Resurrection

Then Katusha went to live with her aunt in town. The aunt's

husband, a bookbinder, had once been comfortably off, but had

lost all his customers, and had taken to drink, and spent all he

could lay hands on at the public-house. The aunt kept a little

laundry, and managed to support herself, her children, and her

wretched husband. She offered Katusha the place of an assistant

laundress; but seeing what a life of misery and hardship her

aunt's assistants led, Katusha hesitated, and applied to a

registry office for a place. One was found for her with a lady

who lived with her two sons, pupils at a public day school. A

week after Katusha had entered the house the elder, a big fellow

with moustaches, threw up his studies and made love to her,

continually following her about. His mother laid all the blame on

Katusha, and gave her notice.

It so happened that, after many fruitless attempts to find a

situation, Katusha again went to the registry office, and there

met a woman with bracelets on her bare, plump arms and rings on

most of her fingers. Hearing that Katusha was badly in want of a

place, the woman gave her her address, and invited her to come to

her house. Katusha went. The woman received her very kindly, set

cake and sweet wine before her, then wrote a note and gave it to

a servant to take to somebody. In the evening a tall man, with

long, grey hair and a white beard, entered the room, and sat down

at once near Katusha, smiling and gazing at her with glistening

eyes. He began joking with her. The hostess called him away into

the next room, and Katusha heard her say, "A fresh one from the

country," Then the hostess called Katusha aside and told her that

the man was an author, and that he had a great deal of money, and

that if he liked her he would not grudge her anything. He did

like her, and gave her 25 roubles, promising to see her often.

The 25 roubles soon went; some she paid to her aunt for board and

lodging; the rest was spent on a hat, ribbons, and such like. A

few days later the author sent for her, and she went. He gave her

another 25 roubles, and offered her a separate lodging.

Next door to the lodging rented for her by the author there lived

a jolly young shopman, with whom Katusha soon fell in love. She

told the author, and moved to a little lodging of her own. The

shopman, who promised to marry her, went to Nijni on business

without mentioning it to her, having evidently thrown her up, and

Katusha remained alone. She meant to continue living in the

lodging by herself, but was informed by the police that in this

case she would have to get a license. She returned to her aunt.

Seeing her fine dress, her hat, and mantle, her aunt no longer

offered her laundry work. As she understood things, her niece had

risen above that sort of thing. The question as to whether she

was to become a laundress or not did not occur to Katusha,

either. She looked with pity at the thin, hard-worked

laundresses, some already in consumption, who stood washing or

ironing with their thin arms in the fearfully hot front room,

which was always full of soapy steam and draughts from the

windows, and thought with horror that she might have shared the

same fate.