Page 132 - the-idiot

of the entrance-hall. Along one side of this corridor lay the
three rooms which were designed for the accommodation
of the ‘highly recommended’ lodgers. Besides these three
rooms there was another small one at the end of the pas-
sage, close to the kitchen, which was allotted to General
Ivolgin, the nominal master of the house, who slept on a
wide sofa, and was obliged to pass into and out of his room
through the kitchen, and up or down the back stairs. Colia,
Gania’s young brother, a school-boy of thirteen, shared this
room with his father. He, too, had to sleep on an old sofa,
a narrow, uncomfortable thing with a torn rug over it; his
chief duty being to look after his father, who needed to be
watched more and more every day.
The prince was given the middle room of the three, the
first being occupied by one Ferdishenko, while the third
was empty.
But Gania first conducted the prince to the family apart-
ments. These consisted of a ‘salon,’ which became the
dining-room when required; a drawing-room, which was
only a drawing-room in the morning, and became Gania’s
study in the evening, and his bedroom at night; and lastly
Nina Alexandrovna’s and Varvara’s bedroom, a small, close
chamber which they shared together.
In a word, the whole place was confined, and a ‘tight fit’
for the party. Gania used to grind his teeth with rage over
the state of affairs; though he was anxious to be dutiful and
polite to his mother. However, it was very soon apparent to
anyone coming into the house, that Gania was the tyrant
of the family.

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