,transcribed from the #ahhg ,tomas ,y4  
,crowell edition by ,david ,price1 email
  ccx#jgdpglaf4org            ,,what    
,,to ,,do8  ,,thoughts ,,evoked ,,by    
,,the ,,census  ,,of ,,moscow      ,,by 
,,count ,,lyof ,n4 ,,tolstoi            
,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,russian     
,,by ,,isabel ,f4 ,,hapgood    ,,new    
,,york  ,,thomas ,y4 ,,crowell  ,,co4   
#ac ,,astor ,,place  #ahhg              
,,copyright1 #ahhg1  ,,by ,,thomas ,y4  
,,crowell  ,,co4    ,,electrotyped ,,and
 ,,printed  ,,by ,,rand ,,avery         
,,company1  ,,boston4                   
,,translator',s ,,note4      ,books     
which are prohibited by the ,russian    
,censor are not always  inaccessible4   
,an enterprising publishing-house in    
,geneva makes a  specialty of supplying 
the natural craving of man for forbidden
 fruit1  under which heading some of    
,count ,l4 ,n4 ,tolstoi's essays belong4
  ,these  essays circulate in ,russia in
 manuscript2 and it is from one of these
  manuscripts1 which fell into the hands

 of the ,geneva firm1 that the first    
half of the present translation has been
 made4  ,it is thus that the  ,censor's 
omissions have been noted1 even in cases
 where such omissions  are in no way    
indicated in the twelfth volume of      
,count ,tolstoi's  collected works1     
published in ,moscow4  ,as an           
interesting detail in this  connection1 
,i may mention that this twelfth volume 
contains all that the  censor allows of 
,my ,religion1 amounting to a very much 
abridged scrap  of ,chapter ,x4 in the  
last-named volume as known to the public
 outside of  ,russia4  ,the last half of
 the present book has not been published
 by the  ,geneva house1 and omissions   
cannot be marked4    ,,isabel ,f4       
,,hapgood    ,,boston1 ,sept4 #a1 #ahhg 
,,article ,,on ,,the ,,census ,,in      
,,moscow4 #ahhb4      ,the object of a  
census is scientific4  ,a census is a   
sociological  investigation4  ,and the  
object of the science of sociology is   
the  happiness of the people4  ,this    

science and its methods differ sharply  
from all other sciences4    ,its        
peculiarity lies in this1 that          
sociological investigations are not     
conducted by learned men in their       
cabinets1 observatories and             
laboratories1 but by two thousand people
 from the community4  ,a second         
peculiarity is this1 that the           
investigations of other sciences are not
  conducted on living people1 but here  
living people are the subjects4  ,a     
third peculiarity is1 that the aim of   
every other science is simply           
knowledge1 while here it is the good of 
the people4  ,one man may  investigate a
 nebula1 but for the investigation of   
,moscow1 two thousand  persons are      
necessary4  ,the object of the study of 
nebulae is merely that  we may know     
about nebulae2 the object of the study  
of inhabitants is that  sociological    
laws may be deduced1 and that1 on the   
foundation of these  laws1 a better life
 for the people may be established4  ,it

 makes no  difference to the nebula     
whether it is studied or not1 and it has
 waited  long1 and is ready to wait a   
great while longer2 but it is not a     
matter  of indifference to the          
inhabitants of ,moscow1 especially to   
those  unfortunates who constitute the  
most interesting subjects of the science
  of sociology4    ,the census-taker    
enters a night lodging-house2 in the    
basement he finds a  man dying of       
hunger1 and he politely inquires his    
profession1 his name1  his native place1
 the character of his occupation1 and   
after a little  hesitation as to whether
 he is to be entered in the list as     
alive1 he  writes him in and goes his   
way4    ,and thus will the two thousand 
young men proceed4  ,this is not as it  
should be4    ,science does its work1   
and the community1 summoned in the      
persons of  these two thousand young men
 to aid science1 must do its work4  ,a  
statistician drawing his deductions from
 figures may feel indifferent  towards  

people1 but we census-takers1 who see   
these people and who have  no scientific
 prepossessions1 cannot conduct         
ourselves towards them in an  inhuman   
manner4  ,science fulfils its task1 and 
its work is for its  objects and in the 
distant future1 both useful and         
necessary to us4  ,for  men of science1 
we can calmly say1 that in #ahhb there  
were so many  beggars1 so many          
prostitutes1 and so many uncared-for    
children4  ,science  may say this with  
composure and with pride1 because it    
knows that the  confirmation of this    
fact conduces to the elucidation of the 
laws of  sociology1 and that the        
elucidation of the laws of sociology    
leads to a  better constitution of      
society4  ,but what if we1 the          
unscientific people1  say3 ,you are     
perishing in vice1 you are dying of     
hunger1 you are pining  away1 and       
killing each other2 so do not grieve    
about this2 when you shall  have all    
perished1 and hundreds of thousands more

 like you1 then1  possibly1 science may 
be able to arrange everything in an     
excellent  manner4  ,for men of science1
 the census has its interest2 and for us
  also1 it possesses an interest of a   
wholly different significance4  ,the    
interest and significance of the census 
for the community lie in this1  that it 
furnishes it with a mirror into which1  
willy nilly1 the whole  community1 and  
each one of us1 gaze4    ,the figures   
and deductions will be the mirror4  ,it 
is possible to refrain  from reading    
them1 as it is possible to turn away    
from the looking-glass4  ,it is possible
 to glance cursorily at both figures and
 mirror1 and it is  also possible to    
scrutinize them narrowly4  ,to go about 
in connection  with the census as       
thousands of people are now about to do1
 is to  scrutinize one's self closely in
 the mirror4    ,what does this census1 
that is about to be made1 mean for us   
people of  ,moscow1 who are not men of  
science8  ,it means two things4  ,in the

 first  place1 this1 that we may learn  
with certainty1 that among us tens of   
thousands who live in ease1 there dwell 
tens of thousands of people who  lack   
bread1 clothing and shelter2 in the     
second place1 this1 that our  brothers  
and sons will go and view this and will 
calmly set down  according to the       
schedules1 how many have died of hunger 
and cold4    ,and both these things are 
very bad4    ,all cry out upon the      
instability of our social organization1 
about the  exceptional situation1 about 
revolutionary tendencies4  ,where lies  
the  root of all this8  ,to what do the 
revolutionists point8  ,to poverty1 to  
inequality in the distribution of       
wealth4  ,to what do the conservatives  
point8  ,to the decline in moral        
principle4  ,if the opinion of the      
revolutionists is correct1 what must be 
done8  ,poverty and the inequality  of  
wealth must be lessened4  ,how is this  
to be effected8  ,the rich must  share  
with the poor4  ,if the opinion of the  

conservatives is correct1  that the     
whole evil arises from the decline in   
moral principle1 what can  be more      
immoral and vicious than the consciously
 indifferent survey of  popular         
sufferings1 with the sole object of     
cataloguing them8  ,what must  be done8 
,to the census we must add the work of  
affectionate intercourse  of the idle   
and cultivated rich1 with the oppressed 
and unenlightened  poor4    ,science    
will do its work1 let us perform ours   
also4  ,let us do this4  ,in  the first 
place1 let all of us who are occupied   
with the census1  superintendents and   
census-takers1 make it perfectly clear  
to ourselves  what we are to investigate
 and why4  ,it is the people1 and the   
object is  that they may be happy4      
,whatever may be one's view of life1    
every one  will agree that there is     
nothing more important than human life1 
and that  there is no more weighty task 
than to remove the obstacles to the     
development of this life1 and to assist 

it4    ,this idea1 that the relations of
 men to poverty are at the foundation of
  all popular suffering1 is expressed in
 the ,gospels with striking  harshness1 
but at the same time1 with decision and 
clearness for all4    ,he who has       
clothed the naked1 fed the hungry1      
visited the prisoner1 that  man has     
clothed ,me1 fed ,me1 visited ,me1 that 
is1 has done the deed for  that which is
 the most important thing in the world4 
,however a man may look upon things1    
every one knows that this is more       
important than all else on earth4       
,and this must not be forgotten1 and we 
must not permit any other  consideration
 to veil from us the most weighty fact  
of our existence4  ,let  us inscribe1   
and reckon1 but let us not forget that  
if we encounter a man  who is hungry and
 without clothes1 it is of more moment  
to succor him  than to make all possible
 investigations1 than to discover all   
possible  sciences4  ,perish the whole  
census if we may but feed an old woman4 

,the  census will be longer and more    
difficult1 but we cannot pass by people 
in  the poorer quarters and merely note 
them down without taking any heed of    
them and without endeavoring1 according 
to the measure of our strength  and     
moral sensitiveness1 to aid them4  ,this
 in the first place4  ,in the  second1  
this is what must be done3 ,all of us1  
who are to take part in the  census1    
must refrain from irritation because we 
are annoyed2 let us  understand that    
this census is very useful for us2 that 
if this is not  cure1 it is at least an 
effort to study the disease1 for which  
we should  be thankful2 that we must    
seize this occasion1 and1 in connection 
with  it1 we must seek to recover our   
health1 in some small degree4  ,let all 
of  us1 then1 who are connected with the
 census1 endeavor to take advantage  of 
this solitary opportunity in ten years  
to purify ourselves somewhat2  let us   
not strive against1 but assist the      
census1 and assist it  especially in    

this sense1 that it may not have merely 
the harsh character  of the             
investigation of a hopelessly sick      
person1 but may have the  character of  
healing and restoration to health4  ,for
 the occasion is  unique3 eighty        
energetic1 cultivated men1 having under 
their orders two  thousand young men of 
the same stamp1 are to make their way   
over the  whole of ,moscow1 and not     
leave a single man in ,moscow with whom 
they have  not entered into personal    
relations4  ,all the wounds of society1 
the  wounds of poverty1 of vice1 of     
ignorance--all will be laid bare4  ,is  
there not something re-assuring in this8
  ,the census-takers will go about      
,moscow1 they will set down in their    
lists1 without distinction1 those       
insolent with prosperity1 the satisfied1
 the calm1 those who are on the  way to 
ruin1 and those who are ruined1 and the 
curtain will fall4  ,the  census-takers1
 our sons and brothers1 these young men 
will behold all  this4  ,they will say3 

,yes1 our life is very terrible and     
incurable1 and  with this admission they
 will live on like the rest of us1      
awaiting a  remedy for the evil from    
this or that extraneous force4  ,but    
those who  are perishing will go on     
dying1 in their ruin1 and those on the  
road to  ruin will continue in their    
course4  ,no1 let us rather grasp the   
idea  that science has its task1 and    
that we1 on the occasion of this census1
  have our task1 and let us not allow   
the curtain once lifted to be  dropped1 
but let us profit by the opportunity in 
order to remove the  immense evil of the
 separation existing between us and the 
poor1 and to  establish intercourse and 
the work of redressing the evil of      
unhappiness  and ignorance1 and our     
still greater misfortune1--the          
indifference and  aimlessness of our    
life4    ,i already hear the customary  
remark3 ,all this is very fine1 these   
are  sounding phrases2 but do you tell  
us what to do and how to do it8  ,before

  ,i say what is to be done1 it is      
indispensable that ,i should say what is
  not to be done4  ,it is indispensable1
 first of all1 in my opinion1 in  order 
that something practical may come of    
this activity1 that no society  should  
be formed1 that there should be no      
publicity1 that there should be  no     
collection of money by balls1 bazaars or
 theatres2 that there should  be no     
announcement that ,prince ,a4 has       
contributed one thousand rubles1  and   
the honorable citizen ,b4 three         
thousand2 that there shall be no        
collection1 no calling to account1 no   
writing up1--most of all1 no  writing   
up1 so that there may not be the least  
shadow of any institution1  either      
governmental or philanthropic4    ,but  
in my opinion1 this is what should be   
done instantly3 ,firstly1 ,all  those   
who agree with me should go to the      
directors1 and ask for their  shares the
 poorest sections1 the poorest          
dwellings2 and in company with  the     

census-takers1 twenty-three1 twenty-four
 or twenty-five in number1  they should 
go to these quarters1 enter into        
relations with the people  who are in   
need of assistance1 and labor for them4 
,secondly3 ,we should direct the        
attention of the superintendents and    
census-takers to the inhabitants in need
 of assistance1 and work for them       
personally1 and point them out to those 
who wish to work over them4  ,but  ,i am
 asked3 ,what do you mean by working    
over them8  ,i reply2 ,doing good  to   
people4  ,the words doing good are      
usually understood to mean1 giving      
money4  ,but1 in my opinion1 doing good 
and giving money are not only not  the  
same thing1 but two different and       
generally opposite things4  ,money1  in 
itself1 is evil4  ,and therefore he who 
gives money gives evil4  ,this  error of
 thinking that the giving of money means
 doing good1 arose from  the fact1 that 
generally1 when a man does good1 he     
frees himself from  evil1 and from money

 among other evils4  ,and therefore1 to 
give money is  only a sign that a man is
 beginning to rid himself of evil4  ,to 
do good1  signifies to do that which is 
good for man4  ,but1 in order to know   
what  is good for man1 it is necessary  
to be on humane1 i4e41 on friendly terms
  with him4  ,and therefore1 in order to
 do good1 it is not money that is       
necessary1 but1 first of all1 a capacity
 for detaching ourselves1 for a  time at
 least1 from the conditions of our own  
life4  ,it is necessary that  we should 
not be afraid to soil our boots and     
clothing1 that we should  not fear lice 
and bedbugs1 that we should not fear    
typhus fever1  diphtheria1 and          
small-pox4  ,it is necessary that we    
should be in a  condition to seat       
ourselves by the bunk of a              
tatterdemalion and converse  earnestly  
with him in such a manner1 that he may  
feel that the man who is  talking with  
him respects and loves him1 and is not  
putting on airs and  admiring himself4  

,and in order that this may be so1 it is
 necessary that  a man should find the  
meaning of life outside himself4  ,this 
is what is  requisite in order that good
 should be done1 and this is what it is 
difficult to find4    ,when the idea of 
assisting through the medium of the     
census occurred to  me1 ,i discussed the
 matter with divers of the wealthy1 and 
,i saw how glad  the rich were of this  
opportunity of decently getting rid of  
their money1  that extraneous sin which 
they cherish in their hearts4  ,take    
three  hundred--five hundred rubles1 if 
you like1 they said to me1 but ,i       
cannot go into those dens myself4       
,there was no lack of money4  ,remember 
,zaccheus1 the chief of the ,publicans  
in the ,gospel4  ,remember how he1      
because he was small of stature1 climbed
 into a tree to see ,christ1 and  how   
when ,christ announced that he was going
 to his house1 having  understood but   
one thing1 that the ,master did not     
approve of riches1 he  leaped headlong  

from the tree1 ran home and arranged his
 feast4  ,and how1  as soon as ,christ  
entered1 ,zaccheus instantly declared   
that he gave the  half of his goods to  
the poor1 and if he had wronged any man1
 to him he  would restore fourfold4     
,and remember how all of us1 when we    
read the  ,gospel1 set but little store 
on this ,zaccheus1 and involuntarily    
look  with scorn on this half of his    
goods1 and fourfold restitution4  ,and  
our  feeling is correct4  ,zaccheus1    
according to his lights1 performed a    
great  deed4  ,he had not even begun to 
do good4  ,he had only begun in some    
small  measure to purify himself from   
evil1 and so ,christ told him4    ,he   
merely said to him3 ,to-day is salvation
 come nigh unto this house4    ,what if 
the ,moscow ,zaccheuses were to do the  
same that he did8  ,assuredly1  more    
than one milliard could be collected4   
,well1 and what of that8  ,nothing4     
,there would be still greater sin if we 
were to think of  distributing this     

money among the poor4  ,money is not    
needed4  ,what is  needed is            
self-sacrificing action2 what is needed 
are people who would  like to do good1  
not by giving extraneous sin-money1 but 
by giving their  own labor1 themselves1 
their lives4  ,where are such people to 
be found8  ,here they are1 walking about
 ,moscow4  ,they are the student        
enumerators4  ,i  have seen how they    
write out their charts4  ,the student   
writes in the  night lodging-house1 by  
the bedside of a sick man4  ,what is    
your  disease8--,small-pox4  ,and the   
student does not make a wry face1 but   
proceeds with his writing4  ,and this he
 does for the sake of some  doubtful    
science4  ,what would he do if he were  
doing it for the sake of  his own       
undoubted good and the good of others8  
,when children1 in merry mood1 feel a   
desire to laugh1 they never think of    
devising some reason for laughter1 but  
they laugh without any reason1  because 
they are gay2 and thus these charming   

youths sacrifice  themselves4  ,they    
have not1 as yet1 contrived to devise   
any means of  sacrificing themselves1   
but they devote their attention1 their  
labor1  their lives1 in order to write  
out a chart1 from which something does  
or  does not appear4  ,what would it be 
if this labor were something really     
worth their while8  ,there is and there 
always will be labor of this sort1      
which is worthy of the devotion of a    
whole life1 whatever the man's life  may
 be4  ,this labor is the loving         
intercourse of man with man1 and the    
breaking-down of the barriers which men 
have erected between themselves1  so    
that the enjoyment of the rich man may  
not be disturbed by the wild  howls of  
the men who are reverting to beasts1 and
 by the groans of  helpless hunger1 cold
 and disease4    ,this census will place
 before the eyes of us well-to-do and   
so-called  cultivated people1 all the   
poverty and oppression which is lurking 
in  every corner of ,moscow4  ,two      

thousand of our brothers1 who stand on  
the  highest rung of the ladder1 will   
come face to face with thousands of     
people who stand on the lowest round of 
society4  ,let us not miss this         
opportunity of communion4  ,let us1     
through these two thousand men1         
preserve this communion1 and let us make
 use of it to free ourselves from  the  
aimlessness and the deformity of our    
lives1 and to free the condemned  from  
that indigence and misery which do not  
allow the sensitive people in  our ranks
 to enjoy our good fortune in peace4    
,this is what ,i propose3 7#a7 ,that all
 our directors and enumerators should   
join to their business of the census a  
task of assistance1--of work in  the    
interest of the good of these people1   
who1 in our opinion1 are in  need of    
assistance1 and with whom we shall come 
in contact2 7#b7 ,that all  of us1      
directors and enumerators1 not by       
appointment of the committee of  the    
,city ,council1 but by the appointment  

of our own hearts1 shall remain  in our 
posts1--that is1 in our relations to the
 inhabitants of the town  who are in    
need of assistance1--and that1 at the   
conclusion of the work  of the census1  
we shall continue our work of aid4  ,if 
,i have succeeded in  any degree in     
expressing what ,i feel1 ,i am sure that
 the only  impossibility will be getting
 the directors and enumerators to       
abandon  this1 and that others will     
present themselves in the places of     
those who  leave2 7#c7 ,that we should  
collect all those inhabitants of        
,moscow1 who  feel themselves fit to    
work for the needy1 into sections1 and  
begin our  activity now1 in accordance  
with the hints of the census-takers and 
directors1 and afterwards carry it on2  
7#d7 ,that all who1 on account of  age1 
weakness1 or other causes1 cannot give  
their personal labor among  the needy1  
shall intrust the task to their young1  
strong1 and willing  relatives4  7,good 
consists not in the giving of money1 it 

consists in the  loving intercourse of  
men4  ,this alone is needed47           
,whatever may be the outcome of this1   
any thing will be better than the       
present state of things4    ,then let   
the final act of our enumerators and    
directors be to distribute  a hundred   
twenty-kopek pieces to those who have no
 food2 and this will be  not a little1  
not so much because the hungry will have
 food1 but because  the directors and   
enumerators will conduct themselves in a
 humane manner  towards a hundred poor  
people4  ,how are we to compute the     
possible  results which will accrue to  
the balance of public morality from the 
fact  that1 instead of the sentiments of
 irritation1 anger1 and envy which we   
arouse by reckoning the hungry1 we shall
 awaken in a hundred instances a        
sentiment of good1 which will be        
communicated to a second and a third1   
and an endless wave which will thus be  
set in motion and flow between  men8    
,and this is a great deal4  ,let those  

of the two thousand  enumerators who    
have never comprehended this before1    
come to understand  that1 when going    
about among the poor1 it is impossible  
to say1 ,this is  very interesting2 that
 a man should not express himself with  
regard to  another man's wretchedness by
 interest only2 and this will be a good 
thing4  ,then let assistance be rendered
 to all those unfortunates1 of  whom    
there are not so many as ,i at first    
supposed in ,moscow1 who can  easily be 
helped by money alone to a great extent4
  ,then let those  laborers who have    
come to ,moscow and have eaten their    
very clothing from  their backs1 and who
 cannot return to the country1 be       
despatched to their  homes2 let the     
abandoned orphans receive supervision2  
let feeble old men  and indigent old    
women1 who subsist on the charity of    
their companions1  be released from     
their half-famished and dying condition4
  7,and this is  very possible4  ,there 
are not very many of them47  ,and this  

will also be  a very1 very great deal   
accomplished4  ,but why not think and   
hope that  more and yet more will be    
done8  ,why not expect that that real   
task will  be partially carried out1 or 
at least begun1 which is effected1 not  
by  money1 but by labor2 that weak      
drunkards who have lost their health1   
unlucky thieves1 and prostitutes who are
 still capable of reformation1  should  
be saved8  ,all evil may not be         
exterminated1 but there will arise  some
 understanding of it1 and the contest   
with it will not be police  methods1 but
 by inward modes1--by the brotherly     
intercourse of the men  who perceive the
 evil1 with the men who do not perceive 
it because they  are a part of it4      
,no matter what may be accomplished1 it 
will be a great deal4  ,but why not     
hope that every thing will be           
accomplished8  ,why not hope that we    
shall  accomplish thus much1 that there 
shall not exist in ,moscow a single     
person in want of clothing1 a single    

hungry person1 a single human being     
sold for money1 nor a single individual 
oppressed by the judgment of man1  who  
shall not know that there is fraternal  
aid for him8  ,it is not  surprising    
that this should not be so1 but it is   
surprising that this  should exist side 
by side with our superfluous leisure and
 wealth1 and  that we can live on       
composedly1 knowing that these things   
are so4  ,let us  forget that in great  
cities and in ,london1 there is a       
proletariat1 and  let us not say that so
 it must needs be4  ,it need not be     
this1 and it  should not1 for this is   
contrary to our reason and our heart1   
and it  cannot be if we are living      
people4  ,why not hope that we shall    
come to  understand that there is not a 
single duty incumbent upon us1 not to   
mention personal duty1 for ourselves1   
nor our family1 nor social1 nor         
governmental1 nor scientific1 which is  
more weighty than this8  ,why not  think
 that we shall at last come to apprehend

 this8  ,only because to do  so would be
 too great a happiness4  ,why not hope  
that some the people  will wake up1 and 
will comprehend that every thing else is
 a delusion1  but that this is the only 
work in life8  ,and why should not this 
some  time be now1 and in ,moscow8  ,why
 not hope that the same thing may happen
  in society and humanity which suddenly
 takes place in a diseased  organism1   
when the moment of convalescence        
suddenly sets in8  ,the  organism is    
diseased this means1 that the cells     
cease to perform their  mysterious      
functions2 some die1 others become      
infected1 others still  remain in       
perfect condition1 and work on by       
themselves4  ,but all of a  sudden the  
moment comes when every living cell     
enters upon an independent  and healthy 
activity3 it crowds out the dead cells1 
encloses the infected  ones in a living 
wall1 it communicates life to that which
 was lifeless2  and the body is         
restored1 and lives with new life4      

,why should we not think and expect that
 the cells of our society will  acquire 
fresh life and re-invigorate the        
organism8  ,we know not in what  the    
power of the cells consists1 but we do  
know that our life is in our  own power4
  ,we can show forth the light that is  
in us1 or we may  extinguish it4    ,let
 one man approach the ,lyapinsky house  
in the dusk1 when a thousand  persons1  
naked and hungry1 are waiting in the    
bitter cold for admission1  and let that
 one man attempt to help1 and his heart 
will ache till it  bleeds1 and he will  
flee thence with despair and anger      
against men2 but  let a thousand men    
approach that other thousand with a     
desire to help1  and the task will prove
 easy and delightful4  ,let the         
mechanicians invent  a machine for      
lifting the weight that is crushing     
us--that is a good  thing2 but until    
they shall have invented it1 let us bear
 down upon the  people1 like fools1 like
 muzhiki1 like peasants1 like           

,christians1 and  see whether we cannot 
raise them4    ,and now1 brothers1 all  
together1 and away it goes6             
,,thoughts ,,evoked ,,by ,,the ,,census 
,,of ,,moscow4  #ahhd-ahhe4         ,and
 the people asked him1 saying1 ,what    
shall we do then8       ,he answereth   
and saith unto them1 ,he that hath two  
coats1 let him     impart to him that   
hath none2 and he that hath meat1 let   
him do     likewise--,,luke iii4 #aj4   
#aa4       ,lay not up for yourselves   
treasures upon earth1 where moth and    
rust     doth corrupt1 and where thieves
 break through and steal3       ,but lay
 up for yourselves treasures in heaven1 
where neither moth nor     rust doth    
corrupt1 and where thieves do not break 
through nor steal3       ,for where your
 treasure is1 there will your heart be  
also4       ,the light of the body is   
the eye3 if therefore thine eye be      
single1     thy whole body shall be full
 of light4       ,but if thine eye be   
evil1 thy whole body shall be full of   

darkness4  ,if     therefore the light  
that is in thee be darkness1 how great  
is that     darkness6       ,no man can 
serve two masters3 for either he will   
hate the one1 and     love the other2 or
 else he will hold to the one1 and      
despise the     other4  ,ye cannot serve
 ,god and mammon4       ,therefore ,i   
say unto you1 ,take no thought for your 
life1 what ye shall     eat1 or what ye 
shall drink2 nor yet for your body1 what
 ye shall put     on4  ,is not the life 
more than meat1 and the body than       
raiment8--,,matt4     vi4 #ai-be4       
,therefore take no thought1 saying1     
,what shall we eat8 or1 ,what shall     
we drink8  ,or1 ,wherewithal shall we be
 clothed8       7,for after all these   
things do the ,gentiles seek37 for your 
heavenly     ,father knoweth that ye    
have need of all these things4          
,but seek ye first the kingdom of ,god1 
and his righteousness2 and all     these
 things shall be added unto you4        
,take therefore no thought for the      

morrow3 for the morrow shall take       
thought for the things of itself4       
,sufficient unto the day is the evil    
thereof4--,,matt4 vi4 #ca-cd4       ,for
 it is easier for a camel to go through 
a needle's eye1 than for a     rich man 
to enter into the kingdom of            
,god4--,,matt4 xix4 #bd2 ,,mark x4 #be2 
,,luke xviii4 #be4        ,,chapter ,i4 
,i had lived all my life out of town4   
,when1 in #ahha1 ,i went to live in     
,moscow1 the poverty of the town greatly
 surprised me4  ,i am familiar with     
poverty in the country2 but city poverty
 was new and incomprehensible to  me4   
,in ,moscow it was impossible to pass   
along the street without  encountering  
beggars1 and especially beggars who are 
unlike those in the  country4  ,these   
beggars do not go about with their      
pouches in the name of  ,christ1 as     
country beggars are accustomed to do1   
but these beggars are  without the pouch
 and the name of ,christ4  ,the ,moscow 
beggars carry no  pouches1 and do not   

ask for alms4  ,generally1 when they    
meet or pass you1  they merely try to   
catch your eye2 and1 according to your  
look1 they beg  or refrain from it4  ,i 
know one such beggar who belongs to the 
gentry4  ,the old man walks slowly      
along1 bending forward every time he    
sets his  foot down4  ,when he meets    
you1 he rests on one foot and makes you 
a kind  of salute4  ,if you stop1 he    
pulls off his hat with its cockade1 and 
bows  and begs3 if you do not halt1 he  
pretends that that is merely his way of 
walking1 and he passes on1 bending      
forward in like manner on the other     
foot4  ,he is a real ,moscow beggar1 a  
cultivated man4  ,at first ,i did not   
know why the ,moscow beggars do not ask 
alms directly2 afterwards ,i came  to   
understand why they do not beg1 but     
still ,i did not understand their       
position4    ,once1 as ,i was passing   
through ,afanasievskaya ,lane1 ,i saw a 
policeman  putting a ragged peasant1 all
 swollen with dropsy1 into a cab4  ,i   

inquired3 ,what is that for8    ,the    
policeman answered3 ,for asking alms4   
,is that forbidden8    ,of course it is 
forbidden1 replied the policeman4       
,the sufferer from dropsy was driven    
off4  ,i took another cab1 and  followed
 him4  ,i wanted to know whether it was 
true that begging alms was  prohibited  
and how it was prohibited4  ,i could in 
no wise understand how  one man could be
 forbidden to ask alms of any other man2
 and besides1 ,i  did not believe that  
it was prohibited1 when ,moscow is full 
of beggars4  ,i  went to the            
station-house whither the beggar had    
been taken4  ,at a table  in the        
station-house sat a man with a sword and
 a pistol4  ,i inquired3    ,for what   
was this peasant arrested8    ,the man  
with the sword and pistol gazed sternly 
at me1 and said3    ,what business is it
 of yours8    ,but feeling conscious    
that it was necessary to offer me some  
explanation1  he added3    ,the         
authorities have ordered that all such  

persons are to be arrested2  of course  
it had to be done4    ,i went out4  ,the
 policeman who had brought the beggar   
was seated on the  window-sill in the   
ante-chamber1 staring gloomily at a     
note-book4  ,i  asked him3    ,is it    
true that the poor are forbidden to ask 
alms in ,christ's name8    ,the         
policeman came to himself1 stared at me1
 then did not exactly frown1  but       
apparently fell into a doze again1 and  
said1 as he sat on the window-  sill3-- 
,the authorities have so ordered1 which 
shows that it is necessary1 and  betook 
himself once more to his note-book4  ,i 
went out on the porch1 to  the cab4     
,well1 how did it turn out8  ,have they 
arrested him8 asked the cabman4  ,the   
man was evidently interested in this    
affair also4    ,yes1 ,i answered4  ,the
 cabman shook his head4  ,why is it     
forbidden here  in ,moscow to ask alms  
in ,christ's name8 ,i inquired4    ,who 
knows8 said the cabman4    ,how is this8
 said ,i1 he is ,christ's poor1 and he  

is taken to the  station-house4    ,a   
stop has been put to that now1 it is not
 allowed1 said the  cab-driver4    ,on  
several occasions afterwards1 ,i saw    
policemen conducting beggars to  the    
station house1 and then to the ,yusupoff
 house of correction4  ,once ,i         
encountered on the ,myasnitzkaya a      
company of these beggars1 about thirty  
in number4  ,in front of them and behind
 them marched policemen4  ,i  inquired3 
,what for8--,for asking alms4    ,it    
turned out that all these beggars1      
several of whom you meet with in  every 
street in ,moscow1 and who stand in     
files near every church during          
services1 and especially during funeral 
services1 are forbidden to ask  alms4   
,but why are some of them caught and    
locked up somewhere1 while others are   
left alone8    ,this ,i could not       
understand4  ,either there are among    
them legal and  illegal beggars1 or     
there are so many of them that it is    
impossible to  apprehend them all2 or do

 others assemble afresh when some are   
removed8    ,there are many varieties of
 beggars in ,moscow3 there are some who 
live by  this profession2 there are also
 genuine poor people1 who have chanced  
upon ,moscow in some manner or other1   
and who are really in want4    ,among   
these poor people1 there are many       
simple1 common peasants1 and  women in  
their peasant costume4  ,i often met    
such people4  ,some of them  have fallen
 ill here1 and on leaving the hospital  
they can neither  support themselves    
here1 nor get away from ,moscow4  ,some 
of them1  moreover1 have indulged in    
dissipation 7such was probably the case 
of the  dropsical man72 some have not   
been ill1 but are people who have been  
burnt out of their houses1 or old       
people1 or women with children2 some1   
too1 were perfectly healthy and able to 
work4  ,these perfectly healthy         
peasants who were engaged in begging1   
particularly interested me4  ,these     
healthy1 peasant beggars1 who were fit  

for work1 also interested me1  because1 
from the date of my arrival in ,moscow1 
,i had been in the habit  of going to   
the ,sparrow ,hills with two peasants1  
and sawing wood there  for the sake of  
exercise4  ,these two peasants were just
 as poor as those  whom ,i encountered  
on the streets4  ,one was ,piotr1 a     
soldier from ,kaluga2  the other        
,semyon1 a peasant from ,vladimir4      
,they possessed nothing except  the     
wages of their body and hands4  ,and    
with these hands they earned1 by  dint  
of very hard labor1 from forty to       
forty-five kopeks a day1 out of  which  
each of them was laying by savings1 the 
,kaluga man for a fur coat1  the        
,vladimir man in order to get enough to 
return to his village4  ,therefore1 on  
meeting precisely such men in the       
streets1 ,i took an  especial interest  
in them4    ,why did these men toil1    
while those others begged8    ,on       
encountering a peasant of this stamp1 ,i
 usually asked him how he had  come to  

that situation4  ,once ,i met a peasant 
with some gray in his  beard1 but       
healthy4  ,he begs4  ,i ask him who is  
he1 whence comes he8  ,he  says that he 
came from ,kaluga to get work4  ,at     
first he found employment  chopping up  
old wood for use in stoves4  ,he and his
 comrade finished all  the chopping     
which one householder had2 then they    
sought other work1 but  found none2 his 
comrade had parted from him1 and for two
 weeks he himself  had been struggling  
along2 he had spent all his money1 he   
had no saw1 and  no axe1 and no money to
 buy anything4  ,i gave him money for a 
saw1 and  told him of a place where he  
could find work4  ,i had already made   
arrangements with ,piotr and ,semyon1   
that they should take an assistant1  and
 they looked up a mate for him4    ,see 
that you come4  ,there is a great deal  
of work there4    ,i will come2 why     
should ,i not come8  ,do you suppose ,i 
like to beg8  ,i  can work4    ,the     
peasant declares that he will come1 and 

it seems to me that he is not  deceiving
 me1 and that he intents to come4    ,on
 the following day ,i go to my peasants1
 and inquire whether that man  has      
arrived4  ,he has not been there2 and in
 this way several men deceived  me4     
,and those also deceived me who said    
that they only required money  for a    
ticket in order to return home1 and who 
chanced upon me again in  the street a  
week later4  ,many of these ,i          
recognized1 and they recognized  me1 and
 sometimes1 having forgotten me1 they   
repeated the same trick on  me2 and     
others1 on catching sight of me1 beat a 
retreat4  ,thus ,i  perceived1 that in  
the ranks of this class also deceivers  
existed4  ,but  these cheats were very  
pitiable creatures3 all of them were but
  half-clad1 poverty-stricken1 gaunt1   
sickly men2 they were the very people   
who really freeze to death1 or hang     
themselves1 as we learn from the        
newspapers4        ,,chapter ,,ii4      
,when ,i mentioned this poverty of the  

town to inhabitants of the town1  they  
always said to me3 ,oh1 all that you    
have seen is nothing4  ,you  ought to   
see the ,khitroff market-place1 and the 
lodging-houses for the  night there4    
,there you would see a regular 'golden  
company4' #ba;a  ,one  jester told me   
that this was no longer a company1 but a
 golden  regiment3 so greatly had their 
numbers increased4  ,the jester was     
right1  but he would have been still    
more accurate if he had said that these 
people now form in ,moscow neither a    
company nor a regiment1 but an entire   
army1 almost fifty thousand in number1  
,i think4  ,the old inhabitants1  when  
they spoke to me about the poverty in   
town1 always referred to it  with a     
certain satisfaction1 as though pluming 
themselves over me1  because they knew  
it4  ,i remember that when ,i was in    
,london1 the old  inhabitants there also
 rather boasted when they spoke of the  
poverty of  ,london4  ,the case is the  
same with us4 #ba;b    ,and ,i wanted to

 have a sight of this poverty of which  
,i had been told4  ,several times ,i set
 out in the direction of the ,khitroff  
market-place1  but on every occasion ,i 
began to feel uncomfortable and ashamed4
  ,why am  ,i going to gaze on the      
sufferings of people whom ,i cannot     
help8 said one  voice4  ,no1 if you live
 here1 and see all the charms of city   
life1 go  and view this also1 said      
another voice4  ,in ,december three     
years ago1  therefore1 on a cold and    
windy day1 ,i betook myself to that     
centre of  poverty1 the ,khitroff       
market-place4  ,this was at four o'clock
 in the  afternoon of a week-day4  ,as  
,i passed through the ,solyanka1 ,i     
already  began to see more and more     
people in old garments which had not    
originally belonged to them1 and in     
still stranger foot-gear1 people with  a
 peculiar1 unhealthy hue of countenance1
 and especially with a singular         
indifference to every thing around them1
 which was peculiar to them all4  ,a man

 in the strangest of all possible       
attire1 which was utterly unlike  any   
thing else1 walked along with perfect   
unconcern1 evidently without a  thought 
of the appearance which he must present 
to the eyes of others4  ,all these      
people were making their way towards a  
single point4  ,without  inquiring the  
way1 with which ,i was not acquainted1  
,i followed them1 and  came out on the  
,khitroff market-place4  ,on the        
market-place1 women both  old and young1
 of the same description1 in tattered   
cloaks and jackets of  various shapes1  
in ragged shoes and overshoes1 and      
equally unconcerned1  notwithstanding   
the hideousness of their attire1 sat1   
bargained for  something1 strolled      
about1 and scolded4  ,there were not    
many people in  the market itself4      
,evidently market-hours were over1 and  
the majority of  the people were        
ascending the rise beyond the market and
 through the  place1 all still          
proceeding in one direction4  ,i        

followed them4  ,the  farther ,i        
advanced1 the greater in numbers were   
the people of this sort  who flowed     
together on one road4  ,passing through 
the market-place and  proceeding along  
the street1 ,i overtook two women2 one  
was old1 the other  young4  ,both wore  
something ragged and gray4  ,as they    
walked they were  discussing some       
matter4  ,after every necessary word1   
they uttered one or  two unnecessary    
ones1 of the most improper character4   
,they were not  intoxicated1 but merely 
troubled about something2 and neither   
the men who  met them1 nor those who    
walked in front of them and behind them1
 paid any  attention to the language    
which was so strange to me4  ,in these  
quarters1  evidently1 people always     
talked so4  ,ascending the rise1 we     
reached a  large house on a corner4     
,the greater part of the people who were
 walking  along with me halted at this  
house4  ,they stood all over the        
sidewalk of  this house1 and sat on the 

curbstone1 and even the snow in the     
street was  thronged with the same kind 
of people4  ,on the right side of the   
entrance  door were the women1 on the   
left the men4  ,i walked past the women1
 past  the men 7there were several      
hundred of them in all7 and halted where
 the  line came to an end4  ,the house  
before which these people were waiting  
was the ,lyapinsky free lodging-house   
for the night4  ,the throng of people   
consisted of night lodgers1 who were    
waiting to be let in4  ,at five  o'clock
 in the afternoon1 the house is opened1 
and the people permitted  to enter4     
,hither had come nearly all the people  
whom ,i had passed on my  way4    ,i    
halted where the line of men ended4     
,those nearest me began to stare at  me1
 and attracted my attention to them by  
their glances4  ,the fragments  of      
garments which covered these bodies were
 of the most varied sorts4  ,but  the   
expression of all the glances directed  
towards me by these people was          

identical4  ,in all eyes the question   
was expressed3 ,why have you1 a man     
from another world1 halted here beside  
us8  ,who are you8  ,are you a self-    
satisfied rich man who wants to enjoy   
our wretchedness1 to get rid of his     
tedium1 and to torment us still more8 or
 are you that thing which does  not and 
can not exist1--a man who pities us8    
,this query was on every  face4  ,you   
glance about1 encounter some one's eye1 
and turn away4  ,i  wished to talk with 
some one of them1 but for a long time ,i
 could not  make up my mind to it4  ,but
 our glances had drawn us together      
already  while our tongues remained     
silent4  ,greatly as our lives had      
separated  us1 after the interchange of 
two or three glances we felt that we    
were  both men1 and we ceased to fear   
each other4  ,the nearest of all to me  
was  a peasant with a swollen face and a
 red beard1 in a tattered caftan1 and   
patched overshoes on his bare feet4     
,and the weather was eight degrees      

below zero4 #bd;a  ,for the third or    
fourth time ,i encountered his eyes1    
and ,i felt so near to him that ,i was  
no longer ashamed to accost him1 but    
ashamed not to say something to him4  ,i
 inquired where he came from8 he        
answered readily1 and we began to talk2 
others approached4  ,he was from        
,smolensk1 and had come to seek         
employment that he might earn his bread 
and taxes4  ,there is no work1 said he3 
the soldiers have taken it all  away4   
,so now ,i am loafing about2 as true as 
,i believe in ,god1 ,i have had  nothing
 to eat for two days4  ,he spoke        
modestly1 with an effort at a  smile4   
,a sbiten#bd;b-seller1 an old soldier1  
stood near by4  ,i called  him up4  ,he 
poured out his sbiten4  ,the peasant    
took a boiling-hot  glassful in his     
hands1 and as he tried before drinking  
not to let any of  the heat escape in   
vain1 and warmed his hands over it1 he  
related his  adventures to me4  ,these  
adventures1 or the histories of them1   

are almost  always identical3 the man   
has been a laborer1 then he has changed 
his  residence1 then his purse          
containing his money and ticket has been
 stolen  from him in the night          
lodging-house2 now it is impossible to  
get away  from ,moscow4  ,he told me    
that he kept himself warm by day in the 
dram-  shops2 that he nourished himself 
on the bits of bread in these drinking  
places1 when they were given to him2 and
 when he was driven out of them1  he    
came hither to the ,lyapinsky house for 
a free lodging4  ,he was only  waiting  
for the police to make their rounds1    
when1 as he had no passport1  he would  
be taken to jail1 and then despatched by
 stages to his place of  settlement4    
,they say that the inspection will be   
made on ,friday1 said  he1 then they    
will arrest me4  ,if ,i can only get    
along until ,friday4  7,the jail1 and   
the journey by stages1 represent the    
,promised ,land to  him47    ,as he told
 his story1 three men from among the    

throng corroborated his  statements1 and
 said that they were in the same        
predicament4  ,a gaunt1  pale1          
long-nosed youth1 with merely a shirt on
 the upper portion of his  body1 and    
that torn on the shoulders1 and a cap   
without a visor1 forced  his way        
sidelong through the crowd4  ,he        
shivered violently and  incessantly1 but
 tried to smile disdainfully at the     
peasants' remarks1  thinking by this    
means to adopt the proper tone with me1 
and he stared at  me4  ,i offered him   
some sbiten2 he also1 on taking the     
glass1 warmed  his hands over it2 but no
 sooner had he begun to speak1 than he  
was  thrust aside by a big1 black1      
hook-nosed individual1 in a chintz shirt
  and waistcoat1 without a hat4  ,the   
hook-nosed man asked for some sbiten    
also4  ,then came a tall old man1 with a
 mass of beard1 clad in a great-  coat  
girded with a rope1 and in bast shoes1  
who was drunk4  ,then a small  man with 
a swollen face and tearful eyes1 in a   

brown nankeen  round-jacket1 with his   
bare knees protruding from the holes in 
his summer  trousers1 and knocking      
together with cold4  ,he shivered so    
that he could  not hold his glass1 and  
spilled it over himself4  ,the men began
 to  reproach him4  ,he only smiled in a
 woe-begone way1 and went on shivering4 
,then came a crooked monster in rags1   
with pattens on his bare feet2 then     
some sort of an officer2 then something 
in the ecclesiastical line2 then        
something strange and nose-less1--all   
hungry and cold1 beseeching and         
submissive1 thronged round me1 and      
pressed close to the sbiten4  ,they     
drank up all the sbiten4  ,one asked for
 money1 and ,i gave it4  ,then  another 
asked1 then a third1 and the whole crowd
 besieged me4  ,confusion  and a press  
resulted4  ,the porter of the adjoining 
house shouted to the  crowd to clear the
 sidewalk in front of his house1 and the
 crowd  submissively obeyed his orders4 
,some managers stepped out of the       

throng1  and took me under their        
protection1 and wanted to lead me forth 
out of  the press2 but the crowd1 which 
had at first been scattered over the    
sidewalk1 now became disorderly1 and    
hustled me4  ,all stared at me and      
begged2 and each face was more pitiful  
and suffering and humble than the  last4
  ,i distributed all that ,i had with   
me4  ,i had not much money1  something  
like twenty rubles2 and in company with 
the crowd1 ,i entered  the ,lyapinsky   
lodging-house4  ,this house is huge4    
,it consists of four  sections4  ,in the
 upper stories are the men's quarters2  
in the lower1 the  women's4  ,i first   
entered the women's place2 a vast room  
all occupied  with bunks1 resembling the
 third-class bunks on the railway4      
,these bunks  were arranged in two rows1
 one above the other4  ,the women1      
strange1  tattered creatures1 both old  
and young1 wearing nothing over their   
dresses1 entered and took their places1 
some below and some above4  ,some  of   

the old ones crossed themselves1 and    
uttered a petition for the  founder of  
this refuge2 some laughed and scolded4  
,i went up-stairs4  ,there the men had  
installed themselves2 among them ,i     
espied one of those  to whom ,i had     
given money4  ,on catching sight of him1
 ,i all at once felt  terribly abashed1 
and ,i made haste to leave the room4    
,and it was with a  sense of absolute   
crime that ,i quitted that house and    
returned home4  ,at  home ,i entered    
over the carpeted stairs into the       
ante-room1 whose floor  was covered with
 cloth2 and having removed my fur coat1 
,i sat down to a  dinner of five        
courses1 waited on by two lackeys in    
dress-coats1 white  neckties1 and white 
gloves4    ,thirty years ago ,i         
witnessed in ,paris a man's head cut off
 by the  guillotine in the presence of  
thousands of spectators4  ,i knew that  
the  man was a horrible criminal4  ,i   
was acquainted with all the arguments   
which people have been devising for so  

many centuries1 in order to  justify    
this sort of deed4  ,i knew that they   
had done this expressly1  deliberately4 
,but at the moment when head and body   
were severed1 and  fell into the trough1
 ,i groaned1 and apprehended1 not with  
my mind1 but  with my heart and my whole
 being1 that all the arguments which ,i 
had  heard anent the death-penalty were 
arrant nonsense2 that1 no matter how    
many people might assemble in order to  
perpetrate a murder1 no matter  what    
they might call themselves1 murder is   
murder1 the vilest sin in the  world1   
and that that crime had been committed  
before my very eyes4  ,by my  presence  
and non-interference1 ,i had lent my    
approval to that crime1 and  had taken  
part in it4  ,so now1 at the sight of   
this hunger1 cold1 and  degradation of  
thousands of persons1 ,i understood not 
with my mind1 but  with my heart and my 
whole being1 that the existence of tens 
of thousands  of such people in ,moscow1
 while ,i and other thousands dined on  

fillets  and sturgeon1 and covered my   
horses and my floors with cloth and     
rugs1--no  matter what the wise ones of 
this world might say to me about its    
being a  necessity1--was a crime1 not   
perpetrated a single time1 but one which
 was  incessantly being perpetrated over
 and over again1 and that ,i1 in my     
luxury1 was not only an accessory1 but a
 direct accomplice in the matter4  ,the 
difference for me between these two     
impressions was this1 that ,i  might    
have shouted to the assassins who stood 
around the guillotine1 and  perpetrated 
the murder1 that they were committing a 
crime1 and have tried  with all my might
 to prevent the murder4  ,but while so  
doing ,i should  have known that my     
action would not prevent the murder4    
,but here ,i might  not only have given 
sbiten and the money which ,i had with  
me1 but the  coat from my back1 and     
every thing that was in my house4  ,but 
this ,i had  not done2 and therefore ,i 
felt1 ,i feel1 and shall never cease to 

feel1  myself an accomplice in this     
constantly repeated crime1 so long as ,i
 have  superfluous food and any one else
 has none at all1 so long as ,i have two
  garments while any one else has not   
even one4 #bh        ,,chapter ,,iii4   
,that very evening1 on my return from   
the ,lyapinsky house1 ,i related my     
impressions to a friend4  ,the friend1  
an inhabitant of the city1 began to     
tell me1 not without satisfaction1 that 
this was the most natural  phenomenon of
 town life possible1 that ,i only saw   
something extraordinary  in it because  
of my provincialism1 that it had always 
been so1 and always  would be so1 and   
that such must be and is the inevitable 
condition of  civilization4  ,in ,london
 it is even worse4  ,of course there is 
nothing  wrong about it1 and it is      
impossible to be displeased with it4  ,i
 began  to reply to my friend1 but with 
so much heat and ill-temper1 that my    
wife  ran in from the adjoining room to 
inquire what had happened4  ,it appears 

that1 without being conscious of it     
myself1 ,i had been shouting1 with      
tears in my voice1 and flourishing my   
hands at my friend4  ,i shouted3  ,it's 
impossible to live thus1 impossible to  
live thus1 impossible6  ,they  made me  
feel ashamed of my unnecessary warmth2  
they told me that ,i could  not talk    
quietly about any thing1 that ,i got    
disagreeably excited2 and  they proved  
to me1 especially1 that the existence of
 such unfortunates  could not possibly  
furnish any excuse for imbittering the  
lives of those  about me4    ,i felt    
that this was perfectly just1 and held  
my peace2 but in the depths  of my soul 
,i was conscious that ,i was in the     
right1 and ,i could not  regain my      
composure4    ,and the life of the city1
 which had1 even before this1 been so   
strange  and repellent to me1 now       
disgusted me to such a degree1 that all 
the  pleasures of a life of luxury1     
which had hitherto appeared to me as    
pleasures1 become tortures to me4  ,and 

try as ,i would1 to discover in my  own 
soul any justification whatever for our 
life1 ,i could not1 without  irritation1
 behold either my own or other people's 
drawing-rooms1 nor our  tables spread in
 the lordly style1 nor our equipages and
 horses1 nor  shops1 theatres1 and      
assemblies4  ,i could not behold        
alongside these the  hungry1 cold1 and  
down-trodden inhabitants of the         
,lyapinsky house4  ,and ,i  could not   
rid myself of the thought that these two
 things were bound up  together1 that   
the one arose from the other4  ,i       
remember1 that1 as this  feeling of my  
own guilt presented itself to me at the 
first blush1 so it  persisted in me1 but
 to this feeling a second was speedily  
added which  overshadowed it4    ,when  
,i mentioned my impressions of the      
,lyapinsky house to my nearest  friends 
and acquaintances1 they all gave me the 
same answer as the first  friend at whom
 ,i had begun to shout2 but1 in addition
 to this1 they  expressed their         

approbation of my kindness of heart and 
my sensibility1  and gave me to         
understand that this sight had so       
especially worked upon  me because ,i1  
,lyof ,nikolaevitch1 was very kind and  
good4  ,and ,i willingly  believed this4
  ,and before ,i had time to look about 
me1 instead of the  feeling of          
self-reproach and regret1 which ,i had  
at first experienced1  there came a     
sense of satisfaction with my own       
kindliness1 and a desire  to exhibit it 
to people4    ,it really must be1 ,i    
said to myself1 that ,i am not          
especially  responsible for this by the 
luxury of my life1 but that it is the   
indispensable conditions of existence   
that are to blame4  ,in truth1 a  change
 in my mode of life cannot rectify the  
evil which ,i have seen3 by  altering my
 manner of life1 ,i shall only make     
myself and those about me  unhappy1 and 
the other miseries will remain the same 
as ever4  ,and  therefore my problem    
lies not in a change of my own life1 as 

it had first  seemed to me1 but in      
aiding1 so far as in me lies1 in the    
amelioration of  the situation of those 
unfortunate beings who have called forth
 my  compassion4  ,the whole point lies 
here1--that ,i am a very kind1 amiable  
man1 and that ,i wish to do good to my  
neighbors4  ,and ,i began to think  out 
a plan of beneficent activity1 in which 
,i might exhibit my  benevolence4  ,i   
must confess1 however1 that while       
devising this plan of  beneficent       
activity1 ,i felt all the time1 in the  
depths of my soul1 that  that was not   
the thing2 but1 as often happens1       
activity of judgment and  imagination   
drowned that voice of conscience within 
me4  ,at that  juncture1 the census came
 up4  ,this struck me as a means for    
instituting  that benevolence in which  
,i proposed to exhibit my charitable    
disposition4  ,i knew of many charitable
 institutions and societies which  were 
in existence in ,moscow1 but all their  
activity seemed to me both  wrongly     

directed and insignificant in comparison
 with what ,i intended to  do4  ,and ,i 
devised the following scheme3 to arouse 
the sympathy of the  wealthy for the    
poverty of the city1 to collect money1  
to get people  together who were        
desirous of assisting in this matter1   
and to visit all  the refuges of poverty
 in company with the census1 and1 in    
addition to  the work of the census1 to 
enter into communion with the           
unfortunate1 to  learn the particulars  
of their necessities1 and to assist them
 with  money1 with work1 by sending them
 away from ,moscow1 by placing their    
children in school1 and the old people  
in hospitals and asylums4  ,and not     
only that1 ,i thought1 but these people 
who undertake this can be formed  into a
 permanent society1 which1 by dividing  
the quarters of ,moscow among  its      
members1 will be able to see to it that 
this poverty and beggary  shall not be  
bred2 they will incessantly annihilate  
it at its very  inception2 then they    

will fulfil their duty1 not so much by  
healing as by  a course of hygiene for  
the wretchedness of the city4  ,i       
fancied that  there would be no more    
simply needy1 not to mention abjectly   
poor  persons1 in the town1 and that all
 of us wealthy individuals would        
thereafter be able to sit in our        
drawing-rooms1 and eat our five-course  
dinners1 and ride in our carriages to   
theatres and assemblies1 and be no      
longer annoyed with such sights as ,i   
had seen at the ,lyapinsky house4       
,having concocted this plan1 ,i wrote an
 article on the subject2 and before     
sending it to the printer1 ,i went to   
some acquaintances1 from whom ,i  hoped 
for sympathy4  ,i said the same thing to
 every one whom ,i met that  day 7and ,i
 applied chiefly to the rich71 and      
nearly the same that ,i  afterwards     
printed in my memoir2 proposed to take  
advantage of the census  to inquire into
 the wretchedness of ,moscow1 and to    
succor it1 both by  deeds and money1 and

 to do it in such a manner that there   
should be no  poor people in ,moscow1   
and so that we rich ones might be able1 
with a  quiet conscience1 to enjoy the  
blessings of life to which we were      
accustomed4  ,all listened to me        
attentively and seriously1 but          
nevertheless the same identical thing   
happened with every one of them  without
 exception4  ,no sooner did my hearers  
comprehend the question1  than they     
seemed to feel awkward and somewhat     
mortified4  ,they seemed to  be ashamed1
 and principally on my account1 because 
,i was talking  nonsense1 and nonsense  
which it was impossible to openly       
characterize as  such4  ,some external  
cause appeared to compel my hearers to  
be forbearing  with this nonsense of    
mine4    ,ah1 yes6 of course4  ,that    
would be very good1 they said to me4    
,it is  a self-understood thing that it 
is impossible not to sympathize with    
this4  ,yes1 your idea is a capital one4
  ,i have thought of that myself1  but 4

 4 4 we are so indifferent1 as a rule1  
that you can hardly count on  much      
success 4 4 4 however1 so far as ,i am  
concerned1 ,i am1 of course1  ready to  
assist4    ,they all said something of  
this sort to me4  ,they all agreed1 but 
agreed1  so it seemed to me1 not in     
consequence of my convictions1 and not  
in  consequence of their own wish1 but  
as the result of some outward cause1    
which did not permit them not to agree4 
,i had already noticed this1 and1  since
 not one of them stated the sum which he
 was willing to contribute1  ,i was     
obliged to fix it myself1 and to ask3   
,so ,i may count on you for  three      
hundred1 or two hundred1 or one hundred1
 or twenty-five rubles8  ,and not one of
 them gave me any money4  ,i mention    
this because1 when  people give money   
for that which they themselves desire1  
they generally  make haste to give it4  
,for a box to see ,sarah ,bernhardt1    
they will  instantly place the money in 
your hand1 to clinch the bargain4       

,here1  however1 out of all those who   
agreed to contribute1 and who expressed 
their sympathy1 not one of them proposed
 to give me the money on the  spot1 but 
they merely assented in silence to the  
sum which ,i suggested4  ,in the last   
house which ,i visited on that day1 in  
the evening1 ,i  accidentally came upon 
a large company4  ,the mistress of the  
house had  busied herself with charity  
for several years4  ,numerous carriages 
stood  at the door1 several lackeys in  
rich liveries were sitting in the ante- 
chamber4  ,in the vast drawing-room1    
around two tables and lamps1 sat  ladies
 and young girls1 in costly garments1   
dressing small dolls2 and  there were   
several young men there also1 hovering  
about the ladies4  ,the  dolls prepared 
by these ladies were to be drawn in a   
lottery for the  poor4    ,the sight of 
this drawing-room1 and of the people    
assembled in it1 struck  me very        
unpleasantly4  ,not to mention the fact 
that the property of the  persons there 

congregated amounted to many millions1  
not to mention the  fact that the mere  
income from the capital here expended on
 dresses1  laces1 bronzes1 brooches1    
carriages1 horses1 liveries1 and        
lackeys1 was a  hundred-fold greater    
than all that these ladies could earn2  
not to  mention the outlay1 the trip    
hither of all these ladies and          
gentlemen2  the gloves1 linen1 extra    
time1 the candles1 the tea1 the sugar1  
and the  cakes had cost the hostess a   
hundred times more than what they were  
engaged in making here4  ,i saw all     
this1 and therefore ,i could            
understand1 that precisely here ,i      
should find no sympathy with my         
mission3 but ,i had come in order to    
make my proposition1 and1 difficult  as 
this was for me1 ,i said what ,i        
intended4  7,i said very nearly the same
  thing that is contained in my printed 
article47    ,out of all the persons    
there present1 one individual offered me
 money1  saying that she did not feel   

equal to going among the poor herself on
  account of her sensibility1 but that  
she would give money2 how much money    
she would give1 and when1 she did not   
say4  ,another individual and a  young  
man offered their services in going     
about among the poor1 but ,i did  not   
avail myself of their offer4  ,the      
principal person to whom ,i  appealed1  
told me that it would be impossible to  
do much because means  were lacking4    
,means were lacking because all the rich
 people in ,moscow  were already on the 
lists1 and all of them were asked for   
all that they  could possibly give2     
because on all these benefactors rank1  
medals1 and  other dignities were       
bestowed2 because in order to secure    
financial  success1 some new dignities  
must be secured from the authorities1   
and  that this was the only practical   
means1 but this was extremely difficult4
    ,on my return home that night1 ,i   
lay down to sleep not only with a       
presentment that my idea would come to  

nothing1 but with shame and a           
consciousness that all day long ,i had  
been engaged in a very repulsive  and   
disgraceful business4  ,but ,i did not  
give up this undertaking4  ,in  the     
first place1 the matter had been begun1 
and false shame would have  prevented my
 abandoning it2 in the second place1 not
 only the success of  this scheme1 but  
the very fact that ,i was busying myself
 with it1  afforded me the possibility  
of continuing to live in the conditions 
under  which ,i was then living2 failure
 entailed upon me the necessity of      
renouncing my present existence and of  
seeking new paths of life4  ,and  this  
,i unconsciously dreaded1 and ,i could  
not believe the inward voice1  and ,i   
went on with what ,i had begun4         
,having sent my article to the printer1 
,i read the proof of it to the ,city    
,council 7,dum74  ,i read it1 stumbling1
 and blushing even to tears1 ,i  felt so
 awkward4  ,and ,i saw that it was      
equally awkward for all my  hearers4    

,in answer to my question at the        
conclusion of my reading1 as to  whether
 the superintendents of the census would
 accept my proposition to  retain their 
places with the object of becoming      
mediators between society  and the      
needy1 an awkward silence ensued4  ,then
 two orators made  speeches4  ,these    
speeches in some measure corrected the  
awkwardness of my  proposal2 sympathy   
for me was expressed1 but the           
impracticability of my  proposition1    
which all had approved1 was             
demonstrated4  ,everybody  breathed more
 freely4  ,but when1 still desirous of  
gaining my object1 ,i  afterwards asked 
the superintendents separately3 ,were   
they willing1 while  taking the census1 
to inquire into the needs of the poor1  
and to retain  their posts1 in order to 
serve as go-betweens between the poor   
and the  rich8 they all grew uneasy     
again4  ,they seemed to say to me with  
their  glances3 ,why1 we have just      
condoned your folly out of respect to   

you1  and here you are beginning it     
again6  ,such was the expression of     
their  faces1 but they assured me in    
words that they agreed2 and two of them 
said in the very same words1 as though  
they had entered into a compact         
together3 ,we consider ourselves morally
 bound to do this4  ,the same           
impression was produced by my           
communication to the                    
student-census-takers1  when ,i said to 
them1 that while taking our statistics1 
we should follow  up1 in addition to the
 objects of the census1 the object of   
benevolence4  ,when we discussed this1  
,i observed that they were ashamed to   
look the  kind-hearted man1 who was     
talking nonsense1 in the eye4  ,my      
article  produced the same impression on
 the editor of the newspaper1 when ,i   
handed it to him2 on my son1 on my wife1
 on the most widely different  persons4 
,all felt awkward1 for some reason or   
other2 but all regarded it  as          
indispensable to applaud the idea       

itself1 and all1 immediately after  this
 expression of approbation1 began to    
express their doubts as to its  success1
 and began for some reason 7and all of  
them1 too1 without  exception7 to       
condemn the indifference and coldness of
 our society and of  every one1         
apparently1 except themselves4    ,in   
the depths of my own soul1 ,i still     
continued to feel that all this was  not
 at all what was needed1 and that       
nothing would come of it2 but the       
article was printed1 and ,i prepared to 
take part in the census2 ,i had         
contrived the matter1 and now it was    
already carrying me a way with it4      
,,chapter ,,iv4      ,at my request1    
there had been assigned to me for the   
census1 a portion of  the               
,khamovnitchesky quarter1 at the        
,smolensk market1 along the ,prototchny 
cross-street1 between ,beregovoy        
,passage and ,nikolsky ,alley4  ,in this
  quarter are situated the houses       
generally called the ,rzhanoff ,houses1 

or  the ,rzhanoff fortress4  ,these     
houses once belonged to a merchant named
  ,rzhanoff1 but now belong to the      
,zimins4  ,i had long before heard of   
this  place as a haunt of the most      
terrible poverty and vice1 and ,i had   
accordingly requested the directors of  
the census to assign me to this         
quarter4  ,my desire was granted4    ,on
 receiving the instructions of the ,city
 ,council1 ,i went alone1 a few  days   
previous to the beginning of the census1
 to reconnoitre my section4  ,i found   
the ,rzhanoff fortress at once1 from the
 plan with which ,i had  been furnished4
    ,i approached from ,nikolsky ,alley4
  ,nikolsky ,alley ends on the left in a
  gloomy house1 without any gates on    
that side2 ,i divined from its          
appearance that this was the ,rzhanoff  
fortress4    ,passing down ,nikolsky    
,street1 ,i overtook some lads of from  
ten to  fourteen years of age1 clad in  
little caftans and great-coats1 who were
  sliding down hill1 some on their feet1

 and some on one skate1 along the  icy  
slope beside this house4  ,the boys were
 ragged1 and1 like all city  lads1 bold 
and impudent4  ,i stopped to watch them4
  ,a ragged old woman1  with yellow1    
pendent cheeks1 came round the corner4  
,she was going to  town1 to the         
,smolensk market1 and she groaned       
terribly at every step1  like a         
foundered horse4  ,as she came alongside
 me1 she halted and drew a  hoarse sigh4
  ,in any other locality1 this old woman
 would have asked  money of me1 but here
 she merely addressed me4    ,look      
there1 said she1 pointing at the boys   
who were sliding1 all they  do is to    
play their pranks6  ,they'll turn out   
just such ,rzhanoff fellows  as their   
fathers4    ,one of the boys clad in a  
great-coat and a visorless cap1 heard   
her words  and halted3 ,what are you    
scolding about8 he shouted to the old   
woman4  ,you're an old ,rzhanoff        
nanny-goat yourself6    ,i asked the    
boy3    ,and do you live here8    ,yes1 

and so does she4  ,she stole boot-legs1 
shouted the boy2 and  raising his foot  
in front1 he slid away4    ,the old     
woman burst forth into injurious words1 
interrupted by a cough4  ,at that       
moment1 an old man1 all clad in rags1   
and as white as snow1 came  down the    
hill in the middle of the street1       
flourishing his hands in one  of them he
 held a bundle with one little kalatch  
and baranki #ci4  ,this old man bore the
 appearance of a person who had just    
strengthened  himself with a dram4  ,he 
had evidently heard the old woman's     
insulting  words1 and he took her part4 
,i'll give it to you1 you imps1 that ,i 
will6 he screamed at the boys1  seeming 
to direct his course towards them1 and  
taking a circuit round me1  he stepped  
on to the sidewalk4  ,this old man      
creates surprise on the  ,arbata by his 
great age1 his weakness1 and his        
indigence4  ,here he was a  cheery      
laboring-man returning from his daily   
toil4    ,i followed the old man4  ,he  

turned the corner to the left1 into     
,prototchny ,alley1 and passing by the  
whole length of the house and the  gate1
 he disappeared through the door of the 
tavern4    ,two gates and several doors 
open on ,prototchny ,alley3 those       
belonging to  a tavern1 a dram-shop1 and
 several eating and other shops4  ,this 
is the  ,rzhanoff fortress itself4      
,every thing here is gray1 dirty1 and   
malodorous--both buildings and locality1
 and court-yards and people4  ,the      
majority of the people whom ,i met here 
were ragged and half-clad4  ,some  were 
passing through1 others were running    
from door to door4  ,two were  haggling 
over some rags4  ,i made the circuit of 
the entire building from  ,prototchny   
,alley and ,beregovoy ,passage1 and     
returning ,i halted at the  gate of one 
of these houses4  ,i wished to enter1   
and see what was going  on inside1 but  
,i felt that it would be awkward4  ,what
 should ,i say when ,i  was asked what  
,i wanted there8  ,i hesitated1 but went

 in nevertheless4  ,as  soon as ,i      
entered the court-yard1 ,i became       
conscious of a disgusting  odor4  ,the  
yard was frightfully dirty4  ,i turned a
 corner1 and at the  same instant ,i    
heard to my left and overhead1 on the   
wooden balcony1 the  tramp of footsteps 
of people running1 at first along the   
planks of the  balcony1 and then on the 
steps of the staircase4  ,there emerged1
 first a  gaunt woman1 with her sleeves 
rolled up1 in a faded pink gown1 and    
little  boots on her stockingless feet4 
,after her came a tattered man in a red 
shirt and very full trousers1 like a    
petticoat1 and with overshoes4  ,the    
man caught the woman at the bottom of   
the steps4    ,you shall not escape1 he 
said laughing4    ,see here1 you        
cock-eyed devil1 began the woman1       
evidently flattered by  this pursuit2   
but catching sight of me1 she shrieked  
viciously1 ,what do  you want8    ,as ,i
 wanted nothing1 ,i became confused and 
beat a retreat4  ,there was  nothing    

remarkable about the place2 but this    
incident1 after what ,i had  witnessed  
on the other side of the yard1 the      
cursing old woman1 the jolly  old man1  
and the lads sliding1 suddenly presented
 the business which ,i  had concocted   
from a totally different point of view4 
,i then  comprehended for the first     
time1 that all these unfortunates to    
whom ,i  was desirous of playing the    
part of benefactor1 besides the time1   
when1  suffering from cold and hunger1  
they awaited admission into the house1  
had still other time1 which they        
employed to some other purpose1 that    
there were four and twenty hours in     
every day1 that there was a whole  life 
of which ,i had never thought1 up to    
that moment4  ,here1 for the  first     
time1 ,i understood1 that all those     
people1 in addition to their  desire to 
shelter themselves from the cold and to 
obtain a good meal1  must still1 in some
 way1 live out those four and twenty    
hours each day1  which they must pass as

 well as everybody else4  ,i            
comprehended that  these people must    
lose their tempers1 and get bored1 show 
courage1 and  grieve and be merry4      
,strange as this may seem1 when put into
 words1 ,i  understood clearly for the  
first time1 that the business which ,i  
had  undertaken could not consist alone 
in feeding and clothing thousands of    
people1 as one would feed and drive     
under cover a thousand sheep1 but  that 
it must consist in doing good to them4  
,and then ,i understood that each one of
 those thousand people was exactly  such
 a man1--with precisely the same past1  
with the same passions1  temptations1   
failings1 with the same thoughts1 the   
same  perplexities1--exactly such a man 
as myself1 and then the thing that ,i   
had undertaken suddenly presented itself
 to me as so difficult that ,i  felt my 
powerlessness2 but the thing had been   
begun1 and ,i went on with  it4         
,,chapter ,v4      ,on the first        
appointed day1 the student enumerators  

arrived in the  morning1 and ,i1 the    
benefactor1 joined them at twelve       
o'clock4  ,i could  not go earlier1     
because ,i had risen at ten o'clock1    
then ,i had drunk my  coffee and smoked1
 while waiting on digestion4  ,at twelve
 o'clock ,i  reached the gates of the   
,rzhanoff house4  ,a policeman pointed  
out to me  the tavern with a side       
entrance on ,beregovoy ,passage1 where  
the census-  takers had ordered every   
one who asked for them to be directed4  
,i  entered the tavern4  ,it was very   
dark1 ill-smelling1 and dirty4          
,directly  opposite the entrance was the
 counter1 on the left was a room with   
tables1 covered with soiled cloths1 on  
the right a large apartment with        
pillars1 and the same sort of little    
tables at the windows and along the     
walls4  ,here and there at the tables   
sat men both ragged and decently  clad1 
like laboring-men or petty tradesmen1   
and a few women drinking tea4  ,the     
tavern was very filthy1 but it was      

instantly apparent that it had a  good  
trade4    ,there was a business-like    
expression on the face of the clerk     
behind the  counter1 and a clever       
readiness about the waiters4  ,no sooner
 had ,i  entered1 than one waiter       
prepared to remove my coat and bring me 
whatever  ,i should order4  ,it was     
evident that they had been trained to   
brisk and  accurate service4  ,i        
inquired for the enumerators4    ,vanya6
 shouted a small man1 dressed in ,german
 fashion1 who was engaged  in placing   
something in a cupboard behind the      
counter2 this was the  landlord of the  
tavern1 a ,kaluga peasant1 ,ivan        
,fedotitch1 who hired one-  half of the 
,zimins' houses and sublet them to      
lodgers4  ,the waiter1 a  thin1         
hooked-nosed young fellow of eighteen1  
with a yellow complexion1  hastened up4 
,conduct this gentleman to the          
census-takers2 they went into the main  
building over the well4  ,the young     
fellow threw down his napkin1 and       

donned a coat over his white jacket and 
white trousers1 and a cap with a  large 
visor1 and1 tripping quickly along with 
his white feet1 he led me  through the  
swinging door in the rear4  ,in the     
dirty1 malodorous kitchen1  in the      
out-building1 we encountered an old     
woman who was carefully  carrying some  
very bad-smelling tripe1 wrapped in a   
rag1 off somewhere4  ,from the          
out-building we descended into a sloping
 court-yard1 all  encumbered with small 
wooden buildings on lower stories of    
stone4  ,the  odor in this whole yard   
was extremely powerful4  ,the centre of 
this odor  was an out-house1 round which
 people were thronging whenever ,i      
passed it4  ,it merely indicated the    
spot1 but was not altogether used       
itself4  ,it was  impossible1 when      
passing through the yard1 not to take   
note of this spot2  one always felt     
oppressed when one entered the          
penetrating atmosphere  which was       
emitted by this foul smell4    ,the     

waiter1 carefully guarding his white    
trousers1 led me cautiously past  this  
place of frozen and unfrozen uncleanness
 to one of the buildings4  ,the people  
who were passing through the yard and   
along the balconies all  stopped to     
stare at me4  ,it was evident that a    
respectably dressed man  was a curiosity
 in these localities4    ,the young man 
asked a woman whether she had seen the  
census-takers8  ,and  three men         
simultaneously answered his question3   
some said that they were  over the well1
 but others said that they had been     
there1 but had come out  and gone to    
,nikita ,ivanovitch4  ,an old man       
dressed only in his shirt1 who  was     
wandering about the centre of the yard1 
said that they were in ,no4  #cj4  ,the 
young man decided that this was the most
 probable report1 and  conducted me to  
,no4 #cj through the basement entrance1 
and darkness and  bad smells1 different 
from that which existed outside4  ,we   
went  down-stairs1 and proceeded along  

the earthen floor of a dark corridor4   
,as  we were passing along the corridor1
 a door flew open abruptly1 and an old  
drunken man1 in his shirt1 probably not 
of the peasant class1 thrust  himself   
out4  ,a washerwoman1 wringing her soapy
 hands1 was pursuing and  hustling the  
old man with piercing screams4  ,vanya1 
my guide1 pushed the  old man aside1 and
 reproved him4    ,it's not proper to   
make such a row1 said me1 and you an    
officer1 too6  and we went on to the    
door of ,no4 #cj4    ,vanya gave it a   
little pull4  ,the door gave way with a 
smack1 opened1 and  we smelled soapy    
steam1 and a sharp odor of spoilt food  
and tobacco1 and  we entered into total 
darkness4  ,the windows were on the     
opposite side2  but the corridors ran to
 right and left between board           
partitions1 and  small doors opened1 at 
various angles1 into the rooms made of  
uneven  whitewashed boards4  ,in a dark 
room1 on the left1 a woman could be seen
  washing in a tub4  ,an old woman was  

peeping from one of these small doors   
on the right4  ,through another open    
door we could see a red-faced1 hairy    
peasant1 in bast shoes1 sitting on his  
wooden bunk2 his hands rested on  his   
knees1 and he was swinging his feet1    
shod in bast shoes1 and gazing  gloomily
 at them4    ,at the end of the corridor
 was a little door leading to the       
apartment  where the census-takers were4
  ,this was the chamber of the mistress 
of  the whole of ,no4 #cj2 she rented   
the entire apartment from ,ivan         
,feodovitch1 and let it out again to    
lodgers and as night-quarters4  ,in  her
 tiny room1 under the tinsel images1 sat
 the student census-taker with  his     
charts2 and1 in his quality of          
investigator1 he had just thoroughly    
interrogated a peasant wearing a shirt  
and a vest4  ,this latter was a  friend 
of the landlady1 and had been answering 
questions for her4  ,the  landlady      
herself1 an elderly woman1 was there    
also1 and two of her  curious tenants4  

,when ,i entered1 the room was already  
packed full4  ,i  pushed my way to the  
table4  ,i exchanged greetings with the 
student1 and  he proceeded with his     
inquiries4  ,and ,i began to look about 
me1 and to  interrogate the inhabitants 
of these quarters for my own purpose4   
,it turned out1 that in this first set  
of lodgings1 ,i found not a single      
person upon whom ,i could pour out my   
benevolence4  ,the landlady1 in spite   
of the fact that the poverty1 smallness 
and dirt of these quarters struck  me   
after the palatial house in which ,i    
dwell1 lived in comfort1 compared  with 
many of the poor inhabitants of the     
city1 and in comparison with the        
poverty in the country1 with which ,i   
was thoroughly familiar1 she lived      
luxuriously4  ,she had a feather-bed1 a 
quilted coverlet1 a samovar1 a fur      
cloak1 and a dresser with crockery4     
,the landlady's friend had the same     
comfortable appearance4  ,he had a watch
 and a chain4  ,her lodgers were  not so

 well off1 but there was not one of them
 who was in need of  immediate          
assistance3 the woman who was washing   
linen in a tub1 and who  had been       
abandoned by her husband and had        
children1 an aged widow without  any    
means of livelihood1 as she said1 and   
that peasant in bast shoes1 who  told me
 that he had nothing to eat that day4   
,but on questioning them1 it  appeared  
that none of these people were in       
special want1 and that1 in  order to    
help them1 it would be necessary to     
become well acquainted with  them4      
,when ,i proposed to the woman whose    
husband had abandoned her1 to place  her
 children in an asylum1 she became      
confused1 fell into thought1  thanked me
 effusively1 but evidently did not wish 
to do so2 she would  have preferred     
pecuniary assistance4  ,the eldest girl 
helped her in her  washing1 and the     
younger took care of the little boy4    
,the old woman  begged earnestly to be  
taken to the hospital1 but on examining 

her nook ,i  found that the old woman   
was not particularly poor4  ,she had a  
chest full  of effects1 a teapot with a 
tin spout1 two cups1 and caramel boxes  
filled  with tea and sugar4  ,she       
knitted stockings and gloves1 and       
received  monthly aid from some         
benevolent lady4  ,and it was evident   
that what the  peasant needed was not so
 much food as drink1 and that whatever  
might be  given him would find its way  
to the dram-shop4  ,in these quarters1  
therefore1 there were none of the sort  
of people whom ,i could render  happy by
 a present of money4  ,but there were   
poor people who appeared to  me to be of
 a doubtful character4  ,i noted down   
the old woman1 the woman  with the      
children1 and the peasant1 and decided  
that they must be seen  to2 but later   
on1 as ,i was occupied with the         
peculiarly unfortunate whom  ,i expected
 to find in this house1 ,i made up my   
mind that there must be  some order in  
the aid which we should bestow2 first   

came the most  wretched1 and then this  
kind4  ,but in the next quarters1 and in
 the next  after that1 it was the same  
story1 all the people had to be narrowly
  investigated before they could be     
helped4  ,but unfortunates of the sort  
whom a gift of money would convert from 
unfortunate into fortunate  people1     
there were none4  ,mortifying as it is  
to me to avow this1 ,i began  to get    
disenchanted1 because ,i did not find   
among these people any thing  of the    
sort which ,i had expected4  ,i had     
expected to find peculiar people  here2 
but1 after making the round of all the  
apartments1 ,i was convinced  that the  
inhabitants of these houses were not    
peculiar people at all1 but  precisely  
such persons as those among whom ,i     
lived4  ,as there are among  us1 just so
 among them2 there were here those who  
were more or less good1  more or less   
stupid1 happy and unhappy4  ,the unhappy
 were exactly such  unhappy beings as   
exist among us1 that is1 unhappy people 

whose  unhappiness lies not in their    
external conditions1 but in themselves1 
a  sort of unhappiness which it is      
impossible to right by any sort of bank-
  note whatever4        ,,chapter ,,vi4 
,the inhabitants of these houses        
constitute the lower class of the city1 
which numbers in ,moscow1 probably1 one 
hundred thousand4  ,there1 in that      
house1 are representatives of every     
description of this class4  ,there are  
petty employers1 and master-artisans1   
bootmakers1 brush-makers1 cabinet-      
makers1 turners1 shoemakers1 tailors1   
blacksmiths2 there are cab-drivers1     
young women living alone1 and female    
pedlers1 laundresses1 old-clothes       
dealers1 money-lenders1 day-laborers1   
and people without any definite         
employment2 and also beggars and        
dissolute women4    ,here were many of  
the very people whom ,i had seen at the 
entrance to the  ,lyapinsky house2 but  
here these people were scattered about  
among the  working-people4  ,and        

moreover1 ,i had seen these people at   
their most  unfortunate time1 when they 
had eaten and drunk up every thing1 and 
when1  cold1 hungry1 and driven forth   
from the taverns1 they were awaiting    
admission into the free night           
lodging-house1 and thence into the      
promised  prison for despatch to their  
places of residence1 like heavenly      
manna2  but here ,i beheld them and a   
majority of workers1 and at a time1 when
 by  one means or another1 they had     
procured three or five kopeks for a     
lodging for the night1 and sometimes a  
ruble for food and drink4    ,and       
strange as the statement may seem1 ,i   
here experienced nothing  resembling    
that sensation which ,i had felt in the 
,lyapinsky house2 but1  on the contrary1
 during the first round1 both ,i and the
 students  experienced an almost        
agreeable feeling1--yes1 but why do ,i  
say almost  agreeable8  ,this is not    
true2 the feeling called forth by       
intercourse  with these people1 strange 

as it may sound1 was a distinctly       
agreeable  one4    ,our first impression
 was1 that the greater part of the      
dwellers here were  working people and  
very good people at that4    ,we found  
more than half the inhabitants at work3 
laundresses bending over  their tubs1   
cabinet-makers at their lathes1 cobblers
 on their benches4  ,the narrow rooms   
were full of people1 and cheerful and   
energetic labor  was in progress4       
,there was an odor of toilsome sweat and
 leather at the  cobbler's1 of shavings 
at the cabinet-maker's2 songs were often
 to be  heard1 and glimpses could be had
 of brawny arms with sleeves roiled     
high1  quickly and skilfully making     
their accustomed movements4  ,everywhere
 we  were received cheerfully and       
politely3 hardly anywhere did our       
intrusion  into the every-day life of   
these people call forth that ambition1  
and  desire to exhibit their importance 
and to put us down1 which the           
appearance of the enumerators in the    

quarters of well-to-do people  evoked4  
,it not only did not arouse this1 but1  
on the contrary1 they  answered all     
other questions properly1 and without   
attributing any  special significance to
 them4  ,our questions merely served    
them as a  subject of mirth and jesting 
as to how such and such a one was to be 
set  down in the list1 when he was to be
 reckoned as two1 and when two were to  
be reckoned as one1 and so forth4    ,we
 found many of them at dinner1 or tea2  
and on every occasion to our  greeting3 
bread and salt1 or tea and sugar1 they  
replied3 we beg  that you will partake1 
and even stepped aside to make room for 
us4  ,instead of the den with a         
constantly changing population1 which we
 had  expected to find here1 it turned  
out1 that there were a great many       
apartments in the house where people had
 been living for a long time4  ,one     
cabinet-maker with his men1 and a       
boot-maker with his journeymen1 had     
lived there for ten years4  ,the        

boot-maker's quarters were very dirty   
and  confined1 but all the people at    
work were very cheerful4  ,i tried to   
enter into conversation with one of the 
workmen1 being desirous of  inquiring   
into the wretchedness of his situation  
and his debt to his  master1 but the man
 did not understand me and spoke of his 
master and his  life from the best point
 of view4    ,in one apartment lived an 
old man and his old woman4  ,they       
peddled  apples4  ,their little chamber 
was warm1 clean1 and full of goods4  ,on
 the  floor were spread straw mats3 they
 had got them at the apple-warehouse4   
,they had chests1 a cupboard1 a samovar1
 and crockery4  ,in the corner  there   
were numerous images1 and two lamps were
 burning before them2 on  the wall hung 
fur coats covered with sheets4  ,the old
 woman1 who had star-  shaped wrinkles1 
and who was polite and talkative1       
evidently delighted in  her quiet1      
comfortable1 existence4    ,ivan        
,fedotitch1 the landlord of the tavern  

and of these quarters1 left  his        
establishment and came with us4  ,he    
jested in a friendly manner with  many  
of the landlords of apartments1         
addressing them all by their  ,christian
 names and patronymics1 and he gave us  
brief sketches of them4  ,all were      
ordinary people1 like everybody         
else1--,martin ,semyonovitches1  ,piotr 
,piotrovitches1 ,marya                  
,ivanovnas1--people who did not consider
  themselves unhappy1 but who regarded  
themselves1 and who actually were1  just
 like the rest of mankind4    ,we had   
been prepared to witness nothing except 
what was terrible4  ,and1  all of a     
sudden1 there was presented to us1 not  
only nothing that was  terrible1 but    
what was good1--things which            
involuntarily compelled our  respect4   
,and there were so many of these good   
people1 that the tattered1  corrupt1    
idle people whom we came across now and 
then among them1 did not  destroy the   
principal impression4    ,this was not  

so much of a surprise to the students as
 to me4  ,they simply  went to fulfil a 
useful task1 as they thought1 in the    
interests of  science1 and1 at the same 
time1 they made their own chance        
observations2  but ,i was a benefactor1 
,i went for the purpose of aiding the   
unfortunate1  the corrupt1 vicious      
people1 whom ,i supposed that ,i should 
meet with in  this house4  ,and1 behold1
 instead of unfortunate1 corrupt1 and   
vicious  people1 ,i saw that the        
majority were laborious1 industrious1   
peaceable1  satisfied1 contented1       
cheerful1 polite1 and very good folk    
indeed4    ,i felt particularly         
conscious of this when1 in these        
quarters1 ,i  encountered that same     
crying want which ,i had undertaken to  
alleviate4    ,when ,i encountered this 
want1 ,i always found that it had       
already been  relieved1 that the        
assistance which ,i had intended to     
render had already  been given4  ,this  
assistance had been rendered before my  

advent1 and  rendered by whom8  ,by the 
very unfortunate1 depraved creatures    
whom ,i had  undertaken to reclaim1 and 
rendered in such a manner as ,i could   
not  compass4    ,in one basement lay a 
solitary old man1 ill with the typhus   
fever4  ,there  was no one with the old 
man4  ,a widow and her little daughter1 
strangers  to him1 but his neighbors    
round the corner1 looked after him1 gave
 him  tea and purchased medicine for him
 out of their own means4  ,in another   
lodging lay a woman in puerperal fever4 
,a woman who lived by vice was  rocking 
the baby1 and giving her her bottle2 and
 for two days1 she had  been unremitting
 in her attention4  ,the baby girl1 on  
being left an  orphan1 was adopted into 
the family of a tailor1 who had three   
children  of his own4  ,so there        
remained those unfortunate idle people1 
officials1  clerks1 lackeys out of      
place1 beggars1 drunkards1 dissolute    
women1 and  children1 who cannot be     
helped on the spot with money1 but whom 

it is  necessary to know thoroughly1 to 
be planned and arranged for4  ,i had    
simply sought unfortunate people1 the   
unfortunates of poverty1 those who      
could be helped by sharing with them our
 superfluity1 and1 as it seemed  to me1 
through some signal ill-luck1 none such 
were to be found2 but ,i  hit upon      
unfortunates to whom ,i should be       
obliged to devote my time and  care4    
,,chapter ,,vii4      ,the unfortunates 
whom ,i noted down1 divided themselves1 
according to my  ideas1 into three      
sections1 namely3 people who had lost   
their former  advantageous position1 and
 who were awaiting a return to it 7there
 were  people of this sort from both the
 lower and the higher class72 next1     
dissolute women1 of whom there are a    
great many in these houses2 and a  third
 division1 children4  ,more than all the
 rest1 ,i found and noted down  people  
of the first division1 who had forfeited
 their former advantageous  position1   
and who hoped to regain it4  ,of such   

persons1 especially from  the           
governmental and official world1 there  
are a very great number in  these       
houses4  ,in almost all the lodgings    
which we entered1 with the  landlord1   
,ivan ,fedotitch1 he said to us3 ,here  
you need not write down  the lodger's   
card yourself2 there is a man here who  
can do it1 if he only  happens not to be
 intoxicated to-day4    ,and ,ivan      
,fedotitch called by name and patronymic
 this man1 who was always  one of those 
persons who had fallen from a lofty     
position4  ,at ,ivan  ,fedotitch's call1
 there crawled forth from some dark     
corner1 a former  wealthy member of the 
noble or official class1 generally      
intoxicated and  always undressed4  ,if 
he was not drunk1 he always readily     
acceded to the  task proposed to him1   
nodded significantly1 frowned1 set down 
his remarks  in learned phraseology1    
held the card neatly printed on red     
paper in his  dirty1 trembling hands1   
and glanced round at his fellow-lodgers 

with  pride and contempt1 as though now 
triumphing in his education over those  
who had so often humiliated him4  ,he   
evidently enjoyed intercourse with  that
 world in which cards are printed on red
 paper1 and with that world  of which he
 had once formed a part4  ,nearly       
always1 in answer to my  inquiries about
 his life1 the man began1 not only      
willingly1 but eagerly1  to relate the  
story of the misfortunes which he had   
undergone1--which he  had learned by    
rote like a prayer1--and particularly of
 his former  position1 in which he ought
 still to be by right of his education4 
,a great many such people were scattered
 over all the corners of the  ,rzhanoff 
house4  ,but one lodging was densely    
occupied by them alone--both  men and   
women4  ,after we had already entered1  
,ivan ,fedotitch said to us3  ,now1 here
 are some of the nobility4  ,the lodging
 was perfectly crammed2  nearly all of  
the people1 forty in number1 were at    
home4  ,more  demoralized countenances1 

unhappy1 aged1 and swollen1 young1      
pallid1 and  distracted1 were not to be 
seen in the whole building4  ,i         
conversed with  several of them4  ,the  
story was nearly identical in all cases1
 only in  various stages of development4
  ,every one of them had been rich1 or  
his  father1 his brother or his uncle   
was still wealthy1 or his father or he  
himself had had a very fine position4   
,then misfortune had overtaken him1  the
 blame for which rested either on       
envious people1 or on his own kind-     
heartedness1 or some special chance1 and
 so he had lost every thing1 and  had   
been forced to condescend to these      
surroundings to which he was not        
accustomed1 and which were hateful to   
him--among lice1 rags1 among  drunkards 
and corrupt persons1 and to nourish     
himself on bread and liver1  and to     
extend his hand in beggary4  ,all the   
thoughts1 desires1 memories  of these   
people were directed exclusively to the 
past4  ,the present  appeared to them   

something unreal1 repulsive1 and not    
worthy of  attention4  ,not one of them 
had any present4  ,they had only        
memories of  the past1 and expectations 
from the future1 which might be realized
 at  any moment1 and for the realization
 of which only a very little was        
required2 but this little they did not  
possess1 it was nowhere to be  obtained1
 and this had been ruining their whole  
future life in vain1 in  the case of one
 man1 for a year1 of a second for five  
years1 and of a  third for thirty years4
  ,all one needed was merely to dress   
respectably1  so that he could present  
himself to a certain personage1 who was 
well-  disposed towards him another only
 needed to be able to dress1 pay off his
  debts1 and get to ,orel2 a third      
required to redeem a small property     
which  was mortgaged1 for the           
continuation of a law-suit1 which must  
be decided  in his favor1 and then all  
would be well once more4  ,they all     
declare  that they merely require       

something external1 in order to stand   
once more  in the position which they   
regard as natural and happy in their own
 case4    ,had my mind not been obscured
 by my pride as a benefactor1 a glance  
at  their faces1 both old and young1    
which were mostly weak and sensitive1   
but amiable1 would have given me to     
understand that their misfortunes  were 
irreparable by any external means1 that 
they could not be happy in  any position
 whatever1 if their views of life were  
to remain unchanged1  that they were in 
no wise remarkable people1 in remarkably
 unfortunate  circumstances1 but that   
they were the same people who surround  
us on all  sides1 and just like         
ourselves4  ,i remember that intercourse
 with this  sort of unfortunates was    
peculiarly difficult for me4  ,i now    
understand  why this was so2 in them ,i 
beheld myself1 as in a mirror4  ,if ,i  
had  reflected on my own life and on the
 life of the people in our circle1 ,i   
should have seen that no real difference

 existed between them4    ,if those     
about me dwell in spacious quarters1 and
 in their own houses on  the ,sivtzevy  
,vrazhok and on the ,dimitrovka1 and not
 in the ,rzhanoff  house1 and still eat 
and drink dainties1 and not liver and   
herrings with  bread1 that does not     
prevent them from being exactly as      
unhappy4  ,they  are just as            
dissatisfied with their own positions1  
they mourn over the  past1 and pine for 
better things1 and the improved position
 for which  they long is precisely the  
same as that which the inhabitants of   
the  ,rzhanoff house long for2 that is  
to say1 one in which they may do as     
little work as possible themselves1 and 
derive the utmost advantage from  the   
labors of others4  ,the difference is   
merely one of degrees and time4  ,if ,i 
had reflected at that time1 ,i should   
have understood this2 but ,i did  not   
reflect1 and ,i questioned these people1
 and wrote them down1  supposing1 that1 
having learned all the particulars of   

their various  conditions and           
necessities1 ,i could aid them later on4
  ,i did not  understand that such a man
 can only be helped by changing his     
views of  the world4  ,but in order to  
change the views of another1 one must   
needs  have better views himself1 and   
live in conformity with them2 but mine  
were precisely the same as theirs1 and  
,i lived in accordance with those       
views1 which must undergo a change1 in  
order that these people might  cease to 
be unhappy4    ,i did not see that these
 people were unhappy1 not because they  
had not1  so to speak1 nourishing food1 
but because their stomachs had been     
spoiled1 and because their appetites    
demanded not nourishing but  irritating 
viands2 and ,i did not perceive that1 in
 order to help them1 it  was not        
necessary to give them food1 but that it
 was necessary to heal  their disordered
 stomachs4  ,although ,i am anticipating
 by so doing1 ,i  will mention here1    
that1 out of all these persons whom ,i  

noted down1 ,i  really did not help a   
single one1 in spite of the fact that   
for some of  them1 that was done which  
they desired1 and that which1           
apparently1 might  have raised them4    
,three of their number were particularly
 well known to  me4  ,all three1 after  
repeated rises and falls1 are now in    
precisely the  same situation in which  
they were three years ago4              
,,chapter ,,viii4      ,the second class
 of unfortunates whom ,i also expected  
to assist later on1  were the dissolute 
women2 there were a very great many of  
them1 of all  sorts1 in the ,rzhanoff   
house--from those who were young and who
 resembled  women1 to old ones1 who were
 frightful and horrible1 and who had    
lost  every semblance of humanity4  ,the
 hope of being of assistance to these   
women1 which ,i had not at first        
entertained1 occurred to me later4      
,this  was in the middle of our rounds4 
,we had already worked out several      
mechanical tricks of procedure4    ,when

 we entered a new establishment1 we     
immediately questioned the  landlady of 
the apartment2 one of us sat down1      
clearing some sort of a  place for      
himself where he could write1 and       
another penetrated the  corners1 and    
questioned each man in all the nooks of 
the apartment  separately1 and reported 
the facts to the one who did the        
writing4    ,on entering a set of rooms 
in the basement1 a student went to hunt 
up the  landlady1 while ,i began to     
interrogate all who remained in the     
place4  ,the  apartment was thus        
arranged3 in the centre was a room six  
arshins  square1 #ei and a small oven4  
,from the oven radiated four partitions1
  forming four tiny compartments4  ,in  
the first1 the entrance slip1 which  had
 four bunks1 there were two persons--an 
old man and a woman4  ,immediately      
adjoining this1 was a rather long slip  
of a room2 in it was  the landlord1 a   
young fellow1 dressed in a sleeveless   
gray woollen  jacket1 a good-looking1   

very pale citizen4 #fj  ,on the left of 
the first  corner1 was a third tiny     
chamber2 there was one person asleep    
there1  probably a drunken peasant1 and 
a woman in a pink blouse which was loose
  in front and close-fitting behind4    
,the fourth chamber was behind the      
partition2 the entrance to it was from  
the landlord's compartment4    ,the     
student went into the landlord's room1  
and ,i remained in the entrance         
compartment1 and questioned the old man 
and woman4  ,the old man had been  a    
master-printer1 but now had no means of 
livelihood4  ,the woman was the  wife of
 a cook4  ,i went to the third          
compartment1 and questioned the  woman  
in the blouse about the sleeping man4   
,she said that he was a  visitor4  ,i   
asked the woman who she was4  ,she      
replied that she was a  ,moscow peasant4
  ,what is your business8  ,she burst   
into a laugh1 and  did not answer me4   
,what do you live on8 ,i repeated1      
thinking that she  had not understood my

 question4  ,i sit in the taverns1 she  
said4  ,i did  not comprehend1 and again
 ,i inquired3 ,what is your means of    
livelihood8  ,she made no reply and     
laughed4  ,women's voices in the fourth 
compartment  which we had not yet       
entered1 joined in the laugh4  ,the     
landlord emerged  from his cabin and    
stepped up to us4  ,he had evidently    
heard my questions  and the woman's     
replies4  ,he cast a stern glance at the
 woman and turned  to me3 ,she is a     
prostitute1 said he1 apparently pleased 
that he knew  the word in use in the    
language of the authorities1 and that he
 could  pronounce it correctly4  ,and   
having said this1 with a respectful and 
barely perceptible smile of satisfaction
 addressed to me1 he turned to  the     
woman4  ,and no sooner had he turned to 
her1 than his whole face  altered4  ,he 
said1 in a peculiar1 scornful1 hasty    
tone1 such as is  employed towards dogs3
 ,what do you jabber in that careless   
way for8  ',i  sit in the taverns4'     

,you do sit in the taverns1 and that    
means1 to talk  business1 that you are a
 prostitute1 and again he uttered the   
word4  ,she  does not know the name for 
herself4  ,this tone offended me4  ,it  
is not  our place to abuse her1 said ,i4
  ,if all of us lived according to the  
laws of ,god1 there would be none of    
these women4    ,that's the very point1 
said the landlord1 with an awkward      
smile4    ,therefore1 we should not     
reproach but pity them4  ,are they to   
blame8    ,i do not recollect just what 
,i said1 but ,i do remember that ,i was 
vexed  by the scornful tone of the      
landlord of these quarters which were   
filled  with women1 whom he called      
prostitutes1 and that ,i felt compassion
 for  this woman1 and that ,i gave      
expression to both feelings4  ,no sooner
 had ,i  spoken thus1 than the boards of
 the bed in the next compartment1 whence
  the laugh had proceeded1 began to     
creak1 and above the partition1 which   
did not reach to the ceiling1 there     

appeared a woman's curly and            
dishevelled head1 with small1 swollen   
eyes1 and a shining1 red face1  followed
 by a second1 and then by a third4      
,they were evidently standing  on their 
beds1 and all three were craning their  
necks1 and holding their  breath with   
strained attention1 and gazing silently 
at us4    ,a troubled pause ensued4     
,the student1 who had been smiling up to
 this  time1 became serious2 the        
landlord grew confused and dropped his  
eyes4  ,all the women held their breath1
 stared at me1 and waited4  ,i was more 
embarrassed than any of them4  ,i had   
not1 in the least1 anticipated that  a  
chance remark would produce such an     
effect4  ,like ,ezekiel's field of      
death1 strewn with dead men's bones1    
there was a quiver at the touch of  the 
spirit1 and the dead bones stirred4  ,i 
had uttered an unpremeditated  word of  
love and sympathy1 and this word had    
acted on all as though they  had only   
been waiting for this very remark1 in   

order that they might  cease to be      
corpses and might live4  ,they all      
stared at me1 and waited  for what would
 come next4  ,they waited for me to     
utter those words1 and  to perform those
 actions by reason of which these bones 
might draw  together1 clothe themselves 
with flesh1 and spring into life4  ,but 
,i felt  that ,i had no such words1 no  
such actions1 by means of which ,i could
  continue what ,i had begun2 ,i was    
conscious1 in the depths of my soul1    
that ,i had lied that ,i was just like  
them1 #fb and there was nothing  further
 for me to say2 and ,i began to inscribe
 on the cards the names and  callings of
 all the persons in this set of         
apartments4    ,this incident led me    
into a fresh dilemma1 to the thought of 
how these  unfortunates also might be   
helped4  ,in my self-delusion1 ,i       
fancied that  this would be very easy4  
,i said to myself3 ,here1 we will make a
 note of  all these women also1 and     
later on when we ,i did not specify to  

myself  who we were write every thing   
out1 we will attend to these persons    
too4  ,i imagined that we1 the very ones
 who have brought and have been         
bringing these women to this condition  
for several generations1 would  take    
thought some fine day and reform all    
this4  ,but1 in the mean time1  if ,i   
had only recalled my conversation with  
the disreputable woman who  had been    
rocking the baby of the fever-stricken  
patient1 ,i might have  comprehended the
 full extent of the folly of such a     
supposition4    ,when we saw this woman 
with the baby1 we thought that it was   
her child4  ,to the question1 ,who was  
she8 she had replied in a               
straightforward way  that she was       
unmarried4  ,she did not say--a         
prostitute4  ,only the master  of the   
apartment made use of that frightful    
word4  ,the supposition that  she had a 
child suggested to me the idea of       
removing her from her  position4  ,i    
inquired3    ,is this your child8       

,no1 it belongs to that woman yonder4   
,why are you taking care of it8         
,because she asked me2 she is dying4    
,although my supposition proved to be   
erroneous1 ,i continued my  conversation
 with her in the same spirit4  ,i began 
to question her as to  who she was1 and 
how she had come to such a state4  ,she 
related her  history very readily and   
simply4  ,she was a ,moscow myeshchanka1
 the  daughter of a factory hand4  ,she 
had been left an orphan1 and had been   
adopted by an aunt4  ,from her aunt's   
she had begun to frequent the  taverns4 
,the aunt was now dead4  ,when ,i asked 
her whether she did not  wish to alter  
her mode of life1 my question1          
evidently1 did not even  arouse her     
interest4  ,how can one take an interest
 in the proposition of  a man1 in regard
 to something absolutely impossible8    
,she laughed1 and  said3 ,and who would 
take me in with my yellow ticket8       
,well1 but if a place could be found    
somewhere as cook8 said ,i4    ,this    

thought occurred to me because she was a
 stout1 ruddy woman1 with a  kindly1    
round1 and rather stupid face4  ,cooks  
are often like that4  ,my  words        
evidently did not please her4  ,she     
repeated3    ,a cook--but ,i don't know 
how to make bread1 said she1 and she    
laughed4  ,she said that she did not    
know how2 but ,i saw from the expression
 of her  countenance that she did not   
wish to become a cook1 that she regarded
 the  position and calling of a cook as 
low4    ,this woman1 who in the simplest
 possible manner was sacrificing every  
thing that she had for the sick woman1  
like the widow in the ,gospels1 at  the 
same time1 like many of her companions1 
regarded the position of a  person who  
works as low and deserving of scorn4    
,she had been brought up  to live not by
 work1 but by this life which was       
considered the natural  one for her by  
those about her4  ,in that lay her      
misfortune4  ,and she  fell in with this
 misfortune and clung to her position4  

,this led her to  frequent the taverns4 
,which of us--man or woman--will correct
 her false  view of life8  ,where among 
us are the people to be found who are   
convinced that every laborious life is  
more worthy of respect than an  idle    
life1--who are convinced of this1 and   
who live in conformity with  this       
belief1 and who in conformity with this 
conviction value and respect  people8   
,if ,i had thought of this1 ,i might    
have understood that neither  ,i1 nor   
any other person among my acquaintances1
 could heal this  complaint4    ,i might
 have understood that these amazed and  
affected heads thrust over  the         
partition indicated only surprise at the
 sympathy expressed for them1  but not  
in the least a hope of reclamation from 
their dissolute life4  ,they do not     
perceive the immorality of their life4  
,they see that they  are despised and   
cursed1 but for what they are thus      
despised they cannot  comprehend4       
,their life1 from childhood1 has been   

spent among just such  women1 who1 as   
they very well know1 always have        
existed1 and are  indispensable to      
society1 and so indispensable that there
 are  governmental officials to attend  
to their legal existence4  ,moreover1   
they know that they have power over men1
 and can bring them into  subjection1   
and rule them often more than other     
women4  ,they see that  their position  
in society is recognized by women and   
men and the  authorities1 in spite of   
their continual curses1 and therefore1  
they  cannot understand why they should 
reform4    ,in the course of one of the 
tours1 one of the students told me that 
in a  certain lodging1 there was a woman
 who was bargaining for her thirteen-   
year-old daughter4  ,being desirous of  
rescuing this girl1 ,i made a trip  to  
that lodging expressly4  ,mother and    
daughter were living in the  greatest   
poverty4  ,the mother1 a small1         
dark-complexioned1 dissolute  woman of  
forty1 was not only homely1 but         

repulsively homely4  ,the  daughter was 
equally disagreeable4  ,to all my       
pointed questions about  their life1 the
 mother responded curtly1 suspiciously1 
and in a hostile  way1 evidently feeling
 that ,i was an enemy1 with evil        
intentions2 the  daughter made no reply1
 did not look at her mother1 and        
evidently trusted  the latter fully4    
,they inspired me with no sincere pity1 
but rather with  disgust4  ,but ,i made 
up my mind that the daughter must be    
rescued1 and  that ,i would interest    
ladies who pitied the sad condition of  
these women1  and send them hither4     
,but if ,i had reflected on the mother's
 long life  in the past1 of how she had 
given birth to1 nursed and reared this  
daughter in her situation1 assuredly    
without the slightest assistance  from  
outsiders1 and with heavy sacrifices--if
 ,i had reflected on the view  of life  
which this woman had formed1 ,i should  
have understood that there  was1        
decidedly1 nothing bad or immoral in the

 mother's act3 she had done  and was    
doing for her daughter all that she     
could1 that is to say1 what  she        
considered the best for herself4  ,this 
daughter could be forcibly  removed from
 her mother2 but it would be impossible 
to convince the  mother that she was    
doing wrong1 in selling her daughter4   
,if any one was  to be saved1 then it   
must be this woman--the mother ought to 
have been  saved2 and that long before1 
from that view of life which is approved
 by  every one1 according to which a    
woman may live unmarried1 that is1      
without bearing children and without    
work1 and simply for the  satisfaction  
of the passions4  ,if ,i had thought of 
this1 ,i should have  understood that   
the majority of the ladies whom ,i      
intended to send  thither for the       
salvation of that little girl1 not only 
live without  bearing children and      
without working1 and serving only       
passion1 but that  they deliberately    
rear their daughters for the same life2 

one mother  takes her daughter to the   
taverns1 another takes hers to balls4   
,but both  mothers hold the same view of
 the world1 namely1 that a woman must   
satisfy man's passions1 and that for    
this she must be fed1 dressed1 and      
cared for4  ,then how are our ladies to 
reform this woman and her  daughter8 #ff
         ,,chapter ,,ix4      ,still    
more remarkable were my relations to the
 children4  ,in my role of  benefactor1 
,i turned my attention to the children  
also1 being desirous to  save these     
innocent beings from perishing in that  
lair of vice1 and  noting them down in  
order to attend to them afterwards4     
,among the children1 ,i was especially  
struck with a twelve-year-old lad  named
 ,serozha4  ,i was heartily sorry for   
this bold1 intelligent lad1 who  had    
lived with a cobbler1 and who had been  
left without a shelter because  his     
master had been put in jail1 and ,i     
wanted to do good to him4    ,i will    
here relate the upshot of my benevolence

 in his case1 because my  experience    
with this child is best adapted to show 
my false position in  the role of       
benefactor4  ,i took the boy home with  
me and put him in the  kitchen4  ,it was
 impossible1 was it not1 to take a child
 who had lived in  a den of iniquity in 
among my own children8  ,and ,i         
considered myself very  kind and good1  
because he was a care1 not to me1 but to
 the servants in  the kitchen1 and      
because not ,i but the cook fed him1 and
 because ,i gave  him some cast-off     
clothing to wear4  ,the boy staid a     
week4  ,during that  week ,i said a few 
words to him as ,i passed on two        
occasions and in the  course of my      
strolls1 ,i went to a shoemaker of my   
acquaintance1 and  proposed that he     
should take the lad as an apprentice4   
,a peasant who was  visiting me1 invited
 him to go to the country1 into his     
family1 as a  laborer2 the boy refused1 
and at the end of the week he           
disappeared4  ,i  went to the ,rzhanoff 

house to inquire after him4  ,he had    
returned there1  but was not at home    
when ,i went thither4  ,for two days    
already1 he had  been going to the      
,pryesnensky ponds1 where he had hired  
himself out at  thirty kopeks a day in  
some procession of savages in costume1  
who led  about elephants4  ,something   
was being presented to the public there4
  ,i  went a second time1 but he was so 
ungrateful that he evidently avoided    
me4  ,had ,i then reflected on the life 
of that boy and on my own1 ,i should    
have understood that this boy was       
spoiled because he had discovered the   
possibility of a merry life without     
labor1 and that he had grown unused  to 
work4  ,and ,i1 with the object of      
benefiting and reclaiming him1 had      
taken him to my house1 where he         
saw--what8  ,my children1--both older   
and  younger than himself1 and of the   
same age1--who not only never did any   
work for themselves1 but who made work  
for others by every means in their      

power1 who soiled and spoiled every     
thing about them1 who ate rich1  dainty1
 and sweet viands1 broke china1 and     
flung to the dogs food which  would have
 been a tidbit to this lad4  ,if ,i had 
rescued him from the  abyss1 and had    
taken him to that nice place1 then he   
must acquire those  views which         
prevailed in the life of that nice      
place2 but by these views1  he          
understood that in that fine place he   
must so live that he should not  toil1  
but eat and drink luxuriously1 and lead 
a joyous life4  ,it is true  that he did
 not know that my children bore heavy   
burdens in the  acquisition of the      
declensions of ,latin and ,greek        
grammar1 and that he  could not have    
understood the object of these labors4  
,but it is  impossible not to see that  
if he had understood this1 the influence
 of my  children's example on him would 
have been even stronger4  ,he would then
  have comprehended that my children    
were being educated in this manner1 so  

that1 while doing no work now1 they     
might be in a position hereafter1  also 
profiting by their diplomas1 to work as 
little as possible1 and to  enjoy the   
pleasures of life to as great an extent 
as possible4  ,he did  understand this1 
and he would not go with the peasant to 
tend cattle1 and  to eat potatoes and   
kvas with him1 but he went to the       
zoological garden  in the costume of a  
savage1 to lead the elephant at thirty  
kopeks a day4    ,i might have          
understood how clumsy ,i was1 when ,i   
was rearing my children  in the most    
utter idleness and luxury1 to reform    
other people and their  children1 who   
were perishing from idleness in what ,i 
called the den of  the ,rzhanoff house1 
where1 nevertheless1 three-fourths of   
the people toil  for themselves and for 
others4  ,but ,i understood nothing of  
this4    ,there were a great many       
children in the ,rzhanoff house1 who    
were in the  same pitiable plight2 there
 were the children of dissolute women1  

there  were orphans1 there were children
 who had been picked up in the streets  
by beggars4  ,they were all very        
wretched4  ,but my experience with      
,serozha  showed me that ,i1 living the 
life ,i did1 was not in a position to   
help  them4    ,while ,serozha was      
living with us1 ,i noticed in myself an 
effort to hide  our life from him1 in   
particular the life of our children4  ,i
 felt that  all my efforts to direct him
 towards a good1 industrious life1 were 
counteracted by the examples of our     
lives and by that of our children4  ,it 
is very easy to take a child away from a
 disreputable woman1 or from a  beggar4 
,it is very easy1 when one has the      
money1 to wash1 clean and  dress him in 
neat clothing1 to support him1 and even 
to teach him various  sciences2 but it  
is not only difficult for us1 who do not
 earn our own  bread1 but quite the     
reverse1 to teach him to work for his   
bread1 but it  is impossible1 because   
we1 by our example1 and even by those   

material and  valueless improvements of 
his life1 inculcate the contrary4  ,a   
puppy can  be taken1 tended1 fed1 and   
taught to fetch and carry1 and one may  
take  pleasure in him3 but it is not    
enough to tend a man1 to feed and teach 
him ,greek2 we must teach the man how to
 live1--that is1 to take as little  as  
possible from others1 and to give as    
much as possible2 and we cannot  help   
teaching him to do the contrary1 if we  
take him into our houses1 or  into an   
institution founded for this purpose4   
,,chapter ,x4      ,this feeling of     
compassion for people1 and of disgust   
with myself1 which  ,i had experienced  
in the ,lyapinsky house1 ,i experienced 
no longer4  ,i was  completely absorbed 
in the desire to carry out the scheme   
which ,i had  concocted1--to do good to 
those people whom ,i should meet here4  
,and1  strange to say1 it would appear1 
that1 to do good--to give money to the  
needy--is a very good deed1 and one that
 should dispose me to love for  the     

people1 but it turned out the reverse3  
this act produced in me ill-  will and  
an inclination to condemn people4  ,but 
during our first evening  tour1 a scene 
occurred exactly like that in the       
,lyapinsky house1 and it  called forth a
 wholly different sentiment4    ,it     
began by my finding in one set of       
apartments an unfortunate  individual1  
of precisely the sort who require       
immediate aid4  ,i found a  hungry woman
 who had had nothing to eat for two     
days4    ,it came about thus3 in one    
very large and almost empty             
night-lodging1 ,i  asked an old woman   
whether there were many poor people who 
had nothing to  eat8  ,the old woman    
reflected1 and then told me of two2 and 
then1 as  though she had just           
recollected1 ,why1 here is one of them1 
said she1  glancing at one of the       
occupied bunks4  ,i think that woman has
 had no  food4    ,really8  ,who is she8
    ,she was a dissolute woman3 no one  
wants any thing to do with her now1 so  

she has no way of getting any thing4    
,the landlady has had compassion on     
her1 but now she means to turn her out 4
 4 4 ,agafya1 hey there1 ,agafya6  cried
 the woman4    ,we approached1 and      
something rose up in the bunk4  ,it was 
a woman haggard  and dishevelled1 whose 
hair was half gray1 and who was as thin 
as a  skeleton1 dressed in a ragged and 
dirty chemise1 and with particularly    
brilliant and staring eyes4  ,she looked
 past us with her staring eyes1         
clutched at her jacket with one thin    
hand1 in order to cover her bony  breast
 which was disclosed by her tattered    
chemise1 and oppressed1 she  cried1     
,what is it8 what is it8  ,i asked her  
about her means of  livelihood4  ,for a 
long time she did not understand1 and   
said1 ,i don't  know myself2 they       
persecute me4  ,i asked her1--it puts me
 to shame1 my  hand refuses to write    
it1--,i asked her whether it was true   
that she had  nothing to eat8  ,she     
answered in the same hurried1 feverish  

tone1 staring  at me the while1--,no1 ,i
 had nothing yesterday1 and ,i have had 
nothing to-  day4    ,the sight of this 
woman touched me1 but not at all as had 
been the case  in the ,lyapinsky house2 
there1 my pity for these people made me 
instantly  feel ashamed of myself3 but  
here1 ,i rejoiced because ,i had at last
 found  what ,i had been seeking1--a    
hungry person4    ,i gave her a ruble1  
and ,i recollect being very glad that   
others saw it4  ,the old woman1 on      
seeing this1 immediately begged money of
 me also4  ,it  afforded me such        
pleasure to give1 that1 without finding 
out whether it  was necessary to give or
 not1 ,i gave something to the old woman
 too4  ,the  old woman accompanied me to
 the door1 and the people standing in   
the  corridor heard her blessing me4    
,probably the questions which ,i had put
  with regard to poverty1 had aroused   
expectation1 and several persons        
followed us4  ,in the corridor also1    
they began to ask me for money4  ,among 

those who begged were some drunken men1 
who aroused an unpleasant feeling  in   
me2 but1 having once given to the old   
woman1 ,i had no might to refuse  these 
people1 and ,i began to give4  ,as long 
as ,i continued to give1  people kept   
coming up2 and excitement ran through   
all the lodgings4  ,people made them    
appearance on the stairs and galleries1 
and followed me4  ,as ,i emerged into   
the court-yard1 a little boy ran swiftly
 down one of  the staircases thrusting  
the people aside4  ,he did not see me1  
and  exclaimed hastily3 ,he gave        
,agashka a ruble6  ,when he reached the 
ground1 the boy joined the crowd which  
was following me4  ,i went out into  the
 street3 various descriptions of people 
followed me1 and asked for  money4  ,i  
distributed all my small change1 and    
entered an open shop with  the request  
that the shopkeeper would change a      
ten-ruble bill for me4  ,and  then the  
same thing happened as at the ,lyapinsky
 house4  ,a terrible  confusion ensued4 

,old women1 noblemen1 peasants1 and     
children crowded  into the shop with    
outstretched hands2 ,i gave1 and        
interrogated some of  them as to their  
lives1 and took notes4  ,the shopkeeper1
 turning up the  furred points of the   
collar of his coat1 sat like a stuffed  
creature1  glancing at the crowd        
occasionally1 and then fixing his eyes  
beyond them  again4  ,he evidently1 like
 every one else1 felt that this was     
foolish1  but he could not say so4      
,the poverty and beggary in the         
,lyapinsky house had horrified me1 and  
,i  felt myself guilty of it2 ,i felt   
the desire and the possibility of       
improvement4  ,but now1 precisely the   
same scene produced on me an  entirely  
different effect2 ,i experienced1 in the
 first place1 a  malevolent feeling     
towards many of those who were besieging
 me2 and in  the second place1          
uneasiness as to what the shopkeepers   
and porters would  think of me4    ,on  
my return home that day1 ,i was troubled

 in my soul4  ,i felt that what  ,i had 
done was foolish and immoral4  ,but1 as 
is always the result of  inward         
confusion1 ,i talked a great deal about 
the plan which ,i had  undertaken1 as   
though ,i entertained not the slightest 
doubt of my  success4    ,on the        
following day1 ,i went to such of the   
people whom ,i had inscribed  on my     
list1 as seemed to me the most wretched 
of all1 and those who1 as  it seemed to 
me1 would be the easiest to help4  ,as  
,i have already said1 ,i  did not help  
any of these people4  ,it proved to be  
more difficult to help  them than ,i had
 thought4  ,and either because ,i did   
not know how1 or  because it was        
impossible1 ,i merely imitated these    
people1 and did not  help any one4  ,i  
visited the ,rzhanoff house several     
times before the  final tour1 and on    
every occasion the very same thing      
occurred3 ,i was  beset by a throng of  
beggars in whose mass ,i was completely 
lost4  ,i felt  the impossibility of    

doing any thing1 because there were too 
many of  them1 and because ,i felt      
ill-disposed towards them because there 
were so  many of them2 and in addition  
to this1 each one separately did not    
incline me in his favor4  ,i was        
conscious that every one of them was    
telling me an untruth1 or less than the 
whole truth1 and that he saw in  me     
merely a purse from which money might be
 drawn4  ,and it very  frequently seemed
 to me1 that the very money which they  
squeezed out of  me1 rendered their     
condition worse instead of improving it4
  ,the oftener  ,i went to that house1  
the more ,i entered into intercourse    
with the people  there1 the more        
apparent became to me the impossibility 
of doing any  thing2 but still ,i did   
not give up any scheme until the last   
night tour4    ,the remembrance of that 
last tour is particularly mortifying to 
me4  ,on  other occasions ,i had gone   
thither alone1 but twenty of us went    
there on  this occasion4  ,at seven     

o'clock1 all who wished to take part in 
this  final night round1 began to       
assemble at my house4  ,nearly all of   
them  were strangers to me1--students1  
one officer1 and two of my society      
acquaintances1 who1 uttering the usual1 
,c'est tres interessant6 had  asked me  
to include them in the number of the    
census-takers4    ,my worldly           
acquaintances had dressed up especially 
for this1 in some sort  of              
hunting-jacket1 and tall1 travelling    
boots1 in a costume in which they  rode 
and went hunting1 and which1 in their   
opinion1 was appropriate for  an        
excursion to a night-lodging-house4     
,they took with them special note-      
books and remarkable pencils4  ,they    
were in that peculiarly excited state   
of mind in which men set off on a hunt1 
to a duel1 or to the wars4  ,the  most  
apparent thing about them was their     
folly and the falseness of our          
position1 but all the rest of us were in
 the same false position4  ,before  we  

set out1 we held a consultation1 after  
the fashion of a council of  war1 as to 
how we should begin1 how divide our     
party1 and so on4    ,this consultation 
was exactly such as takes place in      
councils1  assemblages1 committees2 that
 is to say1 each person spoke1 not      
because  he had any thing to say or to  
ask1 but because each one cudgelled his 
brain for something that he could say1  
so that he might not fall short of  the 
rest4  ,but1 among all these            
discussions1 no one alluded to that     
beneficence of which ,i had so often    
spoken to them all4  ,mortifying as     
this was to me1 ,i felt that it was     
indispensable that ,i should once more  
remind them of benevolence1 that is1 of 
the point1 that we were to  observe and 
take notes of all those in destitute    
circumstances whom we  should encounter 
in the course of our rounds4  ,i had    
always felt ashamed  to speak of this2  
but now1 in the midst of all our excited
 preparations  for our expedition1 ,i   

could hardly utter the words4  ,all     
listened to me1  as it seemed to me1    
with sorrow1 and1 at the same time1 all 
agreed in  words2 but it was evident    
that they all knew that it was folly1   
and that  nothing would come of it1 and 
all immediately began again to talk     
about  something else4  ,this went on   
until the time arrived for us to set    
out1  and we started4    ,we reached the
 tavern1 roused the waiters1 and began  
to sort our papers4  ,when we were      
informed that the people had heard about
 this round1 and  were leaving their    
quarters1 we asked the landlord to lock 
the gates2 and  we went ourselves into  
the yard to reason with the fleeing     
people1  assuring them that no one would
 demand their tickets4  ,i remember the 
strange and painful impression produced 
on me by these alarmed  night-lodgers3  
ragged1 half-dressed1 they all seemed   
tall to me by the  light of the lantern 
and the gloom of the court-yard4        
,frightened and  terrifying in their    

alarm1 they stood in a group around the 
foul-smelling  out-house1 and listened  
to our assurances1 but they did not     
believe us1  and were evidently prepared
 for any thing1 like hunted wild beasts1
  provided only that they could escape  
from us4  ,gentlemen in divers          
shapes--as policemen1 both city and     
rural1 and as examining judges1 and     
judges--hunt them all their lives1 in   
town and country1 on the highway  and in
 the streets1 and in the taverns1 and in
 night-lodging houses2 and  now1 all of 
a sudden1 these gentlemen had come and  
locked the gates1  merely in order to   
count them3 it was as difficult for them
 to believe  this1 as for hares to      
believe that dogs have come1 not to     
chase but to  count them4  ,but the     
gates were locked1 and the startled     
lodgers  returned3 and we1 breaking up  
into groups1 entered also4  ,with me    
were  the two society men and two       
students4  ,in front of us1 in the dark1
 went  ,vanya1 in his coat and white    

trousers1 with a lantern1 and we        
followed4  ,we went to quarters with    
which ,i was familiar4  ,i knew all the 
establishments1 and some of the people2 
but the majority of the people  were    
new1 and the spectacle was new1 and more
 dreadful than the one which  ,i had    
witnessed in the ,lyapinsky house4  ,all
 the lodgings were full1 all  the bunks 
were occupied1 not by one person only1  
but often by two4  ,the  sight was      
terrible in that narrow space into which
 the people were  huddled1 and men and  
women were mixed together4  ,all the    
women who were  not dead drunk slept    
with men2 and women with two children   
did the same4  ,the sight was terrible1 
on account of the poverty1 dirt1 rags1  
and terror  of the people4  ,and it was 
chiefly dreadful on account of the vast 
numbers of people who were in this      
situation4  ,one lodging1 and then a    
second like it1 and a third1 and a      
tenth1 and a twentieth1 and still  there
 was no end to them4  ,and everywhere   

there was the same foul odor1  the same 
close atmosphere1 the same crowding1 the
 same mingling of the  sexes1 the same  
men and women intoxicated to stupidity1 
and the same  terror1 submission and    
guilt on all faces2 and again ,i was    
overwhelmed  with shame and pain1 as in 
the ,lyapinsky house1 and ,i understood 
that  what ,i had undertaken was        
abominable and foolish and therefore    
impracticable4  ,and ,i no longer took  
notes of anybody1 and ,i asked no       
questions1 knowing that nothing would   
come of this4    ,i was deeply pained4  
,in the ,lyapinsky house ,i had been    
like a man who  has seen a fearful      
wound1 by chance1 on the body of another
 man4  ,he is  sorry for the other man1 
he is ashamed that he has not pitied the
 man  before1 and he can still rise to  
the succor of the sufferer4  ,but now ,i
  was like a physician1 who has come    
with his medicine to the sick man1 has  
uncovered his sore1 and examined it1 and
 who must confess to himself that  every

 thing that he has done has been in     
vain1 and that his remedy is  good for  
nothing4        ,,chapter ,,xi4         
,this visit dealt the final blow to my  
self-delusion4  ,it now appeared        
indisputable to me1 that what ,i had    
undertaken was not only foolish but     
loathsome4    ,but1 in spite of the fact
 that ,i was aware of this1 it seemed to
 me that  ,i could not abandon the whole
 thing on the spot4  ,it seemed to me   
that ,i  was bound to carry out this    
enterprise1 in the first place1 because 
by my  article1 by my visits and        
promises1 ,i had aroused the            
expectations of the  poor2 in the       
second1 because by my article also1 and 
by my talk1 ,i had  aroused the         
sympathies of benevolent persons1 many  
of whom had promised  me their          
co-operation both in personal labor and 
in money4  ,and ,i  expected that both  
sets of people would turn to me for an  
answer to this4    ,what happened to me1
 so far as the appeal of the needy to me

 is  concerned1 was as follows3 ,by     
letter and personal application ,i      
received  more than a hundred2 these    
applications were all from the          
wealthy-poor1  if ,i may so express     
myself4  ,i went to see some of them1   
and some of them  received no answer4   
,nowhere did ,i succeed in doing any    
thing4  ,all  applications to me were   
from persons who had once occupied      
privileged  positions 7,i thus designate
 those in which people receive more from
  others than they give71 who had lost  
them1 and who wished to occupy them     
again4  ,to one1 two hundred rubles were
 indispensable1 in order that he  might 
prop up a failing business1 and complete
 the education of his  children which   
had been begun2 another wanted a        
photographic outfit2 a  third wanted his
 debts paid1 and respectable clothing   
purchased for him2  a fourth needed a   
piano1 in order to perfect himself and  
support his  family by giving lessons4  
,but the majority did not stipulate for 

any  given sum of money1 and simply     
asked for assistance2 and when ,i came  
to  examine into what was required1 it  
turned out that their demands grew in   
proportion to the aid1 and that there   
was not and could not be any way of     
satisfying them4  ,i repeat1 that it is 
very possible that this arose from  the 
fact that ,i did not understand how2 but
 ,i did not help any one1  although ,i  
sometimes endeavored to do so4    ,a    
very strange and unexpected thing       
happened to me as regards the           
co-operation of the benevolently        
disposed4  ,out of all the persons who  
had promised me financial aid1 and who  
had even stated the number of  rubles1  
not a single one handed to me for       
distribution among the poor one         
solitary ruble4  ,but according to the  
pledges which had been given me1 ,i     
could reckon on about three thousand    
rubles2 and out of all these people1    
not one remembered our former           
discussions1 or gave me a single kopek4 

,only the students gave the money which 
had been assigned to them for  their    
work on the census1 twelve rubles1 ,i   
think4  ,so my whole scheme1  which was 
to have been expressed by tens of       
thousands of rubles  contributed by the 
wealthy1 for hundreds and thousands of  
poor people who  were to be rescued from
 poverty and vice1 dwindled down to     
this1 that ,i  gave away1 haphazard1 a  
few scores of rubles to those people who
 asked me  for them1 and that there     
remained in my hands twelve rubies      
contributed  by the students1 and       
twenty-five sent to me by the ,city     
,council for my  labor as a             
superintendent1 and ,i absolutely did   
not know to whom to give  them4    ,the 
whole matter came to an end4  ,and then1
 before my departure for the  country1  
on the ,sunday before carnival1 ,i went 
to the ,rzhanoff house in  the morning1 
in order to get rid of those            
thirty-seven rubles before ,i  should   
leave ,moscow1 and to distribute them to

 the poor4  ,i made the  round of the   
quarters with which ,i was familiar1 and
 in them found only  one sick man1 to   
whom ,i gave five rubles4  ,there was no
 one else there to  give any to4  ,of   
course many began to beg of me4  ,but as
 ,i had not known  them at first1 so ,i 
did not know them now1 and ,i made up my
 mind to take  counsel with ,ivan       
,fedotitch1 the landlord of the tavern1 
as to the  persons upon whom it would be
 proper to bestow the remaining         
thirty-two  rubies4    ,it was the first
 day of the carnival4  ,everybody was   
dressed up1 and  everybody was full-fed1
 and many were already intoxicated4  ,in
 the court-  yard1 close to the house1  
stood an old man1 a rag-picker1 in a    
tattered  smock and bast shoes1 sorting 
over the booty in his basket1 tossing   
out  leather1 iron1 and other stuff in  
piles1 and breaking into a merry song1  
with a fine1 powerful voice4  ,i entered
 into conversation with him4  ,he  was  
seventy years old1 he was alone in the  

world1 and supported himself  by his    
calling of a rag-picker2 and not only   
did he utter no complaints1  but he said
 that he had plenty to eat and drink4   
,i inquired of him as to  especially    
needy persons4  ,he flew into a rage1   
and said plainly that  there were no    
needy people1 except drunkards and lazy 
men2 but1 on  learning my object1 he    
asked me for a five-kopek piece to buy a
 drink1  and ran off to the tavern4  ,i 
too entered the tavern to see ,ivan     
,fedotitch1 and commission him to       
distribute the money which ,i had left4 
,the tavern was full2 gayly-dressed1    
intoxicated girls were flitting in  and 
out2 all the tables were occupied2 there
 were already a great many  drunken     
people1 and in the small room the       
harmonium was being played1 and  two    
persons were dancing4  ,out of respect  
to me1 ,ivan ,fedotitch ordered  that   
the dance should be stopped1 and seated 
himself with me at a vacant  table4  ,i 
said to him1 that1 as he knew his       

tenants1 would not he point  out to me  
the most needy among them2 that ,i had  
been entrusted with the  distribution of
 a little money1 and1 therefore1 would  
he indicate the  proper persons8        
,good-natured ,ivan ,fedotitch 7he died 
a year later71  although he was pressed 
with business1 broke away from it for a 
time1 in  order to serve me4  ,he       
meditated1 and was evidently undecided4 
,an  elderly waiter heard us1 and joined
 the conference4    ,they began to      
discuss the claims of persons1 some of  
whom ,i knew1 but  still they could not 
come to any agreement4  ,the            
,paramonovna1 suggested  the waiter4    
,yes1 that would do4  ,sometimes she has
 nothing to eat4  ,yes1  but then she   
tipples4--,well1 what of that8  ,that   
makes no  difference4--,well1 ,sidoron  
,ivanovitch has children4  ,he would do4
  ,but  ,ivan ,fedotitch had his doubts 
about ,sidoron ,ivanovitch also4        
,akulina  shall have some4  ,there1 now1
 give something to the blind4  ,to this 

,i  responded4  ,i saw him at once4  ,he
 was a blind old man of eighty years1   
without kith or kin4  ,it seemed as     
though no condition could be more       
painful1 and ,i went immediately to see 
him4  ,he was lying on a feather-  bed1 
on a high bedstead1 drunk2 and1 as he   
did not see me1 he was  scolding his    
comparatively youthful female companion 
in a frightful bass  voice1 and in the  
very worst kind of language4  ,they also
 summoned an  armless boy and his       
mother4  ,i saw that ,ivan ,fedotitch   
was in great  straits1 on account of his
 conscientiousness1 for me knew that    
whatever  was given would immediately   
pass to his tavern4  ,but ,i had to get 
rid of  my thirty-two rubles1 so ,i     
insisted2 and in one way and another1   
and half  wrongfully to boot1 we        
assigned and distributed them4  ,those  
who received  them were mostly well     
dressed1 and we had not far to go to    
find them1 as  they were there in the   
tavern4  ,the armless boy appeared in   

wrinkled  boots1 and a red shirt and    
vest4  ,with this my charitable career  
came to  an end1 and ,i went off to the 
country2 irritated at others1 as is     
always  the case1 because ,i myself had 
done a stupid and a bad thing4  ,my     
benevolence had ended in nothing1 and it
 ceased altogether1 but the  current of 
thoughts and feelings which it had      
called up with me not only  did not come
 to an end1 but the inward work went on 
with redoubled force4        ,,chapter  
,,xii4      ,what was its nature8    ,i 
had lived in the country1 and there ,i  
was connected with the rustic  poor4    
,not out of humility1 which is worse    
than pride1 but for the sake  of telling
 the truth1 which is indispensable for  
the understanding of the  whole course  
of my thoughts and sentiments1 ,i will  
say that in the  country ,i did very    
little for the poor1 but the demands    
which were made  upon me were so modest 
that even this little was of use to the 
people1  and formed around me an        

atmosphere of affection and union with  
the  people1 in which it was possible to
 soothe the gnawing sensation of        
remorse at the independence of my life4 
,on going to the city1 ,i had  hoped to 
be able to live in the same manner4     
,but here ,i encountered want  of an    
entirely different sort4  ,city want was
 both less real1 and more  exacting and 
cruel1 than country poverty4  ,but the  
principal point was1  that there was so 
much of it in one spot1 that it produced
 on me a  frightful impression4  ,the   
impression which ,i experienced in the  
,lyapinsky house had1 at the very first1
 made me conscious of the  deformity of 
my own life4  ,this feeling was genuine 
and very powerful4  ,but1               
notwithstanding its genuineness and     
power1 ,i was1 at that time1 so  weak   
that ,i feared the alteration in my life
 to which this feeling  commended me1   
and ,i resorted to a compromise4  ,i    
believed what everybody  told me1 and   
everybody has said1 ever since the world

 was made1--that  there is nothing evil 
in wealth and luxury1 that they are     
given by ,god1  that one may continue to
 live as a rich man1 and yet help the   
needy4  ,i  believed this1 and ,i tried 
to do it4  ,i wrote an essay1 in which  
,i  summoned all rich people to my      
assistance4  ,the rich people all       
acknowledged themselves morally bound to
 agree with me1 but evidently  they     
either did not wish to do any thing1 or 
they could not do any thing  or give any
 thing to the poor4  ,i began to visit  
the poor1 and ,i beheld  what ,i had not
 in the least expected4  ,on the one    
hand1 ,i beheld in those  dens1 as ,i   
called them1 people whom it was not     
conceivable that ,i should  help1       
because they were working people1       
accustomed to labor and  privation1 and 
therefore standing much higher and      
having a much firmer  foothold in life  
than myself2 on the other hand1 ,i saw  
unfortunate people  whom ,i could not   
aid because they were exactly like      

myself4  ,the majority  of the          
unfortunates whom ,i saw were unhappy   
only because they had lost  the         
capacity1 desire1 and habit of earning  
their own bread2 that is to  say1 their 
unhappiness consisted in the fact that  
they were precisely  such persons as    
myself4    ,i found no unfortunates who 
were sick1 hungry1 or cold1 to whom ,i  
could  render immediate assistance1 with
 the solitary exception of hungry       
,agafya4  ,and ,i became convinced1     
that1 on account of my remoteness from  
the lives of those people whom ,i       
desired to help1 it would be almost     
impossible to find any such             
unfortunates1 because all actual wants  
had  already been supplied by the very  
people among whom these unfortunates    
live2 and1 most of all1 ,i was convinced
 that money cannot effect any  change in
 the life led by these unhappy people4  
,i was convinced of all this1 but out of
 false shame at abandoning what ,i  had 
once undertaken1 because of my          

self-delusion as a benefactor1 ,i went  
on with this matter for a tolerably long
 time1--and would have gone on  with it 
until it came to nothing of itself1--so 
that it was with the  greatest          
difficulty that1 with the help of ,ivan 
,fedotitch1 ,i got rid1  after a        
fashion1 as well as ,i could1 in the    
tavern of the ,rzhanoff house1  of the  
thirty-seven rubles which ,i did not    
regard as belonging to me4    ,of course
 ,i might have gone on with this        
business1 and have made out of  it a    
semblance of benevolence2 by urging the 
people who had promised me  money1 ,i   
might have collected more1 ,i might have
 distributed this money1  and consoled  
myself with my charity2 but ,i          
perceived1 on the one hand1  that we    
rich people neither wish nor are able to
 share a portion of our a  superfluity  
with the poor 7we have so many wants of 
our own71 and that  money should not be 
given to any one1 if the object really  
be to do good  and not to give money    

itself at haphazard1 as ,i had done in  
the ,rzhanoff  tavern4  ,and ,i gave up 
the whole thing1 and went off to the    
country with  despair in my heart4      
,in the country ,i tried to write an    
essay about all this that ,i had        
experienced1 and to tell why my         
undertaking had not succeeded4  ,i      
wanted  to justify myself against the   
reproaches which had been made to me on 
the  score of my article on the census2 
,i wanted to convict society of its in  
difference1 and to state the causes in  
which this city poverty has its  birth1 
and the necessity of combating it1 and  
the means of doing so which  ,i saw4    
,i began this essay at once1 and it     
seemed to me that in it ,i was saying a 
very great deal that was important4     
,but toil as ,i would over it1 and in   
spite of the abundance of materials1 in 
spite of the superfluity of them  even1 
,i could not get though that essay2 and 
so ,i did not finish it until  the      
present year1 because of the irritation 

under the influence of which  ,i wrote1 
because ,i had not gone through all that
 was requisite in order  to bear myself 
properly in relation to this essay1     
because ,i did not  simply and clearly  
acknowledge the cause of all this1--a   
very simple  cause1 which had its root  
in myself4    ,in the domain of morals1 
one very remarkable and too little noted
  phenomenon presents itself4    ,if ,i 
tell a man who knows nothing about it1  
what ,i know about geology1  astronomy1 
history1 physics1 and mathematics1 that 
man receives entirely  new information1 
and he never says to me3 ,well1 what is 
there new in  that8  ,everybody knows   
that1 and ,i have known it this long    
while4  ,but  tell that same man the    
most lofty truth1 expressed in the      
clearest1 most  concise manner1 as it   
has never before been expressed1 and    
every ordinary  individual1 especially  
one who takes no particular interest in 
moral  questions1 or1 even more1 one to 
whom the moral truth stated by you is   

displeasing1 will infallibly say to you3
 ,well1 who does not know that8  ,that  
was known and said long ago4  ,it really
 seems to him that this has  been said  
long ago and in just this way4  ,only   
those to whom moral truths  are dear and
 important know how important and       
precious they are1 and with  what       
prolonged labor the elucidation1 the    
simplification1 of moral  truths1 their 
transit from the state of a misty1      
indefinitely recognized  supposition1   
and desire1 from indistinct1 incoherent 
expressions1 to a  firm and definite    
expression1 unavoidably demanding       
corresponding  concessions1 are         
attained4    ,we have all become        
accustomed to think that moral          
instruction is a most  absurd and       
tiresome thing1 in which there can be   
nothing new or  interesting2 and yet all
 human life1 together with all the      
varied and  complicated activities1     
apparently independent1 of morality1    
both  governmental and scientific1 and  

artistic and commercial1 has no other   
aim than the greater and greater        
elucidation1 confirmation1              
simplification1 and accessibility of    
moral truth4    ,i remember that ,i was 
once walking along the street in        
,moscow1 and in  front of me ,i saw a   
man come out and gaze attentively at the
 stones of  the sidewalk1 after which he
 selected one stone1 seated himself on  
it1  and began to plane 7as it seemed to
 me7 or to rub it with the greatest     
diligence and force4  ,what is he doing 
to the sidewalk8 ,i said to  myself4    
,on going close to him1 ,i saw what the 
man was doing4  ,he was a  young fellow 
from a meat-shop2 he was whetting his   
knife on the stone of  the pavement4    
,he was not thinking at all of the      
stones when he  scrutinized them1 still 
less was he thinking of them when he was
  accomplishing his task3 he was        
whetting his knife4  ,he was obliged to 
whet his knife so that he could cut the 
meat2 but to me it seemed as  though he 

were doing something to the stones of   
the sidewalk4  ,just so it  appears as  
though humanity were occupied with      
commerce1 conventions1  wars1 sciences1 
arts2 but only one business is of       
importance to it1 and  with only one    
business is it occupied3 it is          
elucidating to itself those  moral laws 
by which it lives4  ,the moral laws are 
already in existence2  humanity is only 
elucidating them1 and this elucidation  
seems unimportant  and imperceptible for
 any one who has no need of moral laws1 
who does not  wish to live by them4     
,but this elucidation of the moral law  
is not only  weighty1 but the only real 
business of all humanity4  ,this        
elucidation is  imperceptible just as   
the difference between the dull and the 
sharp knife  is imperceptible4  ,the    
knife is a knife all the same1 and for a
 person  who is not obliged to cut any  
thing with this knife1 the difference   
between the dull and the sharp one is   
imperceptible4  ,for the man who has    

come to an understanding that his whole 
life depends on the greater or  less    
degree of sharpness in the knife1--for  
such a man1 every whetting of  it is    
weighty1 and that man knows that the    
knife is a knife only when it  is sharp1
 when it cuts that which needs cutting4 
,this is what happened to me1 when ,i   
began to write my essay4  ,it seemed  to
 me that ,i knew all about it1 that ,i  
understood every thing connected  with  
those questions which had produced on me
 the impressions of the  ,lyapinsky     
house1 and the census2 but when ,i      
attempted to take account of  them and  
to demonstrate them1 it turned out that 
the knife would not cut1  and that it   
must be whetted4  ,and it is only now1  
after the lapse of  three years1 that ,i
 have felt that my knife is sufficiently
 sharp1 so  that ,i can cut what ,i     
choose4  ,i have learned very little    
that is new4  ,my  thoughts are all     
exactly the same1 but they were duller  
then1 and they  all scattered and would 

not unite on any thing2 there was no    
edge to  them2 they would not           
concentrate on one point1 on the        
simplest and  clearest decision1 as they
 have now concentrated themselves4      
,,chapter ,,xiii4      ,i remember that 
during the entire period of my          
unsuccessful efforts at  helping the    
inhabitants of the city1 ,i presented to
 myself the aspect of  a man who should 
attempt to drag another man out of a    
swamp while he  himself was standing on 
the same unstable ground4  ,every       
attempt of mine  had made me conscious  
of the untrustworthy character of the   
soil on which  ,i stood4  ,i felt that  
,i was in the swamp myself1 but this    
consciousness  did not cause me to look 
more narrowly at my own feet1 in order  
to learn  upon what ,i was standing2 ,i 
kept on seeking some external means1    
outside  myself1 of helping the existing
 evil4    ,i then felt that my life was 
bad1 and that it was impossible to live 
in  that manner4  ,but from the fact    

that my life was bad1 and that it was   
impossible to live in that manner1 ,i   
did not draw the very simple and  clear 
deduction that it was necessary to amend
 my life and to live  better1 but ,i    
knew the terrible deduction that in     
order to live well  myself1 ,i must     
needs reform the lives of others2 and so
 ,i began to reform  the lives of       
others4  ,i lived in the city1 and ,i   
wished to reform the  lives of those who
 lived in the city2 but ,i soon became  
convinced that  this ,i could not by any
 possibility accomplish1 and ,i began to
 meditate  on the inherent              
characteristics of city life and city   
poverty4    ,what are city life and city
 poverty8  ,why1 when ,i am living in   
the city1  cannot ,i help the city poor8
    ,i asked myself4  ,i answered myself
 that ,i could not do any thing for     
them1 in the first place1 because there 
were too many of them here in one  spot2
 in the second place1 because all the   
poor people here were entirely          

different from the country poor4  ,why  
were there so many of them here8  and in
 what did their peculiarity1 as opposed 
to the country poor1  consist8  ,there  
was one and the same answer to both     
questions4  ,there  were a great many of
 them here1 because here all those      
people who have no  means of subsistence
 in the country collect around the rich2
 and their  peculiarity lies in this1   
that they are not people who have come  
from the  country to support themselves 
in the city 7if there are any city      
paupers1  those who have been born here1
 and whose fathers and grandfathers were
  born here1 then those fathers and     
grandfathers came hither for the        
purpose of earning their livelihood74   
,what is the meaning of this3 to  earn  
one's livelihood in the city8  ,in the  
words to earn one's  livelihood in the  
city1 there is something strange1       
resembling a jest1  when you reflect on 
their significance4  ,how is it that    
people go from  the country1--that is to

 say1 from the places where there are   
forests1  meadows1 grain1 and cattle1   
where all the wealth of the earth       
lies1--to  earn their livelihood in a   
place where there are neither trees1 nor
  grass1 nor even land1 and only stones 
and dust8  ,what is the significance  of
 the words to earn a livelihood in the  
city1 which are in such  constant use1  
both by those who earn the livelihood1  
and by those who  furnish it1 as though 
it were something perfectly clear and   
comprehensible8    ,i recall the        
hundreds and thousands of city people1  
both those who live  well and the needy1
 with whom ,i have conversed on the     
reason why they  came hither3 and all   
without exception said1 that they had   
come from the  country to earn their    
living2 that in ,moscow1 where people   
neither sow  nor reap1--that in ,moscow 
there is plenty of every thing1 and     
that1  therefore1 it is only in ,moscow 
that they can earn the money which they 
require in the country for bread and a  

cottage and a horse1 and articles  of   
prime necessity4  ,but assuredly1 in the
 country lies the source of all  riches2
 there only is real wealth1--bread1 and 
forests1 and horses1 and  every thing4  
,and why1 above all1 take away from the 
country that which  dwellers in the     
country need1--flour1 oats1 horses1 and 
cattle8    ,hundreds of times did ,i    
discuss this matter with peasants living
 in town2  and from my discussions with 
them1 and from my observations1 it has  
been  made apparent to me1 that the     
congregation of country people in the   
city  is partly indispensable because   
they cannot otherwise support           
themselves1  partly voluntary1 and that 
they are attracted to the city by the   
temptations of the city4    ,it is true1
 that the position of the peasant is    
such that1 for the  satisfaction of his 
demands made on him in the country1 he  
cannot  extricate himself otherwise than
 by selling the grain and the cattle    
which he knows will be indispensable to 

him2 and he is forced1 whether he  will 
or no1 to go to the city in order there 
to win back his bread4  ,but  it is also
 true1 that the luxury of city life1 and
 the comparative ease  with which money 
is there to be earned1 attract him      
thither2 and under  the pretext of      
gaining his living in the town1 he      
betakes himself thither  in order that  
he may have lighter work1 better food1  
and drink tea three  times a day1 and   
dress well1 and even lead a drunken and 
dissolute life4  ,the cause of both is  
identical1--the transfer of the riches  
of the  producers into the hands of     
non-producers1 and the accumulation of  
wealth  in the cities4  ,and1 in point  
of fact1 when autumn has come1 all      
wealth  is collected in the country4    
,and instantly there arise demands for  
taxes1 recruits1 the temptations of     
vodka1 weddings1 festivals2 petty       
pedlers make their rounds through the   
villages1 and all sorts of other        
temptations crop up2 and by this road1  

or1 if not1 by some other1 wealth  of   
the most varied description--vegetables1
 calves1 cows1 horses1 pigs1  chickens1 
eggs1 butter1 hemp1 flax1 rye1 oats1    
buckwheat1 pease1  hempseed1 and        
flaxseed--all passes into the hands of  
strangers1 is  carried off to the towns1
 and thence to the capitals4  ,the      
countryman is  obliged to surrender all 
this to satisfy the demands that are    
made upon  him1 and temptations2 and1   
having parted with his wealth1 he is    
left with  an insufficiency1 and he is  
forced to go whither his wealth has been
  carried and there he tries1 in part1  
to obtain the money which he  requires  
for his first needs in the country1 and 
in part1 being himself  led away by the 
blandishments of the city1 he enjoys1 in
 company with  others1 the wealth that  
has there accumulated4  ,everywhere1    
throughout  the whole of ,russia1--yes1 
and not in ,russia alone1 ,i think1 but 
throughout the whole world1--the same   
thing goes on4  ,the wealth of the      

rustic producers passes into the hands  
of traders1 landed proprietors1         
officials1 and factory-owners2 and the  
people who receive this wealth  wish to 
enjoy it4  ,but it is only in the city  
that they can derive full  enjoyment    
from this wealth4  ,in the country1 in  
the first place1 it is  difficult to    
satisfy all the requirements of rich    
people1 on account of  the sparseness of
 the population2 banks1 shops1 hotels1  
every sort of  artisan1 and all sorts of
 social diversions1 do not exist there4 
,in the  second place1 one of the chief 
pleasures procured by wealth--vanity1   
the  desire to astonish and outshine    
other people--is difficult to satisfy in
  the country2 and this1 again1 on      
account of the lack of inhabitants4  ,in
  the country1 there is no one to       
appreciate elegance1 no one to be       
astonished4  ,whatever adornments in the
 way of pictures and bronzes the        
dweller in the country may procure for  
his house1 whatever equipages and       

toilets he may provide1 there is no one 
to see them and envy them1 and  the     
peasants cannot judge of them4  ,and1 in
 the third place1 luxury is  even       
disagreeable and dangerous in the       
country for the man possessed of a      
conscience and fear4  ,it is an awkward 
and delicate matter1 in the  country1 to
 have baths of milk1 or to feed your    
puppies on it1 when  directly beside you
 there are children who have no milk2 it
 is an awkward  and delicate matter to  
build pavilions and gardens in the midst
 of people  who live in cots banked up  
with dung1 which they have no means of  
warming4  ,in the country there is no   
one to keep the stupid peasants in      
order1 and in their lack of cultivation 
they might disarrange all this4  #id    
,and accordingly rich people congregate1
 and join themselves to other rich      
people with similar requirements1 in the
 city1 where the gratification of  every
 luxurious taste is carefully protected 
by a numerous police force4             

,well-rooted inhabitants of the city of 
this sort1 are the governmental         
officials2 every description of artisan 
and professional man has sprung  up     
around them1 and with them the wealthy  
join their forces4  ,all that a  rich   
man has to do there is to take a fancy  
to a thing1 and he can get  it4  ,it is 
also more agreeable for a rich man to   
live there1 because  there he can       
gratify his vanity2 there is some one   
with whom he can vie  in luxury2 there  
is some one to astonish1 and there is   
some one to  outshine4  ,but the        
principal reason why it is more         
comfortable in the  city for a rich man 
is that formerly1 in the country1 his   
luxury made him  awkward and uneasy2    
while now1 on the contrary1 it would be 
awkward for  him not to live            
luxuriously1 not to live like all his   
peers around him4  ,that which seemed   
dreadful and awkward in the country1    
here appears to be  just as it should   
be4  ,rich people congregate in the     

city2 and there1  under the protection  
of the authorities1 they calmly demand  
every thing  that is brought thither    
from the country4  ,and the countryman  
is1 in some  measure1 compelled to go   
thither1 where this uninterrupted       
festival of  the wealthy which demands  
all that is taken from him is in        
progress1 in  order to feed upon the    
crumbs which fall from the tables of the
 rich2 and  partly1 also1 because1 when 
he beholds the care-free1 luxurious     
life1  approved and protected by        
everybody1 he himself becomes desirous  
of  regulating his life in such a way as
 to work as little as possible1 and  to 
make as much use as possible of the     
labors of others4    ,and so he betakes 
himself to the city1 and finds          
employment about the  wealthy1          
endeavoring1 by every means in his      
power1 to entice from them  that which  
he is in need of1 and conforming to all 
those conditions which  the wealthy     
impose upon him1 he assists in the      

gratification of all their  whims2 he   
serves the rich man in the bath and in  
the inn1 and as  cab-driver and         
prostitute1 and he makes for him        
equipages1 toys1 and  fashions2 and he  
gradually learns from the rich man to   
live in the same  manner as the latter1 
not by labor1 but by divers tricks1     
getting away  from others the wealth    
which they have heaped together2 and he 
becomes  corrupt1 and goes to           
destruction4  ,and this colony1         
demoralized by city  wealth1 constitutes
 that city pauperism which ,i desired to
 aid and could  not4    ,all that is    
necessary1 in fact1 is for us to reflect
 on the condition of  these inhabitants 
of the country1 who have removed to the 
city in order  to earn their bread or   
their taxes1--when they behold1         
everywhere around  them1 thousands      
squandered madly1 and hundreds won by   
the easiest  possible means2 when they  
themselves are forced by heavy toil to  
earn  kopeks1--and we shall be amazed   

that all these people should remain     
working people1 and that they do not all
 of them take to an easier method  of   
getting gain1--by trading1 peddling1    
acting as middlemen1 begging1  vice1    
rascality1 and even robbery4  ,why1 we1 
the participants in that  never-ceasing 
orgy which goes on in town1 can become  
so accustomed to our  life1 that it     
seems to us perfectly natural to dwell  
alone in five huge  apartments1 heated  
by a quantity of beech logs sufficient  
to cook the  food for and to warm twenty
 families2 to drive half a verst with   
two  trotters and two men-servants2 to  
cover the polished wood floor with      
rugs2 and to spend1 ,i will not say1 on 
a ball1 five or ten thousand  rubles1   
and twenty-five thousand on a           
,christmas-tree4  ,but a man who is  in 
need of ten rubles to buy bread for his 
family1 or whose last sheep  has been   
seized for a tax-debt of seven rubles1  
and who cannot raise  those rubles by   
hard labor1 cannot grow accustomed to   

this4  ,we think  that all this appears 
natural to poor people there are even   
some  ingenuous persons who say in all  
seriousness1 that the poor are very     
grateful to us for supporting them by   
this luxury4 #if    ,but poor people are
 not devoid of human understanding      
simply because they  are poor1 and they 
judge precisely as we do4  ,as the first
 thought that  occurs to us on hearing  
that such and such a man has gambled    
away or  squandered ten or twenty       
thousand rubles1 is3 ,what a foolish and
  worthless fellow he is to uselessly   
squander so much money6 and what a  good
 use ,i could have made of that money in
 a building which ,i have long  been in 
need of1 for the improvement of my      
estate1 and so forth6--just  so do the  
poor judge when they behold the wealth  
which they need1 not for  caprices1 but 
for the satisfaction of their actual    
necessities1 of which  they are         
frequently deprived1 flung madly away   
before their eyes4  ,we  make a very    

great mistake when we think that the    
poor can judge thus1  reason thus1 and  
look on indifferently at the luxury     
which surrounds  them4    ,they never   
have acknowledged1 and they never will  
acknowledge1 that it  can be just for   
some people to live always in idleness1 
and for other  people to fast and toil  
incessantly2 but at first they are      
amazed and  insulted by this2 then they 
scrutinize it more attentively1 and1    
seeing  that these arrangements are     
recognized as legitimate1 they endeavor 
to  free themselves from toil1 and to   
take part in the idleness4  ,some       
succeed in this1 and they become just   
such carousers themselves2 others       
gradually prepare themselves for this   
state2 others still fail1 and do  not   
attain their goal1 and1 having lost the 
habit of work1 they fill up  the        
disorderly houses and the night-lodging 
houses4    ,two years ago1 we took from 
the country a peasant boy to wait on    
table4  ,for some reason1 he did not get

 on well with the footman1 and he was   
sent  away3 he entered the service of a 
merchant1 won the favor of his master1  
and now he goes about with a vest and a 
watch-chain1 and dandified boots4  ,in  
his place1 we took another peasant1 a   
married man3 he became a  drunkard1 and 
lost money4  ,we took a third3 he took  
to drunk1 and1 having  drank up every   
thing he had1 he suffered for a long    
while from poverty in  the night-lodging
 house4  ,an old man1 the cook1 took to 
drink and fell  sick4  ,last year a     
footman who had formerly been a hard    
drinker1 but who  had refrained from    
liquor for five years in the country1   
while living in  ,moscow without his    
wife who encouraged him1 took to drink  
again1 and  ruined his whole life4  ,a  
young lad from our village lives with my
  brother as a table-servant4  ,his     
grandfather1 a blind old man1 came to me
  during my sojourn in the country1 and 
asked me to remind this grandson  that  
he was to send ten rubies for the taxes1

 otherwise it would be  necessary for   
him to sell his cow4  ,he keeps saying1 
,i must dress  decently1 said the old   
man3 well1 he has had some shoes made1  
and  that's all right2 but what does he 
want to set up a watch for8 said the    
grandfather1 expressing in these words  
the most senseless supposition  that it 
was possible to originate4  ,the        
supposition really was senseless1  if we
 take into consideration that the old   
man throughout ,lent had eaten  no      
butter1 and that he had no split wood   
because he could not possibly  pay one  
ruble and twenty kopeks for it2 but it  
turned out that the old  man's senseless
 jest was an actual fact4  ,the young   
fellow came to see me  in a fine black  
coat1 and shoes for which he had paid   
eight rubles4  ,he  had recently        
borrowed ten rubles from my brother1 and
 had spent them on  these shoes4  ,and  
my children1 who have known the lad from
 childhood1  told me that he really     
considers it indispensable to fit       

himself out with  a watch4  ,he is a    
very good boy1 but he thinks that people
 will laugh at  him so long as he has no
 watch2 and a watch is necessary4       
,during the  present year1 a            
chambermaid1 a girl of eighteen1 entered
 into a  connection with the coachman in
 our house4  ,she was discharged4  ,an  
old  woman1 the nurse1 with whom ,i     
spoke in regard to the unfortunate girl1
  reminded me of a girl whom ,i had     
forgotten4  ,she too1 ten yeans ago1    
during a brief stay of ours in ,moscow1 
had become connected with a  footman4   
,she too had been discharged1 and she   
had ended in a disorderly  house1 and   
had died in the hospital before reaching
 the age of twenty4  ,it  is only       
necessary to glance about one1 to be    
struck with terror at the  pest which we
 disseminate directly by our luxurious  
life among the people  whom we          
afterwards wish to help1 not to mention 
the factories and  establishments which 
serve our luxurious tastes4    ,and     

thus1 having penetrated into the        
peculiar character of city poverty1     
which ,i was unable to remedy1 ,i       
perceived that its prime cause is this1 
that ,i take absolute necessaries from  
the dwellers in the country1 and  carry 
them all to the city4  ,the second cause
 is this1 that by making use  here1 in  
the city1 of what ,i have collected in  
the country1 ,i tempt and  lead astray1 
by my senseless luxury1 those country   
people who come hither  because of me1  
in order in some way to get back what   
they have been  deprived of in the      
country4 #ii        ,,chapter ,,xiv4    
,i reached the same conclusion from a   
totally different point4  ,on  recalling
 all my relations with the city poor    
during that time1 ,i saw  that one of   
the reasons why ,i could not help the   
city poor was1 that the  poor were      
disingenuous and untruthful with me4    
,they all looked upon me1  not as a man1
 but as means4  ,i could not get near   
them1 and ,i thought  that perhaps ,i   

did not understand how to do it2 but    
without uprightness1  no help was       
possible4  ,how can one help a man who  
does not disclose his  whole condition8 
,at first ,i blamed them for this 7it is
 so natural to  blame some one else72   
but a remark from an observing man named
 ,siutaeff1  who was visiting me at the 
time1 explained this matter to me1 and  
showed  me where the cause of my want of
 success lay4  ,i remember that         
,siutaeff's  remark struck me very      
forcibly at the time2 but ,i only       
understood its  full significance later 
on4  ,it was at the height of my        
self-delusion4  ,i  was sitting with my 
sister1 and ,siutaeff was there also at 
her house2 and  my sister was           
questioning me about my undertaking4  ,i
 told her about it1  and1 as always     
happens when you have no faith in your  
course1 ,i talked to  her with great    
enthusiasm and warmth1 and at great     
length1 of what ,i had  done1 and of    
what might possibly come of it4  ,i told

 her every thing1--how  we were going to
 keep track of pauperism in ,moscow1 how
 we were going to  keep an eye on the   
orphans and old people1 how we were     
going to send away  all country people  
who had grown poor here1 how we were    
going to smooth  the pathway to reform  
for the depraved2 how1 if only the      
matter could be  managed1 there would   
not be a man left in ,moscow1 who could 
not obtain  assistance4  ,my sister     
sympathized with me1 and we discussed   
it4  ,in the  middle of our             
conversation1 ,i glanced at ,siutaeff4  
,as ,i was acquainted  with his         
,christian life1 and with the           
significance which he attached to       
charity1 ,i expected his sympathy1 and  
spoke so that he understood this2 ,i    
talked to my sister1 but directed my    
remarks more at him4  ,he sat  immovable
 in his dark tanned sheepskin           
jacket1--which he wore1 like all        
peasants1 both out of doors and in the  
house1--and as though he did not  hear  

us1 but were thinking of his own        
affairs4  ,his small eyes did not       
twinkle1 and seemed to be turned        
inwards4  ,having finished what ,i had  
to  say1 ,i turned to him with a query  
as to what he thought of it4    ,it's   
all a foolish business1 said he4        
,why8    ,your whole society is foolish1
 and nothing good can come out of it1 he
  repeated with conviction4    ,why not8
  ,why is it a stupid business to help  
thousands1 at any rate  hundreds1 of    
unfortunate beings8  ,is it a bad thing1
 according to the  ,gospel1 to clothe   
the naked1 and feed the hungry8    ,i   
know1 ,i know1 but that is not what you 
are doing4  ,is it necessary to  render 
assistance in that way8  ,you are       
walking along1 and a man asks you  for  
twenty kopeks4  ,you give them to him4  
,is that alms8  ,do you give  spiritual 
alms1--teach him4  ,but what is it that 
you have given8  ,it was  only for the  
sake of getting rid of him4    ,no2 and1
 besides1 that is not what we are       

talking about4  ,we want to  know about 
this need1 and then to help by both     
money and deeds2 and to  find work4     
,you can do nothing with those people in
 that way4    ,so they are to be allowed
 to die of hunger and cold8    ,why     
should they die8  ,are there many of    
them there8    ,what1 many of them8 said
 ,i1 thinking that he looked at the     
matter so  lightly because he was not   
aware how vast was the number of these  
people4    ,why1 do you know1 said ,i1  
,i believe that there are twenty        
thousand of  these cold and hungry      
people in ,moscow4  ,and how about      
,petersburg and the  other cities8      
,he smiled4    ,twenty thousand6  ,and  
how many households are there in ,russia
 alone1 do  you think8  ,are there a    
million8    ,well1 what then8    ,what  
then8 and his eyes flashed1 and he grew 
animated4  ,come1 let us  divide them   
among ourselves4  ,i am not rich1 ,i    
will take two persons on  the spot4     
,there is the lad whom you took into    

your kitchen2 ,i invited  him to come to
 my house1 and he did not come4  ,were  
there ten times as  many1 let us divide 
them among us4  ,do you take some1 and  
,i will take  some4  ,we will work      
together4  ,he will see how ,i work1 and
 he will learn4  ,he will see how ,i    
live1 and we will sit down at the same  
table together1  and he will hear my    
words and yours4  ,this charity society 
of yours is  nonsense4    ,these simple 
words impressed me4  ,i could not but   
admit their justice2  but it seemed to  
me at that time1 that1 in spite of their
 truth1 still  that which ,i had planned
 might possibly prove of service4  ,but 
the  further ,i carried this business1  
the more ,i associated with the poor1   
the  more frequently did this remark    
recur to my mind1 and the greater was   
the  significance which it acquired for 
me4    ,i arrive in a costly fur coat1  
or with my horses2 or the man who lacks 
shoes sees my two-thousand-ruble        
apartments4  ,he sees how1 a little     

while  ago1 ,i gave five rubles without 
begrudging them1 merely because ,i took 
a  whim to do so4  ,he surely knows that
 if ,i give away rubles in that  manner1
 it is only because ,i have hoarded up  
so many of them1 that ,i have  a great  
many superfluous ones1 which ,i not only
 have not given away1 but  which ,i have
 easily taken from other people4  ,what 
else could he see in  me but one of     
those persons who have got possession of
 what belongs to  him8  ,and what other 
feeling can he cherish towards me1 than 
a desire to  obtain from me as many of  
those rubles1 which have been stolen    
from him  and from others1 as possible8 
,i wish to get close to him1 and ,i     
complain  that he is not frank2 and here
 ,i am1 afraid to sit down on his bed   
for  fear of getting lice1 or catching  
something infectious2 and ,i am afraid  
to admit him to my room1 and he1 coming 
to me naked1 waits1 generally in  the   
vestibule1 or1 if very fortunate1 in the
 ante-chamber4  ,and yet ,i  declare    

that he is to blame because ,i cannot   
enter into intimate  relations with him1
 and because me is not frank4    ,let   
the sternest man try the experiment of  
eating a dinner of five  courses in the 
midst of people who have had very little
 or nothing but  black bread to eat4    
,not a man will have the spirit to eat1 
and to watch  how the hungry lick their 
chops around him4  ,hence1 then1 in     
order to eat  daintily amid the         
famishing1 the first indispensable      
requisite is to hide  from them1 in     
order that they may not see it4  ,this  
is the very thing1  and the first thing1
 that we do4    ,and ,i took a simpler  
view of our life1 and perceived that an 
approach to  the poor is not difficult  
to us through accidental causes1 but    
that we  deliberately arrange our lives 
in such a fashion so that this approach 
may be rendered difficult4    ,not only 
this2 but1 on taking a survey of our    
life1 of the life of the  wealthy1 ,i   
saw that every thing which is considered

 desirable in that  life consists in1 or
 is inseparably bound up with1 the idea 
of getting as  far away from the poor as
 possible4  ,in fact1 all the efforts of
 our well-  endowed life1 beginning with
 our food1 dress1 houses1 our           
cleanliness1  and even down to our      
education1--every thing has for its     
chief object1  the separation of        
ourselves from the poor4  ,in procuring 
this seclusion  of ourselves by         
impassable barriers1 we spend1 to put it
 mildly1 nine-  tenths of our wealth4   
,the first thing that a man who was     
grown wealthy  does is to stop eating   
out of one bowl1 and he sets up         
crockery1 and fits  himself out with a  
kitchen and servants4  ,and he feeds his
 servants high1  too1 so that their     
mouths may not water over his dainty    
viands2 and he  eats alone2 and as      
eating in solitude is wearisome1 he     
plans how he may  improve his food and  
deck his table2 and the very manner of  
taking his  food 7dinner7 becomes a     

matter for pride and vain glory with    
him1 and his  manner of taking his food 
becomes for him a means of sequestering 
himself  from other men4  ,a rich man   
cannot think of such a thing as inviting
 a  poor man to his table4  ,a man must 
know how to conduct ladies to table1    
how to bow1 to sit down1 to eat1 to     
rinse out the mouth2 and only rich      
people know all these things4  ,the same
 thing occurs in the matter of          
clothing4  ,if a rich man were to wear  
ordinary clothing1 simply for the       
purpose of protecting his body from the 
cold1--a short jacket1 a coat1  felt and
 leather boots1 an under-jacket1        
trousers1 shirt1--he would  require but 
very little1 and he would not be unable1
 when he had two  coats1 to give one of 
them to a man who had none4  ,but the   
rich man  begins by procuring for       
himself clothing which consists entirely
 of  separate pieces1 and which is fit  
only for separate occasions1 and which  
is1 therefore1 unsuited to the poor man4

  ,he has frock-coats1 vests1 pea-      
jackets1 lacquered boots1 cloaks1 shoes 
with ,french heels1 garments that  are  
chopped up into bits to conform with the
 fashion1 hunting-coats1                
travelling-coats1 and so on1 which can  
only be used under conditions of        
existence far removed from poverty4     
,and his clothing also furnishes him    
with a means of keeping at a distance   
from the poor4  ,the same is the  case1 
and even more clearly1 with his         
dwelling4  ,in order that one may  live 
alone in ten rooms1 it is indispensable 
that those who live ten in  one room    
should not see it4  ,the richer a man   
is1 the more difficult is  he of access2
 the more porters there are between him 
and people who are  not rich1 the more  
impossible is it to conduct a poor man  
over rugs1 and  seat him in a satin     
chair4    ,the case is the same with the
 means of locomotion4  ,the peasant     
driving  in a cart1 or a sledge1 must be
 a very ill-tempered man when he will   

not  give a pedestrian a lift2 and there
 is both room for this and a            
possibility of doing it4  ,but the      
richer the equipage1 the farther is a   
man from all possibility of giving a    
seat to any person whatsoever4  ,it  is 
even said plainly1 that the most stylish
 equipages are those meant to  hold only
 one person4    ,it is precisely the    
same thing with the manner of life which
 is expressed  by the word cleanliness4 
,cleanliness6  ,who is there that does  
not know people1 especially women1  who 
reckon this cleanliness in themselves as
 a great virtue8 and who is  not        
acquainted with the devices of this     
cleanliness1 which know no  bounds1 when
 it can command the labor of others8    
,which of the people who  have become   
rich has not experienced in his own     
case1 with what  difficulty he carefully
 trained himself to this cleanliness1   
which only  confirms the proverb1       
,little white hands love other people's 
work8    ,to-day cleanliness consists in

 changing your shirt once a day2        
to-morrow1  in changing it twice a day4 
,to-day it means washing the face1 and  
neck1  and hands daily2 to-morrow1 the  
feet2 and day after to-morrow1 washing  
the whole body every day1 and1 in       
addition and in particular1 a rubbing-  
down4  ,to-day the table-cloth is to    
serve for two days1 to-morrow there     
must be one each day1 then two a day4   
,to-day the footman's hands must be     
clean2 to-morrow he must wear gloves1   
and in his clean gloves he must  present
 a letter on a clean salver4  ,and there
 are no limits to this  cleanliness1    
which is useless to everybody1 and      
objectless1 except for  the purpose of  
separating oneself from others1 and of  
rendering  impossible all intercourse   
with them1 when this cleanliness is     
attained  by the labors of others4      
,moreover1 when ,i studied the subject1 
,i because convinced that even that     
which is commonly called education is   
the very same thing4    ,the tongue does

 not deceive2 it calls by its real name 
that which men  understand under this   
name4  ,what the people call culture is 
fashionable  clothing1 political        
conversation1 clean hands1--a certain   
sort of  cleanliness4  ,of such a man1  
it is said1 in contradistinction to     
others1  that he is an educated man4    
,in a little higher circle1 what they   
call  education means the same thing as 
with the people2 only to the conditions 
of education are added playing on the   
pianoforte1 a knowledge of ,french1  the
 writing of ,russian without            
orthographical errors1 and a still      
greater  degree of external cleanliness4
  ,in a still more elevated sphere1     
education means all this with the       
addition of the ,english language1 and a
  diploma from the highest educational  
institution4  ,but education is         
precisely the same thing in the first1  
the second1 and the third case4         
,education consists of those forms and  
acquirements which are calculated  to   

separate a man from his fellows4  ,and  
its object is identical with  that of   
cleanliness1--to seclude us from the    
herd of poor1 in order that  they1 the  
poor1 may not see how we feast4  ,but it
 is impossible to hide  ourselves1 and  
they do see us4    ,and accordingly ,i  
have become convinced that the cause of 
the inability  of us rich people to help
 the poor of the city lies in the       
impossibility  of our establishing      
intercourse with them2 and that this    
impossibility of  intercourse is caused 
by ourselves1 by the whole course of our
 lives1 by  all the uses which we make  
of our wealth4  ,i have become convinced
 that  between us1 the rich and the     
poor1 there rises a wall1 reared by     
ourselves out of that very cleanliness  
and education1 and constructed of  our  
wealth2 and that in order to be in a    
condition to help the poor1 we  must    
needs1 first of all1 destroy this wall2 
and that in order to do  this1          
confrontation after ,siutaeff's method  

should be rendered possible1  and the   
poor distributed among us4  ,and from   
another starting-point also  ,i came to 
the same conclusion to which the current
 of my discussions as  to the causes of 
the poverty in towns had led me3 the    
cause was our  wealth4 #ajh             
,,chapter ,,xv4      ,i began to examine
 the matter from a third and wholly     
personal point of  view4  ,among the    
phenomena which particularly impressed  
me1 during the  period of my charitable 
activity1 there was yet another1 and a  
very  strange one1 for which ,i could   
for a long time find no explanation4    
,it  was this3 every time that ,i       
chanced1 either on the street on in the 
house1 to give some small coin to a poor
 man1 without saying any thing to  him1 
,i saw1 or thought that ,i saw1         
contentment and gratitude on the        
countenance of the poor man1 and ,i     
myself experienced in this form of      
benevolence an agreeable sensation4  ,i 
saw that ,i had done what the man       

wished and expected from me4  ,but if ,i
 stopped the poor man1 and              
sympathetically questioned him about his
 former and his present life1 ,i  felt  
that it was no longer possible to give  
three or twenty kopeks1 and ,i  began to
 fumble in my purse for money1 in doubt 
as to how much ,i ought to  give1 and ,i
 always gave more2 and ,i always noticed
 that the poor man left  me             
dissatisfied4  ,but if ,i entered into  
still closer intercourse with the  poor 
man1 then my doubts as to how much to   
give increased also2 and1 no  matter how
 much ,i gave1 the poor man grew ever   
more sullen and  discontented4  ,as a   
general rule1 it always turned out thus1
 that if ,i  gave1 after conversation   
with a poor man1 three rubles or even   
more1 ,i  almost always beheld gloom1   
displeasure1 and even ill-will1 on the  
countenance of the poor man2 and ,i have
 even known it to happen1 that1  having 
received ten rubles1 he went off without
 so much as saying ,thank  you1 exactly 

as though ,i had insulted him4    ,and  
thereupon ,i felt awkward and ashamed1  
and almost guilty4  ,but if ,i  followed
 up a poor man for weeks and months and 
years1 and assisted him1  and explained 
my views to him1 and associated with    
him1 our relations  became a torment1   
and ,i perceived that the man despised  
me4  ,and ,i felt  that he was in the   
right4    ,if ,i go out into the street1
 and he1 standing in that street1 begs  
of me  among the number of the other    
passers-by1 people who walk and ride    
past  him1 and ,i give him money1 ,i    
then am to him a passer-by1 and a good1 
kind  passer-by1 who bestows on him that
 thread from which a shirt is made for  
the naked man2 he expects nothing more  
than the thread1 and if ,i give it  he  
thanks me sincerely4  ,but if ,i stop   
him1 and talk with him as man with  man1
 ,i thereby show him that ,i desire to  
be something more than a mere           
passer-by4  ,if1 as often happens1 he   
weeps while relating to me his woes1    

then he sees in me no longer a          
passer-by1 but that which ,i desire that
 he  should see3 a good man4  ,but if ,i
 am a good man1 my goodness cannot pause
  at a twenty-kopek piece1 nor at ten   
rubles1 nor at ten thousand2 it is      
impossible to be a little bit of a good 
man4  ,let us suppose that ,i have      
given him a great deal1 that ,i have    
fitted him out1 dressed him1 set him  on
 his feet so that the can live without  
outside assistance2 but for some  reason
 or other1 though misfortune or his own 
weakness or vices1 he is  again without 
that coat1 that linen1 and that money   
which ,i have given  him2 he is again   
cold and hungry1 and he has come again  
to me1--how can ,i  refuse him8  ,for if
 the cause of my action consisted in the
 attainment  of a definite1 material    
end1 on giving him so many rubles or    
such and  such a coat ,i might be at    
ease after having bestowed them4  ,but  
the cause  of my action is not this3 the
 cause is1 that ,i want to be a good    

man1  that is to say1 ,i want to see    
myself in every other man4  ,every man  
understands goodness thus1 and in no    
other manner4 #aaa  ,and therefore1  if 
he should drink away every thing that   
you had given him twenty times1  and if 
he should again be cold and hungry1 you 
cannot do otherwise than  give him more1
 if you are a good man2 you can never   
cease giving to him1  if you have more  
than he has4  ,and if you draw back1 you
 will thereby  show that every thing    
that you have done1 you have done not   
because you  are a good man1 but because
 you wished to appear a good man in his 
sight1  and in the sight of men4    ,and
 thus in the case with the men from whom
 ,i chanced to recede1 to whom  ,i      
ceased to give1 and1 by this action1    
denied good1 ,i experienced a  torturing
 sense of shame4    ,what sort of shame 
was this8  ,this shame ,i had           
experienced in the  ,lyapinsky house1   
and both before and after that in the   
country1 when ,i  happened to give money

 or any thing else to the poor1 and in  
my  expeditions among the city poor4    
,a mortifying incident that occurred to 
me not long ago vividly reminded  me of 
that shame1 and led me to an explanation
 of that shame which ,i had  felt when  
bestowing money on the poor4    ,this   
happened in the country4  ,i wanted     
twenty kopeks to give to a poor         
pilgrim2 ,i sent my son to borrow them  
from some one2 he brought the  pilgrim a
 twenty-kopek piece1 and told me that he
 had borrowed it from  the cook4  ,a few
 days afterwards some more pilgrims     
arrived1 and again ,i  was in want of a 
twenty-kopek piece4  ,i had a ruble2 ,i 
recollected that ,i  was in debt to the 
cook1 and ,i went to the kitchen1 hoping
 to get some  more small change from the
 cook4  ,i said3 ,i borrowed a          
twenty-kopek  piece from you1 so here is
 a ruble4  ,i had not finished speaking1
 when  the cook called in his wife from 
another room3 ,take it1 ,parasha1 said  
he4  ,i1 supposing that she understood  

what ,i wanted1 handed her the  ruble4  
,i must state that the cook had only    
lived with me a week1 and1  though ,i   
had seen his wife1 ,i had never spoken  
to her4  ,i was just on the  point of   
saying to her that she was to give me   
some small coins1 when she  bent swiftly
 down to my hand1 and tried to kiss it1 
evidently imaging  that ,i had given her
 the ruble4  ,i muttered something1 and 
quitted the  kitchen4  ,i was ashamed1  
ashamed to the verge of torture1 as ,i  
had not  been for a long time4  ,i      
shrank together2 ,i was conscious that  
,i was  making grimaces1 and ,i groaned 
with shame as ,i fled from the kitchen4 
,this utterly unexpected1 and1 as it    
seemed to me1 utterly undeserved  shame1
 made a special impression on me1       
because it was a long time since  ,i had
 been mortified1 and because ,i1 as an  
old man1 had so lived1 it  seemed to me1
 that ,i had not merited this shame4  ,i
 was forcibly struck  by this4  ,i told 
the members of my household about it1 ,i

 told my  acquaintances1 and they all   
agreed that they should have felt the   
same4  ,and ,i began to reflect3 why had
 this caused me such shame8  ,to this1  
something which had happened to me in   
,moscow furnished me with an answer4    
,i meditated on that incident1 and the  
shame which ,i had experienced in  the  
presence of the cook's wife was         
explained to me1 and all those          
sensations of mortification which ,i had
 undergone during the course of my      
,moscow benevolence1 and which ,i now   
feel incessantly when ,i have occasion  
to give any one any thing except that   
petty alms to the poor and to  pilgrims1
 which ,i have become accustomed to     
bestow1 and which ,i consider  a deed   
not of charity but of courtesy4  ,if a  
man asks you for a light1  you must     
strike a match for him1 if you have one4
  ,if a man asks for  three or for      
twenty kopeks1 or even for several      
rubles1 you must give  them if you have 
them4  ,this is an act of courtesy and  

not of charity4  #aac    ,this was the  
case in question3 ,i have already       
mentioned the two peasants  with whom ,i
 was in the habit of sawing wood three  
yeans ago4  ,one  ,saturday evening at  
dusk1 ,i was returning to the city in   
their company4  ,they were going to     
their employer to receive their wages4  
,as we were  crossing the ,dragomilovsky
 bridge1 we met an old man4  ,he asked  
alms1 and  ,i gave him twenty kopeks4   
,i gave1 and reflected on the good      
effect which  my charity would have on  
,semyon1 with whom ,i had been          
conversing on  religious topics4        
,semyon1 the ,vladimir peasant1 who had 
a wife and two  children in ,moscow1    
halted also1 pulled round the skirt of  
his kaftan1  and got out his purse1 and 
from this slender purse he extracted1   
after  some fumbling1 three kopeks1     
handed it to the old man1 and asked for 
two  kopeks in change4  ,the old man    
exhibited in his hand two three-kopek   
pieces and one kopek4  ,semyon looked at

 them1 was about to take the  kopek1 but
 thought better of it1 pulled off his   
hat1 crossed himself1 and  walked on1   
leaving the old man the three-kopek     
piece4    ,i was fully acquainted with  
,semyon's financial condition4  ,he had 
no  property at home at all4  ,the money
 which he had laid by on the day when   
he gave three kopeks amounted to six    
rubles and fifty kopeks4  ,accordingly1 
six rubles and twenty kopeks was the sum
 of his savings4  ,my  reserve fund was 
in the neighborhood of six hundred      
thousand4  ,i had a  wife and children1 
,semyon had a wife and children4  ,he   
was younger than  ,i1 and his children  
were fewer in number than mine2 but his 
children were  small1 and two of mine   
were of an age to work1 so that our     
position1 with  the exception of the    
savings1 was on an equality2 mine was   
somewhat the  more favorable1 if any    
thing4  ,he gave three kopeks1 ,i gave  
twenty4  ,what  did he really give1 and 
what did ,i really give8  ,what ought ,i

 to have  given1 in order to do what    
,semyon had done8 he had six hundred    
kopeks2  out of this he gave one1 and   
afterwards two4  ,i had six hundred     
thousand  rubles4  ,in order to give    
what ,semyon had given1 ,i should have  
been  obliged to give three thousand    
rubles1 and ask for two thousand in     
change1 and then leave the two thousand 
with the old man1 cross myself1  and go 
my way1 calmly conversing about life in 
the factories1 and the  cost of liver in
 the ,smolensk market4    ,i thought of 
this at the time2 but it was only long  
afterwards that ,i was  in a condition  
to draw from this incident that         
deduction which inevitably  results from
 it4  ,this deduction is so uncommon and
 so singular1  apparently1 that1 in     
spite of its mathematical infallibility1
 one  requires time to grow used to it4 
,it does seem as though there must be   
some mistake1 but mistake there is none4
  ,there is merely the fearful  mist of 
error in which we live4    ,this        

deduction1 when ,i arrived at it1 and   
when ,i recognized its  undoubted truth1
 furnished me with an explanation of my 
shame in the  presence of the cook's    
wife1 and of all the poor people to whom
 ,i had  given and to whom ,i still give
 money4    ,what1 in point of fact1 is  
that money which ,i give to the poor1   
and which  the cook's wife thought ,i   
was giving to her8  ,in the majority of 
cases1  it is that portion of my        
substance which it is impossible even to
 express  in figures to ,semyon and the 
cook's wife1--it is generally one       
millionth  part or about that4  ,i give 
so little that the bestowal of any money
 is  not and cannot be a deprivation to 
me2 it is only a pleasure in which ,i   
amuse myself when the whim seizes me4   
,and it was thus that the cook's  wife  
understood it4  ,if ,i give to a man who
 steps in from the street one  ruble or 
twenty kopeks1 why should not ,i give   
her a ruble also8  ,in the  opinion of  
the cook's wife1 such a bestowal of     

money is precisely the  same as the     
flinging of honey-cakes to the people by
 gentlemen2 it  furnishes the people who
 have a great deal of superfluous cash  
with  amusement4  ,i was mortified      
because the mistake made by the cook's  
wife  demonstrated to me distinctly the 
view which she1 and all people who are  
not rich1 must take of me3 ,he is       
flinging away his folly1 i4e41 his      
unearned money4    ,as a matter of fact1
 what is my money1 and whence did it    
come into my  possession8  ,a portion of
 it ,i accumulated from the land which  
,i received  from my father4  ,a peasant
 sold his last sheep or cow in order to 
give  the money to me4  ,another portion
 of my money is the money which ,i have 
received for my writings1 for my books4 
,if my books are hurtful1 ,i only  lead 
astray those who purchase them1 and the 
money which ,i receive for  them is     
ill-earned money2 but if my books are   
useful to people1 then the  issue is    
still more disastrous4  ,i do not give  

them to people3 ,i say1  ,give me       
seventeen rubles1 and ,i will give them 
to you4  ,and as the  peasant sells his 
last sheep1 in this case the poor       
student or teacher1  or any other poor  
man1 deprives himself of necessaries in 
order to give  me this money4  ,and so  
,i have accumulated a great deal of     
money in that  way1 and what do ,i do   
with it8  ,i take that money to the     
city1 and bestow  it on the poor1 only  
when they fulfil my caprices1 and come  
hither to the  city to clean my         
sidewalk1 lamps1 and shoes2 to work for 
me in factories4  ,and in return for    
this money1 ,i force from them every    
thing that ,i can2  that is to say1 ,i  
try to give them as little as possible1 
and to receive  as much as possible from
 them4  ,and all at once ,i begin1 quite
  unexpectedly1 to bestow this money as 
a simple gift1 on these same poor       
persons1 not on all1 but on those to    
whom ,i take a fancy4  ,why should not  
every poor person expect that it is     

quite possible that the luck may fall   
to him of being one of those with whom  
,i shall amuse myself by  distributing  
my superfluous money8  ,and so all look 
upon me as the cook's  wife did4    ,and
 ,i had gone so far astray that this    
taking of thousands from the poor  with 
one hand1 and this flinging of kopeks   
with the other1 to those to  whom the   
whim moved me to give1 ,i called good4  
,no wonder that ,i felt  ashamed4 #aaf  
,yes1 before doing good it was needful  
for me to stand outside of evil1 in     
such conditions that ,i might cease to  
do evil4  ,but my whole life is  evil4  
,i may give away a hundred thousand     
rubles1 and still ,i shall not  be in a 
position to do good because ,i shall    
still have five hundred  thousand left4 
,only when ,i have nothing shall ,i be  
in a position to do  the least particle 
of good1 even as much as the prostitute 
did which she  nursed the sick women and
 her child for three days4  ,and that   
seemed so  little to me6  ,and ,i dared 

to think of good myself6  ,that which1  
on the  first occasion1 told me1 at the 
sight of the cold and hungry in the     
,lyapinsky house1 that ,i was to blame  
for this1 and that to live as ,i live   
is impossible1 and impossible1 and      
impossible1--that alone was true4       
,what1 then1 was ,i to do8              
,,chapter ,,xvi4      ,it was hard for  
me to come to this confession1 but when 
,i had come to it  ,i was shocked at the
 error in which ,i had been living4  ,i 
stood up to my  ears in the mud1 and yet
 ,i wanted to drag others out of this   
mud4    ,what is it that ,i wish in     
reality8  ,i wish to do good to others4 
,i wish  to do it so that other people  
may not be cold and hungry1 so that     
others  may live as it is natural for   
people to live4    ,i wish this1 and ,i 
see that in consequence of the violence1
 extortions1  and various tricks in     
which ,i take part1 people who toil are 
deprived of  necessaries1 and people who
 do not toil1 in whose ranks ,i also    

belong1  enjoy in superabundance the    
toil of other people4    ,i see that    
this enjoyment of the labors of others  
is so arranged1 that  the more rascally 
and complicated the trickery which is   
employed by the  man himself1 or which  
has been employed by the person from    
whom he  obtained his inheritance1 the  
more does he enjoy of the labors of     
others1  and the less does he contribute
 of his own labor4    ,first come the   
,shtiglitzy1 ,dervizy1 ,morozovy1 the   
,demidoffs1 the  ,yusapoffs2 then great 
bankers1 merchants1 officials1 landed   
proprietors1  among whom ,i also belong2
 then the poor--very small traders1     
dramshop-  keepers1 usurers1 district   
judges1 overseers1 teachers1 sacristans1
  clerks2 then house-porters1 lackeys1  
coachmen1 watch-carriers1  cab-drivers1 
peddlers2 and last of all1 the laboring 
classes--factory-hands and peasants1    
whose numbers bear the relation to  the 
first named of ten to one4  ,i see that 
the life of nine-tenths of the  working 

classes demands1 by reason of its       
nature1 application and toil1  as does  
every natural life2 but that1 in        
consequence of the sharp  practices     
which take from these people what is    
indispensable1 and place  them in such  
oppressive conditions1 this life becomes
 more difficult  every year1 and more   
filled with deprivations2 but our life1 
the life of  the non-laboring classes1  
thanks to the co-operation of the arts  
and  sciences which are directed to this
 object1 becomes more filled with       
superfluities1 more attractive and      
careful1 with every year4  ,i see1      
that1 in our day1 the life of the       
workingman1 and1 in particular1 the     
life of old men1 of women1 and of       
children of the working population1 is  
perishing directly from their food1     
which is utterly inadequate to their    
fatiguing labor2 and that this life of  
theirs is not free from care as to  its 
very first requirements2 and that1      
alongside of this1 the life of the      

non-laboring classes1 to which ,i       
belong1 is filled more and more1 every  
year1 with superfluities and luxury1 and
 becomes more and more free from        
anxiety1 and has finally reached such a 
point of freedom from care1 in  the case
 of its fortunate members1 of whom ,i am
 one1 as was only dreamed  of in olden  
times in fairy-tales1--the state of the 
owner of the purse  with the            
inexhaustible ruble1 that is1 a         
condition in which a man is not  only   
utterly released from the law of labor1 
but in which he possesses  the          
possibility of enjoying1 without toil1  
all the blessings of life1 and  of      
transferring to his children1 or to any 
one whom he may see fit1 this  purse    
with the inexhaustible ruble4    ,i see 
that the products of the people's toil  
are more and more  transformed from the 
mass of the working classes to those who
 do not  work2 that the pyramid of the  
social edifice seems to be reconstructed
 in  such fashion that the foundation   

stones are carried to the apex1 and the 
swiftness of this transfer is increasing
 in a sort of geometrical ratio4  ,i see
 that the result of this is something   
like that which would take  place in an 
ant-heap if the community of ants were  
to lose their sense of  the common law1 
if some ants were to begin to draw the  
products of labor  from the bottom to   
the top of the heap1 and should         
constantly contract  the foundations and
 broaden the apex1 and should thereby   
also force the  remaining ants to betake
 themselves from the bottom to the      
summit4    ,i see that the ideal of the 
,fortunatus' purse has made its way     
among the  people1 in the place of the  
ideal of a toilsome life4  ,rich people1
  myself among the number1 get          
possession of the inexhaustible ruble by
  various devices1 and for the purpose  
of enjoying it we go to the city1 to    
the place where nothing is produced and 
where every thing is swallowed  up4     
,the industrious poor man1 who is robbed

 in order that the rich may  possess    
this inexhaustible ruble1 yearns for the
 city in his train2 and  there he also  
takes to sharp practices1 and either    
acquires for himself a  position in     
which he can work little and receive    
much1 thereby rendering  still more     
oppressive the situation of the laboring
 classes1 or1 not  having attained to   
such a position1 he goes to ruin1 and   
falls into the  ranks of those cold and 
hungry inhabitants of the night-lodging 
houses1  which are being swelled with   
such remarkable rapidity4    ,i belong  
to the class of those people1 who1 by   
divers tricks1 take from  the toiling   
masses the necessaries of life1 and who 
have acquired for  themselves these     
inexhaustible rubles1 and who lead these
 unfortunates  astray4  ,i desire to aid
 people1 and therefore it is clear that1
 first of  all1 ,i must cease to rob    
them as ,i am doing4  ,but ,i1 by the   
most  complicated1 and cunning1 and evil
 practices1 which have been heaped up   

for centuries1 have acquired for myself 
the position of an owner of the         
inexhaustible ruble1 that is to say1 one
 in which1 never working myself1  ,i can
 make hundreds and thousands of people  
toil for me--which also ,i do2  and ,i  
imagine that ,i pity people1 and ,i wish
 to assist them4  ,i sit on a  man's    
neck1 ,i weigh him down1 and ,i demand  
that he shall carry me2 and  without    
descending from his shoulders ,i assure 
myself and others that ,i  am very sorry
 for him1 and that ,i desire to         
ameliorate his condition by  all        
possible means1 only not by getting off 
of him4    ,surely this is simple       
enough4  ,if ,i want to help the poor1  
that is1 to  make the poor no longer    
poor1 ,i must not produce poor people4  
,and ,i  give1 at my own selection1 to  
poor men who have gone astray from the  
path  of life1 a ruble1 or ten rubles1  
or a hundred2 and ,i grasp hundreds from
  people who have not yet left the path1
 and thereby ,i render them poor  also1 

and demoralize them to boot4    ,this is
 very simple2 but it was horribly hard  
for me to understand this  fully without
 compromises and reservations1 which    
might serve to justify  my position2 but
 it sufficed for me to confess my guilt1
 and every thing  which had before      
seemed to me strange and complicated1   
and lacking in  cleanness1 became       
perfectly comprehensible and simple4    
,but the chief  point was1 that my way  
of life1 arising from this              
interpretation1 became  simple1 clear   
and pleasant1 instead of perplexed1     
inexplicable and full  of torture as    
before4 #abb;a    ,who am ,i1 that ,i   
should desire to help others8  ,i desire
 to help people2  and ,i1 rising at     
twelve o'clock after a game of vint     
#abb;b with four  candles1 weak1        
exhausted1 demanding the aid of hundreds
 of people1--,i go  to the aid of whom8 
,of people who rise at five o'clock1 who
 sleep on  planks1 who nourish          
themselves on bread and cabbage1 who    

know how to  plough1 to reap1 to wield  
the axe1 to chop1 to harness1 to        
sew1--of  people who in strength and    
endurance1 and skill and abstemiousness1
 are a  hundred times superior to       
me1--and ,i go to their succor6  ,what  
except  shame could ,i feel1 when ,i    
entered into communion with these       
people8  ,the  very weakest of them1 a  
drunkard1 an inhabitant of the ,rzhanoff
 house1  the one whom they call the     
idler1 is a hundred-fold more           
industrious  than ,i2 his balance1 so to
 speak1 that is to say1 the relation of 
what  he takes from people and that     
which they give him1 stands on a        
thousand  times better footing than my  
balance1 if ,i take into consideration  
what ,i  take from people and what ,i   
give to them4 #abb;a    ,and these are  
the people to whose assistance ,i go4   
,i go to help the  poor4  ,but who is   
the poor man8  ,there is no one poorer  
than myself4  ,i  am a thoroughly       
enervated1 good-for-nothing parasite1   

who can only exist  under the most      
special conditions1 who can only exist  
when thousands of  people toil at the   
preservation of this life which is      
utterly useless to  every one4  ,and ,i1
 that plant-louse1 which devours the    
foliage of trees1  wish to help the tree
 in its growth and health1 and ,i wish  
to heal it4    ,i have passed my whole  
life in this manner3 ,i eat1 ,i talk and
 ,i listen2 ,i  eat1 ,i write or read1  
that is to say1 ,i talk and listen      
again2 ,i eat1 ,i  play1 ,i eat1 again  
,i talk and listen1 ,i eat1 and again ,i
 go to bed2 and  so each day ,i can do  
nothing else1 and ,i understand how to  
do nothing  else4  ,and in order that ,i
 may be able to do this1 it is necessary
 that  the porter1 the peasant1 the     
cook1 male or female1 the footman1 the  
coachman1 and the laundress1 should toil
 from morning till night2 ,i will  not  
refer to the labors of the people which 
are necessary in order that  coachman1  
cooks1 male and female1 footman1 and the

 rest should have those  implements and 
articles with which1 and over which1    
they toil for my  sake2 axes1 tubs1     
brushes1 household utensils1 furniture1 
wax1 blacking1  kerosene1 hay1 wood1 and
 beef4  ,and all these people work hard 
all day  long and every day1 so that ,i 
may be able to talk and eat and sleep4  
,and  ,i1 this cripple of a man1 have   
imagined that ,i could help others1 and 
those the very people who support me6   
,it is not remarkable that ,i could not 
help any one1 and that ,i felt  ashamed2
 but the remarkable point is that such  
an absurd idea could have  occurred to  
me4  ,the woman who served the sick old 
man1 helped him2 the  mistress of the   
house1 who cut a slice from the bread   
which she had won  from the soil1 helped
 the beggar2 ,semyon1 who gave three    
kopeks which he  had earned1 helped the 
beggar1 because those three kopeks      
actually  represented his labor3 but ,i 
served no one1 ,i toiled for no one1 and
 ,i  was well aware that my money did   

not represent my labor4        ,,chapter
 ,,xvii4 #abd      ,into the delusion   
that ,i could help others ,i was led by 
the fact that ,i  fancied that my money 
was of the same sort as ,semyon's4  ,but
 this was not  the case4    ,a general  
idea prevails1 that money represents    
wealth2 but wealth is the  product of   
labor2 and1 therefore1 money represents 
labor4  ,but this idea  is as just as   
that every governmental regulation is   
the result of a  compact 7contrat       
social74    ,every one likes to think   
that money is only a medium of exchange 
for  labor4  ,i have made shoes1 you    
have raised grain1 he has reared sheep3 
here1 in order that we may the more     
readily effect an exchange1 we will     
institute money1 which represents a     
corresponding quantity of labor1 and1   
by means of it1 we will barter our shoes
 for a breast of lamb and ten  pounds of
 flour4  ,we will exchange our products 
through the medium of  money1 and the   
money of each one of us represents our  

labor4    ,this is perfectly true1 but  
true only so long as1 in the community  
where  this exchange is effected1 the   
violence of one man over the rest has   
not  made its appearance2 not only      
violence over the labors of others1 as  
happens in wars and slavery1 but where  
he exercises no violence for the        
protection of the products of their     
labor from others4  ,this will be true  
only in a community whose members fully 
carry out the ,christian law1 in a      
community where men give to him who     
asks1 and where he who takes is not     
asked to make restitution4  ,but just so
 soon as any violence whatever is  used 
in the community1 the significance of   
money for its possessor loses  its      
significance as a representative of     
labor1 and acquires the  significance of
 a right founded1 not on labor1 but on  
violence4    ,as soon as there is war1  
and one man has taken any thing from any
 other  man1 money can no longer be     
always the representative of labor2     

money  received by a warrior for the    
spoils of war1 which he sells1 even if  
he  is the commander of the warriors1 is
 in no way a product of labor1 and      
possesses an entirely different meaning 
from money received for work on  shoes4 
,as soon as there are slave-owners and  
slaves1 as there always  have been      
throughout the whole world1 it is       
utterly impossible to say  that money   
represents labor4    ,women have woven  
linen1 sold it1 and received money2     
serfs have woven for  their master1 and 
the master has sold them and received   
the money4  ,the  money is identical in 
both cases2 but in the one case it is   
the product  of labor1 in the other the 
product of violence4  ,in exactly the   
same way1  a stranger or my own father  
has given me money2 and my father1 when 
he  gave me that money1 knew1 and ,i    
know1 and everybody knows1 that no one  
can take this money away from me2 but if
 it should occur to any one to  take it 
away from me1 or even not to hand it    

over at the date when it was  promised1 
the law would intervene on my behalf1   
and would compel the  delivery to me of 
the money2 and1 again1 it is evident    
that this money  can in no wise be      
called the equivalent of labor1 on a    
level with the  money received by       
,semyon for chopping wood4  ,so that in 
any community  where there is any thing 
that in any manner whatever controls the
 labor  of others1 or where violence    
hedges in1 by means of money1 its       
possessions from others1 there money is 
no longer invariably the  representative
 of labor4  ,in such a community1 it is 
sometimes the  representative of labor1 
and sometimes of violence4    ,thus it  
would be where only one act of violence 
from one man against  others1 in the    
midst of perfectly free relations1      
should have made its  appearance2 but   
now1 when centuries of the most varied  
deeds of violence  have passed for      
accumulations of money1 when these deeds
 of violence are  incessant1 and merely 

alter their forms2 when1 as every one   
admits1 money  accumulated itself       
represents violence2 when money1 as a   
representative  of direct labor1 forms  
but a very small portion of the money   
which is  derived from every sort of    
violence1--to say nowadays that money   
represents the labor of the person who  
possesses it1 is a self-evident  error  
or a deliberate lie4    ,it may be said1
 that thus it should be2 it may be said1
 that this is  desirable2 but by no     
means can it be said1 that thus it is4  
,money represents labor4  ,yes4  ,money 
does represent labor2 but whose8  ,in   
our society only in the very rarest1    
rarest of instances1 does money         
represent the labor of its possessor1   
but it nearly always represents the     
labor of other people1 the past or      
future labor of men2 it is a            
representative of the obligation of     
others to labor1 which has been         
established by force4    ,money1 in its 
most accurate and at the same the simple

 application1 is  the conventional stamp
 which confers a right1 or1 more        
correctly1 a  possibility1 of taking    
advantage of the labors of other people4
  ,in its  ideal significance1 money    
should confer this right1 or this       
possibility1  only when it serves as the
 equivalent of labor1 and such money    
might be  in a community in which no    
violence existed4  ,but just as soon as 
violence1 that is to say1 the           
possibility of profiting by the labors  
of  others without toil of one's own1   
exists in a community1 then that        
profiting by the labors of other men is 
also expressed by money1 without  any   
distinction of the persons on whom that 
violence is exercised4    ,the landed   
proprietor has imposed upon his serfs   
natural debts1 a certain  quantity of   
linen1 grain1 and cattle1 or a          
corresponding amount of money4  ,one    
household has procured the cattle1 but  
has paid money in lieu of  linen4  ,the 
proprietor takes the money to a certain 

amount only1 because  he knows that for 
that money they will make him the same  
quantity of  linen1 7generally he takes 
a little more1 in order to be sure that 
they  will make it for the same amount72
 and this money1 evidently1 represents  
for the proprietor the obligation of    
other people to toil4    ,the peasant   
gives the money as an obligation1 to he 
knows not whom1 but  to people1 and     
there are many of them1 who undertake   
for this money to  make so much linen4  
,but the people who undertake to make   
the linen1 do  so because they have not 
succeeded in raising sheep1 and in place
 of the  sheep1 they must pay money2 but
 the peasant who takes money for his    
sheep  takes it because he must pay for 
grain which did not bear well this year4
  ,the same thing goes on throughout    
this realm1 and throughout the whole    
world4    ,a man sells the product of   
his labor1 past1 present or to come1    
sometimes  his food1 and generally not  
because money constitutes for him a     

convenient means of exchange4  ,he could
 have effected the barter without       
money1 but he does so because money is  
exacted from him by violence as a  lien 
on his labor4    ,when the sovereign of 
,egypt exacted labor from his slaves1   
the slaves  gave all their labor1 but   
only their past and present labor1 their
 future  labor they could not give4     
,but with the dissemination of money    
tokens1  and the credit which had its   
rise in them1 it became possible to sell
  one's future toil for money4  ,money1 
with co-existent violence in the        
community1 only represents the          
possibility of a new form of impersonal 
slavery1 which has taken the place of   
personal slavery4  ,the slave-owner  has
 a right to the labor of ,piotr1 ,ivan1 
and ,sidor4  ,but the owner of  money1  
in a place where money is demanded from 
all1 has a right to the  toil of all    
those nameless people who are in need of
 money4  ,money has  set aside all the  
oppressive features of slavery1 under   

which an owner  knows his right to      
,ivan1 and with them it has set aside   
all humane  relations between the owner 
and the slave1 which mitigated the      
burden of  personal thraldom4    ,i will
 not allude to the fact1 that such a    
condition of things is1  possibly1      
necessary for the development of        
mankind1 for progress1 and so           
forth1--that ,i do not contest4  ,i have
 merely tried to elucidate to  myself   
the idea of money1 and that universal   
error into which ,i fell when  ,i       
accepted money as the representative of 
labor4  ,i became convinced1  after     
experience1 that money is not the       
representative of labor1 but1 in  the   
majority of cases1 the representative of
 violence1 or of especially  complicated
 sharp practices founded on violence4   
,money1 in our day1 has completely lost 
that significance which it is very      
desirable that it should possess1 as the
 representative of one's own  labor2    
such a significance it has only as an   

exception1 but1 as a general  rule1 it  
has been converted into a right or a    
possibility of profiting by  the toil of
 others4    ,the dissemination of money1
 of credit1 and of all sorts of money   
tokens1  confirms this significance of  
money ever more and more4  ,money is a  
new  form of slavery1 which differs from
 the old form of slavery only in its    
impersonality1 its annihilation of all  
humane relations with the slave4        
,money--money1 is a value which is      
always equal to itself1 and is always   
considered legal and righteous1 and     
whose use is regarded as not immoral1   
just as the right of slavery was        
regarded4    ,in my young days1 the game
 of loto was introduced into the clubs4 
,everybody rushed to play it1 and1 as it
 was said1 many ruined themselves1      
rendered their families miserable1 lost 
other people's money1 and  government   
funds1 and committed suicide2 and the   
game was prohibited1 and  it remains    
prohibited to this day4    ,i remember  

to have seen old and unsentimental      
gamblers1 who told me that  this game   
was particularly pleasing because you   
did not see from whom you  were winning1
 as is the case in other games2 a lackey
 brought1 not money1  but chips2 each   
man lost a little stake1 and his        
disappointment was not  visible 4 4 4   
,it is the same with roulette1 which is 
everywhere  prohibited1 and not without 
reason4    ,it is the same with money4  
,i possess a magic1 inexhaustible ruble2
 ,i cut  off my coupons1 and have       
retired from all the business of the    
world4  ,whom  do ,i injure1--,i1 the   
most inoffensive and kindest of men8    
,but this is  nothing more than playing 
at loto or roulette1 where ,i do not see
 the man  who shoots himself1 because of
 his losses1 after procuring for me     
those  coupons which ,i cut off from the
 bonds so accurately with a strictly    
right-angled corner4    ,i have done    
nothing1 ,i do nothing1 and ,i shall do 
nothing1 except cut off  those coupons2 

and ,i firmly believe that money is the 
representative of  labor6  ,surely1 this
 is amazing6  ,and people talk of       
madmen1 after that6  ,why1 what degree  
of lunacy can be more frightful than    
this8  ,a sensible1  educated1 in all   
other respects sane man lives in a      
senseless manner1 and  soothes himself  
for not uttering the word which it is   
indispensably  necessary that he should 
utter1 with the idea that there is some 
sense in  his conclusions1 and he       
considers himself a just man4           
,coupons--the  representatives of toil6 
,toil6  ,yes1 but of whose toil8        
,evidently not  of the man who owns     
them1 but of him who labors4    ,slavery
 is far from being suppressed4  ,it has 
been suppressed in ,rome and  in        
,america1 and among us3 but only certain
 laws have been abrogated2 only  the    
word1 not the thing1 has been put down4 
,slavery is the freeing of  ourselves   
alone from the toil which is necessary  
for the satisfaction of  our demands1 by

 the transfer of this toil to others2   
and wherever there  exists a man who    
does not work1 not because others work  
lovingly for him1  but where he         
possesses the power of not working1 and 
forces others to  work for him1 there   
slavery exists4  ,there too1 where1 as  
in all ,european  societies1 there are  
people who make use of the labor of     
thousands of  men1 and regard this as   
their right1--there slavery exists in   
its  broadest measure4    ,and money is 
the same thing as slavery4  ,its object 
and its consequences  are the same4     
,its object is--that one may rid one's  
self of the first  born of all laws1 as 
a profoundly thoughtful writer from the 
ranks of the  people has expressed it2  
from the natural law of life1 as we have
 called  it2 from the law of personal   
labor for the satisfaction of our own   
wants4  ,and the results of money are   
the same as the results of slavery1 for 
the  proprietor2 the creation1 the      
invention of new and ever new and never-

  ending demands1 which can never be    
satisfied2 the enervation of poverty1   
vice1 and for the slaves1 the           
persecution of man and their degradation
 to  the level of the beasts4    ,money 
is a new and terrible form of slavery1  
and equally demoralizing  with the      
ancient form of slavery for both slave  
and slave-owner2 only  much worse1      
because it frees the slave and the      
slave-owner from their  personal1 humane
 relations4        ,,chapter ,,xviii4   
,i am always surprised by the           
oft-repeated words3 ,yes1 this is so in 
theory1 but how is it in practice8      
,just as though theory were fine  words1
 requisite for conversation1 but not for
 the purpose of having all  practice1   
that is1 all activity1 indispensably    
founded on them4  ,there  must be a     
fearful number of stupid theories       
current in the world1 that  such an     
extraordinary idea should have become   
prevalent4  ,theory is what  a man      
thinks on a subject1 but its practice is

 what he does4  ,how can a  man think it
 necessary to do so and so1 and then do 
the contrary8  ,if the  theory of baking
 bread is1 that it must first be mixed1 
and then set to  rise1 no one except a  
lunatic1 knowing this theory1 would do  
the reverse4  ,but it has become the    
fashion with us to say1 that this is so 
in theory1  but how about the practice8 
,in the matter which interests me now1  
that has been confirmed which ,i  have  
always thought1--that practice          
infallibly flows from theory1 and not   
that it justifies it1 but it cannot     
possibly be otherwise1 for if ,i have   
understood the thing of which ,i have   
been thinking1 then ,i cannot carry  out
 this thing otherwise than as ,i have   
understood it4    ,i wanted to help the 
unfortunate only because ,i had money1  
and ,i shared  the general belief that  
money was the representative of labor1  
or1 on the  whole1 something legal and  
good4  ,but1 having begun to give away  
this  money1 ,i saw1 when ,i gave the   

bills which ,i had accumulated from poor
  people1 that ,i was doing precisely   
that which was done by some landed      
proprietors who made some of their serfs
 wait on others4  ,i saw that  every use
 of money1 whether for making purchases1
 or for giving away  without an         
equivalent to another1 is handing over a
 note for extortion  from the poor1 or  
its transfer to another man for         
extortion from the  poor4  ,i saw that  
money in itself was not only not good1  
but evidently  evil1 and that it        
deprives us of our highest good1--labor1
 and thereby of  the enjoyment of our   
labor1 and that that blessing ,i was not
 in a  position to confer on any one1   
because ,i was myself deprived of it3 ,i
 do  not work1 and ,i take no pleasure  
in making use of the labor of others4   
,it would appear that there is something
 peculiar in this abstract  argument as 
to the nature of money4  ,but this      
argument which ,i have made  not for the
 sake of argument1 but for the solution 

of the problem of my  life1 of my       
sufferings1 was for me an answer to my  
question3 ,what is to  be done8    ,as  
soon as ,i grasped the meaning of       
riches1 and of money1 it not only       
became clear and indisputable to me1    
what ,i ought to do1 but also clear  and
 indisputable what others ought to do1  
because they would infallibly  do it4   
,i had only actually come to understand 
what ,i had known for a  long time      
previously1 the theory which was given  
to men from the very  earliest times1   
both by ,buddha1 and ,isaiah1 and       
,lao-,tze1 and ,socrates1  and in a     
peculiarly clear and indisputable manner
 by ,jesus ,christ and his  forerunner1 
,john the ,baptist4  ,john the ,baptist1
 in answer to the  question of the      
people1--,what were they to do8 replied 
simply1 briefly1  and clearly3 ,he that 
hath two coats1 let him impart to him   
that hath  none2 and he that hath meat1 
let him do likewise 7,luke iii4 #aj1    
#aa74  ,in  a similar manner1 but with  

even greater clearness1 and on many     
occasions1  ,christ spoke4  ,he said3   
,blessed are the poor1 and woe to the   
rich4  ,he  said that it is impossible  
to serve ,god and mammon4  ,he forbade  
his  disciples to take not only money1  
but also two garments4  ,he said to the 
rich young man1 that he could not enter 
into the kingdom of heaven  because he  
was rich1 and that it was easier for a  
camel to go through the  eye of a       
needle1 than for a rich man to enter the
 kingdom of ,god4  ,he  said that he who
 should not leave every thing1 houses   
and children and  lands1 and follow him1
 could not be his disciple4  ,he told   
the parable of  the rich man who did    
nothing bad1 like our own rich men1 but 
who only  arrayed himself in costly     
garments1 and ate and drank daintily1   
and who  lost his soul thereby2 and of  
poor ,lazarus1 who had done nothing     
good1  but who was saved merely because 
he was poor4    ,this theory was        
sufficiently familiar to me1 but the    

false teachings of  the world had so    
obscured it that it had become for me a 
theory in the  sense which people are   
fond of attributing to that term1 that  
is to say1  empty words4  ,but as soon  
as ,i had succeeded in destroying in my 
consciousness the sophisms of worldly   
teaching1 theory conformed to  practice1
 and the truth with regard to my life   
and to the life of the  people about me 
became its conclusion4    ,i understood 
that man1 besides life for his own      
personal good1 is  unavoidably bound to 
serve the good of others also2 that1 if 
we take an  illustration from the animal
 kingdom1--as some people are fond of   
doing1  defending violence and conflict 
by the conflict for existence in the    
animal kingdom1--the illustration must  
be taken from gregarious animals1  like 
bees2 that consequently man1 not to     
mention the love to his neighbor        
incumbent on him1 is called upon1 both  
by reason and by his nature1 to  serve  
other people and the common good of     

humanity4  ,i comprehended that  the    
natural law of man is that according to 
which only he can fulfil  destiny1 and  
therefore be happy4  ,i understood that 
this law has been and  is broken        
hereby1--that people get rid of labor by
 force 7like the robber  bees71 make use
 of the toil of others1 directing this  
toil1 not to the  common weal1 but to   
the private satisfaction of             
swift-growing desires2  and1 precisely  
as in the case of the robber bees1 they 
perish in  consequence4  ,i understood  
that the original form of this          
disinclination  for the law is the      
brutal violence against weaker          
individuals1 against  women1 wars and   
imprisonments1 whose sequel is slavery1 
and also the  present reign of money4   
,i understood that money is the         
impersonal and  concealed enslavement of
 the poor4  ,and1 once having perceived 
the  significance of money as slavery1  
,i could not but hate it1 nor refrain   
from doing all in my power to free      

myself from it4 #ace    ,when ,i was a  
slave-owner1 and comprehended the       
immorality of my position1  ,i tried to 
escape from it4  ,my escape consisted in
 this1 that ,i1  regarding it as        
immoral1 tried to exercise my rights as 
slave-owner as  little as possible1 but 
to live1 and to allow other people to   
live1 as  though that right did not     
exist4  ,and ,i cannot refrain from     
doing the  same thing now in reference  
to the present form of                  
slavery1--exercising  my right to the   
labor of others as little as possible1  
i4e41 hiring and  purchasing as little  
as possible4    ,the root of every      
slavery is the use of the labor of      
others2 and hence1  the compelling      
others to it is founded indifferently on
 my right to the  slave1 or on my       
possession of money which is            
indispensable to him4  ,if ,i  really do
 not approve1 and if ,i regard as an    
evil1 the employment of the  labor of   
others1 then ,i shall use neither my    

right nor my money for that  purpose2 ,i
 shall not compel others to toil for me1
 but ,i shall endeavor  to free them    
from the labor which they have performed
 for me1 as far as  possible1 either by 
doing without this labor or by          
performing it for  myself4    ,and this 
very simple and unavoidable deduction   
enters into all the  details of my life1
 effects a total change in it1 and at   
one blow  releases me from those moral  
sufferings which ,i have undergone at   
the  sight of the sufferings and the    
vice of the people1 and instantly       
annihilates all three causes of my      
inability to aid the poor1 which ,i had 
encountered while seeking the cause of  
my lack of success4    ,the first cause 
was the herding of the people in towns1 
and the  absorption there of the wealth 
of the country4  ,all that a man needs  
is  to understand how every hiring or   
purchase is a handle to extortion from  
the poor1 and that therefore he must    
abstain from them1 and must try to      

fulfil his own requirements2 and not a  
single man will then quit the  country1 
where all wants can be satisfied without
 money1 for the city1  where it is      
necessary to buy every thing3 and in the
 country he will be  in a position to   
help the needy1 as has been my own      
experience and the  experience of every 
one else4    ,the second cause is the   
estrangement of the rich from the poor4 
,a man  needs but to refrain from       
buying1 from hiring1 and1 disdaining no 
sort of  work1 to satisfy his           
requirements himself1 and the former    
estrangement  will immediately be       
annihilated1 and the man1 having        
rejected luxury and  the services of    
others1 will amalgamate with the mass of
 the working  people1 and1 standing     
shoulder to shoulder with the working   
people1 he  can help them4    ,the third
 cause was shame1 founded on a          
consciousness of immorality in my       
owning that money with which ,i desired 
to help people4  ,all that is  required 

is3 to understand the significance of   
money as impersonal  slavery1 which it  
has acquired among us1 in order to      
escape for the  future from falling into
 the error according to which money1    
though evil  in itself1 can be an       
instrument of good1 and in order to     
refrain from  acquiring money2 and to   
rid one's self of it in order to be in a
 position  to do good to people1 that   
is1 to bestow on them one's labor1 and  
not the  labor of another4              
,,chapter ,,xix4      ,i saw that money 
is the cause of suffering and vice among
 the people1  and that1 if ,i desired to
 help people1 the first thing that was  
required  of me was not to create those 
unfortunates whom ,i wished to assist4  
,i came to the conclusion that the man  
who does not love vice and the          
suffering of the people should not make 
use of money1 thus presenting an        
inducement to extortion from the poor1  
by forcing them to work for him2  and   
that1 in order not to make use of the   

toil of others1 he must demand  as      
little from others as possible1 and work
 as much as possible himself4  #ach     
,by dint of a long course of reasoning1 
,i came to this inevitable  conclusion1 
which was drawn thousands of years ago  
by the ,chinese in the  saying1 ,if     
there is one idle man1 there is another 
dying with hunger to  offset him4       
,then what are we to do8  ,john the     
,baptist gave the answer to this very   
question two thousand years ago4  ,and  
when the people asked him1 ,what  are we
 to do8 he said1 ,let him that hath two 
garments impart to him  that hath none1 
and let him that hath meat do the same4 
,what is the  meaning of giving away one
 garment out of two1 and half of one's  
food8  ,it  means giving to others every
 superfluity1 and thenceforth taking    
nothing  superfluous from people4       
,this expedient1 which furnishes such   
perfect satisfaction to the moral       
feelings1 kept my eyes fast bound1 and  
binds all our eyes2 and we do not  see  

it1 but gaze aside4    ,this is         
precisely like a personage on the stage1
 who had entered a long  time since1 and
 all the spectators see him1 and it is  
obvious that the  actors cannot help    
seeing him1 but the point on the stage  
lies in the  acting characters          
pretending not to see him1 and in       
suffering from his  absence4 #aci       
,thus we1 in our efforts to recover from
 our social diseases1 search in  all    
quarters1 governmental and              
anti-governmental1 and in scientific and
  in philanthropic superstitions2 and we
 do not see what is perfectly  visible  
to every eye4    ,for the man who really
 suffers from the sufferings of the     
people who  surround us1 there exists   
the very plainest1 simplest1 and easiest
 means2  the only possible one for the  
cure of the evil about us1 and for the  
acquisition of a consciousness of the   
legitimacy of his life2 the one  given  
by ,john the ,baptist1 and confirmed by 
,christ3 not to have more than  one     

garment1 and not to have money4  ,and   
not to have any money1 means1  not to   
employ the labor of others1 and hence1  
first of all1 to do with  our own hands 
every thing that we can possibly do4    
,this is so clear and simple6  ,but it  
is clear and simple when the            
requirements are simple4  ,i live in the
 country4  ,i lie on the oven1 and  ,i  
order my debtor1 my neighbor1 to chop   
wood and light my fire4  ,it is  very   
clear that ,i am lazy1 and that ,i tear 
my neighbor away from his  affairs1 and 
,i shall feel mortified1 and ,i shall   
find it tiresome to lie  still all the  
time2 and ,i shall go and split my wood 
for myself4    ,but the delusion of     
slavery of all descriptions lies so far 
back1 so much  of artificial exaction   
has sprung up upon it1 so many people1  
accustomed  in different degrees to     
these habits1 are interwoven with each  
other1  enervated people1 spoiled for   
generations1 and such complicated       
delusions  and justifications for their 

luxury and idleness have been devised by
  people1 that it is far from being so  
easy for a man who stands at the  summit
 of the ladder of idle people to        
understand his sin1 as it is for  the   
peasant who has made his neighbor build 
his fire4    ,it is terribly difficult  
for people at the top of this ladder to 
understand what is required of them4    
,their heads are turned by the  height  
of this ladder of lies1 upon which they 
find themselves when a  place on the    
ground is offered to them1 to which they
 must descend in  order to begin to     
live1 not yet well1 but no longer       
cruelly1 inhumanly2  for this reason1   
this clear and simple truth appears     
strange to these  people4  ,for the man 
with ten servants1 liveries1 coachmen1  
cooks1  pictures1 pianofortes1 that will
 infallibly appear strange1 and even    
ridiculous1 which is the simplest1 the  
first act of--,i will not say every     
good man--but of every man who is not   
wicked3 to cut his own wood with  which 

his food is cooked1 and with which he   
warms himself2 to himself  clean those  
boots with which he has heedlessly      
stepped in the mire2 to  himself fetch  
that water with which he preserves his  
cleanliness1 and to  carry out that     
dirty water in which he has washed      
himself4 #adj    ,but1 besides the      
remoteness of people from the truth1    
there is another  cause which prevents  
people from seeing the obligation for   
them of the  simplest and most natural  
personal1 physical labor for themselves3
 this  is the complication1 the         
inextricability of the conditions1 the  
advantage  of all the people who are    
bound together among themselves by      
money1 in  which the rich man lives3 ,my
 luxurious life feeds people4  ,what    
would  become of my old valet if ,i were
 to discharge him8  ,what6 we must all  
do  every thing necessary1--make our    
clothes and hew wood8 4 4 4  ,and how   
about the division of labor8    ,this   
morning ,i stepped out into the corridor

 where the fires were being  built4  ,a 
peasant was making a fire in the stove  
which warms my son's  room4  ,i went in2
 the latter was asleep4  ,it was eleven 
o'clock in the  morning4  ,to-day is a  
holiday3 there is some excuse1 there are
 no  lessons4    ,the smooth-skinned1   
eighteen-year-old youth1 with a beard1  
who had eaten  his fill on the preceding
 evening1 sleeps until eleven o'clock4  
,but the  peasant of his age had been up
 at dawn1 and had got through a quantity
 of  work1 and was attending to his     
tenth stove1 while the former slept4    
,the  peasant shall not make the fire in
 his stove to warm that smooth1 lazy    
body of his6 ,i thought4  ,but ,i       
immediately recollected that this stove 
also warmed the room of the housekeeper1
 a woman forty years of age1 who1  on   
the evening before1 had been making     
preparations up to three o'clock  in the
 morning for the supper which my son had
 eaten1 and that she had  cleared the   
table1 and risen at seven1 nevertheless4

  ,the peasant was  building the fire   
for her also4  ,and under her name the  
lazybones was  warming himself4    ,it  
is true that the interests of all are   
interwoven2 but1 even without  any      
prolonged reckoning1 the conscience of  
each man will say on whose  side lies   
labor1 and on whose idleness4  ,but     
although conscience says  this1 the     
account-book1 the cash-book1 says it    
still more clearly4  ,the  more money   
any one spends1 the more idle he is1    
that is to say1 the more  he makes      
others work for him4  ,the less he      
spends1 the more he works4  #adb  ,but  
trade1 but public undertakings1 and1    
finally1 the most  terrible of words1   
culture1 the development of sciences1   
and the  arts1--what of them8    ,if ,i 
live ,i will make answer to those       
points1 and in detail2 and until  such  
answer ,i will narrate the following4   
#adb        ,,chapter ,,xx4      ,,life 
,,in ,,the ,,city4      ,last year1 in  
,march1 ,i was returning home late at   

night4  ,as ,i turned  from the ,zubova 
into ,khamovnitchesky ,lane1 ,i saw some
 black spots on the  snow of the        
,dyevitchy ,pole 7field74  ,something   
was moving about in one  place4  ,i     
should not have paid any attention to   
this1 if the policeman  who was standing
 at the end of the street had not       
shouted in the  direction of the black  
spots1--    ,vasily6 why don't you bring
 her in8    ,she won't come6 answered a 
voice1 and then the spot moved towards  
the  policeman4    ,i halted and asked  
the police-officer1 ,what is it8    ,he 
said1--,they are taking a girl from the 
,rzhanoff house to the station-  house2 
and she is hanging back1 she won't walk4
  ,a house-porter in a  sheepskin coat  
was leading her4  ,she was walking      
forward1 and he was  pushing her from   
behind4  ,all of us1 ,i and the porter  
and the policeman1  were dressed in     
winter clothes1 but she had nothing on  
over her dress4  ,in  the darkness ,i   
could make out only her brown dress1 and

 the kerchiefs on  her head and neck4   
,she was short in stature1 as is often  
the case with  the prematurely born1    
with small feet1 and a comparatively    
broad and  awkward figure4    ,we're    
waiting for you1 you carrion4  ,get     
along1 what do you mean by it8  ,i'll   
give it to you6 shouted the policeman4  
,he was evidently tired1 and  he had had
 too much of her4  ,she advanced a few  
paces1 and again halted4    ,the little 
old porter1 a good-natured fellow 7,i   
know him71 tugged at her  hand4  ,here1 
,i'll teach you to stop6  ,on with you6 
he repeated1 as  though in anger4  ,she 
staggered1 and began to talk in a       
discordant voice4  ,at every sound there
 was a false note1 both hoarse and      
whining4    ,come now1 you're shoving   
again4  ,i'll get there some time6      
,she stopped and then went on4  ,i      
followed them4    ,you'll freeze1 said  
the porters    ,the likes of us don't   
freeze3 ,i'm hot4    ,she tried to jest1
 but her words sounded like scolding4   

,she halted again  under the lantern    
which stands not far from our house1 and
 leaned  against1 almost hung over1 the 
fence1 and began to fumble for something
  among her skirts1 with benumbed and   
awkward hands4  ,again they shouted at  
her1 but she muttered something and did 
something4  ,in one hand she held  a    
cigarette bent into a bow1 in the other 
a match4  ,i paused behind her2  ,i was 
ashamed to pass her1 and ,i was ashamed 
to stand and look on4  ,but ,i  made up 
my mind1 and stepped forward4  ,her     
shoulder was lying against the  fence1  
and against the fence it was that she   
vainly struck the match and  flung it   
away4  ,i looked in her face4  ,she was 
really a person  prematurely born2 but1 
as it seemed to me1 already an old      
woman4  ,i  credited her with thirty    
years4  ,a dirty hue of face2 small1    
dull1 tipsy  eyes2 a button-like nose2  
curved moist lips with drooping corners1
 and a  short wisp of harsh hair        
escaping from beneath her kerchief2 a   

long flat  figure1 stumpy hands and     
feet4  ,i paused opposite her4  ,she    
stared at me1  and burst into a laugh1  
as though she knew all that was going on
 in my  mind4    ,i felt that it was    
necessary to say something to her4  ,i  
wanted to show  her that ,i pitied her4 
,are your parents alive8 ,i inquired4   
,she laughed hoarsely1 with an          
expression which said1 he's making up   
queer things to ask4    ,my mother is1  
said she4  ,but what do you want8       
,and how old are you8    ,sixteen1 said 
she1 answering promptly to a question   
which was evidently  customary4         
,come1 march1 you'll freeze1 you'll     
perish entirely1 shouted the  policeman2
 and she swayed away from the fence1    
and1 staggering along1 she  went down   
,khamovnitchesky ,lane to the           
police-station2 and ,i turned to the    
wicket1 and entered the house1 and      
inquired whether my daughters had       
returned4  ,i was told that they had    
been to an evening party1 had had a     

very merry time1 had come home1 and were
 in bed4    ,next morning ,i wanted to  
go to the station-house to learn what   
had been  done with this unfortunate    
woman1 and ,i was preparing to go out   
very  early1 when there came to see me  
one of those unlucky noblemen1 who1     
through weakness1 have dropped from the 
gentlemanly life to which they  are     
accustomed1 and who alternately rise and
 fall4  ,i had been acquainted  with    
this man for three years4  ,in the      
course of those three years1 this  man  
had several times made way with every   
thing that he had1 and even  with all   
his clothes2 the same thing had just    
happened again1 and he was  passing the 
nights temporarily in the ,rzhanoff     
house1 in the  night-lodging section1   
and he had come to me for the day4  ,he 
met me as ,i  was going out1 at the     
entrance1 and without listening to me he
 began to  tell me what had taken place 
in the ,rzhanoff house the night before4
  ,he  began his narrative1 and did not 

half finish it2 all at once 7he is an   
old man who has seen men under all sorts
 of aspects7 he burst out  sobbing1 and 
flooded has countenance with tears1 and 
when he had become  silent1 turned has  
face to the wall4  ,this is what he told
 me4  ,every  thing that he related to  
me was absolutely true4  ,i             
authenticated his  story on the spot1   
and learned fresh particulars which ,i  
will relate  separately4    ,in that    
night-lodging house1 on the lower floor1
 in ,no4 #cb1 in which my  friend had   
spent the night1 among the various1     
ever-changing lodgers1 men  and women1  
who came together there for five kopeks1
 there was a  laundress1 a woman thirty 
years of age1 light-haired1 peaceable   
and  pretty1 but sickly4  ,the mistress 
of the quarters had a boatman lover4    
,in  the summer her lover kept a boat1  
and in the winter they lived by letting 
accommodations to night-lodgers3 three  
kopeks without a pillow1 five  kopeks   
with a pillow4    ,the laundress had    

lived there for several months1 and was 
a quiet woman2  but latterly they had   
not liked her1 because she coughed and  
prevented  the women from sleeping4  ,an
 old half-crazy woman eighty years old1 
in  particular1 also a regular lodger in
 these quarters1 hated the laundress1   
and imbittered the latter's life because
 she prevented her sleeping1 and        
cleared her throat all night like a     
sheep4  ,the laundress held her peace2  
she was in debt for her lodgings1 and   
was conscious of her guilt1 and         
therefore she was bound to be quiet4    
,she began to go more and more  rarely  
to her work1 as her strength failed her1
 and therefore she could  not pay her   
landlady2 and for the last week she had 
not been out to work  at all1 and had   
only poisoned the existence of every    
one1 especially of  the old woman1 who  
also did not go out1 with her cough4    
,four days before  this1 the landlady   
had given the laundress notice to leave 
the quarters3  the latter was already   

sixty kopeks in debt1 and she neither   
paid them1  nor did the landlady foresee
 any possibility of getting them2 and   
all the  bunks were occupied1 and the   
women all complained of the laundress's 
cough4    ,when the landlady gave the   
laundress notice1 and told her that she 
must  leave the lodgings if she did not 
pay up1 the old woman rejoiced and      
thrust the laundress out of doors4  ,the
 laundress departed1 but returned  in an
 hour1 and the landlady had not the     
heart to put her out again4  ,and  the  
second and the third day1 she did not   
turn her out4  ,where am ,i to  go8 said
 the laundress4  ,but on the third day1 
the landlady's lover1 a  ,moscow man1   
who knew the regulations and how to     
manage1 sent for the  police4  ,a       
policeman with sword and pistol on a red
 cord came to the  lodgings1 and with   
courteous words he led the laundress    
into the street4    ,it was a clear1    
sunny1 but freezing ,march day4  ,the   
gutters were flowing1  the house-porters

 were picking at the ice4  ,the cabman's
 sleigh jolted  over the icy snow1 and  
screeched over the stones4  ,the        
laundress walked  up the street on the  
sunny side1 went to the church1 and     
seated herself  at the entrance1 still  
on the sunny side4  ,but when the sun   
began to sink  behind the houses1 the   
puddles began to be skimmed over with a 
glass of  frost1 and the laundress grew 
cold and wretched4  ,she rose1 and      
dragged  herself 4 4 4 whither8  ,home1 
to the only home where she had lived so 
long4  ,while she was on her way1       
resting at times1 dusk descended4  ,she 
approached the gates1 turned in1        
slipped1 groaned and fell4    ,one man  
came up1 and then another4  ,she must be
 drunk4  ,another man  came up1 and     
stumbled over the laundress1 and said to
 the potter3 ,what  drunken woman is    
this wallowing at your gate8  ,i came   
near breaking my  head over her2 take   
her away1 won't you8    ,the porter     
came4  ,the laundress was dead4  ,this  

is what my friend told  me4  ,it may be 
thought that ,i have wilfully mixed up  
facts1--,i encounter  a prostitute of   
fifteen1 and the story of this          
laundress4  ,but let no one  imagine    
this2 it is exactly what happened in the
 course of one night  7only ,i do not   
remember which7 in ,march1 #ahhd4  ,and 
so1 after hearing my  friend's tale1 ,i 
went to the station-house1 with the     
intention of  proceeding thence to the  
,rzhanoff house to inquire more minutely
 into the  history of the laundress4    
,the weather was very beautiful and     
sunny2 and  again1 through the stars of 
the night-frost1 water was to be seen   
trickling in the shade1 and in the glare
 of the sun on ,khamovnitchesky  square 
every thing was melting1 and the water  
was streaming4  ,the river  emitted a   
humming noise4  ,the trees of the       
,neskutchny garden looked blue  across  
the river2 the reddish-brown sparrows1  
invisible in winter1  attracted         
attention by their sprightliness2 people

 also seemed desirous  of being merry1  
but all of them had too many cares4     
,the sound of the  bells was audible1   
and at the foundation of these mingling 
sounds1 the  sounds of shots could be   
heard from the barracks1 the whistle of 
rifle-  balls and their crack against   
the target4    ,i entered the           
station-house4  ,in the station some    
armed policemen  conducted me to their  
chief4  ,he was similarly armed with    
sword and  pistol1 and he was engaged in
 taking some measures with regard to a  
tattered1 trembling old man1 who was    
standing before him1 and who could  not 
answer the questions put to him1 on     
account of his feebleness4  ,having     
finished his business with the old man1 
he turned to me4  ,i inquired  about the
 girl of the night before4  ,at first he
 listened to me  attentively1 but       
afterwards he began to smile1 at my     
ignorance of the  regulations1 in       
consequence of which she had been taken 
to the station-  house2 and particularly

 at my surprise at her youth4    ,why1  
there are plenty of them of twelve1     
thirteen1 or fourteen years of  age1 he 
said cheerfully4    ,but in answer to my
 question about the girl whom ,i had    
seen on the  preceding evening1 he      
explained to me that she must have been 
sent to the  committee 7so it appeared74
  ,to my question where she had passed  
the  night1 he replied in an undecided  
manner4  ,he did not recall the one to  
whom ,i referred4  ,there were so many  
of them every day4    ,in ,no4 #cb of   
the ,rzhanoff house ,i found the        
sacristan already reading  prayers over 
the dead woman4  ,they had taken her to 
the bunk which she  had formerly        
occupied2 and the lodgers1 all miserable
 beings1 had  collected money for the   
masses for her soul1 a coffin and a     
shroud1 and  the old women had dressed  
her and laid her out4  ,the sacristan   
was  reading something in the gloom2 a  
woman in a long wadded cloak was        
standing there with a wax candle2 and a 

man 7a gentleman1 ,i must state7  in a  
clean coat with a lamb's-skin collar1   
polished overshoes1 and a  starched     
shirt1 was holding one like it4  ,this  
was her brother4  ,they had  hunted him 
up4    ,i went past the dead woman to   
the landlady's nook1 and questioned her 
about the whole business4    ,she was   
alarmed at my queries2 she was evidently
 afraid that she would be  blamed for   
something2 but afterwards she began to  
talk freely1 and told  me every thing4  
,as ,i passed back1 ,i glanced at the   
dead woman4  ,all dead  people are      
handsome1 but this dead woman was       
particularly beautiful and  touching in 
her coffin2 her pure1 pale face1 with   
closed swollen eyes1  sunken cheeks1 and
 soft reddish hair above the lofty      
brow1--a weary and  kind and not a sad  
but a surprised face4  ,and in fact1 if 
the living do  not see1 the dead are    
surprised4    ,on the same day that ,i  
wrote the above1 there was a great ball 
in ,moscow4    ,that night ,i left the  

house at nine o'clock4  ,i live in a    
locality which  is surrounded by        
factories1 and ,i left the house after  
the  factory-whistles had sounded1      
releasing the people for a day of       
freedom  after a week of unremitting    
toil4    ,factory-hands overtook me1 and
 ,i overtook others of them1 directing  
their  steps to the drinking-shops and  
taverns4  ,many were already            
intoxicated1  many were women4  ,every  
morning at five o'clock we can hear one 
whistle1  a second1 a third1 a tenth1   
and so forth1 and so forth4  ,that means
 that  the toil of women1 children1 and 
of old men has begun4  ,at eight o'clock
  another whistle1 which signifies a    
breathing-spell of half an hour4  ,at   
twelve1 a third3 this means an hour for 
dinner4  ,and a fourth at eight1  which 
denotes the end of the day4    ,by an   
odd coincidence1 all three of the       
factories which are situated near  me   
produce only articles which are in      
demand for balls4    ,in one factory1   

the nearest1 only stockings are made2 in
 another  opposite1 silken fabrics2 in  
the third1 perfumes and pomades4    ,it 
is possible to listen to these whistles1
 and connect no other idea  with them   
than as denoting the time3 ,there's the 
whistle already1 it is  time to go to   
walk4  ,but one can also connect with   
those whistles that  which they signify 
in reality2 that first whistle1 at five 
o'clock1 means  that people1 often all  
without exception1 both men and women1  
sleeping in  a damp cellar1 must rise1  
and hasten to that building buzzing with
  machines1 and must take their places  
at their work1 whose end and use for    
themselves they do not see1 and thus    
toil1 often in heat and a stifling      
atmosphere1 in the midst of dirt1 and   
with the very briefest breathing-       
spells1 an hour1 two hours1 three hours1
 twelve1 and even more hours in         
succession4  ,they fall into a doze1 and
 again they rise4  ,and this1 for  them1
 senseless work1 to which they are      

driven only by necessity1 is  continued 
over and over again4    ,and thus one   
week succeeds another with the breaks of
 holidays2 and ,i see  these work-people
 released on one of these holidays4     
,they emerge into  the street4          
,everywhere there are drinking-shops1   
taverns1 and loose  girls4  ,and they1  
in their drunken state1 drag by the hand
 each other1  and girls like the one    
whom ,i saw taken to the station-house2 
they drag  with them cabmen1 and they   
ride and they walk from one tavern to   
another2  and they curse and stagger1   
and say they themselves know not what4  
,i had  previously seen such unsteady   
gait on the part of factory-hands1 and  
had  turned aside in disgust1 and had   
been on the point of rebuking them2 but 
ever since ,i have been in the habit of 
hearing those whistles every day1  and  
understand their meaning1 ,i am only    
amazed that they1 all the men1 do  not  
come to the condition of the golden     
squad1 of which ,moscow is full1  #aeb;a

 and the women to the state of the one  
whom ,i had seen near my  house4 #aeb;b 
,thus ,i walked along1 and scrutinized  
these factory-hands1 as long as they    
roamed the streets1 which was until     
eleven o'clock4  ,then their movements  
began to calm down4  ,some drunken men  
remained here and there1 and here  and  
there ,i encountered men who were being 
taken to the station-house4  ,and then  
carriages began to make their appearance
 on all sides1 directing  their course  
toward one point4    ,on the box sits a 
coachman1 sometimes in a sheepskin coat2
 and a footman1  a dandy1 with a        
cockade4  ,well-fed horses in           
saddle-cloths fly through  the frost at 
the rate of twenty versts an hour2 in   
the carriages sit  ladies muffled in    
round cloaks1 and carefully tending     
their flowers and  head-dresses4  ,every
 thing from the horse-trappings1 the    
carriages1 the  gutta-percha wheels1 the
 cloth of the coachman's coat1 to the   
stockings1  shoes1 flowers1 velvet1     

gloves1 and perfumes1--every thing is   
made by  those people1 some of whom     
often roll drunk into their dens or     
sleeping-  rooms1 and some stay with    
disreputable women in the night-lodging 
houses1  while still others are put in  
jail4  ,thus past them in all their     
work1  and over them all1 ride the      
frequenters of balls2 and it never      
enters  their heads1 that there is any  
connection between these balls to which 
they make ready to go1 and these        
drunkards at whom their coachman shouts 
so roughly4    ,these people enjoy      
themselves at the ball with the utmost  
composure of  spirit1 and assurance that
 they are doing nothing wrong1 but      
something  very good4  ,enjoy           
themselves6  ,enjoy themselves from     
eleven o'clock until  six in the        
morning1 in the very dead of night1 at  
the very hour when  people are tossing  
and turning with empty stomachs in the  
night-lodging  houses1 and while some   
are dying1 as did the laundress4        

,their enjoyment consists in this1--that
 the women and young girls1 having      
bared their necks and arms1 and applied 
bustles behind1 place themselves  in a  
situation in which no uncorrupted woman 
or maiden would care to  display herself
 to a man1 on any consideration in the  
world2 and in this  half-naked          
condition1 with their uncovered bosoms  
exposed to view1 with  arms bare to the 
shoulder1 with a bustle behind and      
tightly swathed hips1  under the most   
brilliant light1 women and maidens1     
whose chief virtue has  always been     
modesty1 exhibit themselves in the midst
 of strange men1 who  are also clad in  
improperly tight-fitting garments2 and  
to the sound of  maddening music1 they  
embrace and whirl4  ,old women1 often as
 naked as  the young ones1 sit and look 
on1 and eat and drink savory things2 old
 men  do the same4  ,it is not to be    
wondered at that this should take place 
at  night1 when all the common people   
are asleep1 so that no one may see      

them4  ,but this is not done with the   
object of concealment3 it seems to  them
 that there is nothing to conceal2 that 
it is a very good thing2 that  by this  
merry-making1 in which the labor of     
thousands of toiling people  is         
destroyed1 they not only do not injure  
any one1 but that by this very  act they
 furnish the poor with the means of     
subsistence4  ,possibly it is  very     
merry at balls4  ,but how does this come
 about8  ,when we see that  there is a  
man in the community1 in our midst1 who 
has had no food1 or  who is freezing1 we
 regret our mirth1 and we cannot be     
cheerful until he  is fed and warmed1   
not to mention the impossibility of     
imagining people  who can indulge in    
such mirth as causes suffering to       
others4  ,the mirth  of wicked little   
boys1 who pitch a dog's tail in a split 
stick1 and make  merry over it1 is      
repulsive and incomprehensible to us4   
,in the same manner here1 in these      
diversions of ours1 blindness has       

fallen upon us1 and we do not see the   
split stick with which we have  pitched 
all those people who suffer for our     
amusement4    ,we live as though there  
were no connection between the dying    
laundress1  the prostitute of fourteen1 
and our own life2 and yet the connection
  between them strikes us in the face4  
,we may say3 ,but we personally have not
 pinched any tail in a stick2 but  we   
have no right1 to deny that had the tail
 not been pitched1 our merry-  making   
would not have taken place4  ,we do not 
see what connection exists  between the 
laundress and our luxury2 but that is   
not because no such  connection does    
exist1 but because we have placed a     
screen in front of  us1 so that we may  
not see4    ,if there were no screen1 we
 should see that which it is impossible 
not to  see4 #aed    ,surely all the    
women who attended that ball in dresses 
worth a hundred  and fifty rubles each  
were born not in a ballroom1 or at      
,madame  ,minanguoit's2 but they have   

lived in the country1 and have seen the 
peasants2 they know their own nurse and 
maid1 whose father and brother  are     
poor1 for whom the earning of a hundred 
and fifty rubles for a  cottage is the  
object of a long1 laborious life4  ,each
 woman knows this4  ,how could she enjoy
 herself1 when she knew that she wore on
 her bared  body at that ball the       
cottage which is the dream of her good  
maid's  father and brother8  ,but let us
 suppose that she could not make this   
reflection2 but since velvet and silk   
and flowers and lace and dresses do  not
 grow of themselves1 but are made by    
people1 it would seem that she  could   
not help knowing what sort of people    
make all these things1 and  under what  
conditions1 and why they do it4  ,she   
cannot fail to know that  the           
seamstress1 with whom she has already   
quarrelled1 did not make her  dress in  
the least out of love for her2          
therefore1 she cannot help  knowing that
 all these things were made for her as a

 matter of necessity1  that her laces1  
flowers1 and velvet have been made in   
the same way as her  dress4    ,but     
possibly they are in such darkness that 
they do not consider this4  ,one thing  
she cannot fail to know1--that five or  
six elderly and  respectable1 often     
sick1 lackeys and maids have had no     
sleep1 and have  been put to trouble on 
her account4  ,she has seen their weary1
 gloomy  faces4  ,she could not help    
knowing this also1 that the cold that   
night  reached twenty-eight degrees     
below zero1 #aee and that the old       
coachman  sat all night long in that    
temperature on his box4  ,but ,i know   
that they  really do not see this4  ,and
 if they1 these young women and girls1  
do not  see this1 on account of the     
hypnotic state superinduced in them by  
balls1  it is impossible to condemn     
them4  ,they1 poor things1 have done    
what is  considered right by their      
elders2 but how are their elders to     
explain  away this their cruelty to the 

people8    ,the elders always offer the 
explanation3 ,i compel no one4  ,i      
purchase my  things2 ,i hire my men1 my 
maid-servants1 and my coachman4  ,there 
is  nothing wrong in buying and hiring4 
,i force no one's inclination3 ,i  hire1
 and what harm is there in that8    ,i  
recently went to see an acquaintance4   
,as ,i passed through one of the  rooms1
 ,i was surprised to see two women      
seated at a table1 as ,i knew that  my  
friend was a bachelor4  ,a thin1 yellow1
 old-fashioned woman1 thirty  years of  
age1 in a dress that had been carelessly
 thrown on1 was doing  something with   
her hands and fingers on the table1 with
 great speed1  trembling nervously the  
while1 as though in a fit4  ,opposite   
her sat a  young girl1 who was also     
engaged in something1 and who trembled  
in the  same manner4  ,both women       
appeared to be afflicted with ,st4      
,vitus' dance4  ,i stepped nearer to    
them1 and looked to see what they were  
doing4  ,they  raised their eyes to me1 

but went on with their work with the    
same  intentness4  ,in front of them lay
 scattered tobacco and paper cases4     
,they  were making cigarettes4  ,the    
woman rubbed the tobacco between her    
hands1  pushed it into the machine1     
slipped on the cover1 thrust the tobacco
  through1 then tossed it to the girl4  
,the girl twisted the paper1 and1       
making it fast1 threw it aside1 and took
 up another4  ,all thus was done  with  
such swiftness1 with such intentness1 as
 it is impossible to  describe to a man 
who has never seen it done4  ,i         
expressed my surprise at  their         
quickness4    ,i have been doing nothing
 else for fourteen years1 said the      
woman4    ,is it hard8    ,yes3 it pains
 my chest1 and makes my breathing hard4 
,it was not necessary for her to add    
this1 however4  ,a look at the girl     
sufficed4  ,she had worked at this for  
three years1 but any one who had  not   
seen her at this occupation would have  
said that here was a strong  organism   

which was beginning to break down4      
,my friend1 a kind and liberal man1     
hires these women to fill his           
cigarettes at two rubles fifty kopeks   
the thousand4  ,he has money1 and he    
spends it for work4  ,what harm is there
 in that8  ,my friend rises at  twelve  
o'clock4  ,he passes the evening1 from  
six until two1 at cards1 or  at the     
piano4  ,he eats and drinks savory      
things2 others do all his work  for him4
  ,he has devised a new source of       
pleasure1--smoking4  ,he has  taken up  
smoking within my memory4    ,here is a 
woman1 and here is a girl1 who can      
barely support themselves by  turning   
themselves into machines1 and they pass 
their whole lives  inhaling tobacco1 and
 thereby running their health4  ,he has 
money which  he never earned1 and he    
prefers to play at whist to making his  
own  cigarettes4  ,he gives these women 
money on condition that they shall      
continue to live in the same wretched   
manner in which they are now  living1   

that is to say1 by making his           
cigarettes4    ,i love cleanliness1 and 
,i give money only on the condition that
 the  laundress shall wash the shirt    
which ,i change twice a day2 and that   
shirt  has destroyed the laundress's    
last remaining strength1 and she has    
died4  ,what is there wrong about that8 
,people who buy and hire will continue  
to  force other people to make velvet   
and confections1 and will purchase      
them1 without me2 and no matter what ,i 
may do1 they will hire cigarettes  made 
and shirts washed4  ,then why should ,i 
deprive myself of velvet and            
confections and cigarettes and clean    
shirts1 if things are definitively      
settled thus8  ,this is the argument    
which ,i often1 almost always1 hear4    
,this is the very argument which makes  
the mob which is destroying  something1 
lose its senses4  ,this is the very     
argument by which dogs are  guided when 
one of them has flung himself on another
 dog1 and overthrown  him1 and the rest 

of the pack rush up also1 and tear their
 comrade in  pieces4  ,other people have
 begun it1 and have wrought mischief2   
then why  should not ,i take advantage  
of it8  ,well1 what will happen if ,i   
wear a  soiled shirt1 and make my own   
cigarettes8  ,will that make it easier  
for  anybody else8 ask people who would 
like to justify their course4  ,if it   
were not so far from the truth1 it would
 be a shame to answer such a  question1 
but we have become so entangled that    
this question seems very  natural to us2
 and hence1 although it is a shame1 it  
is necessary to  reply to it4    ,what  
difference will it make if ,i wear one  
shirt a week1 and make may own          
cigarettes1 or do not smoke at all8     
,this difference1 that some laundress   
and some cigarette-maker will exert     
their strength less1 and that what ,i   
have spent for washing and for the      
making of cigarettes ,i can give to     
that very laundress1 or even to other   
laundresses and toilers who are  worn   

out with their labor1 and who1 instead  
of laboring beyond their  strength1 will
 then be able to rest1 and drink tea4   
,but to this ,i hear  an objection4     
7,it is so mortifying to rich and       
luxurious people to  understand their   
position47  ,to this they say3 ,if ,i go
 about in a dirty  shirt1 and give up   
smoking1 and hand over this money to the
 poor1 the  poor will still be deprived 
of every thing1 and that drop in the sea
 of  yours will help not at all4        
,such an objection it is a shame to     
answer4  ,it is such a common retort4   
#aeh    ,if ,i had gone among savages1  
and they had regaled me with cutlets    
which  struck me as savory1 and if ,i   
should learn on the following day that  
these savory cutlets had been made from 
a prisoner whom they had slain  for the 
sake of the savory cutlets1 if ,i do not
 admit that it is a good  thing to eat  
men1 then1 no matter how dainty the     
cutlets1 no matter how  universal the   
practice of eating men may be among my  

fellows1 however  insignificant the     
advantage to prisoners1 prepared for    
consumption1 may  be my refusal to eat  
of the cutlets1 ,i will not and ,i can  
not eat any  more of them4  ,i may1     
possibly1 eat human flesh1 when hunger  
compels me  to it2 but ,i will not make 
a feast1 and ,i will not take part in   
feasts1  of human flesh1 and ,i will not
 seek out such feasts1 and pride myself 
on  my share in them4      ,,life ,,in  
,,the ,,country4      ,but what is to be
 done8  ,surely it is not we who have   
done this8  ,and if  not we1 who then8  
,we say3 ,we have not done this1 this   
has done itself2 as the children  say1  
when they break any thing1 that it broke
 itself4  ,we say1 that1 so  long as    
there is a city already in existence1   
we1 by living in it1  support the       
people1 by purchasing their labor and   
services4  ,but this is  not so4  ,and  
this is why4  ,we only need to look     
ourselves1 at the way we  have in the   
country1 and at the manner in which we  

support people there4    ,the winter    
passes in town4  ,easter ,week passes4  
,on the boulevards1 in  the gardens in  
the parks1 on the river1 there is music4
  ,there are  theatres1 water-trips1    
walks1 all sorts of illuminations and   
fireworks4  ,but in the country there is
 something even better1--there are      
better air1  trees and meadows1 and the 
flowers are fresher4  ,one should go    
thither  where all these things have    
unfolded and blossomed forth4  ,and the 
majority of wealthy people do go to the 
country to breathe the superior  air1 to
 survey these superior forests and      
meadows4  ,and there the wealthy  settle
 down in the country1 and the gray      
peasants1 who nourish themselves  on    
bread and onions1 who toil eighteen     
hours a day1 who get no sound  sleep by 
night1 and who are clad in blouses4     
,here no one has led these  people      
astray4  ,there have been no factories  
nor industrial  establishments1 and     
there are none of those idle hands1 of  

which there  are so many in the city4   
,here the whole population never        
succeeds1 all  summer long1 in          
completing all their tasks in season2   
and not only are  there no idle hands1  
but a vast quantity of property is      
ruined for the  lack of hands1 and a    
throng of people1 children1 old men1 and
 women1 will  perish through            
overstraining their powers in work which
 is beyond their  strength4  ,how do the
 rich order their lives there8  ,in this
 fashion3--    ,if there is an          
old-fashioned house1 built under the    
serf regime1 that  house is repaired and
 embellished2 if there is none1 then a  
new one is  erected1 of two or three    
stories4  ,the rooms1 of which there are
 from  twelve to twenty1 and even more1 
are all six arshins in height4 #afa;a   
,wood floors are laid down4  ,the       
windows consist of one sheet of glass4  
,there are rich rugs and costly         
furniture4  ,the roads around the house 
are  macadamized1 the ground is         

levelled1 flower-beds are laid out1     
croquet-  grounds are prepared1         
swinging-rings for gymnastics are       
erected1  reflecting globes1 often      
orangeries1 and hotbeds1 and lofty      
stables  always with complicated        
scroll-work on the gables and ridges4   
,and here1 in the country1 an honest    
educated official1 or noble family      
dwells4  ,all the members of the family 
and their guests have assembled in  the 
middle of ,june1 because up to ,june1   
that is to say1 up to the  beginning of 
mowing-time1 they have been studying and
 undergoing  examinations2 and they live
 there until ,september1 that is to say1
 until  harvest and sowing-time4  ,the  
members of this family 7as is the case  
with  nearly every one in that circle7  
have lived in the country from the      
beginning of the press of work1 the     
suffering time1 not until the end of    
the season of toil 7for in ,september   
sowing is still in progress1 as well  as
 the digging of potatoes71 but until the

 strain of work has relaxed a  little4  
,during the whole of their residence in 
the country1 all around  them and beside
 them1 that summer toil of the peasantry
 has been going  on1 of whose fatigues1 
no matter how much we may have heard1 no
 matter  how much we may have heard     
about it1 no matter how much we may have
 gazed  upon it1 we can form no idea1   
unless we have had personal experience  
of  it4  ,and the members of this       
family1 about ten in number1 live       
exactly as  they do in the city4    ,at 
,st4 ,peter's ,day1 #afa;b a strict     
fast1 when the people's food consists   
of kvas1 bread1 and onions1 the mowing  
begins4    ,the business which is       
effected in mowing is one of the most   
important in  the commune4  ,nearly     
every year1 through the lack of hands   
and time1 the  hay crop may be lost by  
rain2 and more or less strain of toil   
decides the  question1 as to whether    
twenty or more per cent of hay is to be 
added to  the wealth of the people1 or  

whether it is to rot or die where it    
stands4  ,and additional hay means      
additional meat for the old1 and        
additional milk  for the children4      
,thus1 in general and in particular1 the
 question of  bread for each one of the 
mowers1 and of milk for himself and his 
children1 in the ensuing winter1 is then
 decided4  ,every one of the  toilers1  
both male and female1 knows this2 even  
the children know that  this is an      
important matter1 and that it is        
necessary to strain every  nerve to     
carry the jug of kvas to their father in
 the meadow at his  mowing1 and1        
shifting the heavy pitcher from hand to 
hand1 to run  barefooted as rapidly as  
possible1 two versts from the village1  
in order  to get there in season for    
dinner1 and so that their fathers may   
not  scold them4    ,every one knows1   
that1 from the mowing season until the  
hay is got in1  there will be no break  
in the work1 and that there will be no  
time to  breathe4  ,and there is not the

 mowing alone4  ,every one of them has  
other  affairs to attend to besides the 
mowing3 the ground must be turned up and
  harrowed2 and the women have linen and
 bread and washing to attend to2  and   
the peasants have to go to the mill1 and
 to town1 and there are  communal       
matters to attend to1 and legal matters 
before the judge and the  commissary of 
police2 and the wagons to see to1 and   
the horses to feed at  night3 and all1  
old and young1 and sickly1 labor to the 
last extent of  their powers4  ,the     
peasants toil so1 that on every         
occasion1 the mowers1  before the end of
 the third stint1 whether weak1 young1  
or old1 can  hardly walk as they totter 
past the last rows1 and only with       
difficulty  are they able to rise after 
the breathing-spell2 and the women1     
often  pregnant1 or nursing infants1    
work in the same way4  ,the toil is     
intense  and incessant4  ,all work to   
the extreme bounds of their strength1   
and  expend in this toil1 not only the  

entire stock of their scanty            
nourishment1 but all their previous     
stock4  ,all of them--and they are not  
fat to begin with--grow gaunt after the 
suffering season4    ,here a little     
association is working at the mowing2   
three peasants1--one  an old man1 the   
second his nephew1 a young married man1 
and a shoemaker1  a thin1 sinewy man4   
,this hay-harvest will decide the fate  
of all of them  for the winter4  ,they  
have been laboring incessantly for two  
weeks1  without rest4  ,the rain has    
delayed their work4  ,after the rain1   
when the  hay has dried1 they have      
decided to stack it1 and1 in order to   
accomplish  this as speedily as         
possible1 that two women for each of    
them shall  follow their scythes4  ,on  
the part of the old man go his wife1 a  
woman of  fifty1 who has become unfit   
for work1 having borne eleven children1 
who  is deaf1 but still a tolerably     
stout worker2 and a thirteen-year-old   
daughter1 who is short of stature1 but a

 strong and clever girl4  ,on the  part 
of his nephew go his wife1 a woman as   
strong and well-grown as a  sturdy      
peasant1 and his daughter-in-law1 a     
soldier's wife1 who is about  to become 
a mother4  ,on the part of the shoemaker
 go his wife1 a stout  laborer1 and her 
aged mother1 who has reached her        
eightieth year1 and who  generally goes 
begging4  ,they all stand in line1 and  
labor from morning  till night1 in the  
full fervor of the ,june sun4  ,it is   
steaming hot1 and  rain threatens4      
,every hour of work is precious4  ,it is
 a pity to tear  one's self from work to
 fetch water or kvas4  ,a tiny boy1 the 
old woman's  grandson1 brings them      
water4  ,the old woman1 evidently only  
anxious lest  she shall be driven away  
from her work1 will not let the rake out
 of her  hand1 though it is evident that
 she can barely move1 and only with     
difficulty4  ,the little boy1 all bent  
over1 and stepping gently1 with his     
tiny bare feet1 drags along a jug of    

water1 shifting it from hand to  hand1  
for it is heavier than he4  ,the young  
girl flings over her shoulder  a load of
 hay which is also heavier than herself1
 advances a few steps1  halts1 and drops
 it1 without the strength to carry it4  
,the old woman of  fifty rakes away     
without stopping1 and with her kerchief 
awry she drags  the hay1 breathing      
heavily and tottering4  ,the old woman  
of eighty only  rakes the hay1 but even 
this is beyond her strength2 she slowly 
drags  along her feet1 shod with bast   
shoes1 and1 frowning1 she gazes gloomily
  before her1 like a seriously ill or   
dying person4  ,the old man has         
intentionally sent her farther away than
 the rest1 to rake near the cocks  of   
hay1 so that she may not keep in line   
with the others2 but she does  not fall 
in with this arrangement1 and she toils 
on as long as the others  do1 with the  
same death-like1 gloomy countenance4    
,the sun is already  setting behind the 
forest2 but the cocks are not yet all   

heaped together1  and much still remains
 to do4  ,all feel that it is time to   
stop1 but no  one speaks1 waiting until 
the others shall say it4  ,finally the  
shoemaker1 conscious that his strength  
is exhausted1 proposes to the old  man1 
to leave the cocks until the morrow2 and
 the old man consents1 and  the women   
instantly run for the garments1 jugs1   
pitchforks2 and the old  woman          
immediately sits down just where she has
 been standings and then  lies back with
 the same death-like look1 staring      
straight in front of  her4  ,but the    
women are going2 and she rises with a   
groan1 and drags  herself after them4   
,and this will go on in ,july also1 when
 the peasants1  without obtaining       
sufficient sleep1 reap the oats by      
night1 lest it  should fall1 and the    
women rise gloomily to thresh out the   
straw for the  bands to tie the sheaves2
 when this old woman1 already utterly   
cramped by  the labor of mowing1 and the
 woman with child1 and the young        

children1  injure themselves overworking
 and over-drinking2 and when neither    
hands1  nor horses1 nor carts will      
suffice to bring to the ricks that grain
 with  which all men are nourished1 and 
millions of poods #afe of which are     
daily required in ,russia to keep people
 from perishing4    ,and we live as     
though there were no connection between 
the dying  laundress1 the prostitute of 
fourteen years1 the toilsome manufacture
 of  cigarettes by women1 the strained1 
intolerable1 insufficiently fed toil  of
 old women and children around us2 we   
live as though there were no  connection
 between this and our own lives4    ,it 
seems to us1 that suffering stands apart
 by itself1 and our life apart  by      
itself4  ,we read the description of the
 life of the ,romans1 and we  marvel at 
the inhumanity of those soulless        
,luculli1 who satiated  themselves on   
viands and wines while the populace were
 dying with hunger4  ,we shake our      
heads1 and we marvel at the savagery of 

our grandfathers1  who were serf-owners1
 supporters of household orchestras and 
theatres1  and of whole villages devoted
 to the care of their gardens2 and we   
wonder1 from the heights of our         
grandeur1 at their inhumanity4  ,we read
  the words of ,isa4 v4 #h3 ,woe unto   
them that join house to house1 that lay 
field to field1 till there be no place1 
that they may be placed alone in  the   
midst of the earth6  7#aa47 ,woe unto   
them that rise up early in the  morning1
 that they may follow strong drink2 that
 continue until night1  till wine       
inflame them6  7#ab47 ,and the harp and 
the viol1 and tabret and  pipe1 and wine
 are in their feasts2 but they regard   
not the work of the  ,lord1 neither     
consider the operation of his hands4    
7#ah47 ,woe unto them  that draw        
iniquity with cords of vanity1 and sin  
as it were with a cart-  rope4  7#bj47  
,woe unto then that call evil good1 and 
good evil2 that put  darkness for light1
 and light for darkness2 that put bitter

 for sweet1  and sweet for bitter6      
7#ba47 ,woe unto them that are wise in  
their own  eyes1 and prudent in their   
own sight--7#bb47 ,woe unto them that   
are mighty  to drink wine1 and men of   
strength to mingle strong drink4    ,we 
read these words1 and it seems to us    
that this has no reference to us4  ,we  
read in the ,gospels 7,matt4 iii4 #aj73 
,and now also the axe is laid  unto the 
root of the trees3 therefore every tree 
which bringeth not forth  good fruit is 
hewn down and cast into the fire4       
,and we are fully convinced that the    
good tree which bringeth forth good     
fruit is ourselves2 and that these words
 are not spoken to us1 but to  some     
other and wicked people4    ,we read the
 words of ,isa4 vi4 #aj3 ,make the heart
 of this people fat1 and  make their    
ears heavy1 and shut their eyes2 lest   
they see with their  eyes1 and hear with
 their ears1 and understand with their  
heart1 and  convert and be healed4      
7#aa47 ,then said ,i3 ,lord1 how long8  

,and he  answered1 ,until the cities be 
wasted without inhabitant1 and the      
houses  without man1 and the land be    
utterly desolate4    ,we read1 and are  
fully convinced that this marvellous    
deed is not  performed on us1 but on    
some other people4  ,and because we see 
nothing it  is1 that this marvellous    
deed is performed1 and has been         
performed1 on  us4  ,we hear not1 we see
 not1 and we understand not with our    
heart4  ,how  has this happened8        
,whether that ,god1 or that natural law 
by virtue of which men exist in the     
world1 has acted well or ill1 yet the   
position of men in the world1 ever      
since we have known it1 has been such1  
that naked people1 without any  hair on 
their bodies1 without lairs in which    
they could shelter  themselves1 without 
food which they could find in the       
fields1--like  ,robinson #afg on his    
island1--have all been reduced to the   
necessity of  constantly and unweariedly
 contending with nature in order to     

cover their  bodies1 to make themselves 
clothing1 to construct a roof over their
  heads1 and to earn their bread1 that  
two or three times a day they may       
satisfy their hunger and the hunger of  
their helpless children and of  their   
old people who cannot work4             
,wherever1 at whatever time1 in whatever
 numbers we may have observed  people1  
whether in ,europe1 in ,america1 in     
,china1 or in ,russia1 whether we       
regard all humanity1 or any small       
portion of it1 in ancient times1 in a   
nomad state1 or in our own times1 with  
steam-engines and sewing-machines1      
perfected agriculture1 and electric     
lighting1 we behold always one and  the 
same thing1--that man1 toiling intensely
 and incessantly1 is not able  to earn  
for himself and his little ones and his 
old people clothing1  shelter1 and food2
 and that a considerable portion of     
mankind1 as in  former times1 so at the 
present day1 perish through             
insufficiency of the  necessaries of    

life1 and intolerable toil in the effort
 to obtain them4    ,wherever we have1  
if we draw a circle round us of a       
hundred thousand1 a  thousand1 or ten   
versts1 or of one verst1 and examine    
into the lives of  the people           
comprehended within the limits of our   
circle1 we shall see  within that circle
 prematurely-born children1 old men1 old
 women1 women  in labor1 sick and weak  
persons1 who toil beyond their strength1
 and who  have not sufficient food and  
rest for life1 and who therefore die    
before  their time4  ,we shall see      
people in the flower of their age       
actually  slain by dangerous and        
injurious work4    ,we see that people  
have been struggling1 ever since the    
world has  endured1 with fearful effort1
 privation1 and suffering1 against this 
universal want1 and that they cannot    
overcome it 4 4 4 #afh          ,,on    
,,the ,,significance ,,of ,,science     
,,and ,,art4      ,,chapter ,i4      4 4
 4 #afi ,the justification of all       

persons who have freed themselves  from 
toil is now founded on experimental1    
positive science4  ,the  scientific     
theory is as follows3--    ,for the     
study of the laws of life of human      
societies1 there exists but  one        
indubitable method1--the positive1      
experimental1 critical method    ,only  
sociology1 founded on biology1 founded  
on all the positive  sciences1 can give 
us the laws of humanity4  ,humanity1 or 
human  communities1 are the organisms   
already prepared1 or still in process of
  formation1 and which are subservient  
to all the laws of the evolution of     
organisms4    ,one of the chief of these
 laws is the variation of destination   
among the  portions of the organs4      
,some people command1 others obey4  ,if 
some have  in superabundance1 and others
 in want1 this arises not from the will 
of  ,god1 not because the empire is a   
form of manifestation of personality1   
but because in societies1 as in         
organisms1 division of labor becomes    

indispensable for life as a whole4      
,some people perform the muscular  labor
 in societies2 others1 the mental labor4
    ,upon this doctrine is founded the  
prevailing justification of our time4   
,not long ago1 their reigned in the     
learned1 cultivated world1 a moral      
philosophy1 according to which it       
appeared that every thing which exists  
is reasonable2 that there is no such    
thing as evil or good2 and that it  is  
unnecessary for man to war against evil1
 but that it is only necessary  for him 
to display intelligence1--one man in the
 military service1  another in the      
judicial1 another on the violin4  ,there
 have been many and  varied expressions 
of human wisdom1 and these phenomena    
were known to the  men of the nineteenth
 century4  ,the wisdom of ,rousseau and 
of ,lessing1  and ,spinoza and ,bruno1  
and all the wisdom of antiquity2 but no 
one man's  wisdom overrode the crowd4   
,it was impossible to say even          
this1--that  ,hegel's success was the   

result of the symmetry of this theory4  
,there  were other equally symmetrical  
theories1--those of ,descartes1         
,leibnitz1  ,fichte1 ,schopenhauer4     
,there was but one reason why this      
doctrine won for  itself1 for a season1 
the belief of the whole world2 and this 
reason was1  that the deductions of that
 philosophy winked at people's          
weaknesses4  ,these deductions were     
summed up in this1--that every thing was
  reasonable1 every thing good2 and that
 no one was to blame4    ,when ,i began 
my career1 ,hegelianism was the         
foundation of every thing4  ,it  was    
floating in the air2 it was expressed in
 newspaper and periodical  articles1 in 
historical and judicial lectures1 in    
novels1 in treatises1  in art1 in       
sermons1 in conversation4  ,the man who 
was not acquainted with  ,hegal had no  
right to speak4  ,any one who desired to
 understand the truth  studied ,hegel4  
,every thing rested on him4  ,and all at
 once the forties  passed1 and there was

 nothing left of him4  ,there was not   
even a hint of  him1 any more than if he
 had never existed4  ,and the most      
amazing thing  of all was1 that         
,hegelianism did not fall because some  
one overthrew it  or destroyed it4  ,no6
  ,it was the same then as now1 but all 
at once it  appeared that it was of no  
use whatever to the learned and         
cultivated  world4    ,there was a time 
when the ,hegelian wise men triumphantly
 instructed the  masses2 and the crowd1 
understanding nothing1 blindly believed 
in every  thing1 finding confirmation in
 the fact that it was on hand2 and they 
believed that what seemed to them muddy 
and contradictory there on the  heights 
of philosophy was all as clear as the   
day4  ,but that time has  gone by4      
,that theory is worn out3 a new theory  
has presented itself in  its stead4     
,the old one has become useless2 and the
 crowd has looked into  the secret      
sanctuaries of the high priests1 and has
 seen that there is  nothing there1 and 

that there has been nothing there1 save 
very obscure  and senseless words4      
,this has taken place within my memory4 
,but this arises1 people of the present 
science will say1 from the fact  that   
all that was the raving of the          
theological and metaphysical period2    
but now there exists positive1 critical 
science1 which does not deceive1  since 
it is all founded on induction and      
experiment4  ,now our erections  are not
 shaky1 as they formerly were1 and only 
in our path lies the  solution of all   
the problems of humanity4    ,but the   
old teachers said precisely the same1   
and they were no fools2 and  we know    
that there were people of great         
intelligence among them4  ,and          
precisely thus1 within my memory1 and   
with no less confidence1 with no  less  
recognition on the part of the crowd of 
so-called cultivated people1  spoke the 
,hegelians4  ,and neither were our      
,herzens1 our ,stankevitches1 or  our   
,byelinskys fools4  ,but whence arose   

that marvellous manifestation1  that    
sensible people should preach with the  
greatest assurance1 and that  the crowd 
should accept with devotion1 such       
unfounded and unsupportable  teachings8 
,there is but one reason1--that the     
teachings thus inculcated  justified    
people in their evil life4    ,a very   
poor ,english writer1 whose works are   
all forgotten1 and recognized  as the   
most insignificant of the insignificant1
 writes a treatise on  population1 in   
which he devises a fictitious law       
concerning the increase  of population  
disproportionate to the means of        
subsistence4  ,this  fictitious law1    
this writer encompasses with            
mathematical formulae  founded on       
nothing whatever2 and then he launches  
it on the world4  ,from  the frivolity  
and the stupidity of this hypothesis1   
one would suppose  that it would not    
attract the attention of any one1 and   
that it would  sink into oblivion1 like 
all the works of the same author which  

followed  it2 but it turned out quite   
otherwise4  ,the hack-writer who penned 
this  treatise instantly becomes a      
scientific authority1 and maintains     
himself  upon that height for nearly    
half a century4  ,malthus6  ,the        
,malthusian  theory1--the law of the    
increase of the population in           
geometrical1 and of  the means of       
subsistence in arithmetical proportion1 
and the wise and  natural means of      
restricting the population1--all these  
have become  scientific1 indubitable    
truths1 which have not been confirmed1  
but which  have been employed as axioms1
 for the erection of false theories4    
,in  this manner have learned and       
cultivated people proceeded2 and among  
the  herd of idle persons1 there sprung 
up a pious trust in the great laws      
expounded by ,malthus4  ,how did this   
come to pass8  ,it would seem as  though
 they were scientific deductions1 which 
had nothing in common with  the         
instincts of the masses4  ,but this can 

only appear so for the man who  believes
 that science1 like the ,church1 is     
something self-contained1  liable to no 
errors1 and not simply the imaginings of
 weak and erring  folk1 who merely      
substitute the imposing word science1 in
 place of the  thoughts and words of the
 people1 for the sake of impressiveness4
    ,all that was necessary was to make 
practical deductions from the theory  of
 ,malthus1 in order to perceive that    
this theory was of the most human  sort1
 with the best defined of objects4  ,the
 deductions directly arising  from this 
theory were the following3 ,the wretched
 condition of the  laboring classes was 
such in accordance with an unalterable  
law1 which  does not depend upon men2   
and1 if any one is to blame in this     
matter1 it  is the hungry laboring      
classes themselves4  ,why are they such 
fools as to  give birth to children1    
when they know that there will be       
nothing for the  children to eat8  ,and 
so this deduction1 which is valuable for

 the herd  of idle people1 has had this 
result3 that all learned men overlooked 
the  incorrectness1 the utter           
arbitrariness of these deductions1 and  
their  insusceptibility to proof2 and   
the throng of cultivated1 i4e41 of idle 
people1 knowing instinctively to what   
these deductions lead1 saluted this     
theory with enthusiasm1 conferred upon  
it the stamp of truth1 i4e41 of         
science1 and dragged it about with them 
for half a century4    ,is not this same
 thing the cause of the confidence of   
men in positive  critical-experimental  
science1 and of the devout attitude of  
the crowd  towards that which it        
preaches8  ,at first it seems strange1  
that the  theory of evolution can in any
 manner justify people in their evil    
ways2  and it seems as though the       
scientific theory of evolution has to   
deal  only with facts1 and that it does 
nothing else but observe facts4    ,but 
this only appears to be the case4       
,exactly the same thing appeared to be  

the case with the ,hegelian  doctrine1  
in a greater degree1 and also in the    
special instance of the  ,malthusian    
doctrine4  ,hegelianism was1 apparently1
 occupied only with its  logical        
constructions1 and bore no relation to  
the life of mankind4  ,precisely this   
seemed to be the case with the          
,malthusian theory4  ,it  appeared to be
 busy itself only with statistical data4
  ,but this was only  in appearance4    
,contemporary science is also occupied  
with facts alone3 it investigates       
facts4  ,but what facts8  ,why precisely
 these facts1 and no others8    ,the men
 of contemporary science are very fond  
of saying1 triumphantly and             
confidently1 ,we investigate only facts1
 imagining that these words  contain    
some meaning4  ,it is impossible to     
investigate facts alone1  because the   
facts which are subject to our          
investigation are  innumerable 7in the  
definite sense of that                  
word71--innumerable4  ,before  we       

proceed to investigate facts1 we must   
have a theory on the foundation  of     
which these or those facts can be       
inquired into1 i4e41 selected from  the 
incalculable quantity4    ,and this     
theory exists1 and is even very         
definitely expressed1 although  many of 
the workers in contemporary science do  
not know it1 or often  pretend that they
 do not know it4  ,exactly thus has it  
always been with  all prevailing and    
guiding doctrines4  ,the foundations of 
every doctrine  are always stated in a  
theory1 and the so-called learned men   
merely  invent further deductions from  
the foundations once stated4  ,thus     
contemporary science is selecting its   
facts on the foundation of a very       
definite theory1 which it sometimes     
knows1 sometimes refuses to know1 and   
sometimes really does not know2 but the 
theory exists4    ,the theory is as     
follows3 ,all mankind is an undying     
organism2 men are the  particles of that
 organism1 and each one of them has his 

own special task  for the service of    
others4  ,in the same manner1 the cells 
united in an  organism share among them 
the labor of fight for existence of the 
whole  organism2 they magnify the power 
of one capacity1 and weaken another1 and
  unite in one organ1 in order the      
better to supply the requirements of the
  whole organism4  ,and exactly in the  
same manner as with gregarious          
animals1--ants or bees1--the separate   
individuals divide the labor among      
them4  ,the queen lays the egg1 the     
drone fructifies it2 the bee works his  
whole life long4  ,and precisely this   
thing takes place in mankind and in     
human societies4  ,and therefore1 in    
order to find the law of life for  man1 
it is necessary to study the laws of the
 life and the development of  organisms4
    ,in the life and development of     
organisms1 we find the following laws3  
the  law of differentiation and         
integration1 the law that every         
phenomenon is  accompanied not by direct

 consequences alone1 another law        
regarding the  instability of type1 and 
so on4  ,all this seems very innocent2  
but it is  only necessary to draw the   
deductions from all these laws1 in order
 to  immediately perceive that these    
laws incline in the same direction as   
the  law of ,malthus4  ,these laws all  
point to one thing2 namely1 to the      
recognition of that division of labor   
which exists in human communities1  as  
organic1 that is to say1 as             
indispensable4  ,and therefore1 the     
unjust  position in which we1 the people
 who have freed ourselves from labor1   
find ourselves1 must be regarded not    
from the point of view of common-  sense
 and justice1 but merely as an undoubted
 fact1 confirming the  universal law4   
,moral philosophy also justified every  
sort of cruelty and harshness2 but  this
 resulted in a philosophical manner1 and
 therefore wrongly4  ,but with  science1
 all this results scientifically1 and   
therefore in a manner not  to be        

doubted4    ,how can we fail to accept  
so very beautiful a theory8  ,it is     
merely  necessary to look upon human    
society as an object of contemplation2  
and ,i  can console myself with the     
thought that my activity1 whatever may  
be its  nature1 is a functional activity
 of the organism of humanity1 and that  
therefore there cannot arise any        
question as to whether it is just that  
,i1 in employing the labor of others1 am
 doing only that which is  agreeable to 
me1 as there can arise no question as to
 the division of  labor between the     
brain cells and the muscular cells4     
,how is it possible  not to admit so    
very beautiful a theory1 in order that  
one may be able1  ever after1 to pocket 
one's conscience1 and have a perfectly  
unbridled  animal existence1 feeling    
beneath one's self that support of      
science  which is not to be shaken      
nowadays6    ,and it is on this new     
doctrine that the justification for     
men's idleness  and cruelty is now      

founded4        ,,chapter ,,ii4         
,this doctrine had its rise not so very 
long--fifty years--ago4  ,its  principal
 founder was the ,french savant ,comte4 
,there occurred to  ,comte1--a          
systematist1 and a religious man to     
boot1--under the influence  of the then 
novel physiological investigations of   
,biche1 the old idea  already set forth 
by ,menenius ,agrippa1--the idea that   
human society1 all  humanity even1 might
 be regarded as one whole1 as an        
organism2 and men as  living parts of   
the separate organs1 having each his own
 definite  appointment to serve the     
entire organism4    ,this idea so       
pleased ,comte1 that upon it he began to
 erect a  philosophical theory2 and this
 theory so carried him away1 that he    
utterly forgot that the point of        
departure for his theory was nothing    
more than a very pretty comparison1     
which was suitable for a fable1 but     
which could by no means serve as the    
foundation for science4  ,he1 as        

frequently happens1 mistook his pet     
hypothesis for an axiom1 and imagined   
that his whole theory was erected on the
 very firmest of foundations4           
,according to his theory1 it seemed that
 since humanity is an organism1  the    
knowledge of what man is1 and of what   
should be his relations to the  world1  
was possible only through a knowledge of
 the features of this  organism4  ,for  
the knowledge of these qualities1 man is
 enabled to take  observations on other 
and lower organisms1 and to draw        
conclusions from  their life4           
,therefore1 in the fist place1 the true 
and only method1  according to ,comte1  
is the inductive1 and all science is    
only such when  it has experiment as its
 basis2 in the second place1 the goal   
and crown  of sciences is formed by that
 new science dealing with the imaginary 
organism of humanity1 or the            
super-organic being1--humanity1--and    
this  newly devised science is          
sociology4    ,and from this view of    

science it appears1 that all previous   
knowledge was  deceitful1 and that the  
whole story of humanity1 in the sense of
 self-  knowledge1 has been divided into
 three1 actually into two1 periods3 the 
theological and metaphysical period1    
extending from the beginning of the     
world to ,comte1 and the present        
period1--that of the only true science1 
positive science1--beginning with       
,comte4    ,all this was very well4     
,there was but one error1 and that was  
this1--that  the whole edifice was      
erected on the sand1 on the arbitrary   
and false  assertion that humanity is an
 organism4  ,this assertion was         
arbitrary1  because we have just as much
 right to admit the existence of a human
  organism1 not subject to observation1 
as we have to admit the existence  of   
any other invisible1 fantastic being4   
,this assertion was erroneous1  because 
for the understanding of humanity1 i4e41
 of men1 the definition  of an organism 
was incorrectly constructed1 while in   

humanity itself all  actual signs of    
organism1--the centre of feeling or     
consciousness1 are  lacking4 #agh       
,but1 in spite of the arbitrariness and 
incorrectness of the fundamental        
assumption of positive philosophy1 it   
was accepted by the so-called           
cultivated world with the greatest      
sympathy4  ,in this connection1 one     
thing is worthy of note3 that out of the
 works of ,comte1 consisting of  two    
parts1 of positive philosophy and of    
positive politics1 only the  first was  
adopted by the learned world1--that part
 which justifieth1 on  new promises1 the
 existent evil of human societies2 but  
the second part1  treating of the moral 
obligations of altruism1 arising from   
the  recognition of mankind as an       
organism1 was regarded as not only of no
  importance1 but as trivial and        
unscientific4  ,it was a repetition of  
the  same thing that had happened in the
 case of ,kant's works4  ,the ,critique 
of ,pure ,reason was adopted by the     

scientific crowd2 but the ,critique of  
,applied ,reason1 that part which       
contains the gist of moral doctrine1 was
  repudiated4  ,in ,kant's doctrine1    
that was accepted as scientific which   
subserved the existent evil4  ,but the  
positive philosophy1 which was  accepted
 by the crowd1 was founded on an        
arbitrary and erroneous basis1  was in  
itself too unfounded1 and therefore     
unsteady1 and could not  support itself 
alone4  ,and so1 amid all the multitude 
of the idle plays  of thought of the men
 professing the so-called science1 there
 presents  itself an assertion equally  
devoid of novelty1 and equally arbitrary
 and  erroneous1 to the effect that     
living beings1 i4e41 organisms1 have had
  their rise in each other1--not only   
one organism from another1 but one  from
 many2 i4e41 that in a very long        
interval of time 7in a million of       
years1 for instance71 not only could a  
duck and a fish proceed from one        
ancestor1 but that one animal might     

result from a whole hive of bees4  ,and 
this arbitrary and erroneous assumption 
was accepted by the learned world  with 
still greater and more universal        
sympathy4  ,this assumption was         
arbitrary1 because no one has ever seen 
how one organism is made from  another1 
and therefore the hypothesis as to the  
origin of species will  always remain an
 hypothesis1 and not an experimental    
fact4   ,and this  hypothesis was also  
erroneous1 because the decision of the  
question as to  the origin of           
species--that they have originated1 in  
consequence of the  law of heredity and 
fitness1 in the course of an            
interminably long  time--is no solution 
at all1 but merely a re-statement of the
 problem in  a new form4    ,according  
to ,moses' solution of the question 7in 
the dispute with whom  the entire       
significance of this theory lies71 it   
appears that the  diversity of the      
species of living creatures proceeded   
according to the  will of ,god1 and     

according to ,his almighty power2 but   
according to the  theory of evolution1  
it appears that the difference between  
living  creatures arose by chance1 and  
on account of varying conditions of     
heredity and surroundings1 through an   
endless period of time4  ,the theory  of
 evolution1 to speak in simple language1
 merely asserts1 that by  chance1 in an 
incalculably long period of time1 out of
 any thing you  like1 any thing else    
that you like may develop4    ,this is  
no answer to the problem4  ,and the same
 problem is differently  expressed3     
instead of will1 chance is offered1 and 
the co-efficient of  the eternal is     
transposed from the power to the time4  
,but this fresh  assertion strengthened 
,comte's assertion4  ,and1 moreover1    
according to  the ingenuous confession  
of the founder of ,darwin's theory      
himself1 his  idea was aroused in him by
 the law of ,malthus2 and he therefore  
propounded the theory of the struggle of
 living creatures and people for        

existence1 as the fundamental law of    
every living thing4  ,and lo6 only  this
 was needed by the throng of idle people
 for their justification4    ,two       
insecure theories1 incapable of         
sustaining themselves on their feet1    
upheld each other1 and acquired the     
semblance of stability4  ,both  theories
 bore with them that idea which is      
precious to the crowd1 that in  the     
existent evil of human societies1 men   
are not to blame1 and that the  existing
 order of things is that which should   
prevail2 and the new theory  was adopted
 by the throng with entire faith and    
unheard-of enthusiasm4  ,and behold1 on 
the strength of these two arbitrary and 
erroneous  hypotheses1 accepted as      
dogmas of belief1 the new scientific    
doctrine was  ratified4    ,spencer1 for
 example1 in one of his first works1    
expresses this doctrine  thus3--        
,societies and organisms1 he says1 are  
alike in the following points3--    #a4 
,in that1 beginning as tiny aggregates1 

they imperceptibly grow in  mass1 so    
that some of them attain to the size of 
ten thousand times their  original bulk4
    #b4  ,in that while they were1 in   
the beginning1 of such simple structure1
  that they can be regarded as destitute
 of all structure1 they acquire  during 
the period of their growth a constantly 
increasing complication of  structure4  
#c4  ,in that although in their early1  
undeveloped period1 there exists        
between them hardly any interdependence 
of parts1 their parts gradually  acquire
 an interdependence1 which eventually   
becomes so strong1 that the  life and   
activity of each part becomes possible  
only on condition of the  life and      
activity of the remaining parts4    #d4 
,in that life and the development of    
society are independent1 and  more      
protracted than the life and development
 of any one of the units  constituting  
it1 which are born1 grow1 act1 reproduce
 themselves1 and die  separately2 while 
the political body formed from them1    

continues to live  generation after     
generation1 developing in mass in       
perfection and  functional activity4    
,the points of difference between       
organisms and society go farther2 and it
  is proved that these differences are  
merely apparent1 but that organisms  and
 societies are absolutely similar4      
,for the uninitiated man the question   
immediately presents itself3 ,what  are 
you talking about8  ,why is mankind an  
organism1 or similar to an  organism8   
,you say that societies resemble        
organisms in these four features2 but it
  is nothing of the sort4  ,you only    
take a few features of the organism1    
and beneath them you range human        
communities4  ,you bring forward four   
features of resemblance1 then you take  
four features of dissimilarity1  which  
are1 however1 only apparent 7according  
to you72 and you thence  conclude that  
human societies can be regarded as      
organisms4  ,but surely1  this is an    
empty game of dialectics1 and nothing   

more4  ,on the same  foundation1 under  
the features of an organism1 you may    
range whatever you  please4  ,i will    
take the fist thing that comes into my  
head4  ,let us  suppose it to be a      
forest1--the manner in which it sows    
itself in the  plain1 and spreads       
abroad4  #a4 ,beginning with a small    
aggregate1 it  increases imperceptibly  
in mass1 and so forth4  ,exactly the    
same thing  takes place in the fields1  
when they gradually seed themselves     
down1 and  bring forth a forest4  #b4   
,in the beginning the structure is      
simple3  afterwards it increases in     
complication1 and so forth4  ,exactly   
the same  thing happens with the        
forest1--in the first place1 there were 
only bitch-  trees1 then came brush-wood
 and hazel-bushes2 at first all grow    
erect1  then they interlace their       
branches4  #c4 ,the interdependence of  
the parts  is so augmented1 that the    
life of each part depends on the life   
and  activity of the remaining parts4   

,it is precisely so with the            
forest1--the  hazel-bush warms the      
tree-boles 7cut it down1 and the other  
trees will  freeze71 the hazel-bush     
protects from the wind1 the seed-bearing
 trees  carry on reproduction1 the tall 
and leafy trees afford shade1 and the   
life of one tree depends on the life of 
another4  #d4 ,the separate parts  may  
die1 but the whole lives4  ,exactly the 
case with the forest4  ,the  forest does
 not mourn one tree4    ,having proved  
that1 in accordance with this theory1   
you may regard the  forest as an        
organism1 you fancy that you have proved
 to the disciples of  the organic       
doctrine the error of their definition4 
,nothing of the sort4  ,the definition  
which they give to the organism is so   
inaccurate and so  elastic that under   
this definition they may include what   
they will4  ,yes1 they say2 and the     
forest may also be regarded as an       
organism4  ,the  forest is mutual       
re-action of individuals1 which do not  

annihilate each  other1--an aggregate2  
its parts may also enter into a more    
intimate  union1 as the hive of bees    
constitutes itself an organism4  ,then  
you  will say1 ,if that is so1 then the 
birds and the insects and the grass of  
this forest1 which re-act upon each     
other1 and do not destroy each other1   
may also be regarded as one organism1 in
 company with the trees4  ,and to  this 
also they will agree4  ,every collection
 of living individuals1 which  re-act   
upon each other1 and do not destroy each
 other1 may be regarded as  organisms1  
according to their theory4  ,you may    
affirm a connection and  interaction    
between whatever you choose1 and1       
according to evolution1 you  may affirm1
 that1 out of whatever you please1 any  
other thing that you  please may        
proceed1 in a very long period of time4 
,and the most remarkable thing of all   
is1 that this same identical  positive  
science recognizes the scientific method
 as the sign of true  knowledge1 and has

 itself defined what it designates as   
the scientific  method4    ,by the      
scientific method it means common-sense4
    ,and common-sense convicts it at    
every step4  ,as soon as the ,popes felt
  that nothing holy remained in them1   
they called themselves most holy4    ,as
 soon as science felt that no           
common-sense was left in her she called 
herself sensible1 that is to say1       
scientific science4        ,,chapter    
,,iii4      ,division of labor is the   
law of all existing things1 and1        
therefore1 it  should be present in     
human societies4  ,it is very possible  
that this is  so2 but still the question
 remains1 ,of what nature is that       
division of  labor which ,i behold in my
 human society8 is it that division of  
labor  which should exist8  ,and if     
people regard a certain division of     
labor as  unreasonable and unjust1 then 
no science whatever can convince men    
that  that should exist which they      
regard as unreasonable and unjust4      

,division of labor is the condition of  
existence of organisms1 and of  human   
societies2 but what1 in these human     
societies1 is to be regarded as  an     
organic division of labor8  ,and1 to    
whatever extent science may have        
investigated the division of labor in   
the cells of worms1 all these           
observations do not compel a man to     
acknowledge that division of labor to   
be correct which his own sense and      
conscience do not recognize as  correct4
  ,no matter how convincing may be the  
proofs of the division of  labor of the 
cells in the organisms studied1 man1 if 
he has not parted  with his judgment1   
will say1 nevertheless1 that a man      
should not weave  calico all his life1  
and that this is not division of labor1 
but  persecution of the people4         
,spencer and others say that there is a 
whole  community of weavers1 and that   
the profession of weaving is an organic 
division of labor4  ,there are weavers2 
so1 of course1 there is such a  division

 of labor4  ,it would be well enough to 
speak thus if the colony  of weavers had
 arisen by the free will of its         
member's2 but we know that  it is not   
thus formed of their initiative1 but    
that we make it4  ,hence it  is         
necessary to find out whether we have   
made these weavers in accordance  with  
an organic law1 or with some other4     
,men live4  ,they support themselves by 
agriculture1 as is natural to all  men4 
,one man has set up a blacksmith's      
forge1 and repaired his plough2  his    
neighbor comes to him1 and asks him to  
mend his also1 and promises  him in     
return either work or money4  ,a third  
comes1 and a fourth2 and in  the        
community formed by these men1 there    
arises the following division of        
labor1--a blacksmith is created4        
,another man has instructed his children
  well2 his neighbor brings his children
 to him1 and requests him to teach  them
 also1 and a teacher is created4  ,but  
both blacksmith and teacher  have been  

created1 and continue to be such1 merely
 because they have been  asked2 and they
 remain such as long as they are        
requested to be  blacksmith and teacher4
  ,if it should come to pass that many  
blacksmiths  and teachers should set    
themselves up1 or that their work is not
  requited1 they will immediately1 as   
common-sense demands and as always      
happens when there is no occasion for   
disturbing the regular course of        
division of labor1--they will           
immediately abandon their trade1 and    
betake  themselves once more to         
agriculture4    ,men who behave thus are
 guided by their sense1 their           
conscience2 and  hence we1 the men      
endowed with sense and conscience1 all  
assert that such  a division of labor is
 right4  ,but if it should chance that  
the  blacksmiths were able to compel    
other people to work for them1 and      
should  continue to make horse-shoes    
when they were not wanted1 and if the   
teachers should go on teaching when     

there was no one to teach1 then it is   
obvious to every sane man1 as a man1    
i4e41 as a being endowed with reason    
and conscience1 that this would not be  
division1 but appropriation1 of  labor4 
,and yet precisely that sort of activity
 is what is called  division of labor by
 scientific science4  ,people do that   
which others do  not think of requiring1
 and demand that they shall be supported
 for so  doing1 and say that this is    
just because it is division of labor4   
,that which constitutes the cause of the
 economical poverty of our age is  what 
the ,english call over-production 7which
 means that a mass of things  are made  
which are of no use to anybody1 and with
 which nothing can be  done74    ,it    
would be odd to see a shoemaker1 who    
should consider that people were  bound 
to feed him because he incessantly made 
boots which had been of no  use to any  
one for a long time2 but what shall we  
say of those men who  make nothing1--who
 not only produce nothing that is       

visible1 but nothing  that is of use for
 people at large1--for whose wares there
 are no  customers1 and who yet demand1 
with the same boldness1 on the ground of
  division of labor1 that they shall be 
supplied with fine food and drink1  and 
that they shall be dressed well8  ,there
 may be1 and there are1  sorcerers for  
whose services a demand makes itself    
felt1 and for this  purpose there are   
brought to them pancakes and flasks2 but
 it is  difficult to imagine the        
existence of sorcerers whose spells are 
useless  to every one1 and who boldly   
demand that they shall be luxuriously   
supported because they exercise sorcery4
  ,and it is the same in our  world4    
,and all this comes about on the basis  
of that false conception of  the        
division of labor1 which is defined not 
by reason and conscience1 but  by       
observation1 which men of science avow  
with such unanimity4    ,division of    
labor has1 in reality1 always existed1  
and still exists2 but  it is right only 

when man decides with his reason and his
 conscience that  it should be so1 and  
not when he merely investigates it4     
,and reason and  conscience decide the  
question for all men very simply1       
unanimously1 and  in a manner not to be 
doubted4  ,they always decide it thus3  
that division  of labor is right only   
when a special branch of man's activity 
is so  needful to men1 that they1       
entreating him to serve them1           
voluntarily  propose to support him in  
requital for that which he shall do for 
them4  ,but1 when a man can live from   
infancy to the age of thirty years on   
the  necks of others1 promising to do1  
when he shall have been taught1         
something extremely useful1 for which no
 one asks him2 and when1 from the  age  
of thirty until his death1 he can live  
in the same manner1 still  merely on the
 promise to do something1 for which     
there has been no  request1 this will   
not be division of labor 7and1 as a     
matter of fact1  there is no such thing 

in our society71 but it will be what it 
already  is1--merely the appropriation1 
by force1 of the toil of others2 that   
same  appropriation by force of the toil
 of others which the philosophers       
formerly designated by various          
names1--for instance1 as indispensable  
forms of life1--but which scientific    
science now calls the organic  division 
of labor4    ,the whole significance of 
scientific science lies in this alone4  
,it has  now become a distributer of    
diplomas for idleness2 for it alone1 in 
its  sanctuaries1 selects and determines
 what is parasitical1 and what is       
organic activity1 in the social         
organism4  ,just as though every man    
could  not find this out for himself    
much more accurately and more speedily1 
by  taking counsel of his reason and his
 conscience4  ,it seems to men of       
scientific science1 that there can be no
 doubt of this1 and that their  activity
 is also indubitably organic2 they1 the 
scientific and artistic  workers1 are   

the brain cells1 and the most precious  
cells in the whole  organism4    ,ever  
since men--reasoning beings--have       
existed1 they have distinguished  good  
from evil1 and have profited by the fact
 that men have made this  distinction   
before them2 they have warred against   
evil1 and have sought  the good1 and    
have slowly but uninterruptedly advanced
 in that path4  ,and  divers delusions  
have always stood before men1 hemming in
 this path1 and  having for their object
 to demonstrate to them1 that it was not
 necessary  to do this1 and that it was 
not necessary to live as they were      
living4  ,with fearful conflict and     
difficulty1 men have freed themselves   
from many  delusions4  ,and behold1 a   
new and a still more evil delusion has  
sprung  up in the path of mankind1--the 
scientific delusion4    ,this new       
delusion is precisely the same in nature
 as the old ones2 its  gist lies in     
secretly leading astray the activity of 
our reason and  conscience1 and of those

 who have lived before us1 by something 
external4  ,in scientific science1 this 
external thing is--investigation4       
,the cunning of this science consists in
 this1--that1 after pointing out  to men
 the coarsest false interpretations of  
the activity of the reason  and         
conscience of man1 it destroys in them  
faith in their own reason and           
conscience1 and assures them that every 
thing which their reason and  conscience
 say to them1 that all that these have  
said to the loftiest  representatives of
 man heretofore1 ever since the world   
has existed1--that  all this is         
conventional and subjective4  ,all this 
must be abandoned1  they say2 it is     
impossible to understand the truth by   
the reason1 for we  may be mistaken4    
,but there exists another unerring and  
almost mechanical  path3 it is necessary
 to investigate facts4    ,but facts    
must be investigated on the foundation  
of scientific science1  i4e41 of the two
 hypotheses of positivism and evolution1

 which are not  borne out by any thing1 
and which give themselves out as        
undoubted  truths4  ,and the reigning   
science announces1 with delusive        
solemnity1  that the solution of all    
problems of life is possible only       
through the  study of facts1 of nature1 
and1 in particular1 of organisms4  ,the 
credulous mass of young people1         
overwhelmed by the novelty of this      
authority1 which has not yet been       
overthrown or even touched by           
criticism1 flings itself into the study 
of natural sciences1 into that  sole    
path1 which1 according to the assertion 
of the reigning science1 can  lead to   
the elucidation of the problems of life4
    ,but the farther the disciples      
proceed in this study1 the farther and  
farther does not only the possibility1  
but even the very idea1 of the  solution
 of the problems of life withdraw from  
them1 and the more and  more do they    
become accustomed1 not so much to       
investigate1 as to believe  in the      

assertions of other investigators 7to   
believe in cells1 in  protoplasm1 in the
 fourth condition of bodies1 and so     
forth72 the more  and more does the form
 veil the contents from them2 the more  
and more do  they lose the consciousness
 of good and evil1 and the capacity of  
understanding those expressions and     
definitions of good and evil which  have
 been elaborated through the whole      
foregoing life of mankind2 and the  more
 and more do they appropriate to        
themselves the special scientific       
jargon of conventional expressions1     
which possesses no universally human    
significance2 and the deeper and deeper 
do they plunge into the debris  of      
utterly unilluminated investigations2   
the more and more do they lose  the     
power1 not only of independent thought1 
but even of understanding the  fresh    
human thought of others1 which lies     
beyond the bounds of their  ,talmud4    
,but the principal thing is1 that they  
pass their best years in  getting       

disused to life2 they grow accustomed to
 consider their position  as            
justifiable2 and they convert themselves
 physically into utterly  useless       
parasites1 and mentally they dislocate  
their brains and become  mental eunuchs4
  ,and in precisely the same manner1    
according to the  measure of their      
folly1 do they acquire self-conceit1    
which deprives them  forever of all     
possibility of return to a simple life  
of toil1 to a  simple1 clear1 and       
universally human train of reasoning4   
,division of labor always has existed in
 human communities1 and will  probably  
always exist2 but the question for us   
lies not in the fact that  it has       
existed1 and that it will exist1 but in 
this1--how are we to  govern ourselves  
so that this division shall be right8   
,but if we take  investigation as our   
rule of action1 we by this very act     
repudiate all  rule2 then in that case  
we shall regard as right every division 
of labor  which we shall descry among   

men1 and which appears to us to be      
right--to  which conclusion the         
prevailing scientific science also      
leads4    ,division of labor6    ,some  
are busied in mental or moral1 others in
 muscular or physical1  labor4  ,with   
what confidence people enunciate this6  
,they wish to think  so1 and it seems to
 them that1 in point of fact1 a         
perfectly regular  exchange of services 
does take place4    ,but we1 in our     
blindness1 have so completely lost sight
 of the  responsibility which we have   
assumed1 that we have even forgotten in 
whose name our labor is prosecuted2 and 
the very people whom we have  undertaken
 to serve have become the objects of our
 scientific and  artistic activity4  ,we
 study and depict them for our amusement
 and  diversion4  ,we have totally      
forgotten that what we need to do is not
 to  study and depict them1 but to serve
 them4  ,to such a degree have we lost  
sight of this duty which we have taken  
upon us1 that we have not even  noticed 

that what we have undertaken to perform 
in the realm of science  and art has    
been accomplished not by us1 but by     
others1 and that our  place has turned  
out to be occupied4    ,it proves that  
while we have been disputing1 one about 
the spontaneous  origin of organisms1   
another as to what else there is in     
protoplasm1 and  so on1 the common      
people have been in need of spiritual   
food2 and the  unsuccessful and rejected
 of art and science1 in obedience to the
 mandate  of adventurers who have in    
view the sole aim of profit1 have begun 
to  furnish the people with this        
spiritual food1 and still so furnish    
them4  ,for the last forty years in     
,europe1 and for the last ten years with
 us  here in ,russia1 millions of books 
and pictures and song-books have been   
distributed1 and stalls have been       
opened1 and the people gaze and sing    
and receive spiritual nourishment1 but  
not from us who have undertaken to      
provide it2 while we1 justifying our    

idleness by that spiritual food  which  
we are supposed to furnish1 sit by and  
wink at it4    ,but it is impossible for
 us to wink at it1 for our last         
justification is  slipping from beneath 
our feet4  ,we have become specialized4 
,we have our  particular functional     
activity4  ,we are the brains of the    
people4  ,they  support us1 and we have 
undertaken to teach them4  ,it is only  
under this  pretence that we have       
excused ourselves from work4  ,but what 
have we  taught them1 and what are we   
now teaching them8  ,they have waited   
for  years--for tens1 for hundreds of   
years4  ,and we keep on diverting our   
minds with chatter1 and we instruct each
 other1 and we console ourselves1  and  
we have utterly forgotten them4  ,we    
have so entirely forgotten them1  that  
others have undertaken to instruct them1
 and we have not even  perceived it4    
,we have spoken of the division of labor
 with such lack of  seriousness1 that it
 is obvious that what we have said about

 the benefits  which we have conferred  
on the people was simply a shameless    
evasion4        ,,chapter ,,iv4         
,science and art have arrogated to      
themselves the right of idleness1 and   
of the enjoyment of the labor of others1
 and have betrayed their calling4  ,and 
their errors have arisen merely because 
their servants1 having set  forth a     
falsely conceived principle of the      
division of labor1 have  recognized     
their own right to make use of the labor
 of others1 and have  lost the          
significance of their vocation2 having  
taken for their aim1 not  the profit of 
the people1 but the mysterious profit of
 science and art1  and delivered        
themselves over to idleness and         
vice--not so much of the  senses as of  
the mind4    ,they say1 ,science and art
 have bestowed a great deal on mankind4 
,science and art have bestowed a great  
deal on mankind1 not because the  men of
 art and science1 under the pretext of a
 division of labor1 live on  other      

people1 but in spite of this4    ,the   
,roman ,republic was powerful1 not      
because her citizens had the power  to  
live a vicious life1 but because among  
their number there were heroic          
citizens4  ,it is the same with art and 
science4  ,art and science have         
bestowed much on mankind1 but not       
because their followers formerly        
possessed on rare occasions 7and now    
possess on every occasion7 the          
possibility of getting rid of labor2 but
 because there have been men of  genius1
 who1 without making use of these       
rights1 have led mankind  forward4      
,the class of learned men and artists1  
which has advanced1 on the  fictitious  
basis of a division of labor1 its       
demands to the right of  using the      
labors of others1 cannot co-operate in  
the success of true  science and true   
art1 because a lie cannot bring forth   
the truth4    ,we have become so        
accustomed to these1 our tenderly reared
 or weakened  representatives of mental 

labor1 that it seems to us horrible that
 a man  of science or an artist should  
plough or cart manure4  ,it seems to us 
that every thing would go to            
destruction1 and that all his wisdom    
would  be rattled out of him in the     
cart1 and that all those grand          
picturesque  images which he bears about
 in his breast would be soiled in the   
manure2  but we have become so inured to
 this1 that it does not strike us as    
strange that our servitor of            
science--that is to say1 the servant and
  teacher of the truth--by making other 
people do for him that which he  might  
do for himself1 passes half his time in 
dainty eating1 in smoking1  in talking1 
in free and easy gossip1 in reading the 
newspapers and  romances1 and in        
visiting the theatres4  ,it is not      
strange to us to see  our philosopher in
 the tavern1 in the theatre1 and at the 
ball4  ,it is  not strange in our eyes  
to learn that those artists who sweeten 
and  ennoble our souls have passed their

 lives in drunkenness1 cards1 and       
women1 if not in something worse4       
,art and science are very beautiful     
things2 but just because they are so    
beautiful they should not be spoiled by 
the compulsory combination with  them of
 vice3 that is to say1 a man should not 
get rid of his obligation  to serve his 
own life and that of other people by his
 own labor4  ,art and  science have     
caused mankind to progress4  ,yes2 but  
not because men of art  and science1    
under the guise of division of labor1   
have rid themselves of  the very first  
and most indisputable of human          
obligations1--to labor with  their hands
 in the universal struggle of mankind   
with nature4    ,but only the division  
of labor1 the freedom of men of science 
and of art  from the necessity of       
earning them living1 has rendered       
possible that  remarkable success of    
science which we behold in our day1 is  
the answer  to this4  ,if all were      
forced to till the soil1 those vast     

results  would not have been attained   
which have been attained in our day2    
there  would have been none of those    
striking successes which have so greatly
  augmented man's power over nature1    
were it not for these astronomical      
discoveries which are so astounding to  
the mind of man1 and which have  added  
to the security of navigation2 there    
would be no steamers1 no  railways1 none
 of those wonderful bridges1 tunnels1   
steam-engines and  telegraphs1          
photography1 telephones1                
sewing-machines1 phonographs1           
electricity1 telescopes1 spectroscopes1 
microscopes1 chloroform1 ,lister's      
bandages1 and carbolic acid4    ,i will 
not enumerate every thing on which our  
age thus prides itself4  ,this          
enumeration and pride of enthusiasm over
 ourselves and our exploits  can be     
found in almost any newspaper and       
popular pamphlet4  ,this  enthusiasm    
over ourselves is often repeated to such
 a degree that none of  us can          

sufficiently rejoice over ourselves1    
that we are seriously  convinced that   
art and science have never made such    
progress as in our  own time4  ,and1 as 
we are indebted for all this marvellous 
progress to  the division of labor1 why 
not acknowledge it8    ,let us admit    
that the progress made in our day is    
noteworthy1 marvellous1  unusual2 let us
 admit that we are fortunate mortals to 
live in such a  remarkable epoch3 but   
let us endeavor to appraise this        
progress1 not on  the basis of our      
self-satisfaction1 but of that principle
 which defends  itself with this        
progress1--the division of labor4  ,all 
this progress is  very amazing2 but by a
 peculiarly unlucky chance1 admitted    
even by the  men of science1 this       
progress has not so far improved1 but it
 has rather  rendered worse1 the        
position of the majority1 that is to    
say1 of the  workingman4    ,if the     
workingman can travel on the railway1   
instead of walking1 still  that same    

railway has burned down his forest1 has 
carried off his grain  under his very   
nose1 and has brought his condition very
 near to  slavery--to the capitalist4   
,if1 thanks to steam-engines and        
machines1  the workingman can purchase  
inferior calico at a cheap rate1 on the 
other  hand these engines and machines  
have deprived him of work at home1 and  
have brought him into a state of abject 
slavery to the manufacturer4  ,if  there
 are telephones and telescopes1 poems1  
romances1 theatres1 ballets1            
symphonies1 operas1 picture-galleries1  
and so forth1 on the other hand  the    
life of the workingman has not been     
bettered by all this2 for all of  them1 
by the same unlucky chance1 are         
inaccessible to him4    ,so that1 on the
 whole 7and even men of science admit   
this71 up to the  present time1 all     
these remarkable discoveries and        
products of science  and art have       
certainly not ameliorated the condition 
of the workingman1  if1 indeed1 they    

have not made it worse4  ,so that1 if we
 set against the  question as to the    
reality of the progress attained by the 
arts and  sciences1 not our own rapture1
 but that standard upon the basis of    
which  the division of labor is         
defended1--the good of the laboring     
man1--we  shall see that we have no firm
 foundations for that self-satisfaction 
in  which we are so fond of indulging4  
,the peasant travels on the railway1 the
 woman buys calico1 in the isba         
7cottage7 there will be a lamp instead  
of a pine-knot1 and the peasant  will   
light his pipe with a match1--this is   
convenient2 but what right  have ,i to  
say that the railway and the factory    
have proved advantageous  to the people8
    ,if the peasant rides on the        
railway1 and buys calico1 a lamp1 and   
matches1 it is only because it is       
impossible to forbid the peasant's      
buying them2 but surely we are all aware
 that the construction of  railways and 
factories has never been carried out for

 the benefit of the  lower classes3 so  
why should a casual convenience which   
the workingman  enjoys lead to a proof  
of the utility of all these institutions
 for the  people8    ,there is something
 useful in every injurious thing4       
,after a  conflagration1 one can warm   
one's self1 and light one's pipe with a 
firebrand2 but why declare that the     
conflagration is beneficial8    ,men of 
art and science might say that their    
pursuits are beneficial to  the people1 
only when men of art and science have   
assigned to themselves  the object of   
serving the people1 as they now assign  
themselves the  object of serving the   
authorities and the capitalists4  ,we   
might say this  if men of art and       
science had taken as their aim the needs
 of the people2  but there are none     
such4  ,all scientists are busy with    
their priestly  avocations1 out of which
 proceed investigations into protoplasm1
 the  spectral analyses of stars1 and so
 on4  ,but science has never once       

thought of what axe or what hatchet is  
the most profitable to chop with1  what 
saw is the most handy1 what is the best 
way to mix bread1 from what  flour1 how 
to set it1 how to build and heat an     
oven1 what food and drink1  and what    
utensils1 are the most convenient and   
advantageous under certain  conditions1 
what mushrooms may be eaten1 how to     
propagate them1 and how  to prepare them
 in the most suitable manner4  ,and yet 
all this is the  province of science4   
,i am aware1 that1 according to its own 
definition1 science ought to be         
useless1 i4e41 science for the sake of  
science2 but surely this is an  obvious 
evasion4  ,the province of science is to
 serve the people4  ,we  have invented  
telegraphs1 telephones1 phonographs2 but
 what advances have  we effected in the 
life1 in the labor1 of the people8  ,we 
have reckoned  up two millions of       
beetles6  ,and we have not tamed a      
single animal since  biblical times1    
when all our animals were already       

domesticated2 but the  reindeer1 the    
stag1 the partridge1 the heath-cock1 all
 remain wild4    ,our botanists have    
discovered the cell1 and in the cell    
protoplasm1 and  in that protoplasm     
still something more1 and in that atom  
yet another  thing4  ,it is evident that
 these occupations will not end for a   
long time  to come1 because it is       
obvious that there can be no end to     
them1 and  therefore the scientist has  
no time to devote to those things which 
are  necessary to the people4  ,and     
therefore1 again1 from the time of      
,egyptian  and ,hebrew antiquity1 when  
wheat and lentils had already been      
cultivated1  down to our own times1 not 
a single plant has been added to the    
food of  the people1 with the exception 
of the potato1 and that was not obtained
  by science4    ,torpedoes have been   
invented1 and apparatus for taxation1   
and so forth4  ,but the spinning-whined1
 the woman's weaving-loom1 the plough1  
the  hatchet1 the chain1 the rake1 the  

bucket1 the well-sweep1 are exactly the 
same as they were in the days of ,rurik2
 and if there has been any change1  then
 that change has not been effected by   
scientific people4    ,and it is the    
same with the arts4  ,we have elevated a
 lot of people to  the rank of great    
writers2 we have picked these writers to
 pieces1 and  have written mountains of 
criticism1 and criticism on the critics1
 and  criticism on the critics of the   
critics4  ,and we have collected        
picture-  galleries1 and have studied   
different schools of art in detail2 and 
we  have so many symphonies and         
orchestras and operas1 that it is       
becoming  difficult even for us to      
listen to them4  ,but what have we added
 to the  popular bylini the epic songs1 
legends1 tales1 songs8  ,what music1    
what pictures1 have we given to the     
people8    ,on the ,nikolskaya books are
 manufactured for the people1 and       
harmonicas  in ,tula2 and in neither    
have we taken any part4  ,the falsity of

 the whole  direction of our arts and   
sciences is more striking and more      
apparent in  precisely those very       
branches1 which1 it would seem1 should1 
from their  very nature1 be of use to   
the people1 and which1 in consequence of
 their  false attitude1 seem rather     
injurious than useful4  ,the            
technologist1 the  physician1 the       
teacher1 the artist1 the author1 should1
 in virtue of  their very callings1 it  
would seem1 serve the people4  ,and1    
what then8  ,under the present regime1  
they can do nothing but harm to the     
people4    ,the technologist or the     
mechanic has to work with capital4      
,without  capital he is good for        
nothing4  ,all his acquirements are such
 that for  their display he requires    
capital1 and the exploitation of the    
laboring-  man on the largest scale2    
and--not to mention that he is trained  
to live1  at the lowest1 on from fifteen
 hundred to two thousand a year1 and    
that1  therefore1 he cannot go to the   

country1 where no one can give him such 
wages1--he is1 by virtue of his very    
occupation1 unfitted for serving the    
people4  ,he knows how to calculate the 
highest mathematical arch of a  bridge1 
how to calculate the force and transfer 
of the motive power1 and  so on2 but he 
is confounded by the simplest questions 
of a peasant3 how  to improve a plough  
or a cart1 or how to make irrigating    
canals4  ,all  this in the conditions of
 life in which the laboring man finds   
himself4  ,of this1 he neither knows nor
 understands any thing1--less1 indeed1  
than  the very stupidest peasant4  ,give
 him workshops1 all sorts of workmen at 
his desire1 an order for a machine from 
abroad1 and he will get along4  ,but how
 to devise means of lightening toil1    
under the conditions of labor  of       
millions of men1--this is what he does  
not and can not know2 and  because of   
his knowledge1 his habits1 and his      
demands on life1 he is  unfitted for    
this business4    ,in a still worse     

predicament is the physician4  ,his     
fancied science is  all so arranged1    
that he only knows how to heal those    
persons who do  nothing4  ,he requires  
an incalculable quantity of expensive   
preparations1  instruments1 drugs1 and  
hygienic apparatus4    ,he has studied  
with celebrities in the capitals1 who   
only retain patients  who can be cured  
in the hospital1 or who1 in the course  
of their cure1  can purchase the        
appliances requisite for healing1 and   
even go at once  from the ,north to the 
,south1 to some baths or other4         
,science is of such  a nature1 that     
every rural physic-man laments because  
there are no means  of curing           
working-men1 because he is so poor that 
he has not the means to  place the sick 
man in the proper hygienic conditions2  
and at the same  time this physician    
complains that there are no hospitals1  
and that he  cannot get through with his
 work1 that he needs assistants1 more   
doctors  and practitioners4    ,what is 

the inference8  ,this3 that the people's
 principal lack1 from  which diseases   
arise1 and spread abroad1 and refuse to 
be healed1 is the  lack of means of     
subsistence4  ,and here ,science1 under 
the banner of the  division of labor1   
summons her warriors to the aid of the  
people4  ,science  is entirely arranged 
for the wealthy classes1 and it has     
adopted for its  task the healing of the
 people who can obtain every thing for  
themselves2  and it attempts to heal    
those who possess no superfluity1 by the
 same  means4    ,but there are no      
means1 and therefore it is necessary to 
take them from  the people who are      
ailing1 and pest-stricken1 and who      
cannot recover for  lack of means4  ,and
 now the defenders of medicine for the  
people say that  this matter has been1  
as yet1 but little developed4           
,evidently it has  been but little      
developed1 because if 7which ,god       
forbid67 it had been  developed1 and    
that through oppressing the             

people1--instead of two  doctors1       
midwives1 and practitioners in a        
district1 twenty would have  settled    
down1 since they desire this1 and half  
the people would have died  through the 
difficulty of supporting this medical   
staff1 and soon there  would be no one  
to heal4    ,scientific co-operation    
with the people1 of which the defenders 
of  science talk1 must be something     
quite different4  ,and this co-operation
  which should exist has not yet begun4 
,it will begin when the man of  science1
 technologist or physician1 will not    
consider it legal to take  from         
people--,i will not say a hundred       
thousand1 but even a modest ten         
thousand1 or five hundred rubles for    
assisting them2 but when he will  live  
among the toiling people1 under the same
 conditions1 and exactly as  they do1   
then he will be able to apply his       
knowledge to the questions of           
mechanics1 technics1 hygiene1 and the   
healing of the laboring people4  ,but   

now science1 supporting itself at the   
expense of the working-people1 has      
entirely forgotten the conditions of    
life among these people1 ignores 7as  it
 puts it7 these conditions1 and takes   
very grave offence because its  fancied 
knowledge finds no adherents among the  
people4    ,the domain of medicine1 like
 the domain of technical science1 still 
lies  untouched4  ,all questions as to  
how the time of labor is best divided1  
what is the best method of nourishment1 
with what1 in what shape1 and  when it  
is best to clothe one's self1 to shoe   
one's self1 to counteract  dampness and 
cold1 how best to wash one's self1 to   
feed the children1 to  swaddle them1 and
 so on1 in just those conditions in     
which the working-  people find         
themselves1--all these questions have   
not yet been  propounded4    ,the same  
is the case with the activity of the    
teachers of  science1--pedagogical      
teachers4  ,exactly in the same manner  
science has  so arranged this matter1   

that only wealthy people are able to    
study  science1 and teachers1 like      
technologists and physicians1 cling to  
money4    ,and this cannot be otherwise1
 because a school built on a model plan 
7as  a general rule1 the more           
scientifically built the school1 the    
more costly  it is71 with pivot chains1 
and globes1 and maps1 and library1 and  
petty  text-books for teachers and      
scholars and pedagogues1 is a sort of   
thing  for which it would be necessary  
to double the taxes in every village4   
,this science demands4  ,the people need
 money for their work2 and the more     
there is needed1 the poorer they are4   
,defenders of science say3 ,pedagogy is 
even now proving of advantage to  the   
people1 but give it a chance to develop1
 and then it will do still  better4     
,yes1 if it does develop1 and instead of
 twenty schools in a  district there are
 a hundred1 and all scientific1 and if  
the people  support these schools1 they 
will grow poorer than ever1 and they    

will  more than ever need work for their
 children's sake4  ,what is to be  done8
 they say to this4  ,the government will
 build the schools1 and will  make      
education obligatory1 as it is in       
,europe2 but again1 surely1 the  money  
is taken from the people just the same1 
and it will be harder to  work1 and they
 will have less leisure for work1 and   
there will be no  education even by     
compulsion4  ,again the sole salvation  
is this3 that the  teacher should live  
under the conditions of the working-men1
 and should  teach for that compensation
 which they give him freely and         
voluntarily4    ,such is the false      
course of science1 which deprives it of 
the power of  fulfilling its obligation1
 which is1 to serve the people4    ,but 
in nothing is this false course of      
science so obviously apparent1 as  in   
the vocation of art1 which1 from its    
very significance1 ought to be          
accessible to the people4  ,science may 
fall back on its stupid excuse1  that   

science acts for science1 and that when 
it turns out learned men it  is laboring
 for the people2 but art1 if it is art1 
should be accessible  to all the people1
 and in particular to those in whose    
name it is  executed4  ,and our         
definition of art1 in a striking manner1
 convicts  those who busy themselves    
with art1 of their lack of desire1 lack 
of  knowledge1 and lack of power1 to be 
useful to the people4    ,the painter1  
for the production of his great works1  
must have a studio of  at least such    
dimensions that a whole association of  
carpenters 7forty in  number7 or        
shoemakers1 now sickening or stifling in
 lairs1 would be able  to work in it4   
,but this is not all2 he must have a    
model1 costumes1  travels4  ,millions   
are expended on the encouragement of    
art1 and the  products of this art are  
both incomprehensible and useless to the
 people4  ,musicians1 in order to       
express their grand ideas1 must assemble
 two  hundred men in white neckties1 or 

in costumes1 and spend hundreds of      
thousands of rubles for the equipment of
 an opera4  ,and the products of  this  
art cannot evoke from the people--even  
if the latter could at any  time enjoy  
it--any thing except amazement and      
ennui4    ,writers--authors--it appears1
 do not require surroundings1 studios1  
models1 orchestras1 and actors2 but it  
then appears that the author needs  7not
 to mention comfort in his quarters7 all
 the dainties of life for the           
preparation of his great works1 travels1
 palaces1 cabinets1 libraries1  the     
pleasures of art1 visits to theatres1   
concerts1 the baths1 and so on4  ,if he 
does not earn a fortune for himself1 he 
is granted a pension1 in  order that he 
may compose the better4  ,and again1    
these compositions1 so  prized by us1   
remain useless lumber for the people1   
and utterly  unserviceable to them4     
,and if still more of these dealers in  
spiritual nourishment are developed     
further1 as men of science desire1 and a

 studio is erected in every  village2 if
 an orchestra is set up1 and authors are
 supported in those  conditions which   
artistic people regard as indispensable 
for  themselves1--,i imagine that the   
working-classes will sooner take an oath
  never to look at any pictures1 never  
to listen to a symphony1 never to  read 
poetry or novels1 than to feed all these
 persons4    ,and why1 apparently1      
should art not be of service to the     
people8  ,in  every cottage there are   
images and pictures2 every peasant man  
and woman  sings2 many own harmonicas2  
and all recite stories and verses1 and  
many  read4  ,it is as if those two     
things which are made for each          
other--the  lock and the key--had parted
 company2 they have sprung so far apart1
 that  not even the possibility of      
uniting them presents itself4  ,tell the
  artist that he should paint without a 
studio1 model1 or costumes1 and  that he
 should paint five-kopek pictures1 and  
he will say that that is  tantamount to 

abandoning his art1 as he understands   
it4  ,tell the  musician that he should 
play on the harmonica1 and teach the    
women to  sing songs2 say to the poet1  
to the author1 that he ought to cast    
aside  his poems and romances1 and      
compose song-books1 tales1 and stories1 
comprehensible to the uneducated        
people1--they will say that you are mad4
    ,the service of the people by       
science and art will only be performed  
when  people1 dwelling in the midst of  
the common folk1 and1 like the common   
folk1 putting forward no demands1       
claiming no rights1 shall offer to the  
common folk their scientific and        
artistic services2 the acceptance or    
rejection of which shall depend wholly  
on the will of the common folk4    ,it  
is said that the activity of science and
 art has aided in the forward  march of 
mankind1--meaning by this activity1 that
 which is now called by  that name2     
which is the same as saying that an     
unskilled banging of oars  on a vessel  

that is floating with the tide1 which   
merely hinders the  progress of the     
vessel1 is assisting the movement of the
 ship4  ,it only  retards it4  ,the     
so-called division of labor1 which has  
become in our day  the condition of     
activity of men of science and art1 was1
 and has  remained1 the chief cause of  
the tardy forward movement of mankind4  
,the proofs of this lie in that         
confession of all men of science1 that  
the  gains of science and art are       
inaccessible to the laboring masses1 in 
consequence of the faulty distribution  
of riches4  ,the irregularity of  this  
distribution does not decrease in       
proportion to the progress of  science  
and art1 but only increases4  ,men of   
art and science assume an  air of deep  
pity for this unfortunate circumstance  
which does not depend  upon them4  ,but 
this unfortunate circumstance is        
produced by themselves2  for this       
irregular distribution of wealth flows  
solely from the theory of  the division 

of labor4    ,science maintains the     
division of labor as a unalterable law2 
it sees  that the distribution of       
wealth1 founded on the division of      
labor1 is  wrong and ruinous2 and it    
affirms that its activity1 which        
recognizes the  division of labor1 will 
lead people to bliss4  ,the result is1  
that some  people make use of the labor 
of others2 but that1 if they shall make 
use  of the labor of others for a very  
long period of time1 and in still       
larger measure1 then this wrongful      
distribution of wealth1 i4e41 the use   
of the labor of others1 will come to an 
end4    ,men stand beside a constantly  
swelling spring of water1 and are       
occupied  with the problem of diverting 
it to one side1 away from the thirsty   
people1 and they assert that they are   
producing this water1 and that soon     
enough will be collected for all4  ,but 
this water which has flowed1 and  which 
still flows unceasingly1 and nourishes  
all mankind1 not only is not  the result

 of the activity of the men who1        
standing at its source1 turn  it aside1 
but this water flows and gushes out1 in 
spite of the efforts of  these men to   
obstruct its flow4    ,there have always
 existed a true science1 and a true art2
 but true  science and art are not such 
because they called themselves by that  
name4  ,it always seems to those who    
claim at any given period to be the     
representatives of science and art1 that
 they have performed1 and are           
performing1 and--most of all--that they 
will presently perform1 the most        
amazing marvels1 and that beside them   
there never has been and there is  not  
any science or any art4  ,thus it seemed
 to the sophists1 the  scholastics1 the 
alchemists1 the cabalists1 the          
talmudists2 and thus it  seems to our   
own scientific science1 and to our art  
for the sake of art4        ,,chapter   
,v4      ,but art1--science6  ,you      
repudiate art and science2 that is1 you 
repudiate that by which mankind lives6  

,people are constantly making  this--it 
is not a reply--to me1 and they employ  
this mode of reception in  order to     
reject my deductions without examining  
into them4  ,he  repudiates science and 
art1 he wants to send people back again 
into a  savage state2 so what is the use
 of listening to him and of talking to  
him8  ,but this is unjust4  ,i not only 
do not repudiate art and science1  but1 
in the name of that which is true art   
and true science1 ,i say that  which ,i 
do say2 merely in order that mankind may
 emerge from that savage  state into    
which it will speedily fall1 thanks to  
the erroneous teaching  of our          
time1--only for this purpose do ,i say  
that which ,i say4    ,art and science  
are as indispensable as food and drink  
and clothing1--more  indispensable even2
 but they become so1 not because we     
decide that what  we designate as art   
and science are indispensable1 but      
simply because  they really are         
indispensable to people4    ,surely1 if 

hay is prepared for the bodily          
nourishment of men1 the fact  that we   
are convinced that hay is the proper    
food for man will not make  hay the food
 of man4  ,surely ,i cannot say1 ,why do
 not you eat hay1 when  it is the       
indispensable food8  ,food is           
indispensable1 but it may happen  that  
that which ,i offer is not food at all4 
,this same thing has occurred  with our 
art and science4  ,it seems to us1 that 
if we add to a ,greek word  the word    
logy1 and call that a science1 it will  
be a science2 and1 if  we call any      
abominable thing--like the dancing of   
nude females--by a  ,greek word1        
choreography1 that that is art1 and that
 it will be art4  ,but  no matter how   
much we may say this1 the business with 
which we occupy  ourselves when we count
 beetles1 and investigate the chemical  
constituents of the stars in the ,milky 
,way1 when we paint nymphs and  compose 
novels and symphonies1--our business    
will not become either art  or science  

until such time as it is accepted by    
those people for whom it  is wrought4   
,if it were decided that only certain   
people should produce food1 and if  all 
the rest were forbidden to do this1 or  
if they were rendered  incapable of     
producing food1 ,i suppose that the     
quality of food would be  lowered4  ,if 
the people who enjoyed the monopoly of  
producing food were  ,russian peasants1 
there would be no other food than black 
bread and  cabbage-soup1 and so on1 and 
kvas1--nothing except what they like1   
and  what is agreeable to them4  ,the   
same thing would happen in the case of  
that loftiest human pursuit1 of arts and
 sciences1 if one caste were to         
arrogate to itself a monopoly of them3  
but with this sole difference1  that1 in
 the matter of bodily food1 there can be
 no great departure from  nature1 and   
bread and cabbage-soup1 although not    
very savory viands1 are  fit for        
consumption2 but in spiritual food1     
there may exist the very  greatest      

departures from nature1 and some people 
may feed themselves for  a long time on 
poisonous spiritual nourishment1 which  
is directly  unsuitable for1 or         
injurious to1 them2 they may slowly kill
 themselves  with spiritual opium or    
liquors1 and they may offer this same   
food to the  masses4    ,it is this very
 thing that is going on among us4  ,and 
it has come about  because the position 
of men of science and art is a          
privileged one1  because art and science
 7in our day71 in our world1 are not at 
all a  rational occupation of all       
mankind without exception1 exerting     
their best  powers for the service of   
art and science1 but an occupation of a 
restricted circle of people holding a   
monopoly of these industries1 and       
entitling themselves men of art and     
science1 and who have1 therefore1       
perverted the very idea of art and      
science1 and have lost all the meaning  
of their vocation1 and who are only     
concerned in amusing and rescuing  from 

crushing ennui their tiny circle of idle
 mouths4    ,ever since men have        
existed1 they have always had science   
and art in the  simplest and broadest   
sense of the term4  ,science1 in the    
sense of the  whole of knowledge        
acquired by mankind1 exists and always  
has existed1  and life without it is not
 conceivable2 and there is no           
possibility of  either attacking or     
defending science1 taken in this sense4 
,but the point lies here1--that the     
scope of the knowledge of all mankind   
as a whole is so multifarious1 ranging  
from the knowledge of how to  extract   
iron to the knowledge of the movements  
of the planets1 that man  loses himself 
in this multitude of existing           
knowledge1--knowledge capable  of       
endless possibilities1 if he have no    
guiding thread1 by the aid of  which he 
can classify this knowledge1 and arrange
 the branches according  to the degrees 
of their significance and importance4   
,before a man undertakes to learn any   

thing whatever1 he must make up his     
mind that that branch of knowledge is of
 weight to him1 and of more  weight and 
importance than the countless other     
objects of study with  which he is      
surrounded4  ,before undertaking the    
study of any thing1 a man  decides for  
what purpose he is studying this        
subject1 and not the others4  ,but to   
study every thing1 as the men of        
scientific science in our day  preach1  
without any idea of what is to come out 
of such study1 is  downright impossible1
 because the number of subjects of study
 is  endless2 and hence1 no matter how  
many branches we may acquire1 their     
acquisition can possess no significance 
or reason4  ,and1 therefore1 in  ancient
 times1 down to even a very recent date1
 until the appearance of  scientific    
science1 man's highest wisdom consisted 
in finding that  guiding thread1        
according to which the knowledge of men 
should be  classified as being of       
primary or of secondary importance4     

,and this  knowledge1 which forms the   
guide to all other branches of          
knowledge1 men  have always called      
science in the strictest acceptation of 
the word4  ,and  such science there has 
always been1 even down to our own day1  
in all  human communities which have    
emerged from their primal state of      
savagery4    ,ever since mankind has    
existed1 teachers have always arisen    
among  peoples1 who have enunciated     
science in this restricted sense1--the  
science of what it is most useful for   
man to know4  ,this science has  always 
had for its object the knowledge of what
 is the true ground of the  well-being  
of each individual man1 and of all men1 
and why4  ,such was the  science of     
,confucius1 of ,buddha1 of ,socrates1 of
 ,mahomet1 and of others2  such is this 
science as they understood it1 and as   
all men--with the  exception of our     
little circle of so-called cultured     
people--understand  it4  ,this science  
has not only always occupied the highest

 place1 but has  been the only and sole 
science1 from which the standing of the 
rest has  been determined4  ,and this   
was the case1 not in the least because1 
as the  so-called scientific people of  
our day think1 cunning priestly teachers
  of this science attributed to it such 
significance1 but because in  reality1  
as every one knows1 both by personal    
experience and by  reflection1 there can
 be no science except the science of    
that in which  the destiny and welfare  
of man consist4  ,for the objects of    
science are  incalculable in number1--,i
 undermine the word incalculable in the 
exact sense in which ,i understand      
it1--and without the knowledge of that  
in which the destiny and welfare of all 
men consist1 there is no  possibility of
 making a choice amid this interminable 
multitude of  subjects2 and therefore1  
without this knowledge1 all other arts  
and  branches of learning will become1  
as they have become among us1 an idle   
and hurtful diversion4    ,mankind has  

existed and existed1 and never has it   
existed without the  science of that in 
which the destiny and the welfare of men
 consist4  ,it  is true that the science
 of the welfare of men appears different
 on  superficial observation1 among the 
,buddhists1 the ,brahmins1 the ,hebrews1
  the ,confucians1 the ,tauists2 but    
nevertheless1 wherever we hear of men   
who have emerged from a state of        
savagery1 we find this science4  ,and   
all  of a sudden it appears that the men
 of our day have decided that this  same
 science1 which has hitherto served as  
the guiding thread of all  human        
knowledge1 is the very thing which      
hinders every thing4  ,men erect        
buildings2 and one architect has made   
one estimate of cost1 a second has  made
 another1 and a third yet another4  ,the
 estimates differ somewhat2  but they   
are correct1 so that any one can see1   
that1 if the whole is  carried out in   
accordance with the calculations1 the   
building will be  erected4  ,along come 

people1 and assert that the chief point 
lies in  having no estimates1 and that  
it should be built thus--by the eye4    
,and  this thus1 men call the most      
accurate of scientific science4  ,men   
repudiate every science1 the very       
substance of science1--the definition   
of the destiny and the welfare of       
men1--and this repudiation they         
designate as science4    ,ever since men
 have existed1 great minds have been    
born into their midst1  which1 in the   
conflict with reason and conscience1    
have put to themselves  questions as to 
what constitutes welfare1--the destiny  
and welfare1 not  of myself alone1 but  
of every man8  ,what does that power    
which has  created and which leads me1  
demand of me and of every man8  ,and    
what is  it necessary for me to do1 in  
order to comply with the requirements   
imposed upon me by the demands of       
individual and universal welfare8  ,they
  have asked themselves3 ,i am a whole1 
and also a part of something  infinite1 

eternal2 what1 then1 are my relations to
 other parts similar to  myself1 to men 
and to the whole--to the world8    ,and 
from the voices of conscience and of    
reason1 and from a comparison of  what  
their contemporaries and men who had    
lived before them1 and who had          
propounded to themselves the same       
questions1 had said1 these great        
teachers have deduced their doctrines1  
which were simple1 clear1  intelligible 
to all men1 and always such as were     
susceptible of  fulfilment4  ,such men  
have existed of the first1 second1      
third1 and  lowest ranks4  ,the world is
 full of such men4  ,every living man   
propounds  the question to himself1 how 
to reconcile the demands of welfare1 and
 of  his personal existence1 with       
conscience and reason2 and from this    
universal labor1 slowly but             
uninterruptedly1 new forms of life1     
which are  more in accord with the      
requirements of reason and of           
conscience1 are  worked out4    ,all at 

once1 a new caste of people makes its   
appearance1 and they say1  ,all this is 
nonsense2 all this must be abandoned4   
,this is the  deductive method of       
ratiocination 7wherein lies the         
difference between  the deductive and   
the inductive method1 no one can        
understand72 these are  the dogmas of   
the technological and metaphysical      
period4  ,every thing  that these men   
discover by inward experience1 and which
 they communicate  to one another1      
concerning their knowledge of the law of
 their existence  7of their functional  
activity1 according to their own        
jargon71 every  thing that the grandest 
minds of mankind have accomplished in   
this  direction1 since the beginning of 
the world1--all this is nonsense1 and   
has no weight whatever4  ,according to  
this new doctrine1 it appears that  you 
are cells3 and that you1 as a cell1 have
 a very definite functional  activity1  
which you not only fulfil1 but which you
 infallibly feel within  you2 and that  

you are a thinking1 talking1            
understanding cell1 and that  you1 for  
this reason1 can ask another similar    
talking cell whether it is  just the    
same1 and in this way verify your own   
experience2 that you can  take advantage
 of the fact that speaking cells1 which 
have lived before  you1 have written on 
the same subject1 and that you have     
millions of  cells which confirm your   
observations by their agreement with the
 cells  which have written down their   
thoughts1--all this signifies nothing2  
all  this is an evil and an erroneous   
method4    ,the true scientific method  
is this3 ,if you wish to know in what   
the  destiny and the welfare of all     
mankind and of all the world consists1  
you  must1 first of all1 cease to listen
 to the voices of your conscience and   
of your reason1 which present themselves
 in you and in others like you2  you    
must cease to believe all that the great
 teachers of mankind have  said with    
regard to your conscience and reason1   

and you must consider all  this as      
nonsense1 and begin all over again4     
,and1 in order to understand  every     
thing from the beginning1 you must look 
through microscopes at the  movements of
 amoebae1 and cells in worms1 or1 with  
still greater  composure1 believe in    
every thing that men with a diploma of  
infallibility shall say to you about    
them4  ,and as you gaze at the          
movements of these cells1 or read about 
what others have seen1 you must         
attribute to these cells your own human 
sensations and calculations as to  what 
they desire1 whither they are directing 
themselves1 how they compare  and       
discuss1 and to what they have become   
accustomed2 and from these  observations
 7in which there is not a word about an 
error of thought or  of expression7 you 
must deduce a conclusion by analogy as  
to what you  are1 what is your destiny1 
wherein lies the welfare of yourself and
 of  other cells like you4  ,in order to
 understand yourself1 you must study    

not only the worms which you see1 but   
microscopic creatures which you can     
barely see1 and transformations from one
 set of creatures into others1  which no
 one has ever beheld1 and which you1    
most assuredly1 will never  behold4     
,and the same with art4  ,where there   
has been true science1 art  has always  
been its exponent4    ,ever since men   
have been in existence1 they have been  
in the habit of  deducing1 from all     
pursuits1 the expressions of various    
branches of  learning concerning the    
destiny and the welfare of man1 and the 
expression of this knowledge has been   
art in the strict sense of the  word4   
,ever since men have existed1 there have
 been those who were peculiarly         
sensitive and responsive to the doctrine
 regarding the destiny and  welfare of  
man2 who have given expression to their 
own and the popular  conflict1 to the   
delusions which lead them astray from   
their destinies1  their sufferings in   
this conflict1 their hopes in the       

triumph of good1  them despair over the 
triumph of evil1 and their raptures in  
the  consciousness of the approaching   
bliss of man1 on viol and tabret1 in    
images and words4  ,always1 down to the 
most recent times1 art has served       
science and life1--only then was it what
 has been so highly esteemed of  men4   
,but art1 in its capacity of an         
important human activity1  disappeared  
simultaneously with the substitution for
 the genuine science  of destiny and    
welfare1 of the science of any thing you
 choose to fancy4  ,art has existed     
among all peoples1 and will exist until 
that which among  us is scornfully      
called religion has come to be          
considered the only  science4    ,in our
 ,european world1 so long as there      
existed a ,church1 as the doctrine  of  
destiny and welfare1 and so long as the 
,church was regarded as the  only true  
science1 art served the ,church1 and    
remained true art3 but as  soon as art  
abandoned the ,church1 and began to     

serve science1 while  science served    
whatever came to hand1 art lost its     
significance4  ,and  notwithstanding the
 rights claimed on the score of ancient 
memories1 and  of the clumsy assertion  
which only proves its loss of its       
calling1 that  art serves art1 it has   
become a trade1 providing men with      
something  agreeable2 and as such1 it   
inevitably comes into the category of   
choreographic1 culinary1 hair-dressing1 
and cosmetic arts1 whose  practitioners 
designate themselves as artists1 with   
the same right as the  poets1 printers1 
and musicians of our day4    ,glance    
backward into the past1 and you will see
 that in the course of  thousands of    
years1 out of milliards of people1 only 
half a score of  ,confucius'1 ,buddhas1 
,solomons1 ,socrates1 ,solons1 and      
,homers have been  produced4            
,evidently1 they are rarely met with    
among men1 in spite of the  fact that   
these men have not been selected from a 
single caste1 but from  mankind at      

large4  ,evidently1 these true teachers 
and artists and learned  men1 the       
purveyors of spiritual nourishment1 are 
rare4  ,and it is not  without reason   
that mankind has valued and still values
 them so highly4    ,but it now appears1
 that all these great factors in the    
science and art  of the past are no     
longer of use to us4  ,nowadays1        
scientific and  artistic authorities    
can1 in accordance with the law of      
division of  labor1 be turned out by    
factory methods2 and1 in one decade1    
more great  men have been manufactured  
in art and science1 than have ever been 
born  of such among all nations1 since  
the foundation of the world4  ,nowadays 
there is a guild of learned men and     
artists1 and they prepare1 by  perfected
 methods1 all that spiritual food which 
man requires4  ,and they  have prepared 
so much of it1 that it is no longer     
necessary to refer to  the elder        
authorities1 who have preceded          
them1--not only to the ancients1  but to

 those much nearer to us4  ,all that was
 the activity of the  theological and   
metaphysical period1--all that must be  
wiped out3 but the  true1 the rational  
activity began1 say1 fifty years ago1   
and in the  course of those fifty years 
we have made so many great men1 that    
there  are about ten great men to every 
branch of science4  ,and there have come
  to be so many sciences1 that1         
fortunately1 it is easy to make them4   
,all  that is required is to add the    
,greek word logy to the name1 and force 
them to conform to a set rubric1 and the
 science is all complete4  ,they  have  
created so many sciences1 that not only 
can no one man know them  all1 but not a
 single individual can remember all the 
titles of all the  existing sciences2   
the titles alone form a thick lexicon1  
and new  sciences are manufactured every
 day4  ,they have been manufactured on  
the  pattern of that ,finnish teacher   
who taught the landed proprietor's      
children ,finnish instead of ,french4   

,every thing has been excellently       
inculcated2 but there is one            
objection1--that no one except ourselves
 can  understand any thing of it1 and   
all this is reckoned as utterly useless 
nonsense4  ,however1 there is an        
explanation even for this4  ,people do  
not  appreciate the full value of       
scientific science1 because they are    
under  the influence of the theological 
period1 that profound period when all   
the people1 both among the ,hebrews1 and
 the ,chinese1 and the ,indians1 and    
the ,greeks1 understood every thing that
 their great teachers said to  them4    
,but1 from whatever cause this has come 
about1 the fact remains1 that  sciences 
and arts have always existed among      
mankind1 and1 when they  really did     
exist1 they were useful and intelligible
 to all the people4  ,but we practise   
something which we call science and art1
 but it appears  that what we do is     
unnecessary and unintelligible to man4  
,and hence1  however beautiful may be   

the things that we accomplish1 we have  
no right  to call them arts and         
sciences4        ,,chapter ,,vi4        
,but you only furnish a different       
definition of arts and sciences1 which  
is stricter1 and is incompatible with   
science1 ,i shall be told in answer  to 
this2 nevertheless1 scientific and      
artistic activity does still  exist4    
,there are the ,galileos1 ,brunos1      
,homers1 ,michael ,angelos1             
,beethovens1 and all the lesser learned 
men and artists1 who have  consecrated  
their entire lives to the service of    
science and art1 and who  were1 and will
 remain1 the benefactors of mankind4    
,generally this is what people say1     
striving to forget that new principle   
of the division of labor1 on the basis  
of which science and art now  occupy    
their privileged position1 and on whose 
basis we are now enabled  to decide     
without grounds1 but by a given         
standard3 ,is there1 or is there  not1  
any foundation for that activity which  

calls itself science and art1  to so    
magnify itself8    ,when the ,egyptian  
or the ,grecian priests produced their  
mysteries1 which  were unintelligible to
 any one1 and stated concerning these   
mysteries  that all science and all art 
were contained in them1 ,i could not    
verify  the reality of their science on 
the basis of the benefit procured by    
them  to the people1 because science1   
according to their assertions1 was      
supernatural4  ,but now we all possess a
 very simple and clear definition  of   
the activity of art and science1 which  
excludes every thing  supernatural3     
science and art promise to carry out the
 mental activity of  mankind1 for the   
welfare of society1 or of all the human 
race4    ,the definition of scientific  
science and art is entirely correct2    
but1  unfortunately1 the activity of the
 present arts and sciences does not     
come under this head4  ,some of them are
 directly injurious1 others are         
useless1 others still are               

worthless1--good only for the wealthy4  
,they do  not fulfil that which1 by     
their own definition1 they have         
undertaken to  accomplish2 and hence    
they have as little right to regard     
themselves as  men of art and science1  
as a corrupt priesthood1 which does not 
fulfil  the obligations which it has    
assumed1 has the right to regard itself 
as  the bearer of divine truth4    ,and 
it can be understood why the makers of  
the present arts and sciences  have not 
fulfilled1 and cannot fulfil1 their     
vocation4  ,they do not  fulfil it1     
because out of their obligations they   
have erected a right4    ,scientific and
 artistic activity1 in its real sense1  
is only fruitful  when it knows no      
rights1 but recognizes only obligations4
  ,only because  it is its property to  
be always thus1 does mankind so highly  
prize this  activity4  ,if men really   
were called to the service of others    
through  artistic work1 they would see  
in that work only obligation1 and they  

would fulfil it with toil1 with         
privations1 and with self-abnegation4   
,the thinker or the artist will never   
sit calmly on ,olympian heights1 as  we 
have become accustomed to represent them
 to ourselves4  ,the thinker or  the    
artist should suffer in company with the
 people1 in order that he may  find     
salvation or consolation4  ,besides     
this1 he will suffer because he  is     
always and eternally in turmoil and     
agitation3 he might decide and say  that
 that which would confer welfare on men1
 would free them from  suffering1 would 
afford them consolation2 but he has not 
said so1 and has  not presented it as he
 should have done2 he has not decided1  
and he has  not spoken2 and to-morrow1  
possibly1 it will be too late1--he will 
die4  ,and therefore suffering and      
self-sacrifice will always be the lot of
 the  thinker and the artist4    ,not of
 this description will be the thinker   
and artist who is reared in  an         
establishment where1 apparently1 they   

manufacture the learned man or  the     
artist 7but in point of fact1 they      
manufacture destroyers of science  and  
of art71 who receives a diploma and a   
certificate1 who would be glad  not to  
think and not to express that which is  
imposed on his soul1 but  who cannot    
avoid doing that to which two           
irresistible forces draw him1--an       
inward prompting1 and the demand of men4
    ,there will be no sleek1 plump1     
self-satisfied thinkers and artists4    
,spiritual activity1 and its expression1
 which are actually necessary to        
others1 are the most burdensome of all  
man's avocations2 a cross1 as the       
,gospels phrase it4  ,and the sole      
indubitable sign of the presence of a   
vocation is self-devotion1 the sacrifice
 of self for the manifestation of  the  
power that is imposed upon man for the  
benefit of others4    ,it is possible to
 study out how many beetles there are in
 the world1 to  view the spots on the   
sun1 to write romances and operas1      

without  suffering2 but it is           
impossible1 without self-sacrifice1 to  
instruct  people in their true          
happiness1 which consists solely in     
renunciation of  self and the service of
 others1 and to give strong expression  
to this  doctrine1 without              
self-sacrifice4    ,christ did not die  
on the cross in vain2 not in vain does  
the sacrifice  of suffering conquer all 
things4    ,but our art and science are 
provided with certificates and diplomas2
 and  the only anxiety of all men is1   
how to still better guarantee them1     
i4e41  how to render the service of the 
people impracticable for them4    ,true 
art and true science possess two        
unmistakable marks3 the first1 an       
inward mark1 which is this1 that the    
servitor of art and science will  fulfil
 his vocation1 not for profit but with  
self-sacrifice2 and the  second1 an     
external sign1--his productions will be 
intelligible to all  the people whose   
welfare he has in view4    ,no matter   

what people have fixed upon as their    
vocation and their  welfare1 science    
will be the doctrine of this vocation   
and welfare1 and  art will be the       
expression of that doctrine4  ,that     
which is called  science and art1 among 
us1 is the product of idle minds and    
feelings1  which have for their object  
to tickle similar idle minds and        
feelings4  ,our arts and sciences are   
incomprehensible1 and say nothing to the
  people1 for they have not the welfare 
of the common people in view4    ,ever  
since the life of men has been known to 
us1 we find1 always and  everywhere1 the
 reigning doctrine falsely designating  
itself as science1  not manifesting     
itself to the common people1 but        
obscuring for them the  meaning of life4
  ,thus it was among the ,greeks the    
sophists1 then among  the ,christians   
the mystics1 gnostics1 scholastics1     
among the ,hebrews the  ,talmudists and 
,cabalists1 and so on everywhere1 down  
to our own times4    ,how fortunate it  

is for us that we live in so peculiar an
 age1 when that  mental activity which  
calls itself science1 not only does not 
err1 but  finds itself1 as we are       
assured1 in a remarkably flourishing    
condition6  ,does not this peculiar good
 fortune arise from the fact that man   
can not  and will not see his own       
hideousness8  ,why is there nothing left
 of those  sciences1 and sophists1 and  
,cabalists1 and ,talmudists1 but words1 
while  we are so exceptionally happy8   
,surely the signs are identical4  ,there
 is  the same self-satisfaction and     
blind confidence that we1 precisely we1 
and only we1 are on the right path1 and 
that the real thing is only  beginning  
with us4  ,there is the same expectation
 that we shall discover  something      
remarkable2 and that chief sign which   
leads us astray convicts  us of our     
error3 all our wisdom remains with us1  
and the common people do  not           
understand1 and do not accept1 and do   
not need it4    ,our position is a very 

difficult one1 but why not look at it   
squarely8    ,it is time to recover our 
senses1 and to scrutinize ourselves4    
,surely we  are nothing else than the   
scribes and ,pharisees1 who sit in      
,moses' seat1  and who have taken the   
keys of the kingdom of heaven1 and will 
neither go  in ourselves1 nor permit    
others to go in4  ,surely we1 the high  
priests of  science and art1 are        
ourselves worthless deceivers1          
possessing much less  right to our      
position than the most crafty and       
depraved priests4  ,surely  we have no  
justification for our privileged        
position4  ,the priests had a  right to 
their position3 they declared that they 
taught the people life  and salvation4  
,but we have taken their place1 and we  
do not instruct the  people in life1--we
 even admit that such instruction is    
unnecessary1--but  we educate our       
children in the same ,talmudic-,greek   
and ,latin grammar1 in  order that they 
may be able to pursue the same life of  

parasites which we  lead ourselves4  ,we
 say1 ,there used to be castes1 but     
there are none  among us4  ,but what    
does it mean1 that some people and their
 children  toil1 while other people and 
their children do not toil8    ,bring   
hither an ,indian ignorant of our       
language1 and show him ,european  life1 
and our life1 for several generations1  
and he will recognize the  same leading1
 well-defined castes--of laborers and   
non-laborers--as there  are in his own  
country4  ,and as in his land1 so in    
ours1 the right of  refusing to labor is
 conferred by a peculiar consecration1  
which we call  science and art1 or1 in  
general terms1 culture4  ,it is this    
culture1 and  all the distortions of    
sense connected with it1 which have     
brought us to  that marvellous madness1 
in consequence of which we do not see   
that which  is so clear and indubitable4
        ,,chapter ,,vii4      ,then1    
what is to be done8  ,what are we to do8
    ,this question1 which includes      

within itself both an admission that our
  life is evil and wrong1 and in        
connection with this1--as though it were
  an exercise for it1--that it is       
impossible1 nevertheless1 to change it1 
this question ,i have heard1 and ,i     
continue to hear1 on all sides4  ,i have
  described my own sufferings1 my own   
gropings1 and my own solution of this   
question4  ,i am the same kind of a man 
as everybody else2 and if ,i am in  any 
wise distinguished from the average man 
of our circle1 it is chiefly  in this   
respect1 that ,i1 more than the average 
man1 have served and  winked at the     
false doctrine of our world2 ,i have    
received more  approbation from men     
professing the prevailing doctrine3 and 
therefore1  more than others1 have ,i   
become depraved1 and wandered from the  
path4  ,and  therefore ,i think that the
 solution of the problem1 which ,i have 
found in  my own case1 will be          
applicable to all sincere people who are
 propounding  the same question to      

themselves4    ,first of all1 in answer 
to the question1 ,what is to be done8 ,i
 told  myself3 ,i must lie neither to   
other people nor to myself4  ,i must not
  fear the truth1 whithersoever it may  
lead me4    ,we all know what it means  
to lie to other people1 but we are not  
afraid  to lie to ourselves2 yet the    
very worst downright lie1 to other      
people1  is not to be compared in its   
consequences with the lie to ourselves1 
upon  which we base our whole life4     
,this is the lie of which we must not be
 guilty if we are to be in a  position  
to answer the question3 ,what is to be  
done8  ,and1 in fact1 how  am ,i to     
answer the question1 ,what is to be     
done8 when every thing that  ,i do1 when
 my whole life1 is founded on a lie1 and
 when ,i carefully  parade this lie as  
the truth before others and before      
myself8  ,not to  lie1 in this sense1   
means not to fear the truth1 not to     
devise  subterfuges1 and not to accept  
the subterfuges devised by others for   

the  purpose of hiding from myself the  
deductions of my reason and my          
conscience2 not to fear to part company 
with all those who surround me1  and to 
remain alone in company with reason and 
conscience2 not to fear  that position  
to which the truth shall lead me1 being 
firmly convinced  that that position to 
which truth and conscience shall conduct
 me1  however singular it may be1 cannot
 be worse than the one which is founded 
on a lie4  ,not to lie1 in our position 
of privileged persons of mental  labor1 
means1 not to be afraid to reckon one's 
self up wrongly4  ,it is  possible that 
you are already so deeply indebted that 
you cannot take  stock of yourself2 but 
to whatever extent this may be the case1
 however  long may be the account1      
however far you have strayed from the   
path1 it  is still better than to       
continue therein4  ,a lie to other      
people is not  alone unprofitable2 every
 matter is settled more directly and    
more  speedily by the truth than by a   

lie4  ,a lie to others only entangles   
matters1 and delays the settlement2 but 
a lie to one's self1 set forth as  the  
truth1 ruins a man's whole life4  ,if a 
man1 having entered on the  wrong path1 
assumes that it is the true one1 then   
every step that he  takes on that path  
removes him farther from his goal4  ,if 
a man who has  long been travelling on  
this false path divines for himself1 or 
is  informed by some one1 that his      
course is a mistaken one1 but grows     
alarmed at the idea that he has wandered
 very far astray and tries to  convince 
himself that he may1 possibly1 still    
strike into the right road1  then he    
never will get into it4  ,if a man      
quails before the truth1 and1  on       
perceiving it1 does not accept it1 but  
does accept a lie for the  truth1 then  
he never will learn what he ought to do4
  ,we1 the not only  wealthy1 but       
privileged and so-called cultivated     
persons1 have advanced  so far on the   
wrong road1 that a great deal of        

determination1 or a very  great deal of 
suffering on the wrong road1 is         
required1 in order to bring  us to our  
senses and to the acknowledgment of the 
lie in which we are  living4  ,i have   
perceived the lie of our lives1 thanks  
to the sufferings  which the false path 
entailed upon me1 and1 having recognized
 the  falseness of this path on which ,i
 stood1 ,i have had the boldness to go  
at  first in thought only--whither      
reason and conscience led me1 without   
reflecting where they would bring me    
out4  ,and ,i have been rewarded for    
this boldness4    ,all the complicated1 
broken1 tangled1 and incoherent         
phenomena of life  surrounding me1 have 
suddenly become clear2 and my position  
in the midst  of these phenomena1 which 
was formerly strange and burdensome1 has
  become1 all at once1 natural1 and easy
 to bear4    ,in this new position1 my  
activity was defined with perfect       
accuracy2 not  at all as it had         
previously presented itself to me1 but  

as a new and much  more peaceful1       
loving1 and joyous activity4  ,the very 
thing which had  formerly terrified me1 
now began to attract me4  ,hence ,i     
think1 that the  man who will honestly  
put to himself the question1 ,what is to
 be done8  and1 replying to this query1 
will not lie to himself1 but will go    
whither  his reason leads1 has already  
solved the problem4    ,there is only   
one thing that can hinder him in his    
search for an  issue1--an erroneously   
lofty idea of himself and of his        
position4  ,this  was the case with me2 
and then another1 arising from the first
 answer to  the question3 ,what is to be
 done8 consisted for me in this1 that it
 was  necessary for me to repent1 in the
 full sense of that word1--i4e41 to     
entirely alter my conception of my      
position and my activity2 to confess    
the hurtfulness and emptiness of my     
activity1 instead of its utility and    
gravity2 to confess my own ignorance    
instead of culture2 to confess my       

immorality and harshness in the place of
 my kindness and morality2  instead of  
my elevation1 to acknowledge my         
lowliness4  ,i say1 that in  addition to
 not lying to myself1 ,i had to repent1 
because1 although the  one flows from   
the other1 a false conception of my     
lofty importance had  so grown up with  
me1 that1 until ,i sincerely repented   
and cut myself free  from that false    
estimate which ,i had formed of myself1 
,i did not perceive  the greater part of
 the lie of which ,i had been guilty to 
myself4  ,only  when ,i had repented1   
that is to say1 when ,i had ceased to   
look upon  myself as a regular man1 and 
had begun to regard myself as a man     
exactly  like every one else1--only then
 did my path become clear before me4    
,before that time ,i had not been able  
to answer the question3 ,what is to  be 
done8 because ,i had stated the question
 itself wrongly4    ,as long as ,i did  
not repent1 ,i put the question thus3   
,what sphere of  activity should ,i     

choose1 ,i1 the man who has received the
 education and  the talents which have  
fallen to my shame8  ,how1 in this      
fashion1 make  recompense with that     
education and those talents1 for what ,i
 have taken1  and for what ,i still     
take1 from the people8  ,this question  
was wrong1  because it contained a false
 representation1 to the effect that ,i  
was not  a man just like them1 but a    
peculiar man called to serve the people 
with  those talents and with that       
education which ,i had won by the       
efforts of  forty years4    ,i          
propounded the query to myself2 but1 in 
reality1 ,i had answered it in  advance1
 in that ,i had in advance defined the  
sort of activity which was  agreeable to
 me1 and by which ,i was called upon to 
serve the people4  ,i  had1 in fact1    
asked myself3 ,in what manner could ,i1 
so very fine a  writer1 who had acquired
 so much learning and talents1 make use 
of them  for the benefit of the people8 
,but the question should have been put  

as it would have stood for a  learned   
rabbi who had gone through the course of
 the ,talmud1 and had  learned by heart 
the number of letters in all the holy   
books1 and all the  fine points of his  
art4  ,the question for me1 as for the  
rabbi1 should  stand thus3 ,what am ,i1 
who have spent1 owing to the misfortune 
of my  surroundings1 the year's best    
fitted for study in the acquisition of  
grammar1 geography1 judicial science1   
poetry1 novels and romances1 the        
,french language1 pianoforte playing1   
philosophical theories1 and military    
exercises1 instead of inuring myself to 
labor2 what am ,i1 who have passed  the 
best years of my life in idle           
occupations which are corrupting to the 
soul1--what am ,i to do in defiance of  
these unfortunate conditions of the     
past1 in order that ,i may requite those
 people who during the whole time  have 
fed and clothed1 yes1 and who even now  
continue to feed and clothe  me8  ,had  
the question then stood as it stands    

before me now1 after ,i  have           
repented1--,what am ,i1 so corrupt a    
man1 to do8 the answer would  have been 
easy3 ,to strive1 first of all1 to      
support myself honestly2  that is1 to   
learn not to live upon others2 and while
 ,i am learning1 and  when ,i have      
learned this1 to render aid on all      
possible occasions to the  people1 with 
my hands1 and my feet1 and my brain1 and
 my heart1 and with  every thing to     
which the people should present a claim4
    ,and therefore ,i say1 that for the 
man of our circle1 in addition to not   
lying to himself or to others1          
repentance is also necessary1 and that  
he  should scrape from himself that     
pride which has sprung up in us1 in our 
culture1 in our refinements1 in our     
talents2 and that he should confess     
that he is not a benefactor of the      
people and a distinguished man1 who     
does not refuse to share with the people
 his useful acquirements1 but  that he  
should confess himself to be a          

thoroughly guilty1 corrupt1 and         
good-for-nothing man1 who desires to    
reform himself and not to behave        
benevolently towards the people1 but    
simply to cease wounding and  insulting 
them4    ,i often hear the questions of 
good young men who sympathize with the  
renunciatory part of my writings1 and   
who ask1 ,well1 and what then shall  ,i 
do8  ,what am ,i to do1 now that ,i have
 finished my course in the  university1 
or in some other institution1 in order  
that ,i may be of use8  ,young men ask  
this1 and in the depths of their soul it
 is already decided  that the education 
which they have received constitutes    
their privilege  and that they desire to
 serve the people precisely by means of 
thus  superiority4  ,and hence1 one     
thing which they will in no wise do1 is 
to  bear themselves honestly and        
critically towards that which they call 
their culture1 and ask themselves1 are  
those qualities which they call  their  
culture good or bad8  ,if they will do  

this1 they will infallibly be  led to   
see the necessity of renouncing their   
culture1 and the necessity  of beginning
 to learn all over again2 and this is   
the one indispensable  thing4  ,they can
 in no wise solve the problem1 ,what to 
do8 because this  question does not     
stand before them as it should stand4   
,the question  must stand thus3 ,in what
 manner am ,i1 a helpless1 useless man1 
who1  owing to the misfortune of my     
conditions1 have wasted my best years of
  study in conning the scientific       
,talmud which corrupts soul and body1 to
  correct this mistake1 and learn to    
serve the people8  ,but it presents     
itself to them thus3 ,how am ,i1 a man  
who has acquired so much very fine      
learning1 to turn this very fine        
learning to the use of the people8  ,and
  such a man will never answer the      
question1 ,what is to be done8 until he 
repents4  ,and repentance is not        
terrible1 just as truth is not terrible1
  and it is equally joyful and fruitful4

  ,it is only necessary to accept  the  
truth wholly1 and to repent wholly1 in  
order to understand that no  one        
possesses any rights1 privileges1 or    
peculiarities in the matter of  this    
life of ours1 but that there are no ends
 or bounds to obligation1  and that a   
man's first and most indubitable duty is
 to take part in the  struggle with     
nature for his own life and for the     
lives of others4    ,and this confession
 of a man's obligation constitutes the  
gist of the  third answer to the        
question1 ,what is to be done8    ,i    
tried not to lie to myself3 ,i tried to 
cast out from myself the remains  of my 
false conceptions of the importance of  
my education and talents1  and to       
repent2 but on the way to a decision of 
the question1 ,what to  do8 a fresh     
difficulty arose4  ,there are so many   
different occupations1  that an         
indication was necessary as to the      
precise one which was to be  adopted4   
,and the answer to this question was    

furnished me by sincere  repentance for 
the evil in which ,i had lived4    ,what
 to do8  ,precisely what to do8 all ask1
 and that is what ,i also  asked so long
 as1 under the influence of my exalted  
idea of any own  importance1 ,i did not 
perceive that my first and              
unquestionable duty was  to feed myself1
 to clothe myself1 to furnish my own    
fuel1 to do my own  building1 and1 by so
 doing1 to serve others1 because1 ever  
since the  would has existed1 the first 
and indubitable duty of every man has   
consisted and does consist in this4     
,in fact1 no matter what a man may have 
assumed to be his  vocation1--whether it
 be to govern people1 to defend his     
fellow-countrymen1 to divine service1 to
 instruct others1 to invent means  to   
heighten the pleasures of life1 to      
discover the laws of the world1 to      
incorporate eternal truths in artistic  
representations1--the duty of a         
reasonable man is to take part in the   
struggle with nature1 for the           

sustenance of his own life and of that  
of others4  ,this obligation is the     
first of all1 because what people need  
most of all is their life2 and          
therefore1 in order to defend and       
instruct the people1 and render their   
lives more agreeable1 it is requisite to
 preserve that life itself1 while  my   
refusal to share in the struggle1 my    
monopoly of the labors of others1  is   
equivalent to annihilation of the lives 
of others4  ,and1 therefore1 it  is not 
rational to serve the lives of men by   
annihilating the lives of  men2 and it  
is impossible to say that ,i am serving 
men1 when1 by my life1  ,i am obviously 
injuring them4    ,a man's obligation to
 struggle with nature for the           
acquisition of the  means of livelihood 
will always be the first and most       
unquestionable of  all obligations1     
because this obligation is a law of     
life1 departure from  which entails the 
inevitable punishment of either bodily  
or mental  annihilation of the life of  

man4  ,if a man living alone excuses    
himself  from the obligation of         
struggling with nature1 he is           
immediately  punished1 in that his body 
perishes4  ,but if a man excuses himself
 from  this obligation by making other  
people fulfil it for him1 then also he  
is  immediately punished by the         
annihilation of his mental life2 that is
 to  say1 of the life which possesses   
rational thought4    ,in this one act1  
man receives--if the two things are to  
be separated--full  satisfaction of the 
bodily and spiritual demands of his     
nature4  ,the  feeding1 clothing1 and   
taking care of himself and his family1  
constitute  the satisfaction of the     
bodily demands and requirements2 and    
doing the  same for other people1       
constitutes the satisfaction of his     
spiritual  requirements4  ,every other  
employment of man is only legal when it 
is  directed to the satisfaction of this
 very first duty of man2 for the        
fulfilment of this duty constitutes the 

whole life of man4    ,i had been so    
turned about by my previous life1 this  
first and  indubitable law of ,god or of
 nature is so concealed in our sphere of
  society1 that the fulfilment of this  
law seemed to me strange1 terrible1     
even shameful2 as though the fulfilment 
of an eternal1 unquestionable  law1 and 
not the departure from it1 can be       
terrible1 strange1 and  shameful4    ,at
 first it seemed to me that the         
fulfilment of this matter required some 
preparation1 arrangement or community of
 men1 holding similar views1--the       
consent of one's family1 life in the    
country2 it seemed to me disgraceful  to
 make a show of myself before people1 to
 undertake a thing so improper  in our  
conditions of existence1 as bodily toil1
 and ,i did not know how to  set about  
it4  ,but it was only necessary for me  
to understand that this  is no exclusive
 occupation which requires to be        
invented and arranged  for1 but that    
this employment was merely a return from

 the false position  in which ,i found  
myself1 to a natural one2 was only a    
rectification of  that lie in which ,i  
was living4  ,i had only to recognize   
this fact1 and  all these difficulties  
vanished4  ,it was not in the least     
necessary to  make preparations and     
arrangements1 and to await the consent  
of others1  for1 no matter in what      
position ,i had found myself1 there had 
always been  people who had fed1 clothed
 and warmed me1 in addition to          
themselves2 and  everywhere1 under all  
conditions1 ,i could do the same for    
myself and for  them1 if ,i had the time
 and the strength4  ,neither could ,i   
experience  false shame in an unwonted  
occupation1 no matter how surprising it 
might  be to people1 because1 through   
not doing it1 ,i had already experienced
  not false but real shame4    ,and when
 ,i had reached this confession and the 
practical deduction from  it1 ,i was    
fully rewarded for not having quailed   
before the deductions of  reason1 and   

for following whither they led me4  ,on 
arriving at this  practical deduction1  
,i was amazed at the ease and simplicity
 with which  all the problems which had 
previously seemed to me so difficult and
 so  complicated1 were solved4    ,to   
the question1 ,what is it necessary to  
do8 the most indubitable  answer        
presented itself3 first of all1 that    
which it was necessary for me  to do    
was1 to attend to my own samovar1 my own
 stove1 my own water1 my  own clothing2 
to every thing that ,i could do for     
myself4  ,to the  question1 ,will it not
 seem strange to people if you do this8 
it  appeared that this strangeness      
lasted only a week1 and after the lapse 
of  that week1 it would have seemed     
strange had ,i returned to my former    
conditions of life4  ,with regard to the
 question1 ,is it necessary to  organize
 this physical labor1 to institute an   
association in the country1  on my land8
 it appeared that nothing of the sort   
was necessary2 that  labor1 if it does  

not aim at the acquisition of all       
possible leisure1 and  the enjoyment of 
the labor of others1--like the labor of 
people bent on  accumulating money1--but
 if it have for its object the          
satisfaction of  requirements1 will     
itself be drawn from the city to the    
country1 to the  land1 where this labor 
is the most fruitful and cheerful4  ,but
 it is not  requisite to institute any  
association1 because the man who labors1
  naturally and of himself1 attaches    
himself to the existing association of  
laboring men4    ,to the question1      
whether this labor would not monopolize 
all my time1 and  deprive me of those   
intellectual pursuits which ,i love1 to 
which ,i am  accustomed1 and which1 in  
my moments of self-conceit1 ,i regard as
 not  useless to others8 ,i received a  
most unexpected reply4  ,the energy of  
my  intellectual activity increased1 and
 increased in exact proportion with     
bodily application1 while freeing itself
 from every thing superfluous4  ,it     

appeared that by dedicating to physical 
toil eight hours1 that half of  the day 
which ,i had formerly passed in the     
oppressive state of a struggle  with    
ennui1 eight hours remained to me1 of   
which only five of  intellectual        
activity1 according to my terms1 were   
necessary to me4  ,for  it appeared1    
that if ,i1 a very voluminous writer1   
who had done nothing  for nearly forty  
years except write1 and who had written 
three hundred  printed sheets2--if ,i   
had worked during all those forty years 
at ordinary  labor with the             
working-people1 then1 not reckoning     
winter evenings and  leisure days1 if ,i
 had read and studied for five hours    
every day1 and had  written a couple of 
pages only on holidays 7and ,i have been
 in the habit  of writing at the rate of
 one printed sheet a day71 then ,i      
should have  written those three hundred
 sheets in fourteen years4  ,the fact   
seemed  startling3 yet it is the most   
simple arithmetical calculation1 which  

can  be made by a seven-year-old boy1   
but which ,i had not been able to make  
up  to this time4  ,there are           
twenty-four hours in the day2 if we take
 away  eight hours1 sixteen remain4  ,if
 any man engaged in intellectual        
occupations devote five hours every day 
to his occupation1 he will  accomplish a
 fearful amount4  ,and what is to be    
done with the remaining  eleven hours8  
,it proved that physical labor not only 
does not exclude the possibility  of    
mental activity1 but that it improves   
its quality1 and encourages it4    ,in  
answer to the question1 whether this    
physical toil does not deprive me  of   
many innocent pleasures peculiar to man1
 such as the enjoyment of the  arts1 the
 acquisition of learning1 intercourse   
with people1 and the  delights of life  
in general1 it turned out exactly the   
reverse3 the more  intense the labor1   
the more nearly it approached what is   
considered the  coarsest agricultural   
toil1 the more enjoyment and knowledge  

did ,i gain1  and the more did ,i come  
into close and loving communion with    
men1 and the  more happiness did ,i     
derive from life4    ,in answer to the  
question 7which ,i have so often heard  
from persons not  thoroughly sincere71  
as to what result could flow from so    
insignificant a  drop in the sea of     
sympathy as my individual physical labor
 in the sea of  labor ingulfing me1 ,i  
received also the most satisfactory and 
unexpected  of answers4  ,it appeared   
that all ,i had to do was to make       
physical labor  the habitual condition  
of my life1 and the majority of my      
false1 but  precious1 habits and my     
demands1 when physically idle1 fell away
 from me  at once of their own accord1  
without the slightest exertion on my    
part4  ,not to mention the habit of     
turning day into night and vice versa1  
my  habits connected with my bed1 with  
my clothing1 with conventional          
cleanliness1--which are downright       
impossible and oppressive with physical 

labor1--and my demands as to the quality
 of my food1 were entirely  changed4    
,in place of the dainty1 rich1 refined1 
complicated1  highly-spiced food1 to    
which ,i had formerly inclined1 the most
 simple  viands became needful and most 
pleasing of all to me1--cabbage-soup1   
porridge1 black bread1 and tea v        
prikusku4 #bch  ,so that1 not to        
mention the influence upon me of the    
example of the simple  working-people1  
who are content with little1 with whom  
,i came in contact  in the course of my 
bodily toil1 my very requirements       
underwent a change  in consequence of my
 toilsome life2 so that my drop of      
physical labor in  the sea of universal 
labor became larger and larger1 in      
proportion as ,i  accustomed myself to1 
and appropriated1 the habits of the     
laboring  classes2 in proportion1 also1 
to the success of my labor1 my demands  
for  labor from others grew less and    
less1 and my life naturally1 without    
exertion or privations1 approached that 

simple existence of which ,i could  not 
even dream without fulfilling the law of
 labor4    ,it proved that my dearest   
demands from life1 namely1 my demands   
for  vanity1 and diversion from ennui1  
arose directly from my idle life4       
,there was no place for vanity1 in      
connection with physical labor2 and no  
diversions were needed1 since my time   
was pleasantly occupied1 and1 after  my 
fatigue1 simple rest at tea over a book1
 or in conversation with my  fellows1   
was incomparably more agreeable than    
theatres1 cards1 conceits1  or a large  
company1--all which things are needed in
 physical idleness1  and which cost a   
great deal4    ,in answer to the        
question1 ,would not this unaccustomed  
toil ruin that  health which is         
indispensable in order to render service
 to the people  possible8 it appeared1  
in spite of the positive assertions of  
noted  physicians1 that physical        
exertion1 especially at my age1 might   
have the  most injurious consequences   

7but that ,swedish gymnastics1 the      
massage  treatment1 and so on1 and other
 expedients intended to take the place  
of  the natural conditions of man's     
life1 were better71 that the more       
intense  the toil1 the stronger1 more   
alert1 more cheerful1 and more kindly   
did ,i  feel4  ,thus it undoubtedly     
appeared1 that1 just as all those       
cunning  devices of the human mind1     
newspapers1 theatres1 concerts1 visits1 
balls1  cards1 journals1 romances1 are  
nothing else than expedients for        
maintaining the spiritual life of man   
outside his natural conditions of  labor
 for others1--just so all the hygienic  
and medical devices of the  human mind  
for the preparation of food1 drink1     
lodging1 ventilation1  heating1         
clothing1 medicine1 water1 massage1     
gymnastics1 electric1 and  other means  
of healing1--all these clever devices   
are merely an expedient  to sustain the 
bodily life of man removed from its     
natural conditions of  labor4  ,it      

turned out that all these devices of the
 human mind for the  agreeable          
arrangement of the physical existence of
 idle persons are  precisely analogous  
to those artful contrivances which      
people might  invent for the production 
in vessels hermetically sealed1 by means
 of  mechanical arrangements1 of        
evaporation1 and plants1 of the air best
  fitted for breathing1 when all that is
 needed is to open the window4  ,all    
the inventions of medicine and hygiene  
for persons of our sphere are much  the 
same as though a mechanic should hit    
upon the idea of heating a steam-       
boiler which was not working1 and should
 shut all the valves so that the  boiler
 should not burst4  ,only one thing is  
needed1 instead of all these  extremely 
complicated devices for pleasure1 for   
comfort1 and for medical  and hygienic  
preparations1 intended to save people   
from their spiritual  and bodily        
ailments1 which swallow up so much      
labor1--to fulfil the law  of life2 to  

do that which is proper not only to man1
 but to the animal2  to fire off the    
charge of energy taken win in the shape 
of food1 by  muscular exertion2 to speak
 in plain language1 to earn one's bread4
  ,those  who do not work should not    
eat1 or they should earn as much as they
 have  eaten4    ,and when ,i clearly   
comprehended all this1 it struck me as  
ridiculous4  ,through a whole series of 
doubts and searchings1 ,i had arrived1  
by a long  course of thought1 at this   
remarkable truth3 if a man has eyes1 it 
is  that he may see with them2 if he has
 ears1 that he may hear2 and feet1  that
 he may walk2 and hands and back1 that  
he may labor2 and that if a  man will   
not employ those members for that       
purpose for which they are  intended1 it
 will be the worse for him4    ,i came  
to this conclusion1 that1 with us       
privileged people1 the same  thing has  
happened which happened with the horses 
of a friend of mine4  ,his steward1 who 
was not a lover of horses1 nor well     

versed in them1 on  receiving his       
master's orders to place the best horses
 in the stable1  selected them from the 
stud1 placed them in stalls1 and fed and
 watered  them2 but fearing for the     
valuable steeds1 he could not bring     
himself to  trust them to any one1 and  
he neither rode nor drove them1 nor did 
he  even take them out4  ,the horses    
stood there until they were good for    
nothing4  ,the same thing has happened  
with us1 but with this difference3  that
 it was impossible to deceive the horses
 in any way1 and they were  kept in     
bonds to prevent their getting out2 but 
we are kept in an  unnatural position   
that is equally injurious to us1 by     
deceits which have  entangled us1 and   
which hold us like chains4    ,we have  
arranged for ourselves a life that is   
repugnant both to the moral  and the    
physical nature of man1 and all the     
powers of our intelligence we           
concentrate upon assuring man that this 
is the most natural life  possible4     

,every thing which we call culture1--our
 sciences1 art1 and the  perfection of  
the pleasant thing's of life1--all these
 are attempts to  deceive the moral     
requirements of man2 every thing that is
 called hygiene  and medicine1 is an    
attempt to deceive the natural physical 
demands of  human nature4  ,but these   
deceits have their bounds1 and we       
advance to  them4  ,if such be the real 
human life1 then it is better not to    
live at  all1 says the reigning and     
extremely fashionable philosophy of     
,schopenhauer and ,hartmann4  ,if such  
is life1 'tis better for the coming     
generation not to live1 say corrupt     
medical science and its newly  devised  
means to that end4    ,in the ,bible1 it
 is laid down as the law of man3 ,in the
 sweat of thy  face shalt thou eat      
bread1 and in sorrow thou shalt bring   
forth  children2 but nous avons change  
tout ca1 as ,moliere's character  says1 
when expressing himself with regard to  
medicine1 and asserting that  the liver 

was on the left side4  ,we have changed 
all that4  ,men need not  work in order 
to eat1 and women need not bear         
children4    ,a ragged peasant roams the
 ,krapivensky district4  ,during the war
 he was  an agent for the purchase of   
grain1 under an official of the         
commissary  department4  ,on being      
brought in contact with the official1   
and seeing  his luxurious life1 the     
peasant lost his mind1 and thought that 
he might  get along without work1 like  
gentlemen1 and receive proper support   
from  the ,emperor4  ,this peasant now  
calls himself the ,most ,serene         
,warrior1  ,prince ,blokhin1 purveyor of
 war supplies of all descriptions4  ,he 
says  of himself that he has passed     
through all the ranks1 and that when he 
shall have served out his term in the   
army1 he is to receive from the         
,emperor an unlimited bank account1     
clothes1 uniforms1 horses1 equipages1   
tea1 pease and servants1 and all sorts  
of luxuries4  ,this man is  ridiculous  

in the eyes of many1 but to me the      
significance of his madness  is         
terrible4  ,to the question1 whether he 
does not wish to work1 he  always       
replies proudly3 ,i am much obliged4    
,the peasants will attend to  all that4 
,when you tell him that the peasants do 
not wish to work1  either1 he answers3  
,it is not difficult for the peasant4   
,he generally talks in a high-flown     
style1 and is fond of verbal            
substantives4  ,now there is an         
invention of machinery for the          
alleviation of the peasants1 he says2   
there is no difficulty for them  in     
that4  ,when he is asked what he lives  
for1 he replies1 ,to pass the  time4  ,i
 always look on this man as on a mirror4
  ,i behold in him myself  and all my   
class4  ,to pass through all the ranks  
7tchini7 in order to  live for the      
purpose of passing the time1 and to     
receive an unlimited  bank account1     
while the peasants1 for whom this is not
 difficult1 because  of the invention of

 machinery1 do the whole business1--this
 is the  complete formula of the idiotic
 creed of the people of our sphere in   
society4    ,when we inquire precisely  
what we are to do1 surely1 we ask       
nothing1 but  merely assert--only not in
 such good faith as the ,most ,serene   
,prince  ,blokhin1 who has been promoted
 through all ranks1 and lost his        
mind--that  we do not wish to do any    
thing4    ,he who will reflect for a    
moment cannot ask thus1 because1 on the 
one  hand1 every thing that he uses has 
been made1 and is made1 by the hands  of
 men2 and1 on the other side1 as soon as
 a healthy man has awakened and  eaten1 
the necessity of working with feet and  
hands and brain makes  itself felt4  ,in
 order to find work and to work1 he need
 only not hold  back3 only a person who 
thinks work disgraceful--like the lady  
who  requests her guest not to take the 
trouble to open the door1 but to wait   
until she can call a man for this       
purpose--can put to himself the         

question1 what he is to do4    ,the     
point does not lie in inventing         
work1--you can never get through all    
the work that is to be done for yourself
 and for others1--but the point  lies in
 weaning one's self from that criminal  
view of life in accordance  with which  
,i eat and sleep for my own pleasure2   
and in appropriating to  myself that    
just and simple view with which the     
laboring man grows up and  lives1--that 
man is1 first of all1 a machine1 which  
loads itself with  food in order to     
sustain itself1 and that it is therefore
 disgraceful1  wrong1 and impossible to 
eat and not to work2 that to eat and not
 to work  is the most impious1          
unnatural1 and1 therefore1 dangerous    
position1 in  the nature of the sin of  
,sodom4  ,only let this acknowledgement 
be made1  and there will be work2 and   
work will always be joyous and          
satisfying to  both spiritual and bodily
 requirements4    ,the matter presented 
itself to me thus3 ,the day is divided  

for every man1  by food itself1 into    
four parts1 or four stints1 as the      
peasants call it3  7#a7 before          
breakfast2 7#b7 from breakfast until    
dinner2 7#c7 from dinner  until four    
o'clock2 7#d7 from four o'clock until   
evening4    ,a man's employment1        
whatever it may be that he feels a need 
for in his  own person1 is also divided 
into four categories3 7#a7 the muscular 
employment of power1 labor of the hands1
 feet1 shoulders1 back1--hard  labor1   
from which you sweat2 7#b7 the          
employment of the fingers and  wrists1  
the employment of artisan skill2 7#c7   
the employment of the mind  and         
imagination2 7#d7 the employment of     
intercourse with others4    ,the        
benefits which man enjoys are also      
divided into four categories4  ,every   
man enjoys1 in the first place1 the     
product of hard labor1--grain1  cattle1 
buildings1 wells1 ponds1 and so forth2  
in the second place1 the  results of    
artisan toil1--clothes1 boots1 utensils1

 and so forth2 in the  third place1 the 
products of mental activity1--science1  
art2 and1 in the  forth place1          
established intercourse between people4 
,and it struck me1 that the best thing  
of all would be to arrange the          
occupations of the day in such a manner 
as to exercise all four of man's        
capacities1 and myself produce all these
 four sorts of benefits which men  make 
use of1 so that one portion of the day1 
the first1 should be  dedicated to hard 
labor2 the second1 to intellectual      
labor2 the third1 to  artisan labor2 and
 the forth1 to intercourse with people4 
,it struck me1  that only then would    
that false division of labor1 which     
exists in our  society1 be abrogated1   
and that just division of labor         
established1 which  does not destroy    
man's happiness4    ,i1 for example1    
have busied myself all my life with     
intellectual labor4  ,i  said to myself1
 that ,i had so divided labor1 that     
writing1 that is to  say1 intellectual  

labor1 is my special employment1 and the
 other matters  which were necessary to 
me ,i had left free 7or relegated1      
rather7 to  others4  ,but this1 which   
would appear to have been the most      
advantageous  arrangement for           
intellectual toil1 was precisely the    
most disadvantageous  to mental labor1  
not to mention its injustice4    ,all my
 life long1 ,i have regulated my whole  
life1 food1 sleep1 diversion1  in view  
of these hours of special labor1 and ,i 
have done nothing except  this work4    
,the result of this has been1 in the    
first place1 that ,i have  contracted my
 sphere of observations and knowledge1  
and have frequently  had no means for   
the study even of problems which often  
presented  themselves in describing the 
life of the people 7for the life of the 
common people is the every-day problem  
of intellectual activity74  ,i was      
conscious of my ignorance1 and was      
obliged to obtain instruction1 to ask   
about things which are known by every   

man not engaged in special labor4  ,in  
the second place1 the result was1 that  
,i had been in the habit of  sitting    
down to write when ,i had no inward     
impulse to write1 and when no  one      
demanded from me writing1 as writing1   
that is to say1 my thoughts1  but when  
my name was merely wanted for           
journalistic speculation4  ,i tried  to 
squeeze out of myself what ,i could4    
,sometimes ,i could extract  nothing2   
sometimes it was very wretched stuff1   
and ,i was dissatisfied and  grieved4   
,but now that ,i have learned the       
indispensability of physical  labor1    
both hard and artisan labor1 the result 
is entirely different4  ,my  time has   
been occupied1 however modestly1 at     
least usefully and  cheerfully1 and in a
 manner instructive to me4  ,and        
therefore ,i have torn  myself from that
 indubitably useful and cheerful        
occupation for my  special duties only  
when ,i felt an inward impulse1 and when
 ,i saw a  demand made upon me directly 

for my literary work4    ,and these     
demands called into play only good      
nature1 and therefore the  usefulness   
and the joy of my special labor4  ,thus 
it turned out1 that  employment in those
 physical labors which are indispensable
 to me1 as  they are to every man1 not  
only did not interfere with my special  
activity1 but was an indispensable      
condition of the usefulness1 worth1  and
 cheerfulness of that activity4    ,the 
bird is so constructed1 that it is      
indispensable that it should fly1  walk1
 peek1 combine2 and when it does all    
this1 it is satisfied and  happy1--then 
it is a bird4  ,just so man1 when he    
walks1 turns1 raises1  drags1 works with
 his fingers1 with his eyes1 with his   
ears1 with his  tongue1 with his        
brain1--only then is he satisfied1 only 
then is he a  man4    ,a man who        
acknowledges his appointment to labor   
will naturally strive  towards that     
rotation of labor which is peculiar to  
him1 for the  satisfaction of his inward

 requirements2 and he can alter this    
labor in  no other way than when he     
feels within himself an irresistible    
summons to  some exclusive form of      
labor1 and when the demands of other men
 for that  labor are expressed4    ,the 
character of labor is such1 that the    
satisfaction of all a man's             
requirements demands that same          
succession of the sorts of work which   
renders work not a burden but a joy4    
,only a false creed1 ,greek text  which 
cannot be reproduced1 to the effect that
 labor is a curse1 could  have led men  
to rid themselves of certain kinds of   
work2 i4e41 to the  appropriation of the
 work of others1 demanding the forced   
occupation with  special labor of other 
people1 which they call division of     
labor4    ,we have only grown used to   
our false comprehension of the          
regulation of  labor1 because it seems  
to us that the shoemaker1 the machinist1
 the  writer1 or the musician will be   
better off if he gets rid of the labor  

peculiar to man4  ,where there is no    
force exercised over the labor of       
others1 or any false belief in the joy  
of idleness1 not a single man will  get 
rid of physical labor1 necessary for the
 satisfaction of his  requirements1 for 
the sake of special work2 because       
special work is not a  privilege1 but a 
sacrifice which man offers to inward    
pressure and to his  brethren4    ,the  
shoemaker in the country1 who abandons  
his wonted labor in the field1  which is
 so grateful to him1 and betakes himself
 to his trade1 in order  to repair or   
make boots for his neighbors1 always    
deprives himself of the  pleasant toil  
of the field1 simply because he likes to
 make boots1  because he knows that no  
one else can do it so well as he1 and   
that  people will be grateful to him for
 it2 but the desire cannot occur to     
him1 to deprive himself1 for the whole  
period of his life1 of the  cheering    
rotation of labor4    ,it is the same   
with the starosta village elder1 the    

machinist1 the  writer1 the learned man4
  ,to us1 with our corrupt conception of
 things1  it seems1 that if a steward   
has been relegated to the position of a 
peasant by his master1 or if a minister 
has been sent to the colonies1 he  has  
been chastised1 he has been ill-treated4
  ,but in reality a benefit  has been   
conferred on him2 that is to say1 his   
special1 hard labor has  been changed   
into a cheerful rotation of labor4  ,in 
a naturally  constituted society1 this  
is quite otherwise4  ,i know of one     
community  where the people supported   
themselves4  ,one of the members of this
  society was better educated than the  
rest2 and they called upon him to  read1
 so that he was obliged to prepare      
himself during the day1 in order  that  
he might read in the evening4  ,this he 
did gladly1 feeling that he  was useful 
to others1 and that he was performing a 
good deed4  ,but he  grew weary of      
exclusively intellectual work1 and his  
health suffered from  it4  ,the members 

of the community took pity on him1 and  
requested him to  go to work in the     
fields4    ,for men who regard labor as 
the substance and the joy of life1 the  
basis1  the foundation of life will     
always be the struggle with             
nature1--labor  both agricultural and   
mechanical1 and intellectual1 and the   
establishment  of communion between men4
  ,departure from one or from many of   
these  varieties of labor1 and the      
adoption of special labor1 will then    
only  occur when the man possessed of a 
special branch1 and loving this work1   
and knowing that he can perform it      
better than others1 sacrifices his own  
profit for the satisfaction of the      
direct demands made upon him4  ,only on 
condition of such a view of labor1 and  
of the natural division of labor        
arising from it1 is that curse which is 
laid upon our idea of labor  abrogated1 
and does every sort of work becomes     
always a joy2 because a  man will either
 perform that labor which is undoubtedly

 useful and  joyous1 and not dull1 or he
 will possess the consciousness of      
self-abnegation in the fulfilment of    
more difficult and restricted toil1     
which he exercises for the good of      
others4    ,but the division of labor is
 more profitable4  ,more profitable for 
whom8  ,it is more profitable in making 
the greatest possible quantity of       
calico1  and boots in the shortest      
possible time4  ,but who will make these
 boots  and this calico8  ,there are    
people who1 for whole generations1 make 
only  the heads of pins4  ,then how can 
this be more profitable for men8  ,if   
the  point lies in manufacturing as much
 calico and as many pins as possible1   
then this is so4  ,but the point        
concerns men and their welfare4  ,and   
the  welfare of men lies in life4  ,and 
life is work4  ,how1 then1 can the      
necessity for burdensome1 oppressive    
toil be more profitable for people8     
,for all men1 that one thing is more    
profitable which ,i desire for          

myself1--the utmost well-being1 and the 
gratification of all those              
requirements1 both bodily and spiritual1
 of the conscience and of the  reason1  
which are imposed upon me4  ,and in my  
own case ,i have found1 that  for my own
 welfare1 and for the satisfaction of   
these needs of mine1 all  that ,i       
require is to cure myself of that folly 
in which ,i had been  living1 in company
 with the ,krapivensky madman1 and which
 consisted in  presupposing that some   
people need not work1 and that certain  
other  people should direct all this1   
and that ,i should therefore do only    
that  which is natural to man1 i4e41    
labor for the satisfaction of their     
requirements2 and1 having discovered    
this1 ,i convinced myself that labor    
for the satisfaction of one's own needs 
falls of itself into various  kinds of  
labor1 each one of which possesses its  
own charm1 and which not  only do not   
constitute a burden1 but which serve as 
a respite to one  another4  ,i have made

 a rough division of this labor 7not    
insisting on  the justice of this       
arrangement71 in accordance with my own 
needs in  life1 into four parts1        
corresponding to the four stints of     
labor of which  the day is composed2 and
 ,i seek in this manner to satisfy my   
requirements4    ,these1 then1 are the  
answers which ,i have found for myself  
to the  question1 ,what is to be done8  
,first1 ,not to lie to myself1 however  
far removed my path in life may be  from
 the true path which my reason discloses
 to me4    ,second1 ,to renounce my     
consciousness of my own righteousness1  
my  superiority especially over other   
people2 and to acknowledge my guilt4    
,third1 ,to comply with that eternal and
 indubitable law of humanity1--the      
labor of my whole being1 feeling no     
shame at any sort of work2 to contend   
with nature for the maintenance of my   
own life and the lives of others4       
,,on ,,labor ,,and ,,luxury4      ,i    
concluded1 after having said every thing

 that concerned myself2 but ,i  cannot  
refrain1 from a desire to say something 
more which concerns  everybody1 from    
verifying the deductions which ,i have  
drawn1 by  comparisons4  ,i wish to say 
why it seems to me that a very large    
number  of our social class ought to    
come to the same thing to which ,i have 
come2  and also to state what will be   
the result if a number of people should 
come to the same conclusion4    ,i think
 that many will come to the point which 
,i have attained3 because  if the people
 of our sphere1 of our caste1 will only 
take a serious look  at themselves1 then
 young persons1 who are in search of    
personnel  happiness1 will stand aghast 
at the ever-increasing wretchedness of  
their  life1 which is plainly leading   
them to destruction2 conscientious      
people  will be shocked at the cruelty  
and the illegality of their life2 and   
timid people will be terrified by the   
danger of their mode of life4    ,the   
,wretchedness of our ,life3--,however   

much we rich people may reform1  however
 much we may bolster up this delusive   
life of ours with the aid of  our       
science and art1 this life will become1 
with every year1 both weaker  and more  
diseased2 with every year the number of 
suicides1 and the  refusals to bear     
children1 will increase2 with every year
 we shall feel  the growing sadness of  
our life2 with every generation1 the new
  generations of people of this sphere  
of society will become more puny4    ,it
 is obvious that in this path of the    
augmentation of the comforts and  the   
pleasures of life1 in the path of every 
sort of cure1 and of  artificial        
preparations for the improvements of the
 sight1 the hearing1  the appetite1     
false teeth1 false hair1 respiration1   
massage1 and so on1  there can be no    
salvation4  ,that people who do not make
 use of these  perfected preparations   
are stronger and healthier1 has become  
such a  truism1 that advertisements are 
printed in the newspapers of            

stomach-powders for the wealthy1 under  
the heading1 ,blessings for the  poor1  
#beb in which it is stated that only the
 poor are possessed of  proper digestive
 powers1 and that the rich require      
assistance1 and1 among  other various   
sorts of assistance1 these powders4  ,it
 is impossible to  set the matter right 
by any diversions1 comforts1 and        
powders1 whatever2  only a change of    
life can rectify it4    ,the            
,inconsistency of our ,life with our    
,conscience3--however we may seek  to   
justify our betrayal of humanity to     
ourselves1 all our justifications  will 
crumble into dust in the presence of the
 evidence4  ,all around us1  people are 
dying of excessive labor and of         
privation2 we ruin the labor  of others1
 the food and clothing which are        
indispensable to them1 merely  with the 
object of procuring diversion and       
variety for our wearisome  lives4  ,and1
 therefore1 the conscience of a man of  
our circle1 if even a  spark of it be   

left in him1 cannot be lulled to sleep1 
and it poisons all  these comforts and  
those pleasures of life which our       
brethren1 suffering  and perishing in   
their toil1 procure for us4  ,but not   
only does every  conscientious man feel 
this himself1--he would be glad to      
forget it1 but  this he cannot do4      
,the new1 ephemeral justifications of   
science for science1 of art for art1  do
 not exclude the light of a simple1     
healthy judgment4  ,the conscience  of  
man cannot be quieted by fresh devices2 
and it can only be calmed by a  change  
of life1 for which and in which no      
justification will be required4    ,two 
causes prove to the people of the       
wealthy classes the necessity for a     
change of life3 the requirements of     
their individual welfare1 and of the    
welfare of those most nearly connected  
with them1 which cannot be  satisfied in
 the path in which they now stand2 and  
the necessity of  satisfying the voice  
of conscience1 the impossibility of     

accomplishing  which is obvious in their
 present course4  ,these causes1 taken  
together1  should lead people of the    
wealthy classes to alter their mode of  
life1 to  such a change as shall satisfy
 their well-being and their conscience4 
,and there is only one such change      
possible3 they must cease to deceive1   
they must repent1 they must acknowledge 
that labor is not a curse1 but  the glad
 business of life4  ,but what will be   
the result if ,i do toil for  ten1 or   
eight1 or five hours at physical work1  
which thousands of  peasants will gladly
 perform for the money which ,i possess8
 people say  to this4    ,the first1    
simplest1 and indubitable result will   
be1 that you will become  a more        
cheerful1 a healthier1 a more alert1 and
 a better man1 and that  you will learn 
to know the real life1 from which you   
have hidden  yourself1 or which has been
 hidden from you4    ,the second result 
will be1 that1 if you possess a         
conscience1 it will not  only cease to  

suffer as it now suffers when it gazes  
upon the toil of  others1 the           
significance of which we1 through       
ignorance1 either always  exaggerate or 
depreciate1 but you will constantly     
experience a glad  consciousness that1  
with every day1 you are doing more and  
more to  satisfy the demands of your    
conscience1 and you will escape from    
that  fearful position of such an       
accumulation of evil heaped upon your   
life  that there exists no possibility  
of doing good to people2 you will       
experience the joy of living in freedom1
 with the possibility of good2  you will
 break a window1--an opening into the   
domain of the moral world  which has    
been closed to you4    ,but this is     
absurd1 people usually say to you1 for  
people of our  sphere1 with profound    
problems standing before us1--problems  
philosophical1 scientific1 artistic1    
ecclesiastical and social4  ,it would   
be absurd for us ministers1 senators1   
academicians professors1 artists1 a     

quarter of an hour of whose time is so  
prized by people1 to waste our  time on 
any thing of that sort1 would it        
not8--on the cleaning of our  boots1 the
 washing of our shirts1 in hoeing1 in   
planting potatoes1 or in  feeding our   
chickens and our cows1 and so on2 in    
those things which are  gladly done for 
us1 not only by our porter or our cook1 
but by thousands  of people who value   
our time8    ,but why should we dress   
ourselves1 wash and comb our hair8 why  
should we  hand chairs to ladies1 to    
guests8 why should we open and shut     
doors1 hand  ladies1 into carriages1 and
 do a hundred other things which serfs  
formerly did for us8  ,because we think 
that it is necessary so to do2  that    
human dignity demands it2 that it is the
 duty1 the obligation1 of  man4    ,and 
the same is the case with physical      
labor4  ,the dignity of man1 his  sacred
 duty and obligation1 consists in using 
the hands and feet which  have been     
given to him1 for that for which they   

were given to him1 and  that which      
consumes food on the labor which        
produces that food2 and that  they      
should be used1 not on that which shall 
cause them to pine away1 not  as objects
 to wash and clean1 and merely for the  
purpose of stuffing into  one's mouth   
food1 drink1 and cigarettes4  ,this is  
the significance that  physical labor   
possesses for man in every community2   
but in our  community1 where the        
avoidance of this law of labor has      
occasioned the  unhappiness of a whole  
class of people1 employment in physical 
labor  acquires still another           
significance1--the significance of a    
sermon1 and  of an occupation which     
removes a terrible misfortune that is   
threatening  mankind4    ,to say that   
physical labor is an insignificant      
occupation for a man of  education1 is  
equivalent to saying1 in connection with
 the erection of a  temple3 ,what does  
it matter whether one stone is laid     
accurately in its  place8  ,surely1 it  

is precisely under conditions of        
modesty1 simplicity1  and               
imperceptibleness1 that every           
magnificent thing is accomplished2 it   
is impossible to plough1 to build1 to   
pasture cattle1 or even to think1  amid 
glare1 thunder1 and illumination4       
,grand and genuine deeds are  always    
simple and modest4  ,and such is the    
grandest of all deeds which we  have to 
deal with1--the reconciliation of those 
fearful contradictions  amid which we   
are living4  ,and the deeds which will  
reconcile these  contradictions are     
those modest1 imperceptible1 apparently 
ridiculous  ones1 the serving one's     
self1 physical labor for one's self1    
and1 if  possible1 for others also1     
which we rich people must do1 if we     
understand  the wretchedness1 the       
unscrupulousness1 and the danger of the 
position  into which we have drifted4   
,what will be the result if ,i1 or some 
other man1 or a handful of men1 do  not 
despise physical labor1 but regard it as

 indispensable to our  happiness and to 
the appeasement of our conscience8      
,this will be the  result1 that there   
will be one man1 two men1 or a handful  
of men1 who1  coming into conflict with 
no one1 without governmental or         
revolutionary  violence1 will decide for
 ourselves the terrible question which  
stands  before all the world1 and which 
sets people at variance1 and that we    
shall settle it in such wise that life  
will be better to them1 that their      
conscience will be more at peace1 and   
that they will have nothing to  fear2   
the result will be1 that other people   
will see that the happiness  which they 
are seeking everywhere1 lies there      
around them2 that the  apparently       
unreconcilable contradictions of        
conscience and of the  constitution of  
this world will be reconciled in the    
easiest and most  joyful manner2 and    
that1 instead of fearing the people who 
surround us1  it will become necessary  
for us to draw near to them and to love 

them4    ,the apparently insoluble      
economical and social problem is merely 
the  problem of ,kriloff's casket4 #bef 
,the casket will simply open4  ,and it  
will not open1 so long as people do not 
do simply that first and simple         
thing--open it4    ,a man sets up what  
he imagines to be his own peculiar      
library1 his own  private               
picture-gallery1 his own apartments and 
clothing1 he accumulates  his own money 
in order therewith to purchase every    
thing that he needs2  and the end of it 
all is1 that engaged with this fancied  
property of his1  as though it were     
real1 he utterly loses his sense of that
 which actually  constitutes his        
property1 on which he can really labor1 
which can really  serve him1 and which  
will always remain in his power1 and of 
that which  is not and cannot be his own
 property1 whatever he may call it1 and 
which  cannot serve as the object of his
 occupation4    ,words always possess a 
clear significance until we deliberately

 attribute  to them a false sense4      
,what does property signify8            
,property signifies that which has been 
given to me1 which belongs to me        
exclusively2 that with which ,i can     
always do any thing ,i like2 that which 
no one can take away from me2 that which
 will remain mine to the end of  my     
life1 and precisely that which ,i am    
bound to use1 increase1 and  improve4   
,now1 there exists but one such piece of
 property for any  man1--himself4       
,hence it results that half a score of  
men may till the soil1 hew wood1  and   
make shoes1 not from necessity1 but in  
consequence of an  acknowledgment of the
 fact that man should work1 and that the
 more he  works the better it will be   
for him4  ,it results1 that half a score
 of  men1--or even one man1 may         
demonstrate to people1 both by his      
confession  and by his actions1 that the
 terrible evil from which they are      
suffering  is not a law of fate1 the    
will of ,god1 or any historical         

necessity2 but  that it is merely a     
superstition1 which is not in the least 
powerful or  terrible1 but weak and     
insignificant1 in which we must simply  
cease to  believe1 as in idols1 in order
 to rid ourselves of it1 and in order to
  rend it like a paltry spider's web4   
,men who will labor to fulfil the  glad 
law of their existence1 that is to say1 
those who work in order to  fulfil the  
law of toil1 will rid themselves of that
 frightful  superstition of property for
 themselves4    ,if the life of a man is
 filled with toil1 and if he knows the  
delights of  rest1 he requires no       
chambers1 furniture1 and rich and varied
 clothing2  he requires less costly     
food2 he needs no means of locomotion1  
or of  diversion4  ,but the principal   
thing is1 that the man who regards labor
 as  the business and the joy of his    
life will not seek that relief from his 
labor which the labors of others might  
afford him4  ,the man who regards  life 
as a matter of labor will propose to    

himself as his object1 in  proportion as
 he acquires understanding1 skill1 and  
endurance1 greater  and greater toil1   
which shall constantly fill his life to 
a greater and  greater degree4  ,for    
such a man1 who sees the meaning of his 
life in work  itself1 and not in its    
results1 for the acquisition of         
property1 there  can be no question as  
to the implements of labor4  ,although  
such a man  will always select the most 
suitable implements1 that man will      
receive  the same satisfaction from work
 and rest1 when he employs the most     
unsuitable implements4  ,if there be a  
steam-plough1 he will use it2 if  there 
is none1 he will till the soil with a   
horse-plough1 and1 if there  is none1   
with a primitive curved bit of wood shod
 with iron1 or he will  use a rake2 and1
 under all conditions1 he will equally  
attain his object4  ,he will pass his   
life in work that is useful to men1 and 
he will  therefore win complete         
satisfaction4    ,and the position of   

such a man1 both in his external and    
internal  conditions1 will be more happy
 than that of the man who devotes his   
life  to the acquisition of property4   
,such a man will never suffer need in   
his  outward circumstances1 because     
people1 perceiving his desire to work1  
will always try to provide him with the 
most productive work1 as they           
proportion a mill to the water-power4   
,and they will render his material      
existence free from care1 which they    
will not do for people who are  striving
 to acquire property4  ,and freedom from
 anxiety in his material  conditions is 
all that a man needs4  ,such a man will 
always be happier in  his internal      
conditions1 than the one who seeks      
wealth1 because the first  will never   
gain that which he is striving for1     
while the latter always  will1 in       
proportion to his powers4  ,the feeble1 
the aged1 the dying1  according to the  
proverb1 ,with the written absolution in
 his hands1  will receive full          

satisfaction1 and the love and sympathy 
of men4    ,what1 then1 will be the     
outcome of a few eccentric individuals1 
or  madmen1 tilling the soil1 making    
shoes1 and so on1 instead of smoking    
cigarettes1 playing whist1 and roaming  
about everywhere to relieve their       
tedium1 during the space of the ten     
leisure hours a day which every         
intellectual worker enjoys8  ,this will 
be the outcome3 that these madmen  will 
show in action1 that that imaginary     
property for which men suffer1  and for 
which they torment themselves and       
others1 is not necessary for  happiness2
 that it is oppressive1 and that it is  
mere superstition2 that  property1 true 
property1 consists only in one's own    
head and hands2 and  that1 in order to  
actually exploit this real property with
 profit and  pleasure1 it is necessary  
to reject the false conception of       
property  outside one's own body1 upon  
which we expend the best efforts of our 
lives4  ,the outcome us1 that these men 

will show1 that only when a man  ceases 
to believe in imaginary property1 only  
when he brings into play  his real      
property1 his capacities1 his body1 so  
that they will yield him  fruit a       
hundred-fold1 and happiness of which we 
have no idea1--only then  will he be so 
strong1 useful1 and good a man1 that1   
wherever you may  fling him1 he will    
always land on his feet2 that he will   
everywhere and  always be a brother to  
everybody2 that he will be intelligible 
to  everybody1 and necessary1 and good4 
,and men looking on one1 on ten such    
madmen1 will understand what they must  
all do in order to loose that  terrible 
knot in which the superstition regarding
 property has entangled  them1 in order 
to free themselves from the unfortunate 
position in which  they are all now     
groaning with one voice1 not knowing    
whence to find an  issue from it4       
,but what can one man do amid a throng  
which does not agree with him8  ,there  
is no argument which could more clearly 

demonstrate the terror of  those who    
make use of it than this4  ,the burlaki 
#bfj drag their bark  against the       
current4  ,there cannot be found a      
burlak so stupid that he  will refuse to
 pull away at his towing-rope because he
 alone is not able  to drag the bark    
against the current4  ,he who1 in       
addition to his rights  to an animal    
life1 to eat and sleep1 recognizes any  
sort of human  obligation1 knows very   
well in what that human obligation lies1
 just as  the boatman knows it when the 
tow-rope is attached to him4  ,the      
boatman  knows very well that all he has
 to do is to pull at the rope1 and      
proceed  in the given direction4  ,he   
will seek what he is to do1 and how he  
is to  do it1 only when the tow-rope is 
removed from him4  ,and as it is with   
these boatmen and with all people who   
perform ordinary work1 so it is  with   
the affairs of all humanity4  ,all that 
each man needs is not to  remove the    
tow-rope1 but to pull away on it in the 

direction which his  master orders4     
,and1 for this purpose1 one sort of     
reason is bestowed on  all men1 in order
 that the direction may be always the   
same4  ,and this  direction has         
obviously been so plainly indicated1    
that both in the life  of all the people
 about us1 and in the conscience of each
 individual man1  only he who does not  
wish to work can say that he does not   
see it4  ,then1  what is the outcome of 
this8    ,this3 that one1 perhaps two   
men1 will pull2 a third will look on1   
and  will join them2 and in this manner 
the best people will unite until the    
affair begins to start1 and make        
progress1 as though itself inspiring and
  bidding thereto even those who do not 
understand what is being done1 and  why 
it is being done4  ,first1 to the       
contingent of men who are  consciously  
laboring in order to comply with the law
 of ,god1 there will  be added the      
people who only half understand and who 
only half confess  the faith2 then a    

still greater number of people who admit
 the same  doctrine will join them1     
merely on the faith of the originators2 
and  finally the majority of mankind    
will recognize this1 and then it will   
come to pass1 that men will cease to    
ruin themselves1 and will find          
happiness4    ,this will happen1--and it
 will be very speedily1--when people of 
our set1  and after them a vast         
majority1 shall cease to think it       
disgraceful to  pay visits in untanned  
boots1 and not disgraceful to walk in   
overshoes  past people who have no shoes
 at all2 that it is disgraceful not to  
understand ,french1 and not disgraceful 
to eat bread and not to know how  to set
 it2 that it is disgraceful not to have 
a starched shirt and clean  clothes1 and
 not disgraceful to go about in clean   
garments thereby  showing one's         
idleness2 that it is disgraceful to have
 dirty hands1 and  not disgraceful not  
to have hands with callouses4    ,all   
this will come to pass when the sense of

 the community shall demand  it4  ,but  
the sense of the community will demand  
this when those delusions  in the       
imagination of men1 which have concealed
 the truth from them1  shall have been  
abolished4  ,within my own recollection1
 great changes  have taken place in this
 respect4  ,and these changes have taken
 place  only because the general opinion
 has undergone an alteration4  ,within  
my  memory1 it has come to pass1 that   
whereas it used to be disgraceful for   
wealthy people not to drive out with    
four horses and two footmen1 and not  to
 keep a valet or a maid to dress them1  
wash them1 put on their shoes1  and so  
forth2 it has now suddenly become       
discreditable for one not to put  on    
one's own clothes and shoes for one's   
self1 and to drive with footmen4        
,public opinion has effected all these  
changes4  ,are not the changes which    
public opinion is now preparing clear8  
,all that was necessary five and twenty 
years ago was to abolish the  delusion  

which justified the right of serfdom1   
and public opinion as to  what was      
praiseworthy and what was discreditable 
changed1 and life  changed also4  ,all  
that is now requisite is to annihilate  
the delusion  which justifies the power 
of money over men1 and public opinion   
will  undergo a change as to what is    
creditable and what is disgraceful1 and 
life will be changed also2 and the      
annihilation of the delusion1 of the    
justification of the moneyed power1 and 
the change in public opinion in  this   
respect1 will be promptly accomplished4 
,this delusion is already  flickering1  
and the truth will very shortly be      
disclosed4  ,all that is  required is to
 gaze steadfastly1 in order to perceive 
clearly that change  in public opinion  
which has already taken place1 and which
 is simply not  recognized1 not fitted  
with a word4  ,the educated man of our  
day has but  to reflect ever so little  
on what will be the outcome of those    
views of  the world which he professes1 

in order to convince himself that the   
estimate of good and bad1 by which1 by  
virtue of his inertia1 he is  guided in 
life1 directly contradict his views of  
the world4    ,all that the man of our  
century has to do is to break away for a
 moment  from the life which runs on by 
force of inertia1 to survey it from the 
one side1 and subject it to that same   
standard which arises from his  whole   
view of the world1 in order to be       
horrified at the definition of  his     
whole life1 which follows from his views
 of the world4  ,let us take1  for      
instance1 a young man 7the energy of    
life is greater in the young1  and      
self-consciousness is more obscured74   
,let us take1 for instance1 a  young man
 belonging to the wealthy classes1      
whatever his tendencies may  chance to  
be4    ,every good young man considers  
it disgraceful not to help an old man1 a
  child1 or a woman2 he thinks1 in a    
general way1 that it is a shame to      
subject the life or health of another   

person to danger1 or to shun it         
himself4  ,every one considers that     
shameful and brutal which ,schuyler     
relates of the ,kirghiz in times of     
tempest1--to send out the women and  the
 aged females to hold fast the corners  
of the kibitka tent during  the storm1  
while they themselves continue to sit   
within the tent1 over  their kumis      
fermented mare's-milk4  ,every one      
thinks it shameful to  make a week man  
work for one2 that it is still more     
disgraceful in time  of danger--on a    
burning ship1 for example1--being       
strong1 to be the first  to seat one's  
self in the lifeboat1--to thrust aside  
the weak and leave  them in danger1 and 
so on4    ,all men regard this as       
disgraceful1 and would not do it upon   
any account1  in certain exceptional    
circumstances2 but in every-day life1   
the very  same actions1 and others still
 worse1 are concealed from them by      
delusions1 and they perpetrate them     
incessantly4  ,the establishment of     

this new view of life is the business of
 public opinion4  ,public opinion1      
supporting such a view1 will speedily be
 formed4    ,women form public opinion1 
and women are especially powerful in our
 day4          ,,to ,,women4      ,as   
stated in the ,bible1 a law was given to
 the man and the woman1--to the  man1   
the law of labor2 to the woman1 the law 
of bearing children4  ,although we1 with
 our science1 avons change tout ca1 the 
law for the  man1 as for woman1 remains 
as unalterable as the liver in its      
place1 and  departure from it is equally
 punished with inevitable death4  ,the  
only  difference lies in this1 that     
departure from the law1 in the case of  
the  man1 is punished so immediately in 
the future1 that it may be designated   
as present punishment2 but departure    
from the law1 in the case of the  woman1
 receives its chastisement in a more    
distant future4    ,the general         
departure of all men from the law       
exterminates people  immediately2 the   

departure from it of all women          
annihilates it in the  succeeding       
generation4  ,but the evasion by some   
men and some women does  not exterminate
 the human race1 and only deprives those
 who evade it of  the rational nature of
 man4 ,the departure of men from this   
law began long  ago1 among those classes
 who were in a position to subject      
others1 and1  constantly spreading1 it  
has continued down to our own times2 and
 in our  own day it has reached folly1  
the ideal consisting in evasion of the  
law1--the ideal expressed by ,prince    
,blokhin1 and shared in by ,renan and   
by the whole cultivated world3 ,machines
 will work1 and people will be  bundles 
of nerves devoted to enjoyment4         
,there was hardly any departure from the
 law in the part of women1 it was       
expressed only in prostitution1 and in  
the refusal to bear children--in        
private cases4  ,the women belonging to 
the wealthy classes fulfilled  their    
law1 while the men did not comply with  

theirs2 and therefore the  women became 
stronger1 and continued to rule1 and    
must rule1 over men who  have evaded the
 law1 and who have1 therefore1 lost     
their senses4  ,it is  generally stated 
that woman 7the woman of ,paris in      
particular is  childless7 has become so 
bewitching1 through making use of all   
the means  of civilization1 that she has
 gained the upper hand over man by this 
fascination of hers4  ,this is not only 
unjust1 but precisely the reverse  of   
the truth4  ,it is not the childless    
woman who has conquered man1 but  the   
mother1 that woman who has fulfilled her
 law1 while the man has not  fulfilled  
his4  ,that woman who deliberately      
remains childless1 and who  entrances   
man with her shoulders and her locks1 is
 not the woman who  rules over men1 but 
the one who has been corrupted by man1  
who has  descended to his level1--to the
 level of the vicious man1--who has     
evaded  the law equally with himself1   
and who has lost1 in company with him1  

every rational idea of life4    ,from   
this error springs that remarkable piece
 of stupidity which is  called the      
rights of women4  ,the formula of these 
rights of women is as  follows3 ,here6  
you man1 says the woman1 you have       
departed from your  law of real labor1  
and you want us to bear the burden of   
our real labor4  ,no1 if this is to be  
so1 we understand1 as well as you do1   
how to perform  those semblances of     
labor which you exercise in banks1      
ministries1  universities1 and          
academies2 we desire1 like yourselves1  
under the  pretext of the division of   
labor1 to make use of the labor of      
others1 and  to live for the            
gratification of our caprices alone4    
,they say this1 and  prove by their     
action that they understand no worse1 if
 not better1 than  men1 how to exercise 
this semblance of labor4    ,this       
so-called woman question has come up1   
and could only come up1 among  men who  
have departed from the law of actual    

labor4  ,all that is required  is1 to   
return to that1 and this question cannot
 exist4  ,woman1 having her  own        
inevitable task1 will never demand the  
right to share the toil of men  in the  
mines and in the fields4  ,she could    
only demand to share in the  fictitious 
labors of the men of the wealthy        
classes4    ,the woman of our circle has
 been1 and still is1 stronger than the  
man1  not by virtue of her fascinations1
 not through her cleverness in          
performing the same pharisaical         
semblance of work as man1 but because   
she  has not stepped out from under the 
law that she should undergo that real   
labor1 with danger to her life1 with    
exertion to the last degree1 from  which
 the man of the wealthy classes has     
excused herself4    ,but1 within my     
memory1 a departure from this law on the
 part of woman1  that is to say1 her    
fall1 has begun2 and1 within my memory1 
it has become  more and more the case4  
,woman1 having lost the law1 has        

acquired the  belief that her strength  
lies in the witchery of her charms1 or  
in her  skill in pharisaical pretences  
at intellectual work4  ,and both things 
are  bad for the children4  ,and1 within
 my memory1 women of the wealthy        
classes have come to refuse to bear     
children4  ,and so mothers who hold  the
 power in their hands let it escape     
them1 in order to make way for the      
dissolute women1 and to put themselves  
on a level with them4  ,the evil is     
already wide-spread1 and is extending   
farther and farther every day2 and  soon
 it will lay hold on all the women of   
the wealthy classes1 and then  they will
 compare themselves with men3 and in    
company with them1 they  will lose the  
rational meaning of life4  ,but there is
 still time4    ,if women would but     
comprehend their destiny1 their power1  
and use it for  the salvation of their  
husbands1 brothers1 and children1--for  
the  salvation of all men6    ,women of 
the wealthy classes who are mothers1 the

 salvation of the men of  our world from
 the evils from which they are          
suffering1 lies in your  hands4    ,not 
those women who are occupied with their 
dainty figures1 with their  bustles1    
their hair-dressing1 and their          
attraction for men1 and who bear        
children against their will1 with       
despair1 and hand them over to nurses2  
nor those who attend various courses of 
lectures1 and discourse of  psychometric
 centres and differentiation1 and who   
also endeavor to escape  bearing        
children1 in order that it may not      
interfere with their folly  which they  
call culture3 but those women and       
mothers1 who1 possessing the  power to  
refuse to bear children1 consciously and
 in a straightforward  way submit to    
this eternal1 unchangeable law1 knowing 
that the burden and  the difficulty of  
such submission is their appointed lot  
in life1--these  are the women and      
mothers of our wealthy classes1 in whose
 hands1 more  than in those of any one  

else1 lies the salvation of the men of  
our  sphere in society from the miseries
 that oppress them4    ,ye women and    
mothers who deliberately submit         
yourselves to the law of  ,god1 you     
alone in our wretched1 deformed circle1 
which has lost the  semblance of        
humanity1 you alone know the whole of   
the real meaning of  life1 according to 
the law of ,god2 and you alone1 by your 
example1 can  demonstrate to people that
 happiness in life1 in submission to the
 will  of ,god1 of which they are       
depriving themselves4  ,you alone know  
those  raptures and those joys which    
invade the whole being1 that bliss which
 is  appointed for the man who does not 
depart from the law of ,god4  ,you know 
the happiness of love for your          
husbands1--a happiness which does not   
come  to an end1 which does not break   
off short1 like all other forms of      
happiness1 and which constitutes the    
beginning of a new happiness1--of  love 
for your child4  ,you alone1 when you   

are simple and obedient to the  will of 
,god1 know not that farcical pretence of
 labor which the men of  our circle call
 work1 and know that the labor imposed  
by ,god on men1 and  know its true      
rewards1 the bliss which it confers4    
,you know this1 when1  after the        
raptures of love1 you await with        
emotion1 fear1 and terror that          
torturing state of pregnancy which      
renders you ailing for nine months1     
which brings you to the verge of death1 
and to intolerable suffering and  pain4 
,you know the conditions of true labor1 
when1 with joy1 you await  the approach 
and the increase of the most terrible   
torture1 after which  to you alone comes
 the bliss which you well know4  ,you   
know this1 when1  immediately after this
 torture1 without respite1 without a    
break1 you  undertake another series of 
toils and sufferings1--nursing1--in     
which  process you at one and the same  
time deny yourselves1 and subdue to your
  feelings the very strongest human     

need1 that of sleep1 which1 as the      
proverb says1 is dearer than father or  
mother2 and for months and years  you   
never get a single sound1 unbroken      
might's rest1 and sometimes1 nay1       
often1 you do not sleep at all for a    
period of several nights in  succession1
 but with failing arms you walk alone1  
punishing the sick  child who is        
breaking your heart4  ,and when you do  
all this1 applauded by  no one1 and     
expecting no praises for it from any    
one1 nor any  reward1--when you do this1
 not as an heroic deed1 but like the    
laborer in  the ,gospel when he came    
from the field1 considering that you    
have done  only that which was your     
duty1 then you know what the false1     
pretentious  labor of men performed for 
glory really is1 and that true labor is 
fulfilling the will of ,god1 whose      
command you feel in your heart4  ,you   
know that if you are a true mother it   
makes no difference that no one has     
seen your toil1 that no one has praised 

you for it1 but that it has only  been  
looked upon as what must needs be so1   
and that even those for whom  your have 
labored not only do not thank you1 but  
often torture and  reproach you4  ,and  
with the next child you do the same3    
again you suffer1  again you undergo the
 fearful1 invisible labor2 and again you
 expect no  reward from any one1 and yet
 you feel the sane satisfaction4    ,if 
you are like this1 you will not say     
after two children1 or after  twenty1   
that you have done enough1 just as the  
laboring man fifty years  of age will   
not say that he has worked enough1 while
 he still continues  to eat and to      
sleep1 and while his muscles still      
demand work2 if you are  like this1 your
 will not cast the task of nursing and  
care-taking upon  some other mother1    
just as a laboring man will not give    
another man the  work which he has      
begun1 and almost completed1 to finish3 
because into  this work you will throw  
your life4  ,and therefore the more     

there is of  this work1 the fuller and  
the happier is your life4    ,and when  
you are like this1 for the good fortune 
of men1 you will apply  that law of     
fulfilling ,god's will1 by which you    
guide your life1 to the  lives of your  
husband1 of your children1 and of those 
most nearly  connected with you4  ,if   
your are like this1 and know from your  
own  experience1 that only              
self-sacrificing1 unseen1 unrewarded    
labor1  accompanied with danger to life 
and to the extreme bounds of endurance1 
for the lives of others1 is the         
appointed lot of man1 which affords him 
satisfaction1 then you will announce    
these demands to others2 you will  urge 
your husband to the same toil2 and you  
will measure and value the  dignity of  
men acceding to this toil2 and for this 
toil you will also  prepare your        
children4    ,only that mother who looks
 upon children as a disagreeable        
accident1 and  upon love1 the comforts  
of life1 costume1 and society1 as the   

object of  life1 will rear her children 
in such a manner that they shall have as
  much enjoyment as possible out of     
life1 and that they shall make the      
greatest possible use of it2 only she   
will feed them luxuriously1 deck  them  
out1 amuse them artificially2 only she  
will teach them1 not that  which will   
fit them for self-sacrificing masculine 
or feminine labor with  danger of their 
lives1 and to the last limits of        
endurance1 but that  which will deliver 
them from this labor4  ,only such a     
woman1 who has lost  the meaning of her 
life1 will sympathize with that delusive
 and false  male labor1 by means of     
which her husband1 having rid himself of
 the  obligations of a man1 is enabled  
to enjoy1 in her company1 the work of   
others4  ,only such a woman will choose 
a similar man for the husband of  her   
daughter1 and will estimate men1 not by 
what they are personally1 but  by that  
which is connected with them1--position1
 money1 or their ability  to take       

advantage of the labor of others4       
,but the true mother1 who actually knows
 the will of ,god1 will fit her         
children to fulfil it also4  ,for such a
 mother1 to see her child overfed1      
enervated1 decked out1 will mean        
suffering2 for all this1 as she well    
knows1 will render difficult for him the
 fulfilment of the law of ,god in  which
 she has instructed him4  ,such a mother
 will teach1 not that which  will enable
 her son and her daughter to rid        
themselves of labor1 but that  which    
will help them to endure the toils of   
life4  ,she will have no need  to       
inquire what she shall teach her        
children1 for what she shall prepare    
them4  ,such a woman will not only not  
encourage her husband to false and      
delusive labor1 which has but one       
object1 that of using the labors of     
others2 but she will bear herself with  
disgust and horror towards such an      
employment1 which serves as a double    
temptation to her children4  ,such a    

woman will not choose a husband for her 
daughter on account of the  whiteness of
 his hands and the refinement of manner2
 but1 well aware that  labor and deceit 
will exist always and everywhere1 she   
will1 beginning  with her husband1      
respect and value in men1 and will      
require from them1  real labor1 with    
expenditure and risk of life1 and she   
will despise that  deceptive labor which
 has for its object the ridding one's   
self of all  true toil4    ,such a      
mother1 who brings forth children and   
nurses them1 and will  herself1 rather  
than any other1 feed her offspring and  
prepare their  food1 and sew1 and wash1 
and teach her children1 and sleep and   
talk with  them1 because in this she    
grounds the business of her life1--only 
such a  mother will not seek for her    
children external guaranties in the form
 of  her husband's money1 and the       
children's diplomas2 but she will rear  
them  to that same capacity for the     
self-sacrificing fulfilment of the will 

of  ,god which she is conscious of      
herself possessing1--a capacity for     
enduring toil with expenditure and risk 
of life1--because she knows that  in    
this lies the sole guaranty1 and the    
only well-being in life4  ,such a       
mother will not ask other people what   
she ought to do2 she will know  every   
thing1 and will fear nothing4    ,if    
there can exist any doubt for the man   
and for the childless woman1 as  to the 
path in which the fulfilment of the will
 of ,god lies1 this path is  firmly and 
clearly defined for the woman who is a  
mother2 and if she has  complied with it
 in submissiveness and in simplicity of 
spirit1 she1  standing on that loftiest 
height of bliss which the human being is
  permitted to attain1 will become a    
guiding-star for all men who are        
seeking good4  ,only the mother can     
calmly say before her death1 to ,him    
who sent her into this world1 and to    
,him whom she has served by bearing  and
 rearing children more dear than        

herself1--only she can say calmly1      
having served ,him who has imposed this 
service upon her3 ,now lettest  thou thy
 servant depart in peace4  ,and this is 
the highest perfection1  towards which1 
as towards the highest bliss1 men are   
striving4    ,such are the women1 who1  
having fulfilled their destiny1 reign   
over  powerful men2 such are the women  
who prepare the new generations of      
people1 and fix public opinion3 and1    
therefore1 in the hands of these  women 
lies the highest power of saving men    
from the prevailing and  threatening    
evils of our times4    ,yes1 ye women   
and mothers1 in your hands1 more than in
 those of all  others1 lies the         
salvation of the world6                 
,footnotes3      #ba;a  ,the fine1 tall 
members of a regiment1 selected and     
placed together  to form a showy squad4 
#ba;b   ,omitted by the ,censor in the  
authorized edition printed in  ,russia1 
in the set of ,count ,tolstoi's works4  
#bd;a  ,reaumur4    #bd;b  ,a drink made

 of water1 honey1 and laurel or salvia  
leaves1 which  is drunk as tea1         
especially by the poorer classes4    #bh
   ,omitted by the censor from the      
authorized edition published in  ,russia
 in the set of count ,tolstoi's works4  
,the omission is indicated  thus 4 4 4  
#ci  ,kalatch1 a kind of roll3 baranki1 
cracknels of fine flour4    #ei  ,an    
arshin is twenty-eight inches4    #fj   
,a myeshchanin1 or citizen1 who pays    
only poll-tax and not a guild  tax4     
#fb  ,omitted in authorized edition4    
#ff  ,omitted by the censor in the      
authorized edition4    #id  ,omitted by 
the ,censor in the authorized edition4  
#if  ,omitted by the ,censor in the     
authorized edition4    #ii  ,omitted by 
the ,censor in the authorized edition4  
#ajh  ,omitted by the ,censor from the  
authorized edition4    #aaa  ,omitted by
 the ,censor in the authorized edition4 
#aac  ,omitted by the ,censor in the    
authorized edition    #aaf  ,omitted by 
the ,censor in the authorized edition4  

#abb;a  ,omitted by the ,censor in the  
authorized edition4    #abb;b  ,a very  
complicated sort of whist4    #abd  ,the
 whole of this chapter is omitted by the
 ,censor in the  authorized edition1 and
 is there represented by the following  
sentence3  ,and ,i felt that in money1  
in money itself1 in the possession of   
it1  there was something immoral2 and ,i
 asked myself1 ,what is money8    #ace  
,omitted by the ,censor in the          
authorized edition4    #ach  ,omitted by
 the ,censor in the authorized edition4 
#aci  ,the above passage is omitted in  
the authorized edition1 and the         
following is added3 ,i came to the      
simple and natural conclusion1 that1  if
 ,i pity the tortured horse upon which  
,i am riding1 the first thing for  me to
 do is to alight1 and to walk on my own 
feet4    #adj  ,omitted in the          
authorized edition4    #adb  ,omitted in
 the authorized edition4    #aeb;a      
,into a worse state1 in the authorized  
edition4    #aeb;b  ,omitted in the     

authorized edition4    #aed  ,omitted in
 the authorized edition4    #aee        
,reaumur4    #aeh  ,in the ,moscow      
edition 7authorized by the ,censor71 the
 concluding  paragraph is replaced by   
the following3--,they say3 ,the action  
of a  single man is but a drop in the   
sea4  ,a drop in the sea6    ,there is  
an ,indian legend relating how a man    
dropped a pearl into the  sea1 and in   
order to recover it he took a bucket1   
and began to bail out1  and to pour the 
water on the shore4  ,thus he toiled    
without intermission1  and on the       
seventh day the spirit of the sea grew  
alarmed lest the man  should dip the sea
 dry1 and so he brought him his pearl4  
,if our social  evil of persecuting man 
were the sea1 then that pearl which we  
have lost  is equivalent to devoting our
 lives to bailing out the sea of that   
evil4  ,the prince of this world will   
take fright1 he will succumb more       
promptly  than did the spirit of the    
sea2 but this social evil is not the    

sea1 but  a foul cesspool1 which we     
assiduously fill with our own           
uncleanness4  ,all  that is required is 
for us to come to our senses1 and to    
comprehend what  we are doing2 to fall  
out of love with our own                
uncleanness1--in order  that that       
imaginary sea should dry away1 and that 
we should come into  possession of that 
priceless pearl1--fraternal1 humane     
life4    #afa;a  ,an arshin is          
twenty-eight inches4    #afa;b  ,the    
fast extends from the #eth to the #cjth 
of ,june1 ,o4,s4  7,june #bg  to ,july  
#ab1 ,n4,s47    #afe  ,a pood is        
thirty-six pounds4    #afg  ,robinson   
,crusoe4    #afh  ,here something has   
been omitted by the ,censor1 which ,i am
 unable  to supply4--,,trans4    #afi   
,an omission by the censor1 which ,i am 
unable to supply4  ,,trans4    #agh  ,we
 designate as organisms the elephant and
 the bacterian1 only  because we assume 
by analogy in those creatures the same  
conjunction of  feeling and             

consciousness that we know to exist in  
ourselves4  ,but in  human societies and
 in humanity1 this actual sign is       
absent2 and  therefore1 however many    
other signs we may discover in humanity 
and in  organism1 without this          
substantial token the recognition of    
humanity as  an organism is incorrect4  
#bch  v prikusku1 when a lump of sugar  
is held in the teeth instead or  being  
put into the tea4    #beb  ,in ,english 
in the text4    #bef  ,an excellent     
translation of ,kriloff's ,fables1 by   
,mr4 ,w4 ,r4 ,s4  ,ralston1 is published
 in ,london4    #bfj  ,burlak1 pl4      
burlaki1 is a boatman on the ,river     
,volga4