The House of the Dead: or, Prison Life in Siberia

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Dostoyevsky Fyodor. The House of the Dead: or, Prison Life in Siberia

INTRODUCTION

PART I

CHAPTER I. TEN YEARS A CONVICT

CHAPTER II. THE DEAD-HOUSE

CHAPTER III. FIRST IMPRESSIONS

CHAPTER IV. FIRST IMPRESSIONS (continued)

CHAPTER V. FIRST IMPRESSIONS (continued)

CHAPTER VI. THE FIRST MONTH

CHAPTER VII. THE FIRST MONTH (continued)

CHAPTER VIII. NEW ACQUAINTANCES – PETROFF

CHAPTER IX. MEN OF DETERMINATION – LUKA

CHAPTER X. ISAIAH FOMITCH – THE BATH – BAKLOUCHIN

CHAPTER XI. THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

CHAPTER XII. THE PERFORMANCE

Part II

CHAPTER I. THE HOSPITAL

CHAPTER II. THE HOSPITAL (continued)

CHAPTER III. THE HOSPITAL4 (continued)

CHAPTER IV. THE HUSBAND OF AKOULKA

CHAPTER V. THE SUMMER SEASON

CHAPTER VI. THE ANIMALS AT THE CONVICT ESTABLISHMENT

CHAPTER VII. GRIEVANCES

CHAPTER VIII. MY COMPANIONS

CHAPTER IX. THE ESCAPE

CHAPTER X. FREEDOM!

Отрывок из книги

In the midst of the steppes, of the mountains, of the impenetrable forests of the desert regions of Siberia, one meets from time to time with little towns of a thousand or two inhabitants, built entirely of wood, very ugly, with two churches – one in the centre of the town, the other in the cemetery – in a word, towns which bear much more resemblance to a good-sized village in the suburbs of Moscow than to a town properly so called. In most cases they are abundantly provided with police-master, assessors, and other inferior officials. If it is cold in Siberia, the great advantages of the Government service compensate for it. The inhabitants are simple people, without liberal ideas. Their manners are antique, solid, and unchanged by time. The officials who form, and with reason, the nobility in Siberia, either belong to the country, deeply-rooted Siberians, or they have arrived there from Russia. The latter come straight from the capitals, tempted by the high pay, the extra allowance for travelling expenses, and by hopes not less seductive for the future. Those who know how to resolve the problem of life remain almost always in Siberia; the abundant and richly-flavoured fruit which they gather there recompenses them amply for what they lose.

As for the others, light-minded persons who are unable to deal with the problem, they are soon bored in Siberia, and ask themselves with regret why they committed the folly of coming. They impatiently kill the three years which they are obliged by rule to remain, and as soon as their time is up, they beg to be sent back, and return to their original quarters, running down Siberia, and ridiculing it. They are wrong, for it is a happy country, not only as regards the Government service, but also from many other points of view.

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"Good heavens! we mean Gazin; go to him."

"Gazin is on the drink to-day, he's devouring his capital."

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