, pure life, and sin 00:15:57.240 --> 00:15:59.980 is hateful to me. I don't know myself what I 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:03.320 am doing. Plain people say an evil spirit led 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.139 her astray. and I can say of myself now that 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:12.139 an evil spirit led me astray come come he murmured 00:16:12.139 --> 00:16:15.899 he looked into her fixed frightened eyes kissed 00:16:15.899 --> 00:16:20.059 her spoke softly and affectionately and she grew 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:23.539 calm little by little and her cheerfulness came 00:16:23.539 --> 00:16:28.590 back to her both began to laugh afterwards when 00:16:28.590 --> 00:16:31.889 they went out there was not a soul on the embankment 00:16:32.090 --> 00:16:35.350 The town with its cypresses looked quite dead, 00:16:35.870 --> 00:16:38.850 but the sea still made a noise and beat against 00:16:38.850 --> 00:16:42.519 the shore. A single boat rocked on the waves, 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:46.470 and on it a lantern blinked sleepily. They found 00:16:46.470 --> 00:16:52.049 a cab and drove to Orianda. Just now, downstairs 00:16:52.049 --> 00:16:56.549 in the hall, I learned your surname. Von Dideritz 00:16:56.549 --> 00:17:00.009 is written on the board. Is your husband a German? 00:17:00.789 --> 00:17:04.109 No, his grandfather, I think, was German, but 00:17:04.109 --> 00:17:08.630 he himself is orthodox. At Orianda they sat on 00:17:08.630 --> 00:17:11.710 a bench not far from the church, looked down 00:17:11.710 --> 00:17:15.529 at the sea, and were silent. Yalta was barely 00:17:15.529 --> 00:17:18.849 visible through the morning mist. White clouds 00:17:18.849 --> 00:17:21.250 stood motionless on the tops of the mountains. 00:17:21.950 --> 00:17:25.390 The leaves did not stir on the trees. Cicadas 00:17:25.390 --> 00:17:28.390 chirped, and the monotonous, hollow sound of 00:17:28.390 --> 00:17:32.349 the sea, coming up from below, spoke of the peace 00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:37.190 of the eternal sleep that awaits us. So it had 00:17:37.190 --> 00:17:40.809 sounded below when there was no yalta here and 00:17:40.809 --> 00:17:45.269 no orianda. Now it sounds and will sound with 00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:48.190 the same indifference and the same hollow note 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:52.470 when we are gone. And in this constancy, in this 00:17:52.470 --> 00:17:55.430 complete indifference to the

life and death of 00:17:55.430 --> 00:17:59.750 each of us, there lies, perhaps, the pledge of 00:17:59.750 --> 00:18:03.569 our eternal salvation, of the unceasing movement 00:18:03.569 --> 00:18:07.250 of life upon earth, of unceasing perfection. 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:11.480 Sitting beside the young woman who at dawn seemed 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:14.579 so beautiful, soothed and enchanted by the sight 00:18:14.579 --> 00:18:18.000 of this magical setting, the sea, the mountains, 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:22.119 the clouds, the wide sky, Gerov thought how, 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:26.099 in essence, if one considers it, everything in 00:18:26.099 --> 00:18:30.200 this world is beautiful. Everything except what 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:34.059 we ourselves think and do when we forget the 00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:38.609 higher aims of being and our human dignity. A 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:42.890 man came up, a watchman most likely, looked at 00:18:42.890 --> 00:18:46.720 them and went away. And even that detail seemed 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:50.630 mysterious and also beautiful. They could see 00:18:50.630 --> 00:18:54.069 the steamer coming from Pheodosia lit by the 00:18:54.069 --> 00:18:58.309 morning dawn, its lights already out. There is 00:18:58.309 --> 00:19:02.509 dew on the graph. Yes, time to go home. They 00:19:02.509 --> 00:19:05.849 returned to the town, and afterwards in Yalta, 00:19:06.390 --> 00:19:08.849 every day at noon, they met on the embankment, 00:19:09.269 --> 00:19:12.410 had dinner together and supper, strolled and 00:19:12.410 --> 00:19:15.750 admired the sea. She complained that she slept 00:19:15.750 --> 00:19:19.250 badly and that her heart beat violently. She 00:19:19.250 --> 00:19:23.509 asked him the same questions over and over. agitated 00:19:23.509 --> 00:19:26.950 now by jealousy, now by the fear that he did 00:19:26.950 --> 00:19:31.069 not respect her enough. And often in the square 00:19:31.069 --> 00:19:33.829 or in the garden, when there was no one near, 00:19:34.390 --> 00:19:37.589 he would suddenly draw her to him and kiss her 00:19:37.589 --> 00:19:42.400 passionately. The complete idleness, these kisses 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:46.000 in broad daylight, stolen with a fearful glance 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.440 round to see whether anyone had seen, the heat, 00:19:49.900 --> 00:19:53.289 the smell of the sea, and the perpetual glimpses 00:19:53.289 --> 00:19:57.069 of idle, well -dressed, well -fed people seemed 00:19:57.069 --> 00:20:02.589 to have transformed him entirely. He told Anna 00:20:02.589 --> 00:20:06.490 Sergeyevna how beautiful she was, how seductive. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.579 He was impatiently passionate, never left her 00:20:10.579 --> 00:20:13.460 side, and she often grew thoughtful and kept 00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:16.500 asking him to confess that he did not respect 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:19.740 her, did not love her at all, and thought of 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:25.000 her only a vulgar woman. Almost every evening, 00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:28.500 rather late, they drove out of the town to Oriando 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:31.859 or to the waterfall, and the drives were successful. 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:36.559 The impressions were invariably beautiful, majestic. 00:20:37.700 --> 00:20:40.420 They expected the husband to come, but there 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:42.539 came a letter from him saying that something 00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:45.539 had happened to his eyes, and begging his wife 00:20:45.539 --> 00:20:49.380 to return home as soon as possible. Anna Sergeyevna 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:52.700 made haste to leave. It is a good thing I am 00:20:52.700 --> 00:20:56.720 going. It is fate itself. She said, as she left. 00:20:57.380 --> 00:21:00.279 She went by carriage, and he accompanied her 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:03.650 to the station. The journey to the station took 00:21:03.650 --> 00:21:07.289 a whole day. When she was getting into the carriage 00:21:07.289 --> 00:21:10.109 of the train at the station, when the second 00:21:10.109 --> 00:21:13.980 bell had already gone, she said, Let me look 00:21:13.980 --> 00:21:18.539 at you once more. Just so. She did not cry, but 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:22.309 she was sad. as though she were ill, and her 00:21:22.309 --> 00:21:25.990 face quivered. I shall think of you, remember 00:21:25.990 --> 00:21:29.990 you. God be with you. Stay. Do not remember evil 00:21:29.990 --> 00:21:33.230 of me. We are parting forever. That is how it 00:21:33.230 --> 00:21:36.690 must be, for we ought never to have met. Well, 00:21:36.970 --> 00:21:40.319 God be with you. The train went off quickly. 00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:43.980 Its light soon vanished, and in a minute even 00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:47.420 the sound was no longer heard. as though everything 00:21:47.420 --> 00:21:50.779 had conspired on purpose to end this sweet oblivion, 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:55.119 this madness, as quickly as possible. And left 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:58.099 alone on the platform, looking into the dark 00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:01.480 distance, Gurov listened to the cheering of the 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:03.779 grasshoppers and the humming of the telegraph 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:07.000 wires with the feeling of a man who has just 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.809 woken up. And he thought that in his life there 00:22:10.809 --> 00:22:14.809 had been one more affair or adventure, and that 00:22:14.809 --> 00:22:18.750 had also ended now. and there remained only a 00:22:18.750 --> 00:22:23.339 memory. He was touched and sad, and felt a slight 00:22:23.339 --> 00:22:26.740 remorse. For this young woman, whom he would 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:30.819 never see again, had not been happy with him. 00:22:31.289 --> 00:22:34.509 He had been friendly and hardy with her, but 00:22:34.509 --> 00:22:38.089 still, in his manner toward her, in his tone 00:22:38.089 --> 00:22:41.329 and his caresses, there had glimmered a shade 00:22:41.329 --> 00:22:45.289

of light mockery. the rather coarse superiority 00:22:45.289 --> 00:22:49.829 of a fortunate man who was, besides, almost twice 00:22:49.829 --> 00:22:54.119 her age. All the time she had called him kind, 00:22:54.740 --> 00:22:59.019 extraordinary, lofty. Plainly he had seemed to 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:04.259 her not what he really was, and so he had involuntarily 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:08.180 deceived her. Here at the station it already 00:23:08.180 --> 00:23:12.319 smelt of autumn. The evening was chilly. It is 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:16.619 time for me to go north, too. Time, Gerov thought, 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:38.990 leaving the platform. Part Three At home in Moscow, 00:23:39.349 --> 00:23:42.470 everything was already wintry. They heated the 00:23:42.470 --> 00:23:44.809 stoves, and in the mornings, when the children 00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:47.410 were getting ready for the gymnasium and drinking 00:23:47.410 --> 00:23:51.190 their tea, it was dark, and the nurse lit a lamp 00:23:51.190 --> 00:23:54.690 for a little while. The frosts had already begun. 00:23:55.089 --> 00:23:58.269 When the first snow falls on the first day of 00:23:58.269 --> 00:24:01.450 driving in a sledge, it is pleasant to see the 00:24:01.450 --> 00:24:05.329 white earth, the white roofs. One breathes softly 00:24:05.329 --> 00:24:08.609 and gloriously, and at such a time the years 00:24:08.609 --> 00:24:12.849 of one's youth come back to mind. The old lindens 00:24:12.849 --> 00:24:16.410 and birches, white with hoar frost, have a good 00:24:16.410 --> 00:24:19.799 -natured expression. They are nearer to the heart 00:24:19.799 --> 00:24:23.720 than cypresses and palms, and near them one no 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:27.769 longer wants to think of mountains and sea. Gurov 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:31.690 was a Muscovite. He had come back to Moscow on 00:24:31.690 --> 00:24:35.509 a fine frosty day, and when he put on his fur 00:24:35.509 --> 00:24:38.730 coat and warm gloves and walked along Petrovka, 00:24:39.210 --> 00:24:41.970 and when on Saturday evening he heard the ringing 00:24:41.970 --> 00:24:45.490 of bells, his recent journey and the places he 00:24:45.490 --> 00:24:50.210 had been to lost all their charm. For him, little 00:24:50.210 --> 00:24:54.470 by little he sank into Moscow life. He was already 00:24:54.470 --> 00:24:58.289 reading three newspapers a day greedily and said 00:24:58.289 --> 00:25:02.089 that he did not read Moscow newspapers on principle. 00:25:03.289 --> 00:25:06.210 He was already drawn to restaurants, to clubs, 00:25:06.509 --> 00:25:09.569 to dinner parties and anniversaries. and it already 00:25:09.569 --> 00:25:12.390 flattered him that well -known lawyers and actors 00:25:12.390 --> 00:25:15.490 visited him, and that at the doctor's club he 00:25:15.490 --> 00:25:18.630 played cards with a professor. He could already 00:25:18.630 --> 00:25:21.769 eat a whole portion of Selyanka in a frying pan 00:25:21.769 --> 00:25:25.980 by himself. A month or so would pass, he thought, 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:29.339 and Anna Sergeyevna would be covered in his memory 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:33.119 by a mist, and only rarely visit his dreams with 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:36.579 a touching smile as others had. But more than 00:25:36.579 --> 00:25:40.039 a month passed, Deep winter had come, and in 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:43.420 his memory everything was still clear, as though 00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:46.380 he had parted from Anna Sergeyevna only the day 00:25:46.380 --> 00:25:50.319 before, and his memories glowed ever more strongly. 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.640 Whether the voices of children preparing their 00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:56.039 lessons reached him in the evening stillness 00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:59.440 of his study, or he heard a song or an organ 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.539 in a restaurant, or a blizzard howled in the 00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:06.559 fireplace, suddenly everything rose up in his 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:11.180 memory. What had happened? On the pier. The early 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:14.460 morning with the mist on the mountains. The steamer 00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:18.799 from Feodosia. The kisses. He walked about the 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:22.500 room for a long time and remembered and smiled. 00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:26.059 And then the memories passed into dreams and 00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:29.220 the past mingled in his imagination with what 00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:33.240 was to come. Anna Sergeyevna did not visit his 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:36.740 dreams. She followed him everywhere. like a shadow, 00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:39.990 and watched him. When he closed his eyes, he 00:26:39.990 --> 00:26:43.230 saw her as though alive, and she seemed more 00:26:43.230 --> 00:26:46.509 beautiful, younger, more tender than she had 00:26:46.509 --> 00:26:49.890 been. And he himself seemed to himself better 00:26:49.890 --> 00:26:54.009 than he had been then in Yalta. In the evening 00:26:54.009 --> 00:26:56.809 she looked at him from the bookcase, from the 00:26:56.809 --> 00:27:00.529 fireplace, from the corner. He heard her breath, 00:27:01.049 --> 00:27:04.359 the gentle rustle of her dress. In the street 00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:07.440 he followed women with his eyes, looking for 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:11.390 one who resembled her. And already he was tormented 00:27:11.390 --> 00:27:14.329 by a strong desire to share his memories with 00:27:14.329 --> 00:27:18.190 somebody. But at home it was impossible to speak 00:27:18.190 --> 00:27:21.670 of his love, and outside home there was nobody. 00:27:22.269 --> 00:27:25.549 Not with the lodgers, surely, nor at the bank. 00:27:26.029 --> 00:27:28.930 And what was there to speak of, had he loved 00:27:28.930 --> 00:27:32.109 her then? Had there been anything beautiful, 00:27:32.390 --> 00:27:35.509 poetic, or instructive, or simply interesting 00:27:35.509 --> 00:27:39.069 in his relations with Anna Sergeyevna? And he 00:27:39.069 -->

00:27:42.730 had to speak vaguely of love, of women, and nobody 00:27:42.730 --> 00:27:45.990 guessed what was the matter. Only his wife moved 00:27:45.990 --> 00:27:49.980 her dark eyebrows and said, The part of a fatal 00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:55.130 man, Dmitri, does not suit you at all. One night, 00:27:55.390 --> 00:27:57.789 coming out of the doctor's club with his partner 00:27:57.789 --> 00:28:01.250 and official, He could not restrain himself, 00:28:01.630 --> 00:28:06.289 and said, If you only knew what a charming woman 00:28:06.289 --> 00:28:09.990 I became acquainted with in Yalta. The official 00:28:09.990 --> 00:28:13.670 got into his sledge and drove off, but suddenly 00:28:13.670 --> 00:28:17.650 turned around and called out, Demetri Demetrik. 00:28:18.930 --> 00:28:22.049 What? But you were right just now. The sturgeon 00:28:22.049 --> 00:28:26.829 was a little off. These words, so ordinary, for 00:28:26.829 --> 00:28:30.809 some reason suddenly outraged Gurov. They seemed 00:28:30.809 --> 00:28:35.210 to him degrading and unclean. What savage manners! 00:28:35.470 --> 00:28:39.710 What people! What senseless nights! What dull, 00:28:40.009 --> 00:28:44.529 unremarkable days! Frenzied card playing, gluttony, 00:28:44.769 --> 00:28:48.150 drunkenness, the perpetual talk always about 00:28:48.150 --> 00:28:52.180 the same thing. Unnecessary business and talk 00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:55.200 about the same thing take up the better part 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:58.339 of one's time and the best of one's strength, 00:28:58.579 --> 00:29:02.319 and in the end there remains a sort of curtailed, 00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:06.500 wingless life, a sort of rubbish, and to go away 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:10.059 or run away is impossible as no one were sitting 00:29:10.059 --> 00:29:14.730 in a madhouse or in a convict battalion. Gurov 00:29:14.730 --> 00:29:18.339 did not sleep all night and was indignant. and 00:29:18.339 --> 00:29:21.579 then spent the whole day with a headache. And 00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:24.740 the following nights he slept badly, he kept 00:29:24.740 --> 00:29:27.940 sitting up in bed and thinking, or walked from 00:29:27.940 --> 00:29:31.519 corner to corner. The children wearied him, the 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:34.559 bank wearied him. He wanted neither to go anywhere 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:38.569 nor to talk of anything. In December, at the 00:29:38.569 --> 00:29:41.269 holidays, he made himself ready for a journey 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:43.910 and told his wife he was going to Petersburg 00:29:43.910 --> 00:29:47.289 to interest himself on behalf of a young man. 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:51.640 and he went to S. What for? He did not know himself 00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:55.680 exactly. He wanted to see Anna Sergeyevna and 00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:59.869 talk to arrange a meeting, if possible. He arrived 00:29:59.869 --> 00:30:02.589 in S. in the morning and took the best room at 00:30:02.589 --> 00:30:05.609 the hotel, where all the floor was covered with 00:30:05.609 --> 00:30:08.490 gray soldier's cloth, and on the table stood 00:30:08.490 --> 00:30:12.069 an ink stand, gray with dust, with a horseman 00:30:12.069 --> 00:30:15.390 holding his hat in his raised hand and his head 00:30:15.390 --> 00:30:18.839 knocked off. The porter gave him the information 00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:23.339 he needed. Von Deiteritz lived in Staraya -Goncharnaia 00:30:23.339 --> 00:30:27.059 Street, in his own house, not far from the hotel. 00:30:27.579 --> 00:30:31.160 He lived well, in comfort, had his own horses, 00:30:31.579 --> 00:30:34.700 and everybody in the town knew him. The porter 00:30:34.700 --> 00:30:39.640 pronounced it Dreideritz. Gurov walked unhurriedly 00:30:39.640 --> 00:30:42.539 to Staraya -Goncharnaia and found the house. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:46.890 Exactly opposite the house ran a fence. gray, 00:30:47.130 --> 00:30:50.829 long, with nails. One might run away from such 00:30:50.829 --> 00:30:53.990 a fence, thought Gurav, looking now at the windows, 00:30:54.130 --> 00:30:58.519 now at the fence. He reasoned. Today was a day 00:30:58.519 --> 00:31:02.339 when no offices sat, and the husband was probably 00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:05.940 at home, and in any case it would be tactless 00:31:05.940 --> 00:31:09.200 to go into the house and disturb her. And if 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.500 he sent a note, it might fall into the husband's 00:31:12.500 --> 00:31:15.480 hands, and then everything might be spoiled. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:20.039 It was best to rely on chance, and he kept walking 00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:23.299 along the street beside the fence, waiting for 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:27.400 that chance. He saw a beggar go in at the gate 00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:30.720 and the dogs fly at him. Then an hour later he 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:33.839 heard playing on the piano, and the sounds came 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:37.539 weakly and indistinctly. Anna Sergeyevna must 00:31:37.539 --> 00:31:41.269 be playing. The front door suddenly opened, and 00:31:41.269 --> 00:31:44.230 an old woman came out of it, and the familiar 00:31:44.230 --> 00:31:48.190 white spitz ran after her. Gurev wanted to call 00:31:48.190 --> 00:31:51.390 the dog, but his heart suddenly began to beat, 00:31:51.710 --> 00:31:54.809 and in his agitation he could not remember the 00:31:54.809 --> 00:31:59.299 spitz's name. He walked on and hated the gray 00:31:59.299 --> 00:32:02.440 fence more and more, and he already thought with 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:05.500 irritation that Anna Sergeyevna had forgotten 00:32:05.500 --> 00:32:08.559 him. and was perhaps already diverting herself 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:12.420 with somebody else. And that was so natural for 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:15.920 a young woman who was forced to see this accursed 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:19.490 fence from morning to evening. He went back to 00:32:19.490 --> 00:32:22.349 his room and sat for a long time on the sofa, 00:32:22.970 -->

00:32:26.609 not knowing what to do, then had dinner, then 00:32:26.609 --> 00:32:31.269 slept a long time. How stupid and restless all 00:32:31.269 --> 00:32:34.329 this is, he thought, waking and looking at the 00:32:34.329 --> 00:32:38.200 dark windows. It was already evening. And why 00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:41.670 did I sleep, I should like to know? What am I 00:32:41.670 --> 00:32:45.710 to do now, in the night? He sat on the bed, covered 00:32:45.710 --> 00:32:48.710 with a cheap grey blanket, like a hospital one, 00:32:49.210 --> 00:32:53.150 and teased himself in his vexation. So much for 00:32:53.150 --> 00:32:56.369 the lady with the dog. So much for the adventure. 00:32:56.990 --> 00:33:00.450 Now sit here. In the morning, at the station, 00:33:00.630 --> 00:33:03.390 his eye had been caught by a playbill in very 00:33:03.390 --> 00:33:07.529 large letters. was being given for the first 00:33:07.529 --> 00:33:10.920 time. He remembered this and drove to the theater. 00:33:11.500 --> 00:33:15.059 It is very possible that she goes to first performances, 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:20.109 he thought. The theater was full. And there, 00:33:20.329 --> 00:33:24.230 as in all provincial theaters, there was a haze 00:33:24.230 --> 00:33:28.509 above the chandelier. The gallery fidgeted noisily. 00:33:29.059 --> 00:33:32.170 In the front row, Before the performance began, 00:33:32.869 --> 00:33:35.670 the local dandies stood with their hands behind 00:33:35.670 --> 00:33:39.329 their backs. In the governor's box, in the front 00:33:39.329 --> 00:33:43.309 seat, sat the governor's daughter in a boa, while 00:33:43.309 --> 00:33:46.990 the governor himself hid modestly behind a curtain, 00:33:47.650 --> 00:33:51.349 and only his hands could be seen. The curtain 00:33:51.349 --> 00:33:55.750 swayed, the orchestra tuned up for a long time. 00:33:56.680 --> 00:33:59.599 All the while, as the public came in and took 00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:02.950 their seats, Gurov searched greedily with his 00:34:02.950 --> 00:34:07.410 eyes. Anna Sergeyevna came in too. She sat in 00:34:07.410 --> 00:34:10.349 the third row, and when Gurov looked at her, 00:34:10.570 --> 00:34:13.650 his heart contracted, and he understood clearly 00:34:13.650 --> 00:34:16.449 that in the whole world there was now no one 00:34:16.449 --> 00:34:19.849 nearer, dearer, or more important to him than 00:34:19.849 --> 00:34:24.369 she. She, lost in this provincial crowd, this 00:34:24.369 --> 00:34:28.360 small woman, in no way remarkable, with a vulgar 00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:32.260 lorgnet in her hands, now filled his whole life. 00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:36.579 She was his grief, his joy, the one happiness 00:34:36.579 --> 00:34:40.320 he now desired for himself. And to the sounds 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:44.139 of a poor orchestra, of wretched provincial fiddles, 00:34:44.519 --> 00:34:47.820 he thought how beautiful she was. He thought 00:34:47.820 --> 00:34:52.389 and dreamed. Together with Anna Sergeyevna there 00:34:52.389 --> 00:34:56.050 came in and sat down a young man with small whiskers, 00:34:56.250 --> 00:34:59.949 very tall and stooping. At every step he shook 00:34:59.949 --> 00:35:02.929 his head and seemed to be perpetually bowing. 00:35:03.460 --> 00:35:07.039 It was probably the husband, whom in Yalta, in 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:10.219 a rush of bitter feeling, she had called a lackey. 00:35:10.429 --> 00:35:14.309 And, indeed, in his long figure, in his whiskers, 00:35:14.630 --> 00:35:17.690 in his small bald patch, there was something 00:35:17.690 --> 00:35:21.809 lackey -like and modest. He smiled sweetly, and 00:35:21.809 --> 00:35:24.730 in his button -hole a badge of learning gleamed 00:35:24.730 --> 00:35:28.329 like a lackey's number. In the first interval 00:35:28.329 --> 00:35:31.929 the husband went out to smoke. She remained in 00:35:31.929 --> 00:35:35.809 her seat. Gurov, who was also sitting in the 00:35:35.809 --> 00:35:38.309 stalls, went up to her and said in a trembling 00:35:38.309 --> 00:35:43.340 voice, forcing himself to smile. Good evening. 00:35:44.420 --> 00:35:47.820 She looked at him and turned pale, then looked 00:35:47.820 --> 00:35:51.679 again in horror, not believing her eyes, and 00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:54.500 clutched her fan and lorgnet tightly together 00:35:54.500 --> 00:35:57.840 in her hands, evidently struggling with herself 00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:03.309 not to faint. Both were silent. She sat. He stood, 00:36:03.989 --> 00:36:07.269 frightened by her confusion, not daring to sit 00:36:07.269 --> 00:36:10.860 down beside her. The violins and a flute that 00:36:10.860 --> 00:36:14.880 were being tuned began to play. It suddenly became 00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:17.559 frightening, as though they were being watched 00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:21.340 from every box. But then she got up and walked 00:36:21.340 --> 00:36:25.789 quickly toward the exit, he after her. And both 00:36:25.789 --> 00:36:29.070 walked aimlessly along corridors and up and down 00:36:29.070 --> 00:36:33.250 staircases, going up and coming down. And there 00:36:33.250 --> 00:36:36.650 flashed before their eyes people in judges, teachers, 00:36:36.889 --> 00:36:41.269 and departmental uniforms. all with badges, ladies 00:36:41.269 --> 00:36:45.210 flashed by, fur coats on hangers, a droughty 00:36:45.210 --> 00:36:48.110 wind blew, bringing the smell of cigarette ends, 00:36:48.710 --> 00:36:51.550 and Gurov, whose heart was beating violently, 00:36:51.650 --> 00:36:54.949 thought, Oh, Lord, and what are all these people 00:36:54.949 --> 00:36:59.159 for this orchestra? And at that moment he suddenly 00:36:59.159 --> 00:37:01.940 remembered how, that evening at the station, 00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:06.300 seeing Anna Sergeyevna off, he had told himself 00:37:06.300 --> 00:37:09.260 that everything was over. and that they would 00:37:09.260 --> 00:37:13.659 never meet again. But how far he still was from 00:37:13.659 -->

00:37:18.429 the end. On a narrow gloomy staircase, where 00:37:18.429 --> 00:37:22.030 it was written, way to the amphitheater, she 00:37:22.030 --> 00:37:26.019 stopped. How you frightened me! Oh, how you frightened 00:37:26.019 --> 00:37:30.039 me! I am barely alive. Why did you come? Why? 00:37:30.539 --> 00:37:34.880 She said, breathing heavily, still pale and stunned. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:40.820 But understand, Anna. understand, I implore you, 00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:45.019 understand,' he said in a low voice hurriedly. 00:37:45.420 --> 00:37:49.019 She looked at him with fear, with entreaty, with 00:37:49.019 --> 00:37:52.860 love, looked intently so as to keep his features 00:37:52.860 --> 00:37:57.230 more firmly in her memory. I suffer so, I have 00:37:57.230 --> 00:37:59.630 thought of you all the time, I lived on thoughts 00:37:59.630 --> 00:38:02.630 of you, and I wanted to forget, to forget, but 00:38:02.630 --> 00:38:06.510 why, why did you come? Higher up on the landing, 00:38:06.750 --> 00:38:09.809 Two schoolboys were smoking and looking down. 00:38:10.409 --> 00:38:14.110 But to Gurov it was all the same. He drew Anna 00:38:14.110 --> 00:38:16.889 Sergeyevna to him and began to kiss her face, 00:38:17.349 --> 00:38:21.039 her cheeks, her hands. What are you doing? What 00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:24.159 are you doing? We have gone mad, you and I. Go 00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:27.119 away today. Go away at once. I adjure you by 00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:30.059 everything holy. I implore you. Someone is coming. 00:38:30.820 --> 00:38:33.940 Someone was coming up the staircase from below. 00:38:34.369 --> 00:38:37.929 You must go away. Do you hear Dimitri Dimitrik? 00:38:38.269 --> 00:38:41.170 I shall come to you in Moscow. I have never been 00:38:41.170 --> 00:38:44.750 happy I am unhappy now and I never never shall 00:38:44.750 --> 00:38:48.250 be happy never Do not make me suffer still more 00:38:48.250 --> 00:38:51.750 I swear I shall come to Moscow and now let us 00:38:51.750 --> 00:38:56.469 part my kind good dear man Let us part she whispered 00:38:56.469 --> 00:39:00.019 still She pressed his hand and began to descend 00:39:00.019 --> 00:39:03.480 quickly, looking back at him all the time, and 00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:06.199 in her eyes it could be seen that she really 00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:10.760 was not happy. Gurov stood for a little, listened, 00:39:11.380 --> 00:39:14.719 then, when all was quiet, found his cloakroom 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:37.599 ticket and left the theater. And Anna Sergeyevna 00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:41.130 began to come to him in Moscow. Once every two 00:39:41.130 --> 00:39:44.230 or three months she left S. telling her husband 00:39:44.230 --> 00:39:46.849 she was going to consult a professor about her 00:39:46.849 --> 00:39:50.190 woman's ailment. And her husband both believed 00:39:50.190 --> 00:39:54.530 and did not believe. Arriving in Moscow she stayed 00:39:54.530 --> 00:39:58.170 at the Slavyansky Bazaar and at once sent a man 00:39:58.170 --> 00:40:02.269 in a red cap to Gurov. Gurov went to her and 00:40:02.269 --> 00:40:06.519 nobody in Moscow knew of it. Once he was going 00:40:06.519 --> 00:40:10.139 to her in this way on a winter morning. The messenger 00:40:10.139 --> 00:40:13.099 had come to him the evening before and not found 00:40:13.099 --> 00:40:17.230 him. With him walked his daughter, whom he wanted 00:40:17.230 --> 00:40:21.170 to take on the way to the gymnasium. Big, wet 00:40:21.170 --> 00:40:25.989 snow was falling. It is three degrees above freezing 00:40:25.989 --> 00:40:30.440 now, and yet the snow has fallen. But this warmth 00:40:30.440 --> 00:40:34.019 is only on the surface of the earth. In the upper 00:40:34.019 --> 00:40:36.579 layers of the atmosphere, the temperature is 00:40:36.579 --> 00:40:40.519 quite different. He said to his daughter, Papa, 00:40:40.820 --> 00:40:44.329 why is there no thunder in winter? He explained 00:40:44.329 --> 00:40:47.750 that too. He talked and thought that here he 00:40:47.750 --> 00:40:51.269 was going to a rendezvous, and not a single living 00:40:51.269 --> 00:40:54.670 soul knew of it, and probably never would know. 00:40:55.090 --> 00:40:59.309 He had two lives, one open, which was seen and 00:40:59.309 --> 00:41:03.170 known by all who needed to know it, full of conventional 00:41:03.170 --> 00:41:07.050 truth and conventional deceit, exactly like the 00:41:07.050 --> 00:41:10.429 lives of his acquaintances and friends, and another 00:41:10.429 --> 00:41:15.760 which flowed in secret. And by some strange coincidence, 00:41:16.179 --> 00:41:19.340 perhaps an accidental one, everything that was 00:41:19.340 --> 00:41:22.500 important, interesting, and necessary for him, 00:41:23.219 --> 00:41:26.099 everything in which he was sincere and did not 00:41:26.099 --> 00:41:29.460 deceive himself, everything that made up the 00:41:29.460 --> 00:41:33.559 kernel of his life, happened in secret from others. 00:41:34.039 --> 00:41:37.199 While everything that was his lie, his shell, 00:41:37.480 --> 00:41:40.980 in which he hid to conceal the truth, his service 00:41:40.980 --> 00:41:44.320 in the bank, for instance, the arguments at the 00:41:44.320 --> 00:41:48.480 club, his lower race, going with his wife to 00:41:48.480 --> 00:41:52.909 anniversaries, all that was open. And he judged 00:41:52.909 --> 00:41:56.690 of others by himself, did not believe what he 00:41:56.690 --> 00:42:00.349 saw, and always supposed that under cover of 00:42:00.349 --> 00:42:04.989 secrecy, as under cover of night, every man carried 00:42:04.989 --> 00:42:09.820 on his real, most interesting life. Every personal 00:42:09.820 --> 00:42:13.940 existence is held together by secrecy, and perhaps 00:42:13.940 --> 00:42:17.980 that is partly why civilized man is so nervously 00:42:17.980 --> 00:42:21.880 anxious that personal secrecy should be respected. 00:42:22.739 --> 00:42:25.900 Having seen his

daughter to the gymnasium, Gurev 00:42:25.900 --> 00:42:29.320 went to the Slaviansky Bazaar. He took off his 00:42:29.320 --> 00:42:32.860 fur coat downstairs, went up, and knocked softly 00:42:32.860 --> 00:42:36.300 at the door. Anna Sergeyevna, dressed in his 00:42:36.300 --> 00:42:39.449 favorite gray dress, tired by the journey and 00:42:39.449 --> 00:42:42.309 by waiting, had been expecting him since the 00:42:42.309 --> 00:42:46.150 evening before. She was pale. She looked at him 00:42:46.150 --> 00:42:49.510 and did not smile. And the moment he came in, 00:42:49.510 --> 00:42:52.949 she was already pressed to his breast. As though 00:42:52.949 --> 00:42:56.130 they had not seen each other for two years, their 00:42:56.130 --> 00:43:00.050 kiss was long and lingering. Well, how are you 00:43:00.050 --> 00:43:04.250 living there? What is new? Wait a moment. I shall 00:43:04.250 --> 00:43:08.460 tell you directly. I cannot. She could not speak 00:43:08.460 --> 00:43:11.849 because she was crying. She turned away from 00:43:11.849 --> 00:43:14.210 him and pressed her handkerchief to her eyes. 00:43:15.269 --> 00:43:19.909 Well, let her cry. Meanwhile, I shall sit down, 00:43:19.929 --> 00:43:24.230 he thought, and sat in an armchair. Then he rang 00:43:24.230 --> 00:43:26.750 and told them to bring him tea, and afterwards, 00:43:26.849 --> 00:43:30.110 while he drank his tea, she still stood turned 00:43:30.110 --> 00:43:33.949 away to the window. She was crying from agitation. 00:43:34.269 --> 00:43:37.190 from the sorrowful consciousness that their life 00:43:37.190 --> 00:43:41.590 had turned out so sadly. They met only in secret, 00:43:42.210 --> 00:43:45.789 hid from people like thieves. Was their life 00:43:45.789 --> 00:43:50.800 not broken? Come now, stop! He said. For him 00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:53.500 it was clear that this love of theirs would not 00:43:53.500 --> 00:43:57.159 end for a long time yet. No one could say when. 00:43:58.289 --> 00:44:01.510 Anna Sergeyevna grew attached to him ever more 00:44:01.510 --> 00:44:05.250 strongly. She adored him. and it would have been 00:44:05.250 --> 00:44:07.849 unthinkable to tell her that all this must have 00:44:07.849 --> 00:44:10.920 an end some day. She would not have believed 00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:14.409 it either. He went up to her and took her by 00:44:14.409 --> 00:44:17.750 the shoulders to caress her, to jest with her, 00:44:17.909 --> 00:44:20.630 and at that moment saw himself in the mirror. 00:44:21.289 --> 00:44:23.929 His head was already beginning to turn gray, 00:44:24.329 --> 00:44:27.070 and it struck him as strange that he had grown 00:44:27.070 --> 00:44:30.769 so old in these last years, had lost so much 00:44:30.769 --> 00:44:34.090 of his looks. the shoulders on which his hands 00:44:34.090 --> 00:44:37.670 lay were warm and trembling. He felt compassion 00:44:37.670 --> 00:44:41.710 for this life, still so warm and beautiful, but 00:44:41.710 --> 00:44:44.449

probably already near the time when it would 00:44:44.449 --> 00:44:49.320 begin to fade and wither like his own life. Why 00:44:49.320 --> 00:44:53.590 did she love him so? He had always seemed to 00:44:53.590 --> 00:44:57.809 women not what he was. They had loved in him 00:44:57.809 --> 00:45:02.750 not himself. but a man created by their imagination 00:45:02.750 --> 00:45:07.070 whom they greedily sought in their lives and 00:45:07.070 --> 00:45:10.670 Afterwards when they noticed their mistake They 00:45:10.670 --> 00:45:14.460 loved him still and not one of them had been 00:45:14.460 --> 00:45:19.550 happy with him time passed He made acquaintances 00:45:19.550 --> 00:45:24.610 came together parted But never once did he love 00:45:24.610 --> 00:45:30.460 it was everything you please but not love And 00:45:30.460 --> 00:45:34.380 only now, when his head had turned gray, had 00:45:34.380 --> 00:45:39.019 he fallen in love, as one should, truly, for 00:45:39.019 --> 00:45:43.699 the first time in his life. Anna Sergeyevna and 00:45:43.699 --> 00:45:47.599 he loved each other like very near kindred people, 00:45:48.059 --> 00:45:52.320 like husband and wife, like tender friends. It 00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:55.420 seemed to them that fate itself had intended 00:45:55.420 --> 00:45:59.480 them for one another. and it was incomprehensible 00:45:59.480 --> 00:46:04.019 why he was married and she married. It was exactly 00:46:04.019 --> 00:46:07.760 as though they were two migratory birds, male 00:46:07.760 --> 00:46:12.019 and female, who had been caught and made to live 00:46:12.019 --> 00:46:16.400 in separate cages. They forgave each other what 00:46:16.400 --> 00:46:19.679 they were ashamed of in their past, forgave everything 00:46:19.679 --> 00:46:22.860 in the present, and felt that this love of theirs 00:46:22.860 --> 00:46:27.090 had changed them both. Before, in sad moments, 00:46:27.530 --> 00:46:30.230 he had soothed himself with whatever arguments 00:46:30.230 --> 00:46:34.070 came into his head. Now, he had no thought for 00:46:34.070 --> 00:46:37.690 arguments. He felt deep compassion. He wanted 00:46:37.690 --> 00:46:42.670 to be sincere and tender. Stop now, my dear. 00:46:43.130 --> 00:46:47.130 You have cried. That is enough. Let us talk now. 00:46:47.690 --> 00:46:51.989 Let us think of something. Afterwards, they consulted 00:46:51.989 --> 00:46:55.369 for a long time. talked of how to free themselves 00:46:55.369 --> 00:46:59.090 from the need to hide, to deceive, to live in 00:46:59.090 --> 00:47:02.150 different towns, not to see each other for long 00:47:02.150 --> 00:47:05.579 stretches at a time. How were they to cast off 00:47:05.579 --> 00:47:12.300 these unbearable fetters? How? How? He asked, 00:47:12.579 --> 00:47:17.550 clutching his head. How? And it seemed that in 00:47:17.550 --> 00:47:20.670 a little while a solution would be found, and 00:47:20.670 --> 00:47:24.039 then a new, beautiful life would begin. And it 00:47:24.039 --> 00:47:27.519 was clear to both of them that the end was still 00:47:27.519 --> 00:47:31.400 far, far away, and that the most complicated 00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:32.840 and difficult part...