Smoke (Alma Classics) by Ivan Turgenev

Author:Ivan Turgenev [Turgenev, Ivan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847493163
Publisher: Alma Classics
Published: 2019-10-17T22:00:00+00:00

17

Litvinov did not return home; he went off into the mountains and, making his way into a thicket, threw himself to the ground and lay there prone for about an hour. He did not torment himself, did not weep; he was somehow faint and heavy with weariness. He had never experienced anything like it before: an intolerably nagging, gnawing sensation of emptiness, emptiness within him, around him, everywhere… He thought neither of Irina nor of Tatyana. He felt only one thing: the blow had fallen, his life had been snapped like a cable and he was propelled forward and gripped by something cold and unknown. Sometimes it seemed to him that a whirlwind had swept over him and he felt the rapid whirring and irregular beating of its dark wings. But his resolution did not waver. To remain in Baden – there could be no question of that. In his mind he had already left; he was already sitting in a creaking, smoky carriage and hurtling, hurtling into the soundless, lifeless distance. Finally he raised himself a little and, leaning his head against a tree, remained motionless. With one hand, however, and without noticing the fact, he grasped the top leaf of a tall fern and beat time with it. The noise of approaching footsteps roused him from his torpor; two charcoal-burners, with large sacks on their shoulders, were making their way along the steep path.

“It’s time,” whispered Litvinov and followed the charcoal-burners down into the town, turned into the railway station and dispatched a telegram to Tatyana’s aunt, Kapitolina Markovna. In the telegram he informed her of his immediate departure and arranged a meeting with her in the Hotel Schrader in Heidelberg.* “If it’s to end, let it end quickly,” he thought. “There’s no point in putting it off to tomorrow.” Then he went into the gaming hall, stared into the face of two or three players with dull curiosity and noticed at a distance the unprepossessing back of Bindasov’s head and the flawless bow of Pishchalkin. Then, after standing for a while beneath the colonnade, he set off for Irina’s at a leisurely pace. It was not because of a sudden involuntary impulse that he set off for Irina’s; once he had decided to leave, he also decided to keep his word and see her one more time. He entered the hotel unobserved by the porter, went up the stairs without meeting anyone and, without knocking, mechanically pushed open the door and entered. In the room, in the same armchair, in the same dress and in the same position as three hours before, sat Irina. It was clear she had not moved, had not stirred for all that time. Slowly she raised her head and, seeing Litvinov, her whole body shuddered and she gripped the arm of the chair. “You frightened me,” she whispered.

Litvinov looked at her in silent astonishment. The expression on her face and in her lustreless eyes shocked him.

Irina gave a forced smile and tidied her hair, which had become disarranged.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.