courage, and seized the beast in her
mouth. It seemed to try to dart out of her jaws twice, but Norma caught
at it and half swallowed it as it was escaping. The shell cracked in her
teeth; and the tail and legs stuck out of her mouth and shook about in
a horrible manner. Suddenly Norma gave a piteous whine; the reptile had
bitten her tongue. She opened her mouth wide with the pain, and I saw
the beast lying across her tongue, and out of its body, which was almost
bitten in two, came a hideous white-looking substance, oozing out into
Norma's mouth; it was of the consistency of a crushed black-beetle just
then I awoke and the prince entered the room."

"Gentlemen!" said Hippolyte, breaking off here, "I have not done yet,
but it seems to me that I have written down a great deal here that is
unnecessary,--this dream--"

"You have indeed!" said Gania.

"There is too much about myself, I know, but--" As Hippolyte said this
his face wore a tired, pained look, and he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Yes," said Lebedeff, "you certainly think a great deal too much about
yourself."

"Well--gentlemen--I do not force anyone to listen! If any of you are
unwilling to sit it out, please go away, by all means!"

"He turns people out of a house that isn't his own," muttered Rogojin.

"Suppose we all go away?" said Ferdishenko suddenly.

Hippolyte clutched his manuscript, and gazing at the last speaker with
glittering eyes, said: "You don't like me at all!" A few laughed at
this, but not all.

"Hippolyte," said the prince, "give me the papers, and go to bed like a
sensible fellow. We'll have a good talk tomorrow, but you really mustn't
go on with this reading; it is not good for you!"

"How can I? How can I?" cried Hippolyte, looking at him in amazement.
"Gentlemen! I was a fool! I won't break off again. Listen, everyone who
wants to!"

He gulped down some water out of a glass standing near, bent over the
table, in order to hide his face from the audience, and recommenced.

"The idea that it is not worth while living for a few weeks took
possession of me a month ago, when I was told that I had four weeks to
live, but only partially so at that time. The idea quite overmastered me
three days since, that evening at Pavlofsk. The first time that I felt
really impressed with this thought was on the terrace at the prince's,
at the very moment when I had taken it into my head to make a last trial
of life. I wanted to see people and