Яма

by Aleksandr Kuprin

"Яма" — самое трагическое произведение Куприна, которое в свое время произвело среди читателей и критиков эффект разорвавшейся бомбы, и даже сейчас потрясает своей силой и беспощадным реализмом. Печальная история обитательниц борделя средней руки рассказана с почти фотографической точностью. Характеры "ночных бабочек", их клиентов и единственного друга — журналиста, образ которого у Куприна имеет автобиографические черты, восхищают психологической глубиной и яркостью. Роман захватывает не пикантностью темы, а честным, неравнодушным и человечным отношением автора к судьбе девушек, которых обстоятельства завели в "Яму".

Genres: Classics, Russia, Fiction, Russian Literature, Novels, Audiobook, Literature

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

Aleksandr Kuprin (Russian: Александр Иванович Куприн; 7 September 1870 in the village of Narovchat in the Penza Oblast - August 25, 1938 in Leningrad) was a Russian writer, pilot, explorer and adventurer who is perhaps best known for his story The Duel (1905). Other well-known works include Moloch (1896), Olesya (1898), Junior Captain Rybnikov (1906), Emerald (1907), and The Garnet Bracelet (1911) (which was made into a 1965 movie). Vladimir Nabokov styled him the Russian Kipling for his stories about pathetic adventure-seekers, who are often "neurotic and vulnerable."

Kuprin was a son of Ivan Ivanovich Kuprin, a minor government official who died of cholera during 1871 at the age of thirty-seven years. His mother, Liubov' Alekseevna Kuprina, Tatar princess (of the Kulunchakovs), like many other nobles in Russia, had lost most of her wealth during the 19th century. Kuprin attended the Razumovsky boarding school during 1876, and during 1880 finished his education in the Second Moscow Military High School (Cadet Corps) and Alexander Military School, spending a total of ten years in these elite military institutions. His first short story, The Last Debut, was published during 1889 in a satirical periodical. "In February 1902, Kuprin and Maria Karlovna Davydova were married, their daughter Lidia born in 1903." Kuprin's mother died during 1910.

Kuprin ended military service during 1894, after which he tried many types of job, including provincial journalism, dental care, land surveying, acting, circus performer, church singer, doctor, hunter, fisher, etc. Reportedly, "all of these were subsequently reflected in his fiction." His first essays were published in Kiev in two collections. Reportedly, "although he lived in an age when writers were carried away by literary experiments, Kuprin did not seek innovation and wrote only about the things he himself had experienced and his heroes are the next generation after Chekhov's pessimists."

Although the 1896 short story Moloch first made his name known as a writer, it was his novel The Duel (1905) which made him famous. "Kuprin was highly praised by fellow writers including Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, Leonid Andreyev, Nobel Prize-winning Ivan Bunin" and Leo Tolstoy who acclaimed him a true successor to Chekhov. After publication of The Duel he paid less and less interest to fancy literature and began to spend time in pubs and brothels. His sensationalist novel about the lurid life of prostitutes, The Pit (1915), was accused by Russian critics of excessive Naturalism.

Although not a conservative, he did not agree with Bolshevism. While working for a brief time with Maxim Gorky at the World Literature publishing company, he criticized the Soviet regime. During spring 1919, from Gatchina near Petrograd, Kuprin left the country for France. He lived in Paris for most of the next 17 years, succumbing to alcoholism. He wrote about this in much of his work. He eventually returned to Moscow on May 31, 1937, just a year before his death, at the height of the Great Purge. His return earned publication of his works within the Soviet Union.

Kuprin died during the spring of 1938 in Leningrad and is interred near his fellow writers at the Literaturskiye Mostki in the Volkovo Cemetery (Volkovskoye Memorial Cemetery) in Leningrad. A minor planet 3618 Kuprin, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1979 is named after him.

Reportedly, "even today, Alexander Kuprin remains one of the widest read classics in Russian literature", with many films based on his works, "which are also read over the radio", partly due to "his vivid stories of the lives of ordinary people and unhappy love, his descriptions of the military and brothels, making him a writer for all times and places."

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prostitution is arguably the oldest profession in the world… And in any language there are great many names denoting women of this vocation…
The Pit is a colourful tale about this timeless occupation…

Somehow it came about of itself, that on the ruins of those ancient, long-warmed nests, where of yore the rosy-cheeked, sprightly wives of the soldiery and the plump widows of Yama, with their black eyebrows, had secretly traded in vodka and free love, there began to spring up wide-open brothels, permitted by the authorities, regulated by official supervision and subject to express, strict rules. Towards the end of the nineteenth century both streets of Yama – Great Yamskaya and Little Yamskaya – proved to be entirely occupied, on one side of the street as well as the other, exclusively with houses of ill-fame. Of the private houses no more than five or six were left, but even they were taken up by public houses, beer halls, and general stores, catering to the needs of Yama prostitution.

The novel is a spectacular portrait gallery of both prostitutes and their clients…

“More than anything else, now, I dislike the little boys. He comes, the little varmint; he’s cowardly, he hurries, he trembles, but having done the business, he doesn’t know what to do with his eyes for shame. He’s all squirming from disgust. I just feel like giving him one in the snout. Before giving you the rouble, he holds it in his pocket in his fist, and that rouble’s all hot, even sweaty. The milksop! His mother gives him a ten kopeck piece for a French roll with sausage, but he’s economized out of that for a wench. I had one little cadet in the last few days. So just on purpose, to spite him, I say: ‘Here, my dearie, here’s a little caramel for you on your way; when you’re going back to your corps, you’ll suck on it.’ So at first he got offended, but afterwards took it. Later I looked from the stoop, on purpose; just as soon as he walked out, he looked around, and right away into his mouth with the caramel. The little swine!”

And the whores dwell in their own world, have their own manners and their own mores…

“And to play at love here? ...Well, for that I’m no hero out of their sort of novel. I’m not handsome, am shy with women, uneasy, and polite. While here they thirst for savage passions, bloody jealousy, tears, poisonings, beatings, sacrifices, – in a word, hysterical romanticism. And it’s easy to understand why. The heart of woman always wants love, while they are told of love every day with various sour, drooling words. Involuntarily one wants pepper in one’s love. One no longer wants words of passion, but tragically-passionate deeds. And for that reason thieves, murderers, souteneurs and other riff-raff will always be their lovers.”

Sellers and buyers of women… Sentimentality and cruelty… Diseases and misery… Hypocrites and do-gooders trying to save harlots from their destiny… Mad orgies… Hopelessness and despair… Broken fates and lives ending tragically…

There were occurrences when there would arrive, with a pack of parasites, some member of a workingmen’s association or a cashier, long since far gone in an embezzlement of many thousands through gambling at cards and hideous orgies, and now, in a drunken, senseless delirium, tossing the last money after the other, before suicide or the prisoner’s box. Then the doors and windows of the house would be tightly closed, and for two days and nights at a stretch a Russian orgy would go on – nightmarish, tedious, savage, with screams and tears, with revilement over the body of woman; paradisiacal nights were gotten up, during which naked, drunken, bow-legged, hairy, pot-bellied men, and women with flabby, yellow, pendulous thin bodies hideously grimaced to the music; they drank and guzzled like swine, on the beds and on the floor, amidst the stifling atmosphere, permeated with spirits, befouled with human respiration and the exhalations of unclean skins.

As long as there is demand, there will be supply.

[Katia N · Rating 5 out of 5]

"More awful than all awful words, a hundredfold more awful is some such little prosaic stroke or other as will suddenly knock you all in a heap, like a blow on the forehead..." said the one of the characters about the gift of a writer. And that is exactly what this novel did to me multiple times.

It is set in a brothel in a South city of K. I think it is Kiev. Some people think it is Odessa. But the location is not that important. It is about the life of these women and their clients during one day and night; and then - during the following next months. Kuprin’s power of observation is enormous. He pays a lot of attention to the background. But equally within quite limited space he creates a bunch of characters so realistic, so vivid that “one can almost touch them” (said by Chukovsky). Tolstoy said it is full of dirt. Some others criticise him for idealising the prostitutes. I did not see any idealisation at all. Only if “idealisation” means giving them back their humanity. Kuprin clearly shows that in majority of cases there is no way out for these women. But there is no cheap sympathy in this novel. In fact, Kuprin shows that these attempts of artificial empathy lead to more disaster; that the desire of superficial understanding would end up in a caricature or additional humiliation.

There are many extremely poignant moments in the novel. A young woman finds out she has got a terrible disease. She decides to take a revenge on men through her clients by passing it over. She does it until a very young cadet, the one of her semi-permanent clients, arrives and she decides to spare him. She just does. And she is totally at loss why. There is another moment when a student is reading Prevost's Manon Lescaut to a girl who has temporarily escaped. And the girl is angry with the heroine for being unfaithful. There are many other such nuggets of their life. Majority of them hate their clients but they are full of love which they turn to each other. Both emotionally and physically. I could not believe that such thing is mentioned at that time. Kuprin must be incredibly brave. Of course judging by our standards of 21th century I would like this theme be more visible. But 100 years ago it was probably a total anathema.

There is an episodic but important character, Platonov, who is clearly a mouthpiece for the author. (I wish this would be done in a more subtle way from the literary point of view, but i can forgive Kuprin for this). This character has spend a lot of time in this brothel just being there with these girls, their management, guards, doctors, etc. ). He is saying a shocking but very profound thing:

“No, horrible are the everyday, accustomed trifles; these business- like, daily, commercial reckonings; this thousand-year-old science of amatory practice; this prosaic usage, determined by the ages. In these unnoticeable nothings are completely dissolved such feelings as resentment, humiliation, shame. There remains a dry profession, a contract, an agreement, a well-nigh honest petty trade, no better, no worse than, say, the trade in groceries. Do you understand, gentlemen, that all the horror is in just this-- that there is no horror! Bourgeois work days--and that is all…”

And, I am thinking, is it good or is it bad when sex becomes a business? It is that such life becomes a kind of normality, the same I imagine like in a war zone or maybe actually the same like going to an office everyday? One just has to live their life I guess, to still feel dignity…

What strikes me is how universal this novel and how modern it is. It has written in 1908-1915, and maybe there is no legal brothels in the majority of places now. But none of the issues he has raised disappeared. There are still human trafficking, sex-trade and the industry of sex-workers. There are periodic discussion of legalising sex trade. It seems, when brothels were legal 100 years ago it did not seem the solution for the problem. I do not know enough about the current debate. But what i know that often when we talk about these things we forget that there are unique human destinies behind each particular case. (Sounds like a cliche, i know). And this novel is a powerful reminder. And sometimes when people write about these things now it reads more like ticking the boxes rather than what Kuprin has done.

“I admire your literary genius and your profound humanity. In particular, you possess a rare and very special gift making the whole groups of people come alive on the pages of your books. It tells about you as a human being who can ascend one the achievements of the epoch and see through them. Reading the one or another page of “Yama”, i was extrapolating its meaning over the whole of Europe - this huge brothel on the age of a catastrophe.” from the letter to Kuprin from Romain Rolland

PS
I've read in Russian, but the novel is available in English on-line:
http://www.online-literature.com/kupr...

[AiK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Это блестящий роман-обличение, обвинение общества и попытка разобраться, что является причиной проституции, как явления. Куприн пошел дальше других романистов, таких как Золя, Мопассан, Бальзак, поднимавших эту тему, не только рассказав о грязи, разврате и нравах подобных заведений, но и показав проституток обычными людьми, которые тоже имеют чувства и душу, и испытывают боль и страдания, и доказав на примере Любки, Тамары и Женьки обреченность этих женщин на трагичный конец. Он впервые бросает обвинение мужчинам, что не только их похотливость и потребность удовлетворения животного инстинкта, является первопричиной этого явления, но и, что важнее, неравенство женщин, недоступность достойного заработка для них, а также общественные предрассудки и двуличная мораль, препятствующие их выходу из ямы, коей является публичный дом.

[Osama · Rating 4 out of 5]

رواية الحفرة للمؤلف الروسي ألكساندر كوبين تحكي قصة بؤرة من بؤر الانحلال الأخلاقي الذي تعيش فيه مجموعة من الفتيات البائسات الذين يمتهن بيع أجسادهن مقابل دراهم معدودة وكل منهن يعشن قصة مؤلمة بدايتها الأسر المفككة ونهايتها الانتحار أو السجن أو المرض. للقصة محاور أخلاقية تحارب الاستغلال الجنسي والرقيق الأبيض وتنقد النفاق والازدواجية في المجتمع الذي يتغنى بالقيم خارجيا ويمارس الرذيلة في الخفاء. برغم ان الرواية كلاسيكية وقديمة إلا أنها تنقل معاناة شريحة من المجتمع وتصور مشكلة اجتماعية لا تزال قائمة شكلا ومضمونا في مجتمعنا الحديث المعاصر. ترجمة الرواية باللغة العربية راقية جدا ولغتها عذبة وسلسة. كثرة الشخصيات وتعدد الأسماء الروسية صعبة الحفظ كانت المنغص الوحيد بالنسبة لي اثناء قراءة الرواية.

[sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

честная, сильная, трагическая, больная, прямолинейная и красивая книга о проституции. были слезы, был смех, было сострадание. эмоции, которые я обычно испытываю от книг Достоевского, что лично для меня уже говорит о многом. так боялась приступать к этой книге, ибо возлагала на нее большие надежды и не хотелось разочароваться. но она оставила такой большой след во мне и теперь займёт одно из центральных мест среди любимых мною произведений русской литературы

[Jelena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Удивительное произведение. В нем сочетаются трогательность и цинизм. Эта повесть о самых низах, о яме человеческого существования, об унижении, но в то же время о гордости, стремлении, мечтах и силе женщин. Мужчинам, в этой книге отведена лишь ничтожная роль. Они здесь слабые и бесхарактерные, желающие управлять всем миром, но не умеющие справиться с самым примитивным инстинктом.

[Abc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un romanzo di denuncia sociale che potrebbe essere scritto anche oggi.
Si parla delle cosiddette case di tolleranza, distinte in base al loro tariffario dalle più prestigiose a quelle più squallide. Quella su cui Kuprin focalizza l'attenzione è una casa da due rubli, piuttosto malconcia.
Vi si descrive l'umanità che la abita e, in particolare, facciamo la conoscenza di tre prostitute: Zenja, Ljubka e Tamara. La prima è il personaggio che mi ha commossa di più.
Zenja è la più richiesta dai clienti, clienti che lei disprezza all'ennesima potenza e, quando si ammala, decide di vendicarsi infettando quanto più uomini le capitano a tiro. Di fronte a un ragazzino però avrà pietà e si tirerà indietro. Da qui scoprirà di non essere poi quella dura che ha sempre creduto di essere e inizierà a pensare che l'unica via per uscire dalla sua condizione sia la morte.
Storia altrettanto drammatica è quella di Ljubka. Lei si lascia abbindolare dalle belle parole di un giovane borghese convinto di poterla salvare dalla prostituzione. La convince ad abbandonare la fossa e le dà una casa in cui vivere, ma, siccome la strada per l'inferno è lastricata di buone intenzioni, il giovane si stancherà presto di tutte le problematiche connesse alla redenzione di questa donna pubblica e l'abbandonerà al suo destino. Destino che non può essere se non quello di rientrare nella fossa.
E infine c'è Tamara. La prostituta più istruita della fossa in quanto precedentemente ha vissuto in un monastero e ha ricevuto un'istruzione a differenza delle sue colleghe.
Purtroppo anche per lei il destino non sarà roseo.
Mi è piaciuto il modo in cui è narrato questo libro. Qualcuno ha detto che non c'è pathos e che le prostitute non vengono descritte in modo empatico. Io penso che in parte questo sia voluto perché Kuprin vuole farci capire che le prostitute sono viste solo come oggetti volti a soddisfare un piacere. Della loro umanità, della loro storia, dei loro sentimenti non interessa nulla a nessuno. Allo stesso tempo io penso che sia impossibile leggere questo libro senza provare pena per queste donne e senza indignarsi per certe situazioni. In questo senso mi sento di dire che la denuncia sociale di Kuprin è ampiamente riuscita.

[Ksenia Chernyshova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a powerful novel!! It saddens me that so few people have even heard of this novel and of Kuprin.

'Yama: The Pit' tells about a brothel in Tsarist Russia, and, yes, it's damn depressing, but at the same time written with such honesty, care and beauty, that I think only a Russian classic can muster. Apart from obvious issues of morality and humanity, the novel deals with mental illness and gender inequality, and all that long before these words even appeared in our language. There were also hints of same-sex relationships and attractions, and I wish they were more explicit, but I guess the novel was already too risque for its time.

If whoever wants to read it, be prepared that Kuprin (as any respectful Russian classic) overwrites descriptions of random people that appear for one scene. But the book itself is not too long, and it gets back to the story pretty quickly.

[Elena Druță · Rating 4 out of 5]

Groapa cu fete nu este cea mai veselă carte; e de un realism izbitor, reprezentând omul și locul său în societate din perspectiva unor valori deseori impuse de circumstanțe. În strada Yamskaya
orice urmă de umanitate dispare, rămânând doar măști vesele și triste ce joacă roluri demult împărțite într-un spectacol jucat de mii de ori.

Recenzia completă pe blog.

[Stella Popa · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Groapa de fete”
Alexandru Ivanovici Kuprin
4/5

După cum știți, programul școlar în literatură a stricat atitudinea multor elevi față de autorii clasici, în special față de cei ruși. Sunt doar una dintre cei: care preiau majoritatea lucrărilor cu prudență. Dar Kuprin este singurul clasic care nu numai că nu a provocat un sentiment de respingere, ci, dimpotrivă, m-a făcut să mă îndrăgostesc de el.

Imagine - Rusia prerevoluționară și bordelurile din orașul sudic din zona numită Yama (din așezarea coșerului). „O, orori! Oh maniere! - ar fi exclamat Cicero, învăţând legile şi obiceiurile predominante în rândul locuitorilor locali. Da, dar, mi se pare, puține s-au schimbat în această zonă de pe vremea romanilor până în zilele noastre. Și zicala „oamenii nu se schimbă” este potrivită aici la scară universală, fără a se aplica unui singur individ. Acțiunea lui Kuprin pentru acea Rusie - o încercare de a pătrunde în lumea bordelurilor și de a o descrie din interior - a fost aproape eroică și cu siguranță una de pionierat. În același timp, Alexandru Ivanovici nu condamnă nici prostituatele, nici deținătorii lor. El este doar un cronicar, vederea lui este una din exterior. Cu înțelepciunea unui om bătrân lumesc, el afirmă cu sânge rece: odată ce intri într-o gaură, nu poți ieși din ea. Chiar și cele mai inocente fete care, împotriva voinței lor, s-au găsit într-un bordel, devin în cele din urmă imposibil de distins de camarazii lor care au ales independent această cale.

Iar societatea este de vină pentru asta, împingând cu ușurință sufletele pierdute până la fund, dar nu gata să dea o mână de ajutor. Un bun exemplu este povestea Lyubkăi. Și cine este de vină? Un student care a cedat unui impuls (oh, nu degeaba spun că „dimineața este mai înțeleaptă decât seara”)? Lyubka, cine a crezut în norocul ei? Sau un concept vag de societate, în spatele căruia stă toată lumea și nimeni? Doar Tamara a reușit să iasă din bazin, doar ca să dispară într-o altă mlaștină. Personalitate inteligentă, educată, puternică - și ea nu putea. Nu se putea? Sau pur și simplu nu a vrut? Și din nou este de vină societatea. Și cine este? eu? Sau tu? Sau un „ei” fără chip și un „noi” puțin mai corect? Câteva întrebări. Așa cum ar trebui să fie după ce ați citit o carte bună și profundă.

Este semnificativ faptul că astfel de oameni de la sfârșitul secolului ΧΙΧ și începutul secolului ΧΧ ca Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoi („Duminica”) și Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin văd problema în același mod: niciunul dintre ei nu condamnă fetele care se găsesc în bordeluri. În cuvintele lor nu există nici măcar o umbră de îndoială că Omul este de vină, deși diferit de fiecare dată, cu alt nume, dar cu același suflet. Și Bărbatul este chiar acea „societate”, sexul puternic, împingând Femeia pe o astfel de cale, crescând cererea de servicii intime cu pofta sa (cum menționează însuși Kuprin: cererea creează oferta).

Deși Alexander Ivanovici are o scenă în „Groapa cu fete” în care elevele sunt prezentate și într-un mod nemăgulitor: chiar dacă nu sunt vinovații direcți ai căderii prostituatelor, indirect este și vina lor, constând în refuzul lor de a da un a doua șansă pentru acei Lyubkas care vor să se întoarcă la viața obișnuită. Elevii caută doar o scuză pentru a-și încreți nasul și a spune un „fi” disprețuitor „asigurându-se că astfel de oameni nu aparțin printre ei”. Și fii sigur că vor găsi mereu. Deci Femeia este și ea o parte a aceleiași societăți. Și încă nu se știe cine este mai necruțător față de locuitorii Caselor Toleranței: femeile sau bărbații.

În ciuda impresionabilității mele, cartea nu mi-a lăsat un sentiment deprimant, mai degrabă un sentiment de satisfacție. Am aflat tot ce voiam să știu. Cred că este la fel de plauzibil pe cât poate fi înțeles fără a face cazul în sine. Ar trebui să citești această carte sau nu? Cred că aici este nevoie de promptitudine și interes. Nu există nicio propagandă a prostituției în carte și nu poate fi. Doar adevărul, doar viața așa cum este.

A spune că Kuprin a înscris, câștigând cel mai mare punctaj este ca și cum nu ai spune nimic. Există ceva captivant în proza ​​lui, care leagă romanticul Bunin și realistul Tolstoi. Pasiunile fierb aici, dar există loc pentru prudența rece, născocirile filozofice și profețiile despre viitor. Atât de diferit, atât de încântător, atât de rus - Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin.

Cristina, babe, mersi pentru audio si ebook!
#foxbooks #clubulcititoriloranonimi

[Varvara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly one of the most powerful Russian books I've read recently. The story was initially described to me as "a tragic novel about a brothel in pre-revolutionary Russia". However, it is about people, especially men, and one's extraordinary ability to destroy beauty and innocence.

"Here everything has been juxtaposed: the Russian God, Russian breadth and unconcern, Russian despair in a fall, Russian lack of culture, Russian naivete, Russian patience, Russian shamelessness. Why, all of them, whom you take into bedrooms,—look upon them, look upon them well,—why, they are all children; why, each of them is but eleven years old. Fate has thrust them upon prostitution and since then they live in some sort of a strange, fairy-like, toy existence, without developing, without being enriched by experience, naive, trusting, capricious, not knowing what they will say and do half an hour later—altogether like children. This radiant and ludicrous childishness I have seen in the very oldest wenches, fallen as low as low can be, broken-winded and crippled like a cabby’s nags. And never does this impotent pity, this useless commiseration toward human suffering die within them ... "

[basichka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Впервые мне так трудно писать своё впечатление о книге. Описание быта девушек, обречённых на чудовищный конец, болезненно идёт вразрез с тем, какими же живыми они являются, как сильно хотят жить и карабкаются до последнего, даже отвергнутые обществом, даже опозоренные, оставленные живыми игрушками для мужчин, которые играются с ними, как с котятами – с их телами, с их душами.
Тяжёлая книга, написанная, вопреки этому, вовсе не с намерением быть тяжёлой. Её довольно легко читать, кочуя от одного героя к другому, но очень неприятно становится от сознания того, как, оказываясь лицом к лицу с незащищённостью, с уязвимостью и шаткостью положения молодой девушки, зависимой от мужчины в гимназиях, в трудоустройстве, мужчины в подавляющем большинстве случаев этой зависимостью без зазрения совести пользуются. И будто бы даже не по злому умыслу, а потому, что ну вот раз уж уже сложилось так в обществе, то почему бы и не? Почему не совратить ученицу, почему не выгнать забеременевшую горничную из дома? Падающего – подтолкни, а женщины – разве они люди? Так, пешки в чьей-то удачной игре, или не очень удачной, но тогда от них тем более не жалко избавиться.
А пешки кровоточат и продолжают жить уже искалеченной жизнью, с каждым днём увечась об неё ещё тяжелее, в местах, выход из которых вроде бы и открыт, но пойди выйди в мир с клеймом "публичная женщина". Как говорит Женька, кажется: публичная – это чья? Это не своя, не мамина, не мужнина. Это принадлежать всем и никому.
Публичная – это ничья

[Ira Therebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great powerful book about prostitution in the beginning of the 20th century. We get to know a variety of girls who are caught in the pit on the bottom of society and the clients that come to them. Kuprin does a great job introducing us to who they are and what their life is about.

We get to look more into the society and people of that time which even though happened more than 100 is still something that isn't too foreign for us.

The author is great with language, it almost flows and shows us the mood and the surroundings in a beautiful and depressing way. One thing that he did was tell us some major events and only then the story that lead to it. It actually worked very well, one would think that spoiling a story would not benefit the book but it made us look more and notice more details that caused it.

[LetourduMonde80 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Очень очень понравилось. Первое мое произведение у Куприна, но произвело огромное впечатление. Чудесный русский язык, интересный сюжет - вот уж не ожидала, что повесть окажется таким "page-turner". "Яма" - это повесть о легальных публичных домах в царской России, их быте и нравах, а также об истории несчастных молодых женщин одного отдельно взятого дома.

Из минусов (помимо абсолютно, невыносимо, безпросветно печального конца - но это конечно нельзя назвать объективным недостатком), на мой взгляд, некоторые сюжетные линии были недостаточно раскрыты. Хотелось бы не штрихами, в конце, а как-то подробнее об авантюрах Тамары. Остался не очень понятен образ журналиста/грузчика/представителя ещё сотни других профессий.

[Sofya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Если кто-то позитивно относится к секс-работе, я его убиваю

[Vittorio Ducoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molto, ma non troppo, è cambiato da allora

La fossa è un quartiere della grande città meridionale di K*; è in questo quartiere che Aleksandr Kuprin, scrittore russo poco noto del primo novecento, ambienta il suo romanzo più noto, pubblicato nel 1915.
La fossa, però, è un quartiere particolare, quello che oggi definiremmo un quartiere a luci rosse: là si trovano le case di tolleranza (che effettivamente espongono, di sera, delle lanterne rosse), rigidamente suddivise in case di lusso, di second'ordine e popolari, con prezzi e qualità del servizio diversi.
Kuprin ci racconta la storia di una di queste case, quella gestita da Anna Markovna - una casa di second'ordine, da due rubli – delle ragazze che vi lavorano e della varia umanità che la frequenta. Ci narra con estremo realismo la condizione umana e sociale delle prostitute, le regole che una società ipocrita si era data da un lato per garantire l'importante funzione “sociale” svolta dalle case e dall'altro per assicurare l'emarginazione e l'isolamento dal resto del corpo sociale di chi vi opera.
Parti importanti del romanzo sono quindi dedicate alla descrizione della vita che si svolge nella casa, al ruolo che in nell'azienda svolgono i vari personaggi, dalla proprietaria all'economa al portiere, ai meccanismi con cui le ragazze vengono sfruttate, al rapporto della casa con le autorità (spesso corrotte), alle tipologie dei clienti. Sono queste le parti corali del romanzo, nelle quali La fossa assume quasi i toni di un'inchiesta e della denuncia di una realtà ufficialmente ignorata.
Quasi a fare da contraltare a queste parti d'insieme, il romanzo focalizza la sua attenzione sulle storie di due ragazze che vivono nella casa di Anna Markovna: Ženia e Ljuba. Come detto nel commento in quarta di copertina della mia edizione BUR, si tratta di storie emblematiche, ciascuna delle quali vuole mettere in evidenza il dramma esistenziale e sociale che comporta essere prostitute, e ciascuna delle quali vuole dirci che da tale condizione non vi è redenzione, vuoi perché troppo grande è il fardello di umiliazione e di annichilimento della personalità che esercitare tale professione nel contesto delle case comporta, vuoi perché l'ipocrisia di cui la società è intrisa respinge ogni tentativo di riscatto.
La storia di Ženia è la più drammatica. Lei è di fatto la leader delle ragazze, è la più bella e la più richiesta dai clienti. E' apparentemente cinica e crudele, e non perde occasione per ricordare alle altre la loro vera condizione, la futilità dei loro sogni di una vita piccolo-borghese, basata sulla speranza che un giorno qualcuno si innamori di loro e le porti a vivere fuori dalla casa, come amanti ufficiali e mantenute. Ženia non si fa illusioni, sa che per la società è e resterà sempre la donna pubblica, e matura l'idea della vendetta sulla vita e sull'ipocrisia degli uomini. Quando scopre di essere ammalata di sifilide, lo tiene nascosto e moltiplica la sua disponibilità così da contagiare quanti più clienti possibile. Si ferma però davanti ad un ingenuo ragazzino alle prime esperienze, e questo episodio la convince che l'unica via d'uscita dalla sua condizione sia il suicidio. Credo che queste pagine, e quelle relative alla reazione delle ragazze, dei padroni della casa e delle autorità siano le più belle, intense e dense di significato del libro.
Ljuba è vittima del buonismo ideologico di chi si crede rivoluzionario ma è unicamente un piccolo-borghese. Lo studente Lichonin, animato da nobili ideali di redenzione della società, la fa uscire dalla casa e la porta a vivere con sé. In realtà non ama Liuba, ma sé stesso e l'idea di compiere un'azione eroica e coerente con le sue idee. Naturalmente si stancherà presto e a Ljuba non resterà altra scelta che tornare, sconfitta, nella casa.
Un'altra ragazza la cui storia è seguita con attenzione particolare dall'autore è quella di Tamara, che in qualche modo è l'alter ego positivo di Ženia: diviene economa della casa ed architetta un audace furto ai danni di un vecchio cliente di cui si finge innamorata. Finirà comunque in galera denunciata dal complice e amante.
Il libro si chiude con il dramma finale: l'intero quartiere è percorso da una sorta di pogrom e tutte le case vengono saccheggiate e devastate da una folla inferocita. La stessa società che ha sempre utilizzato i servizi delle case per incanalare e regolamentare le pulsioni del sesso ora distrugge i luoghi del piacere a pagamento. Le autorità ordinano di chiudere tutto e cambiano persino il nome al quartiere. Kuprin ci dice però che da quella catarsi nacque la prostituta da marciapiede, a testimonianza della insopprimibilità di tale ruolo in una società che perpetua sé stessa e i suoi bisogni.
La fossa è indubbiamente un bel libro, nel quale la lucidità dell'analisi, la capacità di trattare un argomento così complesso nelle sue varie sfaccettature e senza eccessivi paternalismi compensa anche alcune pecche, come una certa schematicità di alcuni personaggi.
Kuprin, non bisogna dimenticarlo, scrive il romanzo all'inizio del '900, in una Russia che seppure pervasa nei grandi centri urbani dalle tensioni rivoluzionarie rimaneva uno degli stati più arretrati d'Europa: la storia, però, ha il grande valore di essere universale, e potrebbe essere ambientata anche – per esempio – nell'Italia dell'immediato dopoguerra.
A mio avviso il grande pregio del libro è infatti quello di mostrarci il nesso inscindibile che esiste tra la società, la sua organizzazione, e la prostituzione organizzata come business, basata sullo sfruttamento della donna; allo stesso tempo il romanzo ci mostra con nettezza il patto di ipocrisia stretto tra la società e la prostituzione, patto che è vigente ancora oggi, sia pure in forme più sfaccettate, nella nostra società apparentemente libera da ogni tabù sessuale: ci sei, mi sei necessaria, ma devi rimanere nascosta, sei troppo disturbante per essere parte organica dell'organizzazione sociale.
Certo, molto è cambiato dai tempi raccontati ne la fossa, ma se guardiamo alle posizioni politiche di alcuni movimenti di casa nostra, alla mentalità di molti buoni padri di famiglia dell'Italia del XXI secolo ritroveremo tanti motivi per leggere questo libro e per riflettere sui suoi contenuti.

[krapivka · Rating 5 out of 5]

дослушала, расплакалась прям в метро…
огромная благодарность Куприну за то, что смог не только правдоподобно описать женскую душу, страдания вынужденных заниматься проституцией девушек, но и остаться неравнодушным и к мужской половине, показав читателю, что есть подлые люди и их низменные желания и поступки, но также и здравомыслящие, чуткие и эмпатичные мужчины.

НАЧАЛО СПОЙЛЕРА!
я расплакалась на похоронах Жени, когда её отпевали, а девочки упали на колени и начали плакать, я не сдержалась сама. она мне безумно нравилась, я прониклась ей, когда она сама, всегда такая сильная духом и эмоционально стойкая, расплакалась над оперой графини, показала мне свою искалеченную и уставшую от такой жизни душу. даже её самоубийство, её отказ заражать всех мужчин сифилисом, а особенно жалость к Коле, это бесконечно храбрый поступок. и я оценила жест Тамары, которая привлекла все возможные связи и организовала похороны на свои средства.

КОНЕЦ СПОЙЛЕРА!
безумно жаль каждую девушку. я прониклась этой историей на 100 из 10.
не могу решить для себя, считать ли аудиокнигу за прочитанное произведение, но поверьте, благодаря Суханову я прочувствовала слог автора, я оценила каждый оборот, метафору, эпитет, и благодарна себе за то, что решилась начать через прослушивание навёрстывать упущенное по русской классике.
думаю, я ещё вернусь к Куприну. и «Яму» хочется купить в виде книги домой, на память, о всех девчонках и о самом Александре за то, что решился озвучить такую «замалчиваемую» в России тему.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reading this book in Russian while listening to an excellent audio book. I am enjoying the book, and I import it chapter by chapter into LingQ in order to save the words that I need to learn. I enjoy the book immensely, but this may in large part be due to the excellent audio book that I have.

My son Eric found a print copy of the book and gave it to me for Christmas. I have only had access to an e-text version of the book (needed for LingQ) and had not been able to locate a print version. Eric found this old book in a book store in Brookline near Boston MA, where he lives. The book is 50 years! old.

Государственное Издательство
Художественной Литературы
Москва 1958

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent though very depressing account of life in a brothel in Tsarist Russia. I had never heard of this author before, and only discovered this book through a perusal of ebooks available at this site: Mobileread ebook library I would rate Alexandre Kuprin right up there with the other greats of Russian literature.

[Atreju · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars.
Il mondo della prostituzione. Quello che c'è dentro e quello che gli ruota intorno.
Anzi, meglio, il mondo della "vecchia" prostituzione, della "casa di tolleranza" nel vecchio mondo imperiale russo. Mondo che è in procinto di franare. Scritto pochi anni prima della rivoluzione del '17, il romanzo è tutto pervaso da un senso di imminente implosione. Figure femminili e maschili vorticano in un caleidoscopio di pulsioni contrastanti.

[Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

من خبرتي المتواضعة في القراءة لم اقرأ لروائي وضع هذه السيناريوهات مع بعضها بهذه البراعة
كوبرين كتب رواية لكل الاجيال و ليس لجيله . وربما لا تنتهي هذه المشكلة إلى نهاية العالم .

رواية كوبرين عن أخطر ما يهدم المجتمعات و الأسرة. وهي تجارة الجنس
عن حي الحفرة و عن بيوت الدعارة . تروى مآسي كل فتاة وكيف وصلت إلى الحفرة

الرواية متعبة و تزيد المرء عطشا لجفاف الحلق كلما ابتعدت في قراءتها .
من الجمل الخالدة عندي ( لكن مع ذلك يا بنياتي هي في حفرتها في حال افضل بكثير من حالنا في حفرتنا ).

في هذه الرواية لا تبحث عن الضحية و الجلاد لأنك لن تعرفه

رواية VIP

[Davide · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Будь тебе земля пухом.»

Certe fosse sono più confortevoli delle altre.

[Divya Pal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Russian version of GB Road, Sonagachi, Kamatipura, this is the story of the red-light area in an unnamed Russian town on the southern frontier called Yamskaya Sloboda (Stage-drivers’ Borough) that mutated to Yamskaya (Little Ditches) and finally, to Yama – The Pit

Right up close to his eyes he saw the eyes of the woman – strangely large, dark, luminous, indistinct and unmoving. For a quarter of a second or so, for an instant, it seemed to him that in these unliving eyes was impressed an expression of keen, mad hate; and the chill of terror, some vague premonition of an ominous, inevitable calamity flashed through the student’s brain.

Here she is – I! A public woman, a common vessel, a cloaca for the drainage of the city’s surplus lust…But for a second of this sensuality in haste – thou shalt pay in money, revulsion, disease and ignominy.

At fourteen years she was seduced, and at sixteen she became a patent prostitute, with a yellow ticket and a venereal disease. And here is all her life, surrounded by and fenced off from the universe with a sort of a bizarre, impenetrable, and dead wall. Turn your attention to her everyday vocabulary – thirty or forty words, no more – altogether as with a baby or a savage: to eat, to drink, to sleep, man, bed, the madam, rouble, lover, doctor, hospital, linen, policeman – and that’s all. And so her mental development, her experience, her interests, remain on an infantile plane until her very death…

Sated after a libidinous bout, the patrons discuss philosophical questions about prostitution

I ask you, what is prostitution in the end? What is it? The extravagant delirium of large cities, or an eternal historical phenomenon? Will it cease some time? Or will it die only with the death of all mankind? Who will answer that?

While there will be property, there will also be poverty. While marriage exists, prostitution also will not die. Do you know who will always sustain and nourish prostitution? It is the so-called decent people, the noble paterfamiliases, the irreproachable husbands, the loving brothers. They will always find a seemly motive to legitimize, normalize and put a wrapper all around paid libertinage, because they know very well that otherwise it would rush in a torrent into their bedrooms and nurseries. Prostitution is for them a deflection of the sensuousness of others from their personal, lawful alcove. And even the respectable paterfamilias himself is not averse to indulge in a love debauch in secret. And really, it is paling to have always the one and the same thing, the wife, the chambermaid, the lady on the side. Man, as a matter of fact, is a poly – and exceedingly so – a polygamous animal. And to his rooster-like amatory instincts it will always be sweet to unfold in such a magnificent nursery garden.

The imposing Madam of the “establishment of ill repute”

She is a tall, full woman of forty-six, with chestnut hair, and a fat goitre of three chins. Her eyes are encircled with black rims of hemorrhoidal origin.

Here is a scene from a mortuary

all, probably, the poorest of the poor: picked up on the streets, intoxicated, crushed, maimed and mutilated, beginning to decompose. Certain ones had already begun to show on their hands and faces bluish-green spots, resembling mould – the signs of putrefaction. One man, without a nose, with upper hare-lip cloven in two, had worms, like little white dots, swarming upon his sore-eaten face. A woman who had died from dropsy, reared like a whole mountain from her board couch, bulging out of the lid (of the coffin).

The macabre scenario post-post-mortem

All of them had been hastily sewn up after autopsy, repaired, and washed by the moss-covered watchman and his mates. What affair was it of theirs if, at times, the brain got into the stomach; while the skull was stuffed with the liver and rudely joined with the help of sticking plaster to the head

A well-meaning lady educates her ardent young client about the nemesis of a pre-antibiotic generation – syphilis

…not only the nose! The person becomes all diseased. Some doctors say such nonsense as that it’s possible to be cured of this disease. Bosh! You’ll never cure yourself! A person rots ten, twenty, thirty years. Every second paralysis can strike you down, so that the right side of the face, the right arm, the right leg die – it isn’t a human being that’s living but some sort of little half-man-half corpse. The majority of them go out of their minds. To all syphilitics the children are born monsters, abortions, goitrous, consumptives, idiots

A powerful, raw, moving book - only marred by poor translation and printing.

[Yulia Kazachkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Знаете, это нужно проходить в старших классах вместо Достоевского. Просто феноменально и бьет прямо в голову, укрепляя неокрепшие умы.

О проституции писали и до него, и великолепно писали, одна “Пышка” Мопассана чего стоит, но такого погружения в профессиональный быт и совершенную обыденность бытия надо еще поискать.

Чего тут точно не надо искать, так это контента 18+, ибо рассказ откровенный и без стыдливых прикрас, но цель его не развлекательная.

Куприн для меня с детства запомнился таким поэтичным драматиком (читанная-перечитанная “Олеся”, затемненный “Гранатовый браслет”), а он натуралист чистой воды. Мне кажется, это наш Золя.

Вдохновлена Куприным, и хочу посмотреть сериал по его жизни и ключевым произведениям.

"…Наши художники слова — самые совестливые и самые искренние во всем мире художники — почему-то до сих пор обходили проституцию и публичный дом. Почему? Право, мне трудно ответить на это. Может быть, у них не хватает ни времени, ни самоотверженности, ни самообладания вникнуть с головой в эту жизнь и подсмотреть ее близко, без предубеждения, без громких фраз, без овечьей жалости, во всей ее чудовищной простоте и будничной деловитости. Ах, какая бы это получилась громадная, потрясающая и правдивая книга".

[vetathebooksurfer · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW: suicide, death, murder (non-graphic), sex work, rape, strong language, racial slur

Story takes place in Russian Empire at the end of XIX, and although the city is deliberately not stated, there are reasons to believe it's set in Kiev (Ukraine) - because of some words, names, and songs. Yama - the Pit - is a name for a Yamskaya st., a popular neighbourhood with brothels, both legal and not. There are more expensive ones of the same street with women from Baltic states, and Anna Markovna is in charge of an average brothel with mostly Russian-speaking women.

The story is divided into three parts: a period of prosperity and introduction of many women working in the brother, a both ridiculous and dramatic story of Lihonin - a university student, who wishes "to save a girl from the Pit" and the third story of Anna Markovna's brother decaying and The Yama neighbourhood disappearing altogether.

There are also sub-plots of an educated girl, forced into prostitution to escape prison, a man selling his newly-wedded wives, a greedy and pretentious school teacher, a journalist and a singer, who are genuinely willing to help the girls.

Despite me enjoying author's writing style, this book has a few flaws I need to point out:

1) This is definitely NOT an insight about prostitution in 1890-s Russian Empire , since the research is pretty basic: they sing popular songs, get beaten for small debts, even those women, who's behave, a doctor treating the prostitutes as mere cattle.

And the conclusion here: the society doesn't treat the sex workers as human beings. But this is pretty much obvious, there are many other books about it.

2) BUT! If you were looking for an insight on how the students, the intellectuals (интеллигенция) treated these women, you've come to the right place. I love that the author doesn't shy away from the hypocrisy of these students - cause you've got to understand, in XIX-XX some of the revolutionary students could only talk, but did only little, fueled by ideas one can only find in books. And despite having best intentions, some of their actions were both hurtful and immature.

Thus, despite understanding how one can be exploit by the other and knowing full well, that these women are practically stuck in this circle of hatred and poverty, the students still have the guts to use them and exploit them for their own pleasure.

RUS

Осторожно: суицид, смерть, убийство (неграфично), проституция, изнасилование, мат, оскорбления по расовому и национальному признаку

История разворачивается в Российской империи 1890-х гг., и, несмотря на то, что нам специально не говорят, где именно находится Яма, есть основания полагать, что действие происходит в одном из Украинских южных городов - на это указывают некоторые слова, имена героев, прозвища. Яма - это район на Ямской улице, где располагаются легальные "дома терпимости": есть дорогие, где в основном немки, есть дешевые заведения, а есть Дом Анны Марковны, где о девушках вроде как заботятся.

Здесь есть как основные сюжетные линии - знакомство с про*ст*итутками, чиновниками, интеллигенцией, расцвет и упадок легальной п*ро*ституции, - так и побочные - сошедшая с ума нимфоманка, мужик, продающий своих жен в бордели, журналист и певица, которые искренне стараются помочь, доктор, для которого они не более скотины.

Автор, конечно, потрясающе пишет и все такое прочее, но мне необходимо выделить два момента:

1) Это произведение - далеко не всестороннее исследование проституции в Российской империи 1890-х, ибо тут идет довольно банальное описание быта деградирующего человека. Ну, песни они поют, ну, есть у них правила ухода за собой, есть собственные приходо-расходные книги, есть даже сафичные отношения.

Вывод такой, что общество относится к проститукам, даже к легальным, как к скоту, как к куклам, которых надо холить и лелеять, которые страдают, но их все равно можно эксплуатировать для собственного удовольствия.

2) Но! Если вам интересно, как к проституткам относилась интеллигенция того времени - вам по адресу. Я признаю за студенчеством юношеский максимализм, и студенты из Российской империи - не исключение. Здесь вокруг студенческого кружка разворачивается одна из сюжетных линий: студент по имени Лихонин, абсолютно незрелый морально, после одной из пьянок, сначала сам предлагает товарищам "ехать к девочкам", а потом, не обдумав все как следует, берет на себя обязанность "перевоспитать" человека, не имея для этого ни средств, ни возможностей.

И в принципе, эта идея проходит через все произведение: студенты прекрасно понимают, как эксплуатируют женщин:

"Пока будет собственность, будет и нищета. Пока существует брак, не умрет и проституция. Знаешь ли ты, кто всегда будет поддерживать и питать проституцию? Это так называемые порядочные люди, благородные отцы семейств, безукоризненные мужья, любящие братья. Они всегда найдут почтенный повод узаконить, нормировать и обандеролить платный разврат, потому что они отлично знают, что иначе он хлынет в их спальни и детские"

...При этом не переставая под горячую руку обвинять их, использовать нелестные эпитеты, сердиться, позволять себе лишнее и прочее, и прочее.

"Да, он поступил, как человек, к��к настоящий человек, в самом высоком смысле этого слова! Вот и теперь он не раскаивается в том, что сделал. Хорошо им (кому это "им", Лихонин и сам не понимал как следует), хорошо им говорить об ужасах проституции, говорить, сидя за чаем с булками и колбасой, в присутствии чистых и развитых девушек. А сделал ли кто-нибудь из коллег какой-нибудь действительный шаг к освобождению женщины от гибели? Ну-ка? А то есть еще и такие, что придет к этой самой Сонечке Мармеладовой, наговорит ей турусы на колесах, распишет всякие ужасы, залезет к ней в душу, пока не доведет до слез, и сейчас же сам расплачется и начнет утешать, обнимать, по голове погладит, поцелует сначала в щеку, потом в губы, ну, и известно что! Тьфу! А вот у него, у Лихонина, слово с делом никогда не расходится".

Читать эту историю было довольно сложно, особенно из-за описания избиений, морга и длительной сцены похорон после самоубийства - что контрпродуктивно по отношению к аудитории в целом.

[An_york · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я никогда не задумывалась о подобных вещах. Да, проституция была всегда и везде и многие её воспринимают как должное, как что-то обыденное и это прискорбно.
Со школьной скамьи нам вдалбливают про мораль, человеческие ценности, какие раньше были православные люди и т.д. Повесть Куприна для меня нечто совершенно новое и из ряда вон выходящее. Было безумно жалко всех этих девушек и женщин, ведь они ни в чем не виноваты. Этих девушек продавали матери, совращали мужики, к ним относились как к вещи, если не хуже! Так какая должна быть психика, чтобы всё это выносить?! Обслуживать обхаживать мужиков сотнями, тысячами!!! У меня волосы дыбом вставали. Они выживали, вставали каждое утро с мыслью, что вечером, ночью будут куплены как кусок мяса, использованы и брошены к другому покупателю.
Книга определенно оставит след в вашей жизни!

[Olena Brazhnyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Назву повісті чула давно, але ніколи не знала, про що вона. І ось на одній з екскурсій містом гід розказав, що Куприн розповів у "Ямі" про будні будинків терпимості у Києві на вулиці Ямській. Тут багато деталей про цінову політику будинків, нюанси внутрішньої ієрархії, жовті квитки, еротичні листівки і т.ін. Автор говорить про те, чи може повія полишити справу і як може скластися її доля.
Оповідь ведеться від третьої особи і часто в ній звучать настільки зневажливі думки про жінок взагалі, що незрозуміло, чи це думка автора, чи анонімного оповідача.
Читати було цікаво.
Куприн ділиться чоловічою точкою зору на узаконену проституцію, розмірковує, чому подібні заклади існують понині і що буде, якщо вони зникнуть.

[Katya Ptashka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Цепко и трагично. Печальная голая правда. Очень реалистичное погружение в "яму", где можно ощутить запахи, липкое пространство и внутреннюю боль.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me about 6 weeks to get through this one but it was worth the effort.

[Erich C · Rating 4 out of 5]

p 100: No, horrible are the everyday, accustomed trifles, these business-like, daily, commercial reckonings, this thousand year old science of amatory practice, this prosaic usage, determined by the ages. In these unnoticeable nothings are completely dissolved such feelings as resentment, humiliation, shame. There remains a dry profession, a contract, an agreement, a well-nigh honest petty trade, no better, no worse than, say, the trade in groceries. Do you understand, gentlemen, that all the horror is in just this, that there is no horror! Bourgeois work days - and that is all.

p 228: 'It's one of two things here, and it'll all end in one and the same result. Either you'll get together with her and after five months chuck her out on the street; and she'll return to the brothel or take to walking the streets. That's a fact! Or else you won't get together with her, but will begin to load her up with manual or mental labours and will try to develop her ignorant, dark mind; and she from tedium will run away from you, and will again find herself either walking the streets, or in a brothel. That's a fact, too! However, there is still a third combination. You'll be vexing yourself about her like a brother, like the knight Lancelot, but she, secretly from you, will fall in love with another. [...] And the other will play a bit with her body, and after three months chuck her out into the street or into a brothel.'