The Little Demon is a successful and almost imperceptible merging of comedy with tragedy. It is in fact a tragedy in which the comic forms an integral part and is not sandwiched in superficially merel...

This novel, The Little Demon, was begun in 1892 and finished in 1902. It originally appeared in 1905 in the periodical Voprosi Zhizni, but without its final chapters. It was first published in its com...

I once thought that Peredonov’s career was finished, and that he was not to leave the psychiatric hospital where he was placed after cutting Volodin’s throat. But latterly rumours have begun to reach ...

“My soul, why are you thus dismayed?” “Because of the hate that surrounds the name of the author of The Little Demon. Many people who disagree upon other things are agreed on this.” “Accept the malice...

It is quite natural for the author of a novel to experience pleasure and pride upon learning that his work is about to become accessible to a new circle of readers. Upon learning, however, that Mr. Jo...

After Mass the members of the congregation scattered to their homes. A few stopped to talk under the old maples and lindens near the white stone walls, within the enclosure. All were in holiday dress ...

Varvara Dmitrievna Maloshina, the mistress of Peredonov, awaited him. She was dressed in a slovenly fashion, and her face was powdered and rouged. Jam tarts were being baked in the oven for lunch: Per...

Peredonov and Ershova went out into the open. He growled: “Come this way.” She shouted with all her might, though gaily. They were apparently getting ready to dance. Prepolovenskaya and Varvara passed...

The billiard-room was full of tobacco-smoke. Peredonov, Routilov, Falastov, Volodin and Mourin were there. The last of these was a robust landed proprietor of stupid appearance; he was the owner of a ...

Peredonov felt depressed. He had no more caramels in his pocket and this added to his depression and distress. Routilov was the only one to speak almost the whole way. He continued to laud his sisters...

The next day Peredonov and Volodin went to see the Adamenko girl. Volodin was in his best clothes; he put on his new, tight-fitting frock-coat, a clean-laundered shirt and a brightly-coloured cravat. ...

Varvara had no knowledge of Peredonov’s trip. She passed an extremely distressing night. When Peredonov returned to town in the morning he did not go home, but asked to be driven to church⁠—it was tim...

As soon as Peredonov left to play billiards Varvara went off to see Grushina. They argued for a long time, and at last decided to mend the matter with another letter. Varvara knew that Grushina had fr...

The next day Peredonov went to see the District Attorney Avinovitsky. Again it was a gloomy day. The wind came in violent blasts, and whirled clouds of dust before it. The evening was coming on, and e...

On Thursday, Peredonov went to see the Marshal of the Nobility. The Marshal’s house reminded one of a palatial cottage in Pavlovsk or in Tsarskoye Selo, with full conveniences even for winter residenc...

On Saturday Peredonov prepared to visit the Commissioner of Police. “Though he is not so big a bird as the Marshal of the Nobility,” thought Peredonov, “he might do me greater harm than anyone else. O...

Peredonov went to Vespers in the school chapel. There he placed himself behind the students and looked attentively to see how they behaved. It seemed to him that some of them were mischievous, talked,...

Towards evening Peredonov appeared before the Headmaster⁠—to talk on business. The Headmaster, Nikolai Vlasyevitch Khripatch had a certain number of rules which were sufficiently practical and not dif...

Rumours that Pilnikov was a disguised girl soon spread about the town. Among the first to hear of it were the Routilovs. The inquisitive Liudmilla always tried to see everything new with her own eyes....

Volodin went punctually to the Adamenkos to give his lessons. His hopes that the young woman would invite him to take coffee were not realised. Each time he came he was taken straight to the little sh...

The dark-eyed boy occupied all Liudmilla’s thoughts. She often talked about him with her own family and with acquaintances, sometimes unseasonably. Almost every night she saw him in a dream, sometimes...

Liudmilla met Sasha one day in the street and said to him: “Tomorrow the Headmaster’s wife is having a birthday party for her eldest daughter⁠—is the old lady going?” “I don’t know,” said Sasha. But a...

Peredonov was returning from the lodgings of one of his pupils. Quite suddenly he was caught in a drizzling rain. He tried to think where he could shelter for a while, so as not to spoil his new silk ...

Peredonov’s strange behaviour worried Khripatch more and more. He consulted the school physician and asked him whether Peredonov were not out of his mind. The doctor laughingly replied that Peredonov ...

In the evening Peredonov went to the Club⁠—he had been invited to play cards. Goudayevsky, the notary, was also there. Peredonov was frightened when he saw him, but Goudayevsky conducted himself quiet...

On Sunday when Peredonov and Varvara were lunching, someone entered the hall. Varvara went up to the door stealthily, as was her habit, and looked out. With the same stealthiness she returned to the t...

Peredonov began to attend church frequently. He always stood in a conspicuous place. At one time he crossed himself more often than was necessary, at another he stood like a person in a trance and loo...

The Prepolovenskys undertook the arrangement of the wedding. It was decided that they should be married in a village six versts from the town. Varvara felt uneasy about marrying in the town, after the...

The Peredonov’s cat acted wildly, snarled and refused to come when called⁠—it had become quite incorrigible. The animal alarmed Peredonov. He sometimes pronounced exorcisms over it. “I wonder whether ...

Rumours of the forged letters spread about the town. Conversations about them preoccupied the townsmen and gave them great pleasure. Nearly everyone took Varvara’s part and was glad that Peredonov had...

Sasha was fascinated by Liudmilla, but something prevented him from talking about her to Kokovkina. He felt somehow ashamed, and sometimes he came to be afraid of her visits. His heart would feel fain...

Peredonov awoke in the morning. Someone was looking at him with huge, cloudy, four-cornered eyes. Wasn’t it Pilnikov? Peredonov walked up to the window and spat on the evil apparition. Everything seem...

Sasha left home after lunch and did not return at the appointed time, at seven; Kokovkina was worried: “May God preserve him from meeting one of his masters in the street at a forbidden time! He’ll be...

The masked ball took place at the Club House in the Market Square⁠—a two-storied building of stone, painted bright red, resembling a barracks. It was arranged by Gromov-Chistopolsky, the actor-manager...

At last the counting of the cards began. The stewards of the Club composed the committee. A tensely expectant crowd gathered at the door of the judges’ room. For a short time in the dancing-hall every...

Ekaterina Ivanovna Pilnikova, Sasha’s aunt and guardian, received simultaneously two letters about Sasha⁠—one from the Headmaster and the other from Kokovkina. These letters greatly alarmed her. She p...

It was a cold, bleak day. Peredonov had just left Volodin. He felt depressed. Vershina lured him into the garden. He yielded again to her witching call. The two of them walked towards the summerhouse,...

Rather acute “spoiler alert” in this particular author’s note we were signalled⁠—(transcribers’ note). ↩ St. Petersburg. ↩ Pisarev (1840⁠–⁠68), a revolutionary writer and a precursor of Nihilism. ↩ A ...