Resurrection

Though she had more than one offer, she would not marry. She felt

that life as the wife of any of the working men who were courting

her would be too hard; spoilt as she was by a life of case.

She lived in this manner till she was sixteen, when the nephew of

the old ladies, a rich young prince, and a university student,

came to stay with his aunts, and Katusha, not daring to

acknowledge it even to herself, fell in love with him.

Then two years later this same nephew stayed four days with his

aunts before proceeding to join his regiment, and the night

before he left he betrayed Katusha, and, after giving her a

100-rouble note, went away. Five months later she knew for

certain that she was to be a mother. After that everything seemed

repugnant to her, her only thought being how to escape from the

shame that awaited her. She began not only to serve the ladies in

a half-hearted and negligent way, but once, without knowing how

it happened, was very rude to them, and gave them notice, a thing

she repented of later, and the ladies let her go, noticing

something wrong and very dissatisfied with her. Then she got a

housemaid's place in a police-officer's house, but stayed there

only three months, for the police officer, a man of fifty, began

to torment her, and once, when he was in a specially enterprising

mood, she fired up, called him "a fool and old devil," and gave

him such a knock in the chest that he fell. She was turned out

for her rudeness. It was useless to look for another situation,

for the time of her confinement was drawing near, so she went to

the house of a village midwife, who also sold wine. The

confinement was easy; but the midwife, who had a case of fever in

the village, infected Katusha, and her baby boy had to be sent to

the foundlings' hospital, where, according to the words of the

old woman who took him there, he at once died. When Katusha went

to the midwife she had 127 roubles in all, 27 which she had

earned and 100 given her by her betrayer. When she left she had

but six roubles; she did not know how to keep money, but spent it

on herself, and gave to all who asked. The midwife took 40

roubles for two months' board and attendance, 25 went to get the

baby into the foundlings' hospital, and 40 the midwife borrowed

to buy a cow with. Twenty roubles went just for clothes and

dainties. Having nothing left to live on, Katusha had to look out

for a place again, and found one in the house of a forester. The

forester was a married man, but he, too, began to annoy her from

the first day. He disgusted her, and she tried to avoid him. But

he, more experienced and cunning, besides being her master, who

could send her wherever he liked, managed to accomplish his

object. His wife found it out, and, catching Katusha and her

husband in a room all by themselves, began beating her. Katusha

defended herself, and they had a fight, and Katusha got turned

out of the house without being paid her wages.