Page 589 - the-idiot

‘Oh!’ I said, ‘there’s nothing to see; it’s quite a clear
case— you’ve lost your post and have come up to make ex-
planations and get another, if you can!’
‘How do you know that?’ he asked in amazement.
‘Oh, it was evident at the first glance,’ I said ironically, but
not intentionally so. ‘There are lots of people who come up
from the provinces full of hope, and run about town, and
have to live as best they can.’
‘He began to talk at once excitedly and with trembling
lips; he began complaining and telling me his story. He in-
terested me, I confess; I sat there nearly an hour. His story
was a very ordinary one. He had been a provincial doctor; he
had a civil appointment, and had no sooner taken it up than
intrigues began. Even his wife was dragged into these. He
was proud, and flew into a passion; there was a change of lo-
cal government which acted in favour of his opponents; his
position was undermined, complaints were made against
him; he lost his post and came up to Petersburg with his
last remaining money, in order to appeal to higher authori-
ties. Of course nobody would listen to him for a long time;
he would come and tell his story one day and be refused
promptly; another day he would be fed on false promises;
again he would be treated harshly; then he would be told
to sign some documents; then he would sign the paper and
hand it in, and they would refuse to receive it, and tell him
to file a formal petition. In a word he had been driven about
from office to office for five months and had spent every far-
thing he had; his wife’s last rags had just been pawned; and
meanwhile a child had been born to them and—and today

The Idiot