Vassilyevwentintothedrawing-roomandsatdown。Therewereanumberofvisitorsintheroombesideshimandhisfriends：twoinfantryofficers，abald，gray-hairedgentlemaninspectacles，twobeardlessyouthsfromtheinstituteofland-surveying，andaverytipsymanwholookedlikeanactor。AlltheyoungladiesweretakenupwiththesevisitorsandpaidnoattentiontoVassilyev。
Onlyoneofthem，dressed_alaAida，_glancedsidewaysathim，smiled，andsaid，yawning：\"Adarkonehascome……\"
Vassilyev’sheartwasthrobbingandhisfaceburned。Hefeltashamedbeforethesevisitorsofhispresencehere，andhefeltdisgustedandmiserable。Hewastormentedbythethoughtthathe，adecentandlovingman（suchashehadhithertoconsideredhimself），hatedthesewomenandfeltnothingbutrepulsiontowardsthem。Hefeltpityneitherforthewomennorthemusiciansnortheflunkeys。
\"ItisbecauseIamnottryingtounderstandthem，\"hethought。
\"Theyareallmorelikeanimalsthanhumanbeings，butofcoursetheyarehumanbeingsallthesame，theyhavesouls。Onemustunderstandthemandthenjudge……\"