Долг
The Debt
C2 · Proficient · fiction · 18 scenes · Free to read
A mastery-level literary confession in the tradition of the great 19th-century Russian psychological novel. Arkady, a proud and destitute former student freezing in a Petersburg garret, convinces himself that 'extraordinary' men stand above ordinary morality. When a kind old man entrusts him with his last savings — meant for his dying granddaughter Vera — Arkady keeps the money and calls it the bold act of a strong man. Guilt then devours him through fever, delirium, and a mocking 'double' who is his own pride made flesh. Vera's meek forgiveness dismantles his theory, and through open confession and suffering he discovers a cleansing meaning and the resurrection of his soul. The title puns on долг — at once 'debt' and 'duty'.
The opening scene
Я жил тогда в тесной каморке под самой крышей огромного петербургского дома — в жалкой конуре, где летом было душно, а зимой невыносимо холодно. Потолок нависал так низко, что рослому человеку невольно хотелось нагнуться, и мне порой казалось, будто сама нищета сдавливает мне грудь и не даёт дышать.
Я был молод, горд и беден — беден до последней крайности. Я оставил университет, задолжал за квартиру на несколько месяцев вперёд и по целым дням лежал на продавленном диване, глядя в жёлтый, облупившийся потолок и питая в душе одну странную, гордую и страшную мысль.
In those days I lived in a cramped garret right under the roof of an enormous Petersburg building — a wretched kennel, stifling in summer and unbearably cold in winter. The ceiling hung so low that a tall man instinctively wanted to stoop, and at times it seemed to me as though poverty itself were pressing on my chest and would not let me breathe.
I was young, proud, and poor — poor to the last extremity. I had abandoned the university, fallen months behind on my rent, and for whole days I would lie on the sagging couch, staring at the yellow, peeling ceiling and nursing in my soul one strange, proud, and terrible thought.
Characters
- Arkady (Аркадий) — The proud pauper
- Fyodor Kuzmich (Фёдор Кузьмич) — The trusting old man
- Vera (Вера) — The suffering girl
- The Double (Двойник) — The voice of pride
Vocabulary from this story
- город — city
- каморка — garret
- туман — fog
- холод — cold
- ночь — night
- толпа — crowd
- свет — light
- нищета — destitution
- бедность — poverty
- нужда — need
- деньги — money
- долг — debt / duty