Virgin Soil Tr by Aw Dilke Author:Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1878 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER II. At the sight of the visitors who were in his room he stopped on the threshold, glanced round at them, threw off his cap, dropped the books straight on to the floor, and walking up to his bed, sat down on the edge of it without a word. His handsome pale face, rendered even paler by the deep red tinge of his wavy hair, expressed displeasure and vexation. Mashurina slightly turned away and bit her lip ; Ostrodumof grumbled, " At last! " Paklin was the first to approach Nejdanof. " What is the matter with you, Alexei Dmi'trievitch, you Russian Hamlet ? Has any one vexed you ? or are you merely sad without any reason ? " " Do stop, please, you Russian Mephistopheles," answered Nejdanof irritably. " I am not in the humour to bandy dull witticisms with you." Paklin laughed. " You express yourself inaccurately. What is witty cannot be dull; what is dull cannot be witty." " Oh, all right; you are a clever fellow, we all know that." " And your nerves are out of order," said Paklin, slowly. " No, really ; has anything happened ?" " Nothing particular has happened; what hashappened is that it is impossible to put one's nose out of doors in this vile town, in Petersburg, without stumbling over some meanness, some stupidity, some grotesque injustice, some nonsense! Life here has become impossible." " Ah! that is why you advertised in the papers that you were seeking a tutorship, and were prepared to leave town," again grumbled Ostrodumof. " Of course. I should leave it with the greatest possible pleasure if only some one could be found fool enough to offer me a place." " One ought first to fu...« less