ave been condemned to three months' imprisonment.

"I offer my humble thanks," said Ivan Mironov; and, shaking his head,
left the court with a heavy sigh.

The whole thing seemed to have ended well for Eugene Mihailovich and
the yard-porter Vassily. But only in appearance. Something had happened
which was not noticed by any one, but which was much more important than
all that had been exposed to view.

Vassily had left his village and settled in town over two years ago. As
time went on he sent less and less money to his father, and he did not
ask his wife, who remained at home, to join him. He was in no need of
her; he could in town have as many wives as he wished, and much better
ones too than that clumsy, village-bred woman. Vassily, with each
recurring year, became more and more familiar with the ways of the town
people, forgetting the conventions of a country life. There everything
was so vulgar, so grey, so poor and untidy. Here, in town, all seemed on
the contrary so refined, nice, clean, and rich; so orderly too. And he
became more and more convinced that people in the country live just like
wild beasts, having no idea of what life is, and that only life in
town is real. He read books written by clever writers, and went to the
performances in the Peoples' Palace. In the country, people would not
see such wonders even in dreams. In the country old men say: "Obey the
law, and live with your wife; work; don't eat too much; don't care for
finery," while here, in town, all the clever and learned people--those,
of course, who know what in reality the law is--only pursue their own
pleasures. And they are the better for it.

Previous to the incident of the forged coupon, Vassily could not
actually believe that rich people lived without any moral law. But after
that, still more after having perjured himself, and not being the worse
for it in spite of his fears--on the contrary, he had gained ten roubles
out of it--Vassily became firmly convinced that no moral laws whatever
exist, and that the only thing to do is to pursue one's own interests
and pleasures. This he now made his rule in life. He accordingly got as
much profit as he could out of purchasing goods for lodgers. But this
did not pay all his expenses. Then he took to stealing, whenever chance
offered--money and all sorts of valuables. One day he stole a purse full
of money from Eugene Mihailovich, but was found out. Eugene Mihailovich
did not hand him over to