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Rudin by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
page 36 of 212 (16%)
disaster, that a village had been struck by lightning, or that a mill
had been carried away by floods, or that a peasant had cut his hand
with an axe, he invariably asked with concentrated bitterness, 'And
what's her name?' meaning, what is the name of the woman responsible
for this calamity, for according to his convictions, a woman was the
cause of every misfortune, if you only looked deep enough into the
matter. He once threw himself on his knees before a lady he hardly
knew at all, who had been effusive in her hospitality to him and began
tearfully, but with wrath written on his face, to entreat her to have
compassion on him, saying that he had done her no harm and never would
come to see her for the future. Once a horse had bolted with one of
Darya Mihailovna's maids, thrown her into a ditch and almost killed
her. From that time Pigasov never spoke of that horse except as the
'good, good horse,' and he even came to regard the hill and the ditch
as specially picturesque spots. Pigasov had failed in life and had
adopted this whimsical craze. He came of poor parents. His father had
filled various petty posts, and could scarcely read and write, and did
not trouble himself about his son's education; he fed and clothed him
and nothing more. His mother spoiled him, but she died early. Pigasov
educated himself, sent himself to the district school and then to the
gymnasium, taught himself French, German, and even Latin, and, leaving
the gymnasiums with an excellent certificate, went to Dorpat, where he
maintained a perpetual struggle with poverty, but succeeded in
completing his three years' course. Pigasov's abilities did not rise
above the level of mediocrity; patience and perseverance were his
strong points, but the most powerful sentiment in him was ambition,
the desire to get into good society, not to be inferior to others in
spite of fortune. He had studied diligently and gone to the Dorpat
University from ambition. Poverty exasperated him, and made him
watchful and cunning. He expressed himself with originality; from his
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