n the bed, or even the master
himself stretched out on it, it might easily have been supposed that the
room was uninhabited, it was so dusty, so lacking in all traces of human
care. On the etageres, to be sure, lay two or three opened books or a
crumpled newspaper; on the bureau stood an inkstand with pens; but the
pages where the books were open were covered thick with dust and had
turned yellow, evidently long ago thrown aside; the date of the
newspaper was long past; and if any one had dipped a pen into the
inkstand it would have started forth only a frightened, buzzing fly!

Ilya Ilyitch was awake, contrary to his ordinary custom, very early,--at
eight o'clock. Some anxiety was preying on his mind. Over his face
passed alternately now apprehension, now annoyance, now vexation. It was
evident that an internal conflict had him in its throes, and his
intellect had not as yet come to his aid.

The fact was that the evening before, Oblomof had received from the
starosta (steward) of his estate a letter filled with disagreeable
tidings. It is not hard to guess what unpleasant details one's steward
may write about: bad harvests, large arrearages, diminution in receipts,
and the like. But although his starosta had written his master almost
precisely the same kind of letter the preceding year and the year before
that, nevertheless this latest letter came upon him exactly the same, as
a disagreeable surprise.

Was it not hard?--he was facing the necessity of considering the means
of taking some measures!

However, it is proper to show how far Ilya Ilyitch was justified in
feeling anxiety about his affairs.

When he received the first letter of disagreeable tenor from his
starosta some years before, he was already contemplating a plan for a
number of changes and improvements in the management of his property.
This plan presupposed the introduction of various new economical and
protectional measures; but the details of the scheme were still in
embryo, and the starosta's disagreeable letters were annually
forthcoming, urging him to activity and really disturbing his peace of
mind. Oblomof recognized the necessity of coming to some decision if he
were to carry out his plan.

As soon as he woke he decided to get up, bathe, and after drinking his
tea, to think the matter over carefully, then to write his letters; and
in short, to act in this matter as was fitting. But for half an hour he
had been still in bed tormenting hims