having nothing to
do, if it had not been for a _kolossalische scandal_. I must mention
that Varinka's brother, Kovalenko, detested Byelikov from the first day
of their acquaintance, and could not endure him.

"'I don't understand,' he used to say to us, shrugging his
shoulders--'I don't understand how you can put up with that sneak, that
nasty phiz. Ugh! how can you live here! The atmosphere is stifling and
unclean! Do you call yourselves schoolmasters, teachers? You are paltry
government clerks. You keep, not a temple of science, but a department
for red tape and loyal behaviour, and it smells as sour as a
police-station. No, my friends; I will stay with you for a while, and
then I will go to my farm and there catch crabs and teach the Little
Russians. I shall go, and you can stay here with your Judas--damn his
soul!'

"Or he would laugh till he cried, first in a loud bass, then in a
shrill, thin laugh, and ask me, waving his hands:

"'What does he sit here for? What does he want? He sits and stares.'

"He even gave Byelikov a nickname, 'The Spider.' And it will readily be
understood that we avoided talking to him of his sister's being about to
marry 'The Spider.'

"And on one occasion, when the headmaster's wife hinted to him what
a good thing it would be to secure his sister's future with such
a reliable, universally respected man as Byelikov, he frowned and
muttered:

"'It's not my business; let her marry a reptile if she likes. I don't
like meddling in other people's affairs.'

"Now hear what happened next. Some mischievous person drew a caricature
of Byelikov walking along in his goloshes with his trousers tucked up,
under his umbrella, with Varinka on his arm; below, the inscription
'Anthropos in love.' The expression was caught to a marvel, you know.
The artist must have worked for more than one night, for the teachers
of both the boys' and girls' high-schools, the teachers of the seminary,
the government officials, all received a copy. Byelikov received one,
too. The caricature made a very painful impression on him.

"We went out together; it was the first of May, a Sunday, and all of
us, the boys and the teachers, had agreed to meet at the high-school and
then to go for a walk together to a wood beyond the town. We set off,
and he was green in the face and gloomier than a storm-cloud.

"'What wicked, ill-natured people there are!' he said, and his lips
quivered.

"I felt really sorry for him. We