| 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 |
| 1 | 73 | 145 | 218 | 290 |
|
room). Without trying to account for this late illumination, I went up
the steps, always with the same expectation of something terrible, and
I rang. The servant, a good, industrious, and very stupid being, named
Gregor, opened the door. The first thing that leaped to my eyes in the
hall, on the hat-stand, among other garments, was an overcoat. I ought
to have been astonished, but I was not astonished. I expected it.
'That's it!' I said to myself.
"
When I had asked Gregor who was there, and he had named
Troukhatchevsky, I inquired whether there were other visitors. He
answered: 'Nobody.' I remember the air with which he said that, with
a tone that was intended to give me pleasure, and dissipate my doubts.
'That's it! that's it!' I had the air of saying to myself. 'And the
children?'
"'Thank God, they are very well. They went to sleep long ago.'
"I scarcely breathed, and I could not keep my jaw from trembling.
"Then it was not as I thought. I had often before returned home with the
thought that a misfortune had awaited me, but had been mistaken, and
everything was going on as usual. But now things were not going on as
usual. All that I had imagined, all that I believed to be chimeras, all
really existed. Here was the truth.
"I was on the point of sobbing, but straightway the demon whispered in
133
Page
Quick Jump
|