Page 129 (1/2)

Before the first interview, Nekhludoff thought that when she saw

him and knew of his intention to serve her, Katusha would be

pleased and touched, and would be Katusha again; but, to his

horror, he found that Katusha existed no more, and there was

Maslova in her place This astonished and horrified him

What astonished him most was that Katusha was not ashamed of her

position--not the position of a prisoner (she was ashamed of

that), but her position as a prostitute She seemed satisfied,

even proud of it And, yet, how could it be otherwise? Everybody,

in order to be able to act, has to consider his occupation

iood Therefore, in whatever position a person is,

he is certain to foreneral

which will ood

It is usually iined that a thief, ahis or her profession as evil, is

ashamed of it But the contrary is true People whom fate and

their sin-mistakes have placed in a certain position, however

false that position eneral which

ood and admissible In order to keep

up their view of life, these people instinctively keep to the

circle of those people who share their views of life and their

own place in it This surprises us, where the persons concerned