Idiot - Translation Famous Works Library 007

Author: Dostoevsky
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Late in November, the snow had melted and the weather was warming up. Around 9 a.m., a train was speeding toward St. Petersburg on the St. Petersburg–Warsaw railway line. The air was extremely humid, and thick fog blanketed the surroundings. It was hard to understand how the sky had become so bright, as it was quite difficult to see anything beyond about ten steps to the left or right of the tracks from the train window. Among the passengers were some who had returned from abroad, but the third-class carriage was the most crowded, filled mostly with petty bourgeoisie busy with their livelihoods, who generally boarded at nearby stations. After a night's journey, everyone was naturally very tired, with heavy eyelids that couldn't be lifted, a chill all over their bodies, and pale faces that had taken on a slightly yellowish hue, almost resembling the color of the fog. In a window seat in a third-class carriage, two passengers had been sitting facing each other since dawn. Both were young, with extremely simple luggage and not particularly fashionable attire, yet both had striking appearances and a strong desire to talk to each other. If they had known what made them particularly unusual at that moment, they would have been astonished at how strangely fate had placed them facing each other in the third-class carriage of the St. Petersburg–Warsaw train. One of the two was of short stature, around twenty-seven years old, with almost entirely black curly hair and small, but bright, gray eyes. His nose was large and flat, his cheekbones prominent, and his thin lips were always slightly pursed...