第47章

第47章“stayaminute,yousweep!youareaperfectmadman.asyoulikeforallicare.ihavenolessons,doyousee,andidon’tcareaboutthat,butthere’sabookseller,heruvimov—andhetakestheplaceofalesson.iwouldnotexchangehimforfivelessons.he’sdoingpublishingofakind,andissuingnaturalsciencemanualsandwhatacirculationtheyhave!theverytitlesareworththemoney!youalwaysmaintainedthatiwasafool,butbyjove,myboy,therearegreaterfoolsthaniam!nowheissettingupforbeingadvanced,notthathehasaninklingofanything,but,ofcourse,iencouragehim.herearetwosignaturesofthegermantext—inmyopinion,thecrudestcharlatanism;itdiscussesthequestion,‘iswomanahumanbeing?’and,ofcourse,triumphantlyprovesthatsheis.heruvimovisgoingtobringoutthisworkasacontributiontothewomanquestion;iamtranslatingit;hewillexpandthesetwoandahalfsignaturesintosix,weshallmakeupagorgeoustitlehalfapagelongandbringitoutathalfarouble.itwilldo!hepaysmesixroublesthesignature,itworksouttoaboutfifteenroublesforthejob,andi’vehadsixalreadyinadvance.whenwehavefinishedthis,wearegoingtobeginatranslationaboutwhales,andthensomeofthedullestscandalsoutofthesecondpartoflesconfessionswehavemarkedfortranslation;somebodyhastoldheruvimov,thatrousseauwasakindofradishchev.youmaybesureidon’tcontradicthim,hanghim!well,wouldyouliketodothesecondsignatureof‘iswomanahumanbeing?’ifyouwould,takethegermanandpensandpaper—allthoseareprovided,andtakethreeroubles;forasihavehadsixroublesinadvanceonthewholething,threeroublescometoyouforyourshare.andwhenyouhavefinishedthesignaturetherewillbeanotherthreeroublesforyou.andpleasedon’tthinkiamdoingyouaservice;quitethecontrary,assoonasyoucamein,isawhowyoucouldhelpme;tobeginwith,iamweakinspelling,andsecondly,iamsometimesutterlyadriftingerman,sothatimakeitupasigoalongforthemostpart.theonlycomfortis,thatit’sboundtobeachangeforthebetter.thoughwhocantell,maybeit’ssometimesfortheworse.willyoutakeit?”

raskolnikovtookthegermansheetsinsilence,tookthethreeroublesandwithoutawordwentout.razumihingazedafterhiminastonishment.butwhenraskolnikovwasinthenextstreet,heturnedback,mountedthestairstorazumihin’sagainandlayingonthetablethegermanarticleandthethreeroubles,wentoutagain,stillwithoututteringaword.

“areyouraving,orwhat?”razumihinshouted,rousedtofuryatlast.“whatfarceisthis?you’lldrivemecrazytoo…whatdidyoucometoseemefor,damnyou?”

“idon’twant…translation,”mutteredraskolnikovfromthestairs.

“thenwhatthedevildoyouwant?”shoutedrazumihinfromabove.raskolnikovcontinueddescendingthestaircaseinsilence.

“hey,there!whereareyouliving?”

noanswer.

“well,confoundyouthen!”

butraskolnikovwasalreadysteppingintothestreet.onthenikolaevskybridgehewasrousedtofullconsciousnessagainbyanunpleasantincident.acoachman,aftershoutingathimtwoorthreetimes,gavehimaviolentlashonthebackwithhiswhip,forhavingalmostfallenunderhishorses’hoofs.thelashsoinfuriatedhimthathedashedawaytotherailing(forsomeunknownreasonhehadbeenwalkingintheverymiddleofthebridgeinthetraffic).heangrilyclenchedandgroundhisteeth.heheardlaughter,ofcourse.

“serveshimright!”

“apickpocketidaresay.”

“pretendingtobedrunk,forsure,andgettingunderthewheelsonpurpose;andyouhavetoanswerforhim.”

“it’saregularprofession,that’swhatitis.”

butwhilehestoodattherailing,stilllookingangryandbewilderedaftertheretreatingcarriage,andrubbinghisback,hesuddenlyfeltsomeonethrustmoneyintohishand.helooked.itwasanelderlywomaninakerchiefandgoatskinshoes,withagirl,probablyherdaughterwearingahat,andcarryingagreenparasol.

“takeit,mygoodman,inchrist’sname.”

hetookitandtheypassedon.itwasapieceoftwentycopecks.fromhisdressandappearancetheymightwellhavetakenhimforaaraskingalmsinthestreets,andthegiftofthetwentycopeckshedoubtlessowedtotheblow,whichmadethemfeelsorryforhim.