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The future is a hefty responsibility and

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not one that we take lightly. But then

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taking things lightly has never been what

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hefty is about. That's why we've created the

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Hefty Renew program that turns hard to

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recycle plastics into valuable resources like park benches

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and building materials. To participate,

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simply fill up an orange hefty renew bag

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It's that easy. It's time to

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rethink recycling with Renew. Particular-valued

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resources may vary by geography. More

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info available at hestrerenew.com. The

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life of a Scrivener is an

0:33

existence resigned to the handwritten copying

0:35

of law documents. One

0:38

day something clicks in Bartleby and

0:40

his simple reply to everything is, I

0:43

prefer not to. Herman

0:46

Melville, today on the

0:48

Classic Tales Podcast. Welcome

1:01

to this vintage episode of the

1:03

Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for

1:05

listening. A vintage

1:07

episode is released every Tuesday. If

1:10

the show has helped you find comfort, peace

1:12

or a quiet place to mentally rest, please

1:15

help us to help more people like you by

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going to classictalesaudiobooks.com and

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becoming a supporter. New

1:23

stories are coming your way on Friday. Keep

1:26

an ear open for our Kickstarter for

1:28

The Golden Triangle, the seventh

1:30

novel in the Arzen-Lupin series. We'll

1:33

let you know when we're ready to kick off. Today's

1:37

story was published anonymously in 1853.

1:41

Melville was in a bit of financial straits at

1:43

the time, since his last two

1:45

novels, Moby Dick and Pierre, didn't

1:48

sell well at all. Melville's

1:50

major source of inspiration for the story

1:53

was an advertisement for a new book,

1:55

The Lawyer's Story, by James

1:57

A. Maitland. This advertisement was

1:59

published in 1853. assessment included the complete first chapter,

2:02

which started, in the summer of 1843,

2:04

having an

2:06

extraordinary quantity of deeds to copy, I

2:09

engaged, temporarily, an extra

2:12

copying clerk, who interested

2:14

me considerably in consequence

2:16

of his modest, quiet, gentlemanly

2:18

demeanor and his intense application

2:20

to his duties. Melville

2:23

biographer Herschel Walker said

2:25

nothing else in the chapter besides this remarkably

2:28

evocative sentence was notable.

2:32

It's never directly addressed why Bartleby

2:34

acts the way he does, and

2:36

the author has left it open to interpretation.

2:40

Many critics posit that his behavior is

2:42

due to depression. And

2:44

now, Bartleby the Scrivener,

2:47

by Herman Melville. I

2:56

am a rather elderly man. The

2:59

nature of my avocations for the last

3:01

thirty years has brought me

3:03

into more than ordinary contact with

3:06

what would seem an interesting and somewhat

3:08

singular set of men, of whom, as

3:10

yet, nothing that I know of, has

3:12

ever been written. I mean,

3:14

the law copyists or Scriveners.

3:17

I have known very many of

3:19

them, professionally and privately, and if

3:21

I pleased, could relate diverse histories

3:23

at which good-natured gentlemen might smile

3:25

and sentimental souls might weep. But

3:28

I wave the biographies of all

3:30

other Scriveners for a few

3:33

passages in the life of Bartleby,

3:35

who was a Scrivener, the strangest

3:37

I ever saw or heard

3:39

of. While of other law

3:41

copyists, I might write the complete

3:43

life of Bartleby, nothing of

3:45

that sort can be done. I believe

3:48

that no materials exist for a

3:51

full and satisfactory biography of this

3:53

man. It is an irreparable

3:55

loss to literature. Bartleby was

3:57

one of those beings of whom I was very much aware

3:59

of. nothing is ascertainable except

4:01

from the original sources and in

4:04

his case those are very small.

4:07

What my own astonished eyes saw

4:09

of Bartleby, that is

4:11

all I know of him, except indeed one

4:13

vague report which will appear in the sequel.

4:17

Ere introducing the Scrivener as he

4:19

first appeared to me, it

4:21

is fit I make some mention

4:24

of myself, my employees, my business,

4:26

my chambers, and general surroundings because

4:28

some such description is indispensable to

4:30

an adequate understanding of the chief

4:33

character about to be presented. In

4:36

premise, I am a man

4:38

who, from his youth upwards, has been

4:40

filled with a profound conviction that the

4:43

easiest way of life is the best.

4:46

Hence, though I belong to

4:48

a profession proverbially energetic and nervous,

4:50

even to turbulence at times, yet

4:52

nothing of that sort have I

4:54

ever suffered to invade my peace.

4:57

I am one of those unambitious

4:59

lawyers who never addresses a jury

5:01

or in any way draws down

5:03

public applause, but in the cool

5:06

tranquility of a snug retreat do

5:08

a snug business among rich men's

5:10

bonds and mortgages and title deeds.

5:13

All who know me consider me an

5:16

eminently safe man. The

5:18

late John Jacob Astor, a personage

5:20

little given to poetic enthusiasm,

5:22

had no hesitation in pronouncing

5:25

my first grand point to

5:27

be prudence, my next method.

5:29

I do not speak it in

5:31

vanity, but simply record the fact

5:33

that I was not unemployed in

5:35

my profession by the late John

5:37

Jacob Astor, a name

5:39

which I admit I love to repeat,

5:41

for it hath rounded and orbicular sound

5:44

to it and rings like unto bullion.

5:46

I will freely add that I was not

5:49

insensible to the late John Jacob Astor's good

5:51

opinion. Some time

5:53

prior to the period at which

5:55

this little history begins, my avocations

5:57

had been largely increased, the

5:59

good old office, now extinct in the state

6:01

of New York, of the Master Enchancery,

6:03

had been conferred upon me. It

6:06

was not a very arduous office,

6:08

but very pleasantly remunerative. I

6:11

seldom lose my temper. Much more

6:13

seldom indulge in dangerous indignation at

6:15

wrongs and outrages. But

6:18

I must be permitted to be

6:20

rash here, and declare that I

6:22

consider the sudden and violent abrogation

6:24

of the office of Master Enchancery

6:26

by the New Constitution as a

6:29

premature act, inasmuch as

6:31

I had counted upon a life lease of

6:33

the profits, whereas I only

6:35

received those of a few short years. But

6:39

this is my way. My

6:41

chambers were upstairs, at number blank

6:44

Wall Street. At

6:46

one end they looked upon the white

6:48

wall of the interior of a spacious

6:50

skylight shaft, penetrating the building from top

6:53

to bottom. This

6:55

view might have been considered rather

6:57

tame than otherwise, deficient in what

6:59

landscape painters call life. But

7:02

if so, the view from the other end of

7:05

my chambers offered at least a contrast, if nothing

7:07

more. In that direction

7:09

my windows commanded an unobstructed

7:11

view of a lofty brick

7:13

wall, black by age and

7:15

everlasting shade, which wall required

7:17

no spy-glass to bring out

7:19

its lurking beauties. For

7:22

the benefit of all near-sighted spectators

7:24

was pushed up to within ten

7:26

feet of my window panes. Owing

7:29

to the great height of the surrounding buildings

7:31

and my chambers being on the second floor,

7:33

the interval between this wall and

7:35

mine not a little resembled a

7:38

huge square cistern. At

7:40

the period just preceding the advent of

7:43

Bartleby I had two persons as copyists

7:45

in my employment and a promising lad

7:47

as an office boy. First,

7:50

Turkey, second, Nippers,

7:52

third, Gingernut. These

7:54

may seem names, the like of which are not

7:57

usually found in the directory. They

8:00

were nicknames, mutually conferred upon each

8:02

other by my three clerks, and

8:05

were deemed expressive in their respective persons

8:07

or characters. Turkey was

8:10

a short, percy Englishman of

8:13

about my own age, that is, somewhere

8:15

not far from sixty. In

8:17

the morning one might say his

8:19

face was of a fine florid

8:21

hue, but after twelve o'clock meridian,

8:24

his dinner hour, it blazed like

8:26

a great full of Christmas coals,

8:28

and continued morning, but as

8:30

it were with a gradual wane till

8:32

six o'clock p.m. or thereabouts, after which

8:34

I saw no more of the proprietor

8:36

of the face, which, gaining

8:39

its meridian with the sun, seemed

8:41

to set with it, to rise,

8:43

culminate, and decline the following day,

8:45

with the like regularity and undiminished

8:48

glory. There are many

8:50

singular coincidences I have known in the

8:52

course of my life, not the least

8:54

among which was the fact that, exactly

8:57

when Turkey displayed his fullest beams of

8:59

his red and radiant countenance, just then,

9:01

too, at that critical moment,

9:04

began the daily period, when

9:06

I considered his business capacities as

9:08

seriously disturbed for the remainder of

9:10

the twenty-four hours. Not

9:13

that he was absolutely idle or averse to

9:15

business then, far from it. The

9:17

difficulty was he was apt

9:20

to be altogether too energetic.

9:23

There was a strange, inflamed, flurry,

9:25

flighty recklessness of activity about

9:27

him. He would be incautious

9:30

in dipping his pen into his inkstand.

9:33

All his blots upon my documents were

9:35

dropped there after twelve o'clock meridian. Indeed,

9:38

not only would he be reckless and

9:40

sadly given to making blots in the

9:42

afternoon, but some days

9:44

he went further and was rather

9:46

noisy. At such times,

9:48

too, his face flamed with augmented

9:50

blasonry as if canal-coal had

9:53

been heaped on anthracite. He

9:55

made an unpleasant racket with his chair,

9:57

spilled his sandbox, in mending his pen.

10:00

impassionedly spilt them all to pieces and

10:02

threw them on the floor in a

10:05

sudden pachin, stood up, leaned over his

10:07

table, boxing his papers about in a

10:09

most indecorous manner, very sad to behold

10:11

an elderly man like him. Nevertheless,

10:14

as he was in many ways the

10:16

most valuable person to me, and all

10:18

the time before twelve o'clock meridian was

10:20

the quickest, steadiest creature too, accomplishing a

10:23

great deal of work in a style

10:25

not easily to be matched. For

10:27

these reasons I was willing to

10:29

overlook his eccentricities, though indeed

10:31

occasionally I demonstrated with him. I

10:34

did this very gently, however, because

10:37

though the civilist made the blandest

10:39

and most reverential of men in

10:41

the morning, yet in the afternoon

10:43

he was disposed upon provocation to

10:45

be slightly rash with his tongue,

10:48

in fact insolent, valuing

10:50

his morning services as I did,

10:53

and resolved not to lose them

10:55

yet at the same time, made

10:57

uncomfortable by his inflamed ways after

11:00

twelve o'clock, and being a

11:02

man of peace unwilling by my admonitions

11:04

to call forth unseemly retorts from him,

11:07

I took upon me one Saturday

11:09

noon, he was always worse on

11:11

Saturdays, to hint to him very

11:13

kindly that perhaps now that he was

11:15

growing old it might be well to

11:17

abridge his labors. In short, he did

11:19

not need to come to my chambers

11:21

after twelve o'clock, but dinner

11:23

over he best go home to his

11:25

lodgings and rest himself till tea-time. But

11:28

no, he insisted upon his afternoon

11:30

devotions, his countenance became intolerably fervid,

11:32

and he oratorically assured me, gesticulating

11:35

with a long ruler at the

11:37

other end of the room, that

11:39

if his services in the morning

11:41

were useful how indispensable then in

11:43

the afternoons. With

11:46

submissions, sir, said Turkey

11:48

on this occasion, I consider myself

11:50

your right-hand man. In the

11:53

morning I but marshal and deploy

11:55

my columns, but in the afternoon

11:57

I put myself at their

11:59

heads. and gallantly charge

12:01

the foe thus." And

12:04

he made a violent thrust with the ruler. But

12:07

the blot's turkey intimated I.

12:09

True, but with submission,

12:12

sir, behold these hairs! I

12:15

am getting old. Surely,

12:17

sir, a blot or two of

12:19

a warm afternoon is not to

12:21

be severely urged against gray hairs.

12:24

Old age, even if it blot

12:26

the page, is honorable. With

12:28

submission, sir, we both are getting

12:30

old. This

12:34

appealed my fellow feeling was hard to be

12:36

resisted. At all events I

12:39

saw that go he would not. So

12:42

I made up my mind to let

12:44

him stay, resolving nevertheless to see to

12:46

it that during the afternoon he had

12:48

to do with my less important papers.

12:52

Nippers, the second on

12:54

my list, was a whisker, sallow,

12:56

and upon the whole rather piratical-looking

12:58

young man of about five and

13:01

twenty. I always deemed

13:03

him the victim of two evil

13:05

powers, ambition and indigestion.

13:08

The ambition was evinced by a

13:11

certain impatience of the duties of

13:13

a mere copyist, an unwarranted usurpation

13:15

of strictly professional affairs, such as

13:18

the original drawing up of legal

13:20

documents. The indigestion

13:22

seemed betokened in an

13:24

occasional nervous testiness and

13:26

grinning irritability, causing

13:29

the teeth to audibly grind together

13:31

over mistakes committed in copying. Unnecessary

13:34

maledictions hissed rather than spoken in

13:37

the heat of business, and

13:39

especially by continual discontent with the

13:41

height of the table where he

13:43

worked. Though of a

13:45

very ingenious mechanical turn, Nippers

13:48

could never get this table to suit him.

13:51

He could put chips under it, blocks of

13:53

various sorts, bits of pasteboard, and at last

13:56

went so far as to attempt an exquisite

13:58

adjustment by final piece of paper. pieces

14:00

of folded blotting paper. But

14:03

no invention would answer. If, for

14:05

the sake of easing his back, he brought

14:08

the table lid at a sharp angle

14:10

well up towards his chin and wrote

14:12

there like a man using the steep

14:14

roof of a Dutch house for his

14:16

desk, then he declared that it

14:18

stopped the circulation in his arms. If

14:21

now he lowered the table to his

14:23

waistbands and stooped over it in writing,

14:25

then there was a saw raking in

14:27

his back. In short, the

14:29

truth of the matter was Nippers knew

14:31

not what he wanted. Or,

14:33

if he wanted anything, it was to be

14:36

rid of a Scribner's table altogether. Among

14:38

the manifestations of his diseased

14:41

ambition was a fondness he

14:43

had for receiving visits from

14:45

certain ambiguous-looking fellows in seedy

14:47

coats, whom he called his

14:49

clients. Indeed,

14:51

I was aware that not

14:53

only was he at times considerable

14:56

of a ward politician, but he

14:58

occasionally did a little business at

15:00

the Justice's courts and was not

15:02

unknown on the steps of the tomes. I

15:05

have good reason to believe, however, that

15:07

one individual who called upon him at

15:09

my chambers and who, with a grand

15:11

air he insisted was his client, was

15:13

no other than a dun and the

15:16

alleged title deed a bill. But

15:19

with all his failings and the

15:21

annoyances he caused me, Nippers, like

15:23

his compatriot Turkey, was a very

15:25

useful man to me, rode a

15:28

neat, swift hand, and when he chose,

15:30

was not deficient in a gentlemanly sort

15:32

of deportment. Added to

15:34

this, he always dressed in a gentlemanly

15:37

sort of way, and

15:39

so incidentally reflected credit upon my

15:41

chambers, whereas with respect

15:43

to Turkey, I had much ado to keep

15:45

him from being a reproach to me. His

15:48

clothes were apt to look oily

15:51

in smell of eating-houses. He

15:53

wore his pantaloons very loose and baggy

15:55

in summer. His coats were

15:57

execrable, his hat not to be

15:59

handled. But, while the hat

16:02

was a thing of indifference to me, inasmuch

16:04

as his natural civility and deference as a

16:06

dependent Englishman, always led him to doff it

16:08

at the moment he entered the room, yet

16:11

his coat was another matter. Concerning

16:14

his coats, I reasoned with him, but

16:16

with no effect. The truth

16:18

was, I suppose, that a man with

16:21

so small an income could not afford

16:23

to sport such a lustrous face and

16:25

a lustrous coat at one and the

16:27

same time. As nippers

16:29

once observed, Turkey's money was chiefly

16:31

for red ink. One

16:34

winter day, I presented Turkey with

16:36

a highly respectable-looking coat of my

16:38

own, a padded gray coat

16:40

of a most comfortable warmth, and

16:42

which buttoned straight up from the knee to

16:44

the neck. I thought Turkey

16:46

would appreciate the favor, and

16:49

abate his rashness and obstreperousness

16:51

of afternoons. But no, I

16:54

verily believe that buttoning himself up

16:56

in so downy and blanket-like a

16:59

coat had a pernicious effect upon

17:01

him, upon the same principle that

17:03

too much oats are bad for horses. In

17:06

fact, precisely as a rash, restive

17:08

horse is said to feel his

17:10

oats, so Turkey felt his coat.

17:13

It made him insolent. He was

17:15

a man whom prosperity harmed. Though

17:18

concerning the self-indulgent habits of Turkey,

17:20

I had my own private

17:22

surmises, yet touching nippers, I

17:25

was well persuaded that, whatever might

17:27

be his faults and other respect,

17:29

he was at least a temperate

17:31

young man. But indeed,

17:33

nature herself seemed to have been his

17:35

vintner, and, at his

17:38

birth, charged him so thoroughly

17:40

with an irritable, brandy-like disposition

17:42

that all subsequent potations were needless.

17:46

Can I consider how, amid

17:48

the stillness of my chambers, nippers

17:50

would sometimes impatiently rise from his

17:53

seat and, stooping over his table,

17:55

spread his arms wide apart, seize

17:57

the whole desk, and move it

18:00

and jerk it with a grim grinding

18:02

motion on the floor as if the

18:04

table were a perverse voluntary agent intent

18:07

on forting and vexing him, I

18:10

plainly perceive that for nippers

18:12

brandy and water were altogether

18:14

superfluous. It was

18:16

fortunate for me that, owing

18:18

to its peculiar cause, indigestion,

18:21

the irritability and consequent nervousness

18:23

of nippers, were mainly observable

18:25

in the morning, while

18:27

in the afternoon he was comparatively

18:29

mild, so that Turkey's paroxysms

18:31

only coming on about twelve o'clock

18:33

I never had to do with

18:35

their eccentricities at one time. Their

18:39

fits relieved each other like guards.

18:42

When nippers was on, Turkey's was off, and

18:44

vice versa. This was a

18:46

good natural arrangement under the circumstances. Ginger

18:50

Nut, the third on my list, was

18:52

a lad, some twelve years old. His

18:55

father was a carman, ambitious of seeing his

18:57

son on the bench instead of a cart

19:00

before he died. So he sent

19:02

him to my office as a student at

19:04

law, errand boy, cleaner, and sweeper, at the

19:06

rate of one dollar a week. He

19:09

had a little desk to himself, but he did

19:11

not use it much. Upon inspection,

19:13

the drawer exhibited a great array of

19:15

the shells of various sorts of nuts.

19:18

Indeed to this quick-witted youth the whole

19:20

noble science of the law was contained

19:23

in a nutshell. At the

19:25

least among the employments of Ginger Nut, as

19:27

well as one which he discharged with

19:30

the most alacrity, was his duty as

19:32

cake and apple purveyor for Turkey and

19:34

nippers. Copying law

19:36

papers being proverbially a dry, husky

19:38

sort of business, my two

19:40

scriveners were fain to moisten their

19:43

mouths very often with Spitzenberg's, to

19:45

be had at the numerous stalls

19:47

nigh the custom house and post

19:49

office. So they

19:51

sent Ginger Nut very frequently for

19:54

that peculiar cake, small, flat, round,

19:56

and very spicy, after

19:58

which he had been named. by them.

20:01

Of a cold morning, when business was

20:03

but dull, Turkey would gobble up scores

20:05

of these cakes, as if they were

20:07

mere wafers. Indeed, they seldom at the

20:09

rate of six or eight for a

20:12

penny, the scrape of his pen

20:14

blending with a crunching of the crisp

20:16

particles in his mouth. Of

20:18

all the fiery afternoon blunders and

20:20

flurried rashness of Turkey was

20:23

his once moistening a ginger cake between

20:25

his lips and clapping it on to

20:27

a mortgage for a seal. I

20:30

came within an ace of dismissing him then,

20:32

but he mollified me by making an

20:35

oriental bow and saying, With

20:37

submission, sir, it was generous of me

20:39

to find you in stationery on my

20:41

own account. Now,

20:44

my original position, that

20:46

of a conveyancer and title hunter

20:48

and drawer up of recondite documents

20:50

of all sorts, was considerably

20:53

increased by receiving the master's

20:55

office. There was now great work

20:57

for scriveners. Not only must I

20:59

push the clerks already with me, but I

21:01

must have additional help. In

21:04

answer to my advertisement, a motionless

21:06

young man one morning stood upon

21:08

my office threshold, the door being

21:10

opened, for it was summer. I

21:13

can see that figure now,

21:15

pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably

21:17

forlorn, it was

21:20

Bartleby. After

21:22

a few words touching his qualifications,

21:24

I engaged him, glad to have

21:26

among my corps of copyists a

21:28

man of so singularly sedate an

21:30

aspect, which I thought might

21:33

operate beneficially upon the flighty temper of

21:35

Turkey and the fiery one of nippers.

21:38

I should have stated before that ground

21:40

glass folding doors divided my

21:42

premises into two parts, one

21:45

of which was occupied by my scriveners,

21:47

the other by myself. According

21:49

to my humour, I threw open these

21:51

doors or closed them. I

21:53

resolved to assign Bartleby a corner

21:55

by the folding doors, but on

21:58

my side of them, so as to have

22:00

this quiet man within easy call in case any

22:02

trifling thing was to be done. I

22:05

placed his desk close up to a small

22:07

side window in that part of the room,

22:09

a window which originally had

22:11

afforded a lateral view of certain

22:13

grimy backyards and bricks, but

22:16

which, owing to subsequent directions, commanded a

22:18

present no view at all, though it

22:20

gave some light. Within

22:22

three feet of the panes was a

22:25

wall, and the light came down from

22:27

far above, between two lofty buildings as

22:29

from a very small opening in a

22:31

dome. Still further to

22:34

a satisfactory arrangement, I procured a

22:36

high green folding screen, which might

22:39

entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight,

22:41

though not promote him from my voice,

22:44

and thus in a manner privacy

22:46

and society were conjoined.

22:49

At first Bartleby did an

22:51

extraordinary quantity of writing, as

22:54

if long famishing for something to copy,

22:56

he seemed to gorge

22:58

himself on my documents. There

23:01

was no pause for digestion. He

23:03

ran a day and night line, copying

23:05

by sunlight and by candlelight.

23:09

I should have been quite delighted with

23:11

his application had he been cheerfully industrious,

23:14

but he wrote on silently,

23:16

paily, mechanically. It

23:19

is, of course, an indispensable part of

23:21

a Scrivener's business to verify the accuracy

23:23

of his copy word by word. Where

23:26

there are two or more Scriveners in an

23:28

office, they assist each other in this examination,

23:31

one reading from the copy, the other

23:33

holding the original, this very dull, wearisome,

23:36

and lethargic affair. I

23:38

can readily imagine that, to some

23:40

sanguine temperaments, it would be altogether

23:42

intolerable. For example, I

23:45

cannot credit that the meddlesome

23:47

poet Byron would have contentedly sat

23:49

down with Bartleby to examine a

23:52

law document of, say, five hundred

23:54

pages, closely written in a crimpy

23:56

hand. Now and then, in the haste of

23:58

business, I would have to say, I am not a scrivener. It had

24:01

been my habit to assist in comparing

24:03

some brief document myself, calling turkey or

24:05

nippers for this purpose. One

24:08

object I had in placing Bartleby so

24:10

handy to me behind the screen was

24:12

to avail myself of his services on

24:15

such trivial occasions. It

24:17

was on the third day, I think,

24:19

of his being with me, and before

24:21

any necessity had risen for having his

24:23

own writing examined, that, being much

24:25

hurried to complete a small affair I had

24:28

in hand, I abruptly called to Bartleby. In

24:31

my haste and natural expectancy of

24:33

instant compliance, I sat with my

24:35

head bent over the original on

24:37

my desk, and my right

24:39

hand sideways and somewhat nervously extended

24:41

with the copy so that, immediately

24:43

upon emerging from his retreat, Bartleby

24:45

might snatch it and proceed to

24:47

business without the least delay. In

24:51

this very attitude did I sit when I called

24:53

to him, rapidly stating what it was I wanted

24:55

him to do, namely, to examine

24:57

a small paper with me. Imagine

25:01

my surprise, name my consternation,

25:03

when, without moving from his

25:05

privacy, Bartleby, in a singularly

25:08

mild, firm voice, replied, I

25:11

would prefer not to. I

25:15

sat in perfect silence, rallying

25:18

my stunned faculties. Eventually

25:21

it occurred to me that my ears had

25:23

deceived me, or Bartleby had

25:26

entirely misunderstood my meaning. I

25:28

repeated my request in the clearest tone I

25:30

could assume, but in

25:32

quite a clearer one came the previous

25:35

reply, I would prefer not to. Refer

25:39

not to? Echoed

25:41

I, rising in high excitement and crossing

25:43

the room with a stride, what do

25:46

you mean? Are you moonstruck?

25:48

I want you to help me compare this

25:50

sheet here, take it, and I

25:52

thrust it toward him. I

25:55

would prefer not to. Said

25:58

he, I looked at him and said, I would prefer not to. him

26:00

steadfastly. His face

26:02

was leanly composed, his gray eye

26:04

dimly calm. Not

26:07

a wrinkle of agitation rippled him. Had

26:10

there been the least uneasiness,

26:12

anger, impatience, or impertinence in

26:14

his manner—in other words, had

26:16

there been anything ordinarily human

26:18

about him—doubtless I should have

26:20

violently dismissed him from the

26:22

premises. But as it was, I should

26:25

have as soon thought of turning my

26:27

pale plaster of Paris bust of Cicero

26:29

out of doors. I

26:31

stood gazing at him a while as he

26:34

went on with his own writing, and then

26:36

I receded myself at my desk. This

26:39

was very strange, thought I. What

26:41

did one best do? But

26:44

my business hurried me. I concluded to forget

26:46

the matter for the present, reserving it for

26:48

my future leisure. So calling

26:50

nippers from the other room, the paper

26:52

was speedily examined. A

26:55

few days after this, Bartleby concluded

26:57

four lengthy documents being quadruplicates

26:59

of a week's testimony given

27:01

before me in my high

27:04

court of chancery. It

27:06

became necessary to examine them. It

27:09

was an important suit, and great

27:11

accuracy was imperative, having

27:13

all things arranged I called turkey,

27:15

nippers, and ginger-nut from the next room,

27:17

meaning to place the four copies in

27:20

the hands of my four clerks while

27:22

I should read from the original. Accordingly,

27:25

turkey, nippers, and ginger-nut had taken

27:27

their seats in a row, each

27:29

with his document in his hand,

27:31

when I called to Bartleby to join in

27:34

this interesting group. Bartleby! Quick,

27:36

I am waiting! I

27:39

heard a slow scrape of his chair legs

27:41

on the uncarpeted floor, and soon he appeared

27:43

standing at the entrance of his hermitage. What

27:46

is wanted, said he mildly. The

27:50

copies, the copies! said I hurriedly.

27:52

We are going to examine them there, and

27:55

I held towards him the fourth quadruplicate. I

27:58

would prefer not. to," he

28:01

said, and gently disappeared behind

28:03

the screen. For

28:06

a few moments I was turned into a pillar of

28:08

salt, standing at the head of

28:10

my seated column of clerks. Recovering

28:13

myself, I advanced toward the screen

28:15

and demanded the reason for such

28:17

extraordinary conduct. Why do you

28:19

refuse?" I would prefer not

28:21

to. With any

28:23

other man I should have flown outright

28:25

into a dreadful passion, scorned all further

28:28

words and thrust him ignominiously from my

28:30

presence. But there was

28:32

something about Bartleby that not only

28:34

strangely disarmed me, but in

28:37

a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted

28:39

me. I began to

28:41

reason with him. These are your own copies we

28:44

are about to examine. It is

28:46

labor-saving to you because one examination

28:48

will answer for your four papers.

28:50

It is common usage. Every

28:52

copyist is bound to help examine his copy.

28:54

Is it not so? Will

28:56

you not speak? Answer! I

28:59

prefer not to. He

29:02

replied in a flute-like tone. It

29:04

seemed to me, while I had

29:06

been addressing him, he carefully revolved every

29:09

statement that I made fully comprehending the

29:11

meaning but could not gainsay

29:13

the irresistible conclusion, but

29:15

at the same time some paramount

29:18

consideration prevailed with him to reply

29:20

as he did. You

29:23

are decided, then, not to comply

29:25

with my request, a request being

29:27

according to common usage and common

29:29

sense. He

29:31

briefly gave me to understand that on

29:33

that point my judgment was sound. Yes,

29:37

his decision was irreversible. It is

29:41

not seldom the case that when

29:43

a man is browbeaten in some

29:46

unprecedented and violently unreasonable way, he

29:48

begins to stagger in his own

29:50

plainest faith. He

29:52

begins, as it were, vaguely to surmise,

29:54

that wonderful as it may be, all

29:56

the justice and all the reason is

29:58

on the other side. Accordingly,

30:01

if any disinterested persons are

30:03

present, he turns to them

30:05

for some reinforcement of his own faltering

30:07

mind. Turkey, said I,

30:10

what do you think of this? Am I not right?" "'With

30:13

submission, sir,' said

30:15

Turkey in his blandest tone. "'I

30:18

think that you are.' "'Nippers,'

30:20

said I, what do you think of

30:22

it?' "'I think I should kick

30:25

him out of the office.' The

30:27

reader of nice perceptions will here

30:29

perceive that, it being

30:31

morning, Turkey's answer is couched

30:33

in polite and tranquil terms,

30:36

but Nippers replies in ill-tempered

30:38

ones. Or to repeat the

30:40

previous sentence, Nippers' ugly mood was on

30:42

duty and Turkey's off. "'Ginger-nut,'

30:45

said I, willing to enlist

30:47

the smallest suffrage in my behalf. What

30:50

do you think of it?' "'I

30:52

think, sir, he's a little loony,' replied

30:55

Ginger-nut with a grin. "'You

30:58

hear what they say?' said I, turning towards

31:00

the screen. "'Come forth and do

31:02

your duty.' "'But he

31:04

vouchsafed no reply. I

31:07

pondered a moment and saw perplexity. But

31:09

once more business hurried me, I determined again

31:11

to postpone the consideration of

31:14

this dilemma to my future leisure.

31:17

With a little trouble we made out

31:19

to examine the papers without Bartleby, though

31:21

at every page or two Turkey deferentially

31:23

dropped his opinion that this proceeding

31:26

was quite out of the common, while

31:28

Nippers, twitching in his chair with

31:30

a dyspeptic nervousness, ground

31:32

out between his set teeth occasional

31:34

hissing maledictions against the stubborn oaf

31:37

behind the screen. And

31:39

for his Nippers' part, this

31:41

was the first and the last time

31:44

he would do another man's business without

31:46

pay. Meanwhile Bartleby

31:48

sat in his hermitage, oblivious

31:50

to everything but his own

31:53

peculiar business there. Some

31:56

time passed, the Scrivener being employed

31:58

upon another length of time. the work.

32:01

His late remarkable conduct led me

32:03

to regard his ways narrowly. I

32:06

observed that he never went to dinner, indeed

32:08

that he never went anywhere. As

32:10

yet I had never, on my personal

32:13

knowledge, known him to be outside of

32:15

my office. He was a

32:17

perpetual sentry in the corner. At

32:20

about eleven o'clock, though, in the morning,

32:22

I noticed that Ginger Nut would advance

32:25

toward the opening in Bartleby's screen, as

32:27

if silently beckoned thither by a gesture

32:29

invisible to me where I sat. The

32:32

boy would then leave the office, jingling

32:34

a few pence, and reappear with a

32:36

handful of Ginger Nuts, which he delivered

32:39

in the hermitage, receiving two of

32:41

the cakes for his trouble. He

32:44

lives then on Ginger Nuts, thought I.

32:47

Never eats a dinner, properly speaking.

32:49

He must be a vegetarian then, but

32:51

no. He never eats any

32:53

vegetables. He eats nothing but Ginger

32:56

Nuts. My mind

32:58

then ran on in reveries concerning

33:00

the probable effects upon the human

33:02

constitution of living entirely on Ginger

33:04

Nuts. Ginger Nuts are

33:07

so called because they contain Ginger

33:09

as one of their peculiar constituents,

33:11

and the final flavoring one. Now

33:13

what was Ginger? A hot,

33:15

spicy thing. Was Bartleby

33:17

hot and spicy? Not at all.

33:20

Ginger then had no effect upon Bartleby.

33:23

Probably he preferred it should have none. Nothing

33:27

so aggravates an earnest person

33:29

as a passive resistance. If

33:32

the individual so resisted be of

33:34

not inhumane temper, and the

33:37

resisting one perfectly harmless in his

33:39

passivity, then, in the better

33:41

moods of the former, he will

33:43

endeavor charitably to construe to

33:45

his imagination what proves impossible

33:47

to be solved by his

33:49

judgment. You and so, for the most

33:52

part, I regarded Bartleby and his ways. Poor

33:55

fellow, thought I. He means

33:57

no mischief. It is plain he

33:59

intends no insult. His. Aspect

34:01

sufficiently is insists that his

34:03

eccentricities or involuntary. He.

34:06

Is useful to me. I can get

34:08

along with him. If. I turn him

34:10

away. The chances are he will fall

34:12

in with some less indulgent employer. And

34:15

then he will be rudely treated

34:17

and perhaps driven fourth miserably to

34:19

starve. Yes, Here.

34:21

I can safely purchase a delicious

34:24

self approval. To. The friend

34:26

bar to be to humor him

34:28

and his strange willfulness. Will.

34:30

Cost me a little or nothing. While

34:32

I lay up in my soul what

34:35

will eventually prove a sweet morsel for

34:37

my conscience? But. This mood

34:39

was not in variable with me. The

34:42

passiveness of bottle the sometimes

34:44

irritated me. I felt

34:46

strangely go did on to encounter

34:48

him and new opposition. To.

34:51

Elicit some angry spock from him

34:53

answerable to my own. But.

34:55

Indeed, I might as well as I say

34:57

to strike fire with my knuckles against a

34:59

bit of Windsor soap. But.

35:01

One afternoon the evil impose and

35:04

me mastered me. And. The following

35:06

a little scene and sued. Bottle.

35:08

The said i. When. Those papers

35:10

a copy it. I will compare them with

35:12

you. I would prefer

35:15

not to. How. Surely.

35:17

Do not mean to persist in that

35:19

Mueller's vagary. No. Answer.

35:23

I threw open the folding doors

35:25

nearby and turning upon Turkey and

35:27

Nipper as explained. Bottle.

35:30

Be a second time. says he

35:32

won't examine his papers. What? Do

35:34

you think of it? Turkey? It. Was

35:36

afternoon He had remembered turkey. such

35:39

glowing like a brass boiler, his

35:41

bald head steaming, his hands reeling

35:44

among his blooded papers. Think.

35:46

Of it. Roared. Turkey. I

35:48

think I'll just step behind his screen and

35:51

black his eyes more. Him. So. Saying

35:53

turkey roast was feet and through his

35:55

arms into a pugilistic position. He.

35:58

was hurrying a way to make good

36:00

is paul promise, when I detained him,

36:02

alarmed at the effect of incautiously rousing

36:04

Turkey's combativeness. After dinner,

36:06

sit down, Turkey," said I, and

36:09

hear what Nippers has to say. What do you think

36:11

of it, Nippers? Would I

36:13

not be justified in immediately dismissing

36:15

Bartleby?" "'Excuse me, that

36:17

is for you to decide, sir. I

36:20

think his conduct, quite unusual and

36:22

indeed unjust, has regards Turkey and

36:24

myself, but it may only

36:26

be a passing whim.'" "'Ah,'

36:29

exclaimed I, "'you have strangely

36:31

changed your mind, then. You speak very gently

36:34

of him now.'" "'All

36:36

beer,' cried Turkey. "'Gentleness

36:38

is the effects of beer. Nippers

36:42

and I dine together today. You see how

36:44

gentle I am, sir. Shall

36:46

I go and black his eyes?' "'You

36:48

refer to Bartleby, I suppose. No,

36:51

not today, Turkey,' I replied.

36:53

"'Pray, put up your fists.' I

36:56

closed the doors again and advanced towards

36:58

Bartleby. I felt additional

37:00

incentives tempting me to my fate,

37:03

a burn to be rebelled against again.

37:06

I remembered that Bartleby never left

37:08

his office." "'Bartleby,'

37:11

said I, "'Ginger Nut is

37:13

away. Just step around to the post

37:15

office, won't you? It was but a

37:17

three-minute walk, and see if there is anything for

37:19

me. I would prefer

37:21

not to.'" "'You

37:24

will not?' I prefer not.

37:28

I staggered to my desk and

37:30

sat there in a deep study. My

37:33

blind inveteracy returned. Was

37:36

there any other thing in which

37:38

I could procure myself to be

37:40

ignominiously repulsed by this lean penniless

37:42

white? My hired clerk,

37:44

what added thing is there perfectly

37:46

reasonable that he will be sure to

37:48

refuse to do?' "'Bartleby,'

37:51

said I. "'Bartleby,'

37:55

in a louder tone. No

37:57

answer. Bartleby!'

38:00

I roared. Like

38:02

a very ghost, agreeably to the

38:04

laws of magical invocation, at the

38:06

third summons he appeared at the

38:08

entrance of his hermitage. Go

38:11

to the next room and tell Nippers to come to

38:13

me. I prefer not

38:16

to. He respectfully and

38:18

slowly said, and mildly

38:21

disappeared. Very

38:23

good, Bartleby, said

38:25

I in a quiet sort

38:27

of serenely severe self-possessed tone,

38:30

intimating the unalterable purpose

38:32

of some terrible retribution very

38:34

close at hand. At

38:37

the moment I have intended something of the kind, but

38:40

upon the whole, as it

38:42

was drawing towards my dinner hour, I thought

38:44

it best to put on my hat and

38:47

walk home for the day, offering much from

38:49

perplexity and distress of mind. Shall

38:53

I acknowledge it? The conclusion

38:55

of his whole business was that it

38:57

soon became a fixed fact of my

38:59

chambers, that the pale

39:01

young Scrivener by the name of Bartleby

39:03

had a desk there that he copied

39:06

for me at the usual rate of

39:08

four cents a folio, one hundred words,

39:10

but he was permanently exempt from

39:13

examining the work done by him,

39:15

that duty being transferred to Turkey

39:17

and Nippers, out of

39:19

compliment doubtless to their superior acuteness.

39:22

Moreover, said Bartleby was never on

39:24

any account to be dispatched on

39:27

the most trivial errand of any

39:29

sort, and that even if entreated

39:31

to take upon him such a matter, it

39:33

was generally understood that he would

39:35

prefer not to, in

39:38

other words, that he would refuse point blank.

39:41

As days passed on, I

39:44

became considerably reconciled to Bartleby,

39:46

his steadiness, his freedom

39:48

from all dissipation, his incessant

39:51

industry, except when he chose to

39:53

throw himself into a standing reverie

39:55

behind his screen, his

39:57

great stillness, his unalterableness

40:00

demeanor under all circumstances made

40:02

him a valuable acquisition. One

40:05

prime thing was this, he

40:07

was always there. First

40:12

in the morning, continually through the day and

40:14

the last at night, I

40:16

had a singular confidence in his honesty. I

40:19

felt my most precious papers perfectly safe

40:21

in his hands. Sometimes,

40:24

to be sure I could not, for

40:26

the very soul of me, avoid falling

40:28

into sudden spasmodic passions with him, for

40:31

it was exceedingly difficult to bear

40:33

in mind all the time those

40:35

strange peculiarities, privileges, and unheard of

40:37

exemptions, forming the tacit

40:39

stipulations on Bartleby's part under

40:41

which he remained in my

40:43

office. Now and then

40:45

in the eagerness of dispatching, pressing business,

40:48

I would inadvertently summon Bartleby in a

40:50

short, rapid tone to put his finger,

40:52

say, on the incipient tie of a

40:54

bit of red tape with which I

40:56

was about compressing some papers. Of

40:59

course, from behind the screen, the usual answer,

41:01

I prefer not to, was sure to come.

41:03

And then, how could a human

41:05

creature, with the common

41:08

infirmities of our nature,

41:10

refrain from bitterly exclaiming

41:12

upon such perverseness, such

41:14

unreasonableness? However, every

41:16

added repulse of this sort, which

41:19

I received, only tended to lessen

41:21

the probability of my repeating the

41:23

inadvertence. Here

41:25

it must be said, that according

41:28

to the custom of most

41:30

legal gentlemen occupying chambers in

41:32

densely populated law-buildings, there

41:34

were several keys to my door. One

41:37

was kept by a woman residing

41:40

in the attic, which person

41:42

weakly scrubbed and daily swept

41:44

and dusted my apartments. Another

41:47

was carried by Turkey for

41:49

convenience sake. The third

41:51

I sometimes carried in my own pocket.

41:53

The fourth I knew not who had.

41:56

Now, one Sunday morning, I

41:59

happened Trinity Church. Here

42:01

a celebrated preacher and finding myself

42:04

rather early on the ground, I

42:06

thought I would walk around to my chambers for

42:09

a while. Luckily I had my

42:11

key with me, but upon applying

42:13

it to the lock, I

42:15

found it resisted by something inserted

42:17

from the inside. Quite

42:20

surprised I called out when

42:22

to my consternation a key

42:24

was turned from within, and

42:27

thrusting his lean visage at me

42:29

and holding the door ajar, the

42:31

apparition of Bartleby appeared, in his

42:34

shirt sleeves and otherwise in a

42:36

strangely tattered desser bill, saying quietly

42:38

that he was sorry but he

42:41

was deeply engaged just then and

42:44

preferred not admitting me at present.

42:47

In a brief word or two he

42:49

moreover added that, perhaps I had better

42:51

walk around the block two or three

42:53

times and by that time he would

42:55

probably have concluded his affairs. Now,

42:59

the utterly unsermized appearance

43:01

of Bartleby, tenenting

43:04

my law chambers of

43:06

a Sunday morning with

43:08

his cadaverously gentlemanly nonchalance,

43:10

yet with all firm and self-possessed,

43:13

had such a strange effect upon

43:15

me that incontinently I slunk

43:17

away from my own door

43:20

and did as desired, but

43:23

not without sundry twinging of

43:25

impotent rebellion against the mild

43:28

effrontery of this unaccountable scrivener.

43:31

Indeed, it was his wonderful,

43:33

mildness chiefly which not only disarmed

43:35

me but unmanned me as it

43:37

were, for I consider that

43:40

one, for a time, is

43:42

sort of unmanned when he tranquilly

43:44

permits his hired clerk to dictate

43:47

to him and order him

43:49

away from his own premises. Furthermore,

43:52

I was full of uneasiness as

43:54

to what Bartleby could possibly be doing

43:56

in my office in his shirt sleeves

43:59

and in an otherwise dismantled condition of

44:01

a Sunday morning. Was

44:03

anything amiss going on? Nay,

44:05

that was out of the question. It

44:07

was not to be thought of for a moment

44:10

that Bartleby was an immoral person, but what

44:12

could he be doing there? Copying?

44:15

Nay, again. Whatever might

44:18

be his eccentricities, Bartleby was an

44:20

eminently decorous person. He would

44:22

be the last man to sit down at

44:24

his desk in any state approaching to nudity.

44:27

Besides, it was Sunday, and

44:29

there was something about Bartleby that

44:32

forbade the supposition that he

44:34

would by any secular occupation violate

44:36

the proprieties of the day. Nevertheless,

44:41

my mind was not pacified and

44:44

full of a restless curiosity. At

44:47

last I returned to the door.

44:50

Without hindrance I inserted my key,

44:52

opened it, and entered. Nobody

44:55

was not to be seen. I

44:58

looked round anxiously, peeped

45:00

behind his screen, but it

45:02

was very plain that he was gone. Upon

45:05

more closely examining the place I

45:07

surmised that for an indefinite period

45:09

Bartleby must have ate, dressed, and

45:12

slept in my office, and that

45:14

too without plate, mirror, or bed.

45:18

The cushioned seat of a rickety old

45:20

sofa in one corner bore the faint

45:22

impress of a lean reclining form. All

45:25

the way under his desk I found a blanket,

45:28

under the empty grate a blacking box and

45:30

a brush, on a chair, a tin

45:33

basin with soap and a ragged towel,

45:35

in a newspaper a few crumbs of ginger

45:38

nuts and a morsel of cheese. Yes,

45:41

thought I, it was evident

45:43

enough that Bartleby has been making his

45:45

home here, keeping bachelor's hall

45:47

all by himself. Immediately

45:50

then the thought came sweeping across me.

45:53

Miserable friendlessness and loneliness

45:55

are here revealed. His

45:58

poverty was great, but his solitude.

46:02

How horrible! Think of it!

46:04

Of a Sunday, Wall Street is deserted

46:07

as Petra, and every

46:09

night of every day it is an

46:11

emptiness. This building, too,

46:13

which of weekdays hums with industry

46:15

and life, the nightfall echoes with

46:18

sheer vacancy, and all through

46:20

Sunday is forlorn. And

46:23

here, Bartleby

46:25

makes his home. Whole

46:28

spectator of a solitude which

46:30

he has seen all populous,

46:33

a sort of innocent and

46:35

transformed merrieth brooding among

46:37

the ruins of Carthage. For

46:40

the first time in my life, a feeling of overpowering,

46:44

stinging melancholy seized

46:46

me. Before I

46:48

had never experienced art but a

46:50

not unpleasing sadness. The

46:53

bond of a common humanity

46:55

now drew me irresistibly to gloom.

46:58

A fraternal melancholy

47:00

for both I and Bartleby

47:02

were sons of Adam. I

47:05

remembered the bright silks and sparkling faces I

47:07

had seen that day, and gala-trim,

47:10

swan-like, sailing down the

47:13

Mississippi of Broadway. And

47:15

I contrasted them with this

47:17

pallid copyist, and thought

47:20

to myself, happiness courts

47:22

the light. So

47:24

we deem the world is gay,

47:26

but misery hides aloof. So we

47:28

deem that misery there is none. These

47:31

sad fancyings, chimeras doubtless of

47:33

a sick and silly brain,

47:36

led on to other and more

47:38

special thoughts concerning the eccentricities of

47:41

Bartleby. Presentiments of

47:43

strange discoveries hovered around me.

47:46

The Scrivener's pale form appeared

47:48

to me laid out among

47:50

uncaring strangers in its shivering,

47:53

winding sheet. Suddenly

47:55

I was attracted by Bartleby's closed

47:57

desk. The key in open sight

47:59

left. left in the lock. I

48:02

mean no mischief. Seek

48:04

the gratification of no heartless

48:06

curiosity, thought I. Besides,

48:09

the desk is mine and its contents

48:11

too, so I will make

48:13

bold to look within." Everything

48:16

was methodically arranged, the

48:18

papers smoothly placed. The

48:20

pigeonholes were deep, and

48:22

removing the files of documents I groped

48:24

into their recesses. Presently

48:27

I found something there and dragged it out. It

48:30

was an old bandana handkerchief, heavy

48:32

and knotted. I opened it and

48:35

saw it was a savings bank. I

48:38

now recalled all the quiet mysteries which I had

48:40

noted in the man. I remembered

48:43

that he never spoke but to answer, that,

48:46

though at intervals he had considerable time

48:48

to himself, yet I had

48:50

never seen him reading. No, not even

48:52

a newspaper. That for

48:54

long periods he would stand looking

48:57

out at his pale window

48:59

behind the screen upon the dead brick

49:01

wall. I was quite

49:03

sure he never visited any refectory or

49:06

eating house, while his pale

49:08

face clearly indicated that he never

49:10

drank beer like turkey or tea

49:13

and coffee even like other men.

49:15

That he never went anywhere in particular

49:17

that I could learn. Never

49:19

went out for a walk, unless indeed that

49:21

was the case at present, that he

49:23

had declined telling who he was or whence he

49:26

came, or whether he had

49:28

any relatives in the world, and

49:30

though so thin and pale he never complained

49:32

of ill health. And

49:35

more than all, I remembered

49:37

a certain unconscious air of

49:40

pallid, how shall

49:42

I call it, of pallid hotiness,

49:44

say, or rather an

49:46

austere reserve about him, which had

49:49

positively awed me to my

49:51

tame compliance with his eccentricities,

49:53

when I had feared to ask him to

49:55

do the slightest incidental thing for me, even

49:58

though I might know from his long-continued

50:00

motionlessness, that behind his

50:03

screen he must be standing

50:05

in one of those dead-wall reveries

50:07

of his. Revolting

50:10

all these things, and coupling them

50:12

with the recently discovered fact that he

50:14

made my office his constant abiding place

50:17

and home, and not forgetful

50:19

of his morbid moodiness, resolving

50:21

all these things a prudential feeling began

50:24

to steal over me. My

50:26

first emotions had been those of

50:28

pure melancholy and sincerest pity, but

50:30

just in proportion as the forlornness

50:32

of Bartleby grew and grew to

50:35

my imagination, did that

50:37

same melancholy merge into

50:40

fear, that

50:42

into pity, that pity

50:46

into repulsion. So

50:49

true it is, and so terrible too,

50:52

that up to a certain point the

50:54

thought or sight of misery

50:56

enlists our best affections. But

50:59

in certain special cases beyond that

51:01

point, it does not.

51:05

They err who would assert that

51:07

invariably this is owing to the

51:09

inherent selfishness of the human heart.

51:12

It rather proceeds from a

51:14

certain hopelessness of remedying excessive

51:16

and organic ill. To

51:19

a sensitive being, pity is not seldom

51:21

pain, and when

51:23

at last it is perceived that such

51:25

pity cannot lead to effectual succor, common

51:28

sense bids the soul be rid of

51:31

it. What I

51:33

saw that morning persuaded me that

51:35

the Scrivener was the victim of

51:37

innate and incurable disorder. I

51:39

might give alms to his body, but his body

51:41

did not pain him. It was

51:43

his soul that suffered, and

51:46

his soul I could not reach. I

51:49

did not accomplish the purpose of going to

51:51

Trinity Church that morning. Somehow

51:53

the things I had seen disqualified

51:55

me for the time from churchgoing. I

51:59

walked homeward. thinking what I would

52:01

do with Bartleby. Finally, I

52:03

resolved upon this. I would

52:05

put certain calm questions to him

52:08

the next morning, touching

52:10

his history, etc., and

52:12

if he declined to answer them

52:14

openly and unreservedly, and I supposed

52:16

he would prefer not, then,

52:18

to give him a twenty-dollar

52:21

bill over and above whatever I might

52:23

owe him and tell him, his services

52:25

were no longer required, but that

52:27

if in any other way I could assist

52:30

him, I would be happy to do so,

52:32

especially if he desired to return to his

52:34

native place wherever that may be. I would

52:36

willingly help to defray the expenses. Moreover,

52:39

if, after reaching home,

52:41

he found himself at any time in want of aid,

52:44

a letter from him would be sure of a

52:46

reply. The next

52:49

morning came. Bartleby,

52:51

said I, gently calling to him

52:53

behind his screen. No

52:56

reply. Bartleby,

52:59

said I, in a still, gentler tone,

53:02

come here, I am not going to ask you to

53:04

do anything you would prefer not to do. I simply

53:07

wish to speak to you. Upon

53:10

this, he noiselessly slid

53:12

into view. Will you tell

53:14

me, Bartleby, where you were born? I

53:18

would prefer not to. Will you

53:22

tell me anything about yourself? I

53:24

would prefer not to. But what

53:28

reasonable objection can you have to speak to

53:30

me? I feel friendly towards

53:32

you. He

53:34

did not look at me while I spoke,

53:36

but kept his glance fixed upon my bust

53:39

of Cicero, which, as

53:41

I then said, was directly behind me some

53:43

six inches above my head. What

53:47

is your answer, Bartleby, said

53:49

I, after waiting a considerable

53:51

time for a reply, during

53:53

which his countenance remained immovable,

53:56

only there was the faintest conceivable

53:58

tremor of the white attention. attenuated

54:00

mouth. At

54:03

present I prefer to give no answer. He

54:06

said, and retired into his

54:09

hermitage. It

54:11

was rather weak in me, I confess,

54:13

but his manner on this occasion nettled

54:16

me. Not only did

54:18

there seem to lurk in it a certain

54:20

calm disdain, but his perverseness

54:22

seemed ungrateful, the

54:25

undeniable good usage and indulgence he

54:27

had received from me. Again

54:30

I sat, ruminating what I

54:32

should do, mortified as I

54:34

was at his behavior, and

54:36

resolved as I had been to

54:39

dismiss him when I entered my

54:41

office. Nevertheless, I strangely felt something

54:43

superstitious knocking at my heart, and

54:46

forbidding me to carry out my

54:48

purpose, and denouncing me for a

54:50

villain if I dared to breathe

54:52

one bitter word against this forlornest

54:54

of mankind. At last,

54:57

familiarly drawing my chair behind his

54:59

screen, I sat down and

55:02

said, Bartleby, never

55:05

mind then, about revealing your

55:07

history, but let me entreat you, as

55:09

a friend, to comply as

55:11

far as may be with the

55:14

usages of this office. Say

55:16

now, you will help

55:18

to examine papers tomorrow or next

55:21

day. In short, say

55:23

now that in a day or

55:25

two you will begin to be a little

55:27

reasonable. Say so, Bartleby. At present

55:31

I would prefer not to be a

55:33

little reasonable. Was

55:36

his mildly cadaverous reply.

55:39

Just then the folding doors

55:42

opened and Nippers approached. He

55:44

seemed suffering from an unusually

55:46

bad night's rest, induced by

55:48

severer indigestion than common. He

55:51

overheard those final words of

55:53

Bartleby. Prefer not,

55:56

eh? Gritted Nippers. I'll

55:58

prefer him. If I

56:01

were you, sir," addressing me,

56:03

I'd prefer him. I'd give

56:05

him preferences, the stubborn mule.

56:07

What is it, sir, pray,

56:09

that he prefers not to

56:11

do now?" Bartleby

56:14

moved, not a limb. "'Mr.

56:16

Nippers,' said I, "'I'd prefer

56:18

that you would withdraw for the present.' Somehow

56:22

of late I had got into the

56:25

way of involuntarily using this word, prefer,

56:27

upon all sorts of not exactly

56:30

suitable occasions, and I

56:32

trembled to think that my contact with

56:34

the Scrivener had already and seriously affected

56:36

me in a mental way, and

56:39

what further and deeper aberration might

56:41

it not yet produce? This

56:44

apprehension had not been without efficacy

56:46

in determining me to summary measures.

56:49

As Nippers, looking very sour in

56:52

sulky, was departing, Turkey,

56:54

blandly and deferentially approached.

56:57

"'With submission, sir,' said

57:00

he, "'Yesterday I was thinking

57:02

about Bartleby here, and I

57:04

think that if he would but prefer to

57:06

take a quart of good ale every day,

57:09

it would do much

57:11

toward mending him and enabling him

57:13

to assist in examining his papers.'

57:17

"'So you have got the word, too,'

57:19

said I, slightly excited. "'With

57:22

submission, what word, sir?' asked

57:25

Turkey, respectfully crowding himself into

57:27

the contracted space behind the

57:29

screen, and by so doing

57:31

making me jostle the Scrivener. "'What

57:34

word, sir?' "'I would

57:36

prefer to be left alone here,' said

57:39

Bartleby, as if offended at being mobbed

57:41

in his privacy. "'That's

57:43

the word, Turkey,' said I. "'That's

57:46

it?' "'Oh, prefer! Oh,

57:48

yes, queer word! I never use it

57:50

myself. But, sir, as I was saying,

57:53

if he would but prefer to keep,

57:56

interrupted I, you will

57:58

please withdraw.' Oh, certainly,

58:01

sir, if you prefer that I should."

58:04

As he opened the folding door to

58:06

retire, nippers at his desk caught a

58:08

glimpse of me and asked whether I

58:10

would prefer to have a certain paper

58:13

copied on blue paper or white. It

58:16

had not in the least roguishly accent

58:18

the word prefer. It was

58:20

plain that it involuntarily rolled from his

58:22

tongue. I thought to myself,

58:25

surely, I must get rid

58:27

of a demented man who already has

58:29

in some degree turned the tongues, if

58:31

not the heads, of myself and the

58:33

clerks. But I

58:35

thought it prudent not to break the suspicion

58:38

at once. The

58:40

next day I noticed that Bartleby

58:42

did nothing but stand at his

58:45

window in his death-wall revelry. Upon

58:48

asking him why he did not write, he

58:50

said that he decided upon doing no more

58:53

writing. What? How

58:55

now? What next? exclaimed

58:57

I. Do no more writing. No

59:00

more. And what is the reason? Do

59:04

you not see the reason for yourself? He

59:07

indifferently replied. I

59:09

looked steadfastly at him and

59:11

perceived that his eyes looked dull

59:13

and glazed. Instantly

59:16

it occurred to me that his unexampled

59:18

diligence in copying by his dim

59:20

window for the first few weeks

59:22

of his stay with me might

59:25

have temporarily impaired his vision.

59:28

I was touched. I

59:30

said something in condolence with him. I

59:33

hinted that, of course, he did wisely

59:35

in abstaining from writing for a while

59:38

and urged him to embrace that opportunity

59:40

of taking wholesome exercise in the open

59:42

air. This however,

59:44

he did not do. A

59:47

few days after this my other clerks

59:49

being absent and being in a

59:52

great hurry to dispatch certain letters by

59:54

the mail, I thought that having nothing

59:56

else earthly to do, Bartleby would surely

59:58

be less inflexible than usual. and

1:00:00

carry these letters to the post office, but

1:00:03

he blankly declined. So

1:00:06

much to my inconvenience I went

1:00:08

myself. Still added

1:00:11

days went by. Whether Bartleby's

1:00:13

eyes improved or not I could not

1:00:15

say. To all appearance I

1:00:17

thought they did, but when

1:00:20

I asked him if they did he vouchsafed

1:00:22

no answer. At all events

1:00:24

he would do no copying. At

1:00:27

last in repay to my urgings

1:00:29

he informed me that he had

1:00:31

permanently given up copying. What?

1:00:34

exclaimed I. Suppose your

1:00:36

eyes should get entirely well better

1:00:38

than ever before. Would you

1:00:40

not copy then? I

1:00:42

have given up copying. He

1:00:45

answered and slid aside. He

1:00:48

remained as ever a fixture in my

1:00:50

chamber. Nay if that were

1:00:52

possible he became still more of a fixture

1:00:54

than before. It was to be

1:00:56

done. He would do nothing in

1:00:59

the office. Why should he stay there?

1:01:02

In plain fact he had now become a

1:01:04

millstone to me, not only useless

1:01:06

as a necklace but afflictive to bear.

1:01:09

Yet I was sorry for him. I

1:01:12

speak less than truth when I say that on

1:01:14

his own account he occasioned me uneasiness.

1:01:18

If he would but have named

1:01:20

a single relative or friend I

1:01:23

would instantly have written and urged

1:01:25

they are taking the poor fellow away

1:01:27

to some convenient retreat. But

1:01:30

he seemed alone, absolutely alone

1:01:32

in the universe, a

1:01:35

bit of wreck in the mid-Atlantic. At

1:01:37

length necessities connected with

1:01:39

my business tyrannized over all

1:01:41

other considerations. As decently

1:01:44

as I could I told Bartleby that

1:01:46

in six days' time he must unconditionally

1:01:48

leave the office. I warned him

1:01:50

to take measures in the

1:01:52

interval for procuring some

1:01:54

other abode. I Offered

1:01:57

to assist him in this endeavor if he

1:01:59

himself would. Take a first step

1:02:01

toward the removal. A When

1:02:03

you finally quit me bottle be added

1:02:05

I I shall see that you go

1:02:08

not away entirely on provided. Six.

1:02:10

Days from this our remember.

1:02:13

At the expiration of that period, I peeped

1:02:16

behind the screen and low. Bottle

1:02:18

be was there. I

1:02:21

buttoned up my coat, silenced myself,

1:02:23

advanced slowly towards him, touched his

1:02:26

shoulder and said. The.

1:02:28

Time has come. You must

1:02:30

acquit displays. I am sorry for you. Hit.

1:02:32

His money. But. You must Go. I

1:02:36

would prefer not. He.

1:02:38

Replied with his back still towards me.

1:02:41

He. Must. Remain

1:02:44

Silent. Now

1:02:46

I. Had an unbounded confidence

1:02:48

in this man's com and honesty.

1:02:51

He had frequently restored to me six

1:02:53

fences and shillings carelessly dropped a bomb

1:02:55

the floor. For. I'm apt to

1:02:58

be very reckless in such shows. Button

1:03:00

Affairs. The preceding then which

1:03:02

followed. Will. Not be deemed

1:03:05

extraordinary. Bottle. Be.

1:03:07

Said. I. I. Owe you twelve

1:03:10

dollars on account. Here. Are thirty

1:03:12

two? The odd twenty are yours. Will

1:03:14

you take it? I handed

1:03:16

the bills towards him. But

1:03:19

he made no motion. I.

1:03:22

Will leave them here that. Putting. Them

1:03:24

under a weight on the table. Then. Taking

1:03:26

my hat and kane and go into

1:03:28

the door I tranquil he turned and

1:03:30

added. After you have removed your

1:03:32

things from these offices bartel be you will

1:03:34

of course lock the door since every one

1:03:37

is now gone for the day. But you

1:03:39

and of you please slip your key underneath

1:03:41

the mat so that I may have it

1:03:43

in the next morning. I

1:03:45

shall not see you again. So goodbye deal.

1:03:48

If you're after in your do place of abode

1:03:50

I can be of any service to you. Do.

1:03:52

Not fail to advise me by letter.

1:03:55

Goodbye. Bottle be unfair you? Well,

1:03:59

but he answered not a word. Like

1:04:01

the last column of some ruined

1:04:03

temple, he remained standing mute

1:04:06

and solitary in the middle of

1:04:08

the otherwise deserted room. As

1:04:11

I walked home in a pensive mood, my

1:04:13

vanity got the better of my pity. I

1:04:16

could not but highly plume myself

1:04:18

on my masterly management in getting

1:04:20

rid of Bartleby. Masterly,

1:04:22

I call it, and such

1:04:25

it must appear to any dispassionate thinker.

1:04:27

The beauty of my procedure

1:04:29

seemed to consist in its

1:04:32

perfect quietness. There was

1:04:34

no vulgar bullying, no bravado

1:04:36

of any sort, no choleric

1:04:38

hectoring and striding to and

1:04:40

fro across the apartment, jerking

1:04:42

out vehement commands for Bartleby

1:04:44

to bundle himself off with

1:04:46

his beggarly traps. Nothing

1:04:48

of the kind. Without loudly

1:04:50

bidding Bartleby depart, as an inferior

1:04:52

genius might have done, I assumed

1:04:55

the ground that depart he

1:04:58

must, and upon that

1:05:00

assumption built all I had to

1:05:02

say. The more I thought

1:05:04

over my procedure, the more I was charmed with

1:05:06

it. Nevertheless, next

1:05:08

morning upon awakening, I had

1:05:11

my doubts. I had somehow

1:05:13

slept off the fumes of vanity. One

1:05:16

of the coolest and wisest hours a

1:05:18

man has is just after

1:05:20

he awakes in the morning. My

1:05:23

procedure seemed as sagacious as ever,

1:05:26

but only in theory. How

1:05:29

it would prove in practice, there

1:05:31

was the rub. It was truly

1:05:34

a beautiful thought to have assumed

1:05:36

Bartleby's departure, but after

1:05:38

all, that assumption was simply my own and

1:05:41

none of Bartleby's. The

1:05:43

great point was not whether I had assumed that

1:05:45

he would quit me, but whether he

1:05:48

would prefer so to do. He

1:05:50

was more a man of preferences than

1:05:52

assumptions. After

1:05:54

breakfast, I walked downtown,

1:05:56

arguing the probabilities pro and

1:05:58

con. One moment

1:06:00

I thought it would prove a miserable failure

1:06:02

and, Bartleby, would be found all alive at

1:06:05

my office as usual. The

1:06:07

next moment it seemed certain that I should

1:06:09

find his chair empty. And

1:06:12

so I kept veering about. At

1:06:14

the corner of Broadway and Canal Street I

1:06:17

saw quite an excited group of people

1:06:19

standing in earnest conversation. "'I'll

1:06:21

take odds he doesn't,' said a

1:06:24

voice as I passed. "'Doesn't go?

1:06:26

Done,' said I. "'Put up your money.'

1:06:29

I was instinctively putting my hand in my pocket

1:06:31

to procure my own when I

1:06:33

remembered that it was an election day. The

1:06:36

words I had overheard bore no

1:06:38

reference to Bartleby but to the

1:06:40

success or non-success of some candidate

1:06:42

for the mayoralty. In

1:06:45

my intent frame of mind I

1:06:47

had, as it were, imagined that all

1:06:49

Broadway shared in my excitement and were

1:06:51

debating the same question with me. I

1:06:55

passed on, very thankful that the

1:06:57

uproar of the street screened my

1:06:59

momentary absent-mindedness. As

1:07:02

I had intended, I was earlier

1:07:04

than usual at my office door. I

1:07:07

stood listening for a moment. All

1:07:09

was still. He must be

1:07:11

gone. I tried the knob. The

1:07:14

door was locked. Yes, my

1:07:16

procedure had worked with charm. He

1:07:18

indeed must be vanished. Yet

1:07:21

a certain melancholy mixed with this. I

1:07:23

am almost sorry for my brilliant success.

1:07:26

I was fumbling under the doormat for the key

1:07:29

which Bartleby was to have left there for

1:07:31

me when accidentally my knee

1:07:33

knocked against a panel producing a

1:07:35

summoning sound and in response a

1:07:37

voice came to me from within. Not

1:07:40

yet I am occupied. It

1:07:43

was Bartleby. I was

1:07:46

thunderstruck. For an instant

1:07:48

I stood like the man who, pipe-in-mouth,

1:07:50

was killed one cloudless afternoon

1:07:53

long ago in Virginia by

1:07:55

summer lightning. At

1:07:57

his own open window he was killed and

1:07:59

remained lethal. leaning out there upon the

1:08:01

dreamy afternoon till someone touched him when

1:08:04

he fell. "'Not

1:08:06

gone,' I murmured at

1:08:08

last, but again

1:08:11

obeying that wondrous ascendency which

1:08:13

the inscrutable Scrivener had over me, and

1:08:16

from which ascendency for all my chafing

1:08:18

I could not completely escape. I

1:08:21

slowly went downstairs and out into the

1:08:24

street, and while walking

1:08:26

round the block considered what I should

1:08:28

next do in this unheard-of perplexity. Turn

1:08:31

the man out by an actual thrusting I could

1:08:33

not, to drive him away by

1:08:35

calling him hard names would not do. Calling

1:08:39

in the police was an unpleasant

1:08:41

idea, and yet permit him to

1:08:43

enjoy his cadaverous triumph over me,

1:08:45

this too I could not think of. What

1:08:48

was to be done? Or if nothing

1:08:50

could be done, was there anything further that

1:08:53

I could assume in the matter? Yes,

1:08:56

as afore I had prospectively assumed

1:08:58

that Bartleby would depart, so

1:09:01

now I might retrospectively assume that departed

1:09:03

he was. In

1:09:06

the legitimate carrying out of this assumption I

1:09:08

might enter my office in a great hurry,

1:09:10

and pretending not to see Bartleby at all,

1:09:12

walk straight against him as if he were

1:09:15

air. Such a proceeding

1:09:17

would in a singular degree have the appearance

1:09:19

of a home thrust. It

1:09:22

was hardly possible that Bartleby could withstand

1:09:24

such an application of the doctrine of

1:09:26

assumptions. But upon

1:09:28

second thoughts the success of the plan

1:09:31

seemed rather dubious. I

1:09:33

resolved to argue the matter over with him

1:09:35

again. Bartleby, said

1:09:37

I, entering the office, with

1:09:39

a quietly severe expression. I

1:09:42

am seriously displeased. I

1:09:45

am pained, Bartleby. I had thought better

1:09:47

of you. I had

1:09:49

imagined you of such a gentlemanly

1:09:51

organization that in any delicate dilemma

1:09:53

a slight hint would suffice, in

1:09:56

short, an assumption. But

1:09:58

it appears I am deceived. Why,"

1:10:00

I added, unaffectedly

1:10:02

starting, "'you have not even touched

1:10:04

that money yet,' pointing to it, just

1:10:07

where I had left it the evening previous. He

1:10:10

answered nothing. "'Will

1:10:12

you or will you not quit me?'

1:10:15

I now demanded in a sudden passion,

1:10:17

advancing close to him. "'I

1:10:19

would prefer not to quit you,' he

1:10:22

replied, gently emphasizing the

1:10:24

not. "'What earthly

1:10:27

right have you to stay here? Do

1:10:29

you pay any rent? Do

1:10:31

you pay my taxes, or is this

1:10:33

property yours?' He answered nothing.

1:10:36

"'Are you ready to go on and write now? Are

1:10:39

your eyes recovered? Could you

1:10:41

copy a small paper for me this morning,

1:10:44

or help examine a few lines, or step

1:10:46

round to the post office? In a word,

1:10:48

will you do anything at all to give

1:10:50

a coloring to your refusal to depart the

1:10:53

premises?' He

1:10:55

silently returned into his hermitage.

1:10:58

"'I was now in such a state of

1:11:01

nervous resentment that I thought it

1:11:03

but prudent to check myself at present

1:11:05

from further demonstrations. Bartleby

1:11:07

and I were alone. I

1:11:10

remembered the tragedy of the unfortunate

1:11:12

Adams and the still more unfortunate

1:11:14

Colt in the solitary office of

1:11:16

the latter, and how poor Colt,

1:11:18

being dreadfully incensed by Adams and

1:11:20

imprudently permitting himself to get wildly

1:11:23

excited, was it unawares hurried

1:11:25

into his fatal act, an

1:11:27

act which certainly no man could

1:11:29

possibly deplore more than the actor himself.

1:11:33

Often it had occurred to me in my ponderings

1:11:35

upon the subject that had that

1:11:37

altercation taken place in the public

1:11:39

street or at a private residence,

1:11:42

it would not have terminated as it did. It

1:11:46

was the circumstance of being

1:11:48

alone in a solitary office,

1:11:50

upstairs, of a building entirely

1:11:52

unhallowed by humanizing domestic associations,

1:11:55

an uncarpeted office, doubtless, of a

1:11:57

dusty, haggard sort of appearance.' This

1:12:00

it must have been, which greatly

1:12:02

helped to enhance the irritable desperation

1:12:04

of the hapless cult. But

1:12:07

when this old Adam of resentment rose

1:12:10

in me and tempted me concerning Bartleby,

1:12:12

I grappled him and threw him down.

1:12:15

How? Why, simply by

1:12:17

recalling the divine injunction, a new

1:12:19

commandment I give unto you that ye

1:12:22

love one another. Yes,

1:12:24

this it was that saved me. And

1:12:27

from higher considerations charity often operates

1:12:29

as a vastly wise and prudent

1:12:32

principle, a great safeguard to

1:12:34

its possessor. Men have

1:12:36

committed murder for jealousy's sake, and

1:12:39

anger's sake, and hatred's sake, and

1:12:41

selfishness' sake, and spiritual pride's sake,

1:12:43

but no man that I ever

1:12:45

heard of ever committed a diabolical

1:12:48

murder for sweet charity's

1:12:50

sake. Their

1:12:52

self-interest then, if no better

1:12:54

motive can be enlisted, should,

1:12:56

especially with high-tempered men, prompt

1:12:58

all beings to charity and

1:13:01

philanthropy. At any rate, upon

1:13:03

the occasion in question, I

1:13:05

strove to drown my exasperated

1:13:07

feelings toward the Scrivener by

1:13:09

benevolently construing his conduct. Poor

1:13:12

fellow, thought I, ye don't

1:13:14

mean anything, and besides ye

1:13:17

have seen hard times and ought to

1:13:19

be indulged. I endeavored

1:13:21

also, immediately to occupy

1:13:23

myself and at the same time

1:13:25

to comfort my despondency. I

1:13:28

tried to fancy that in the course of the

1:13:30

morning, at such time as

1:13:33

might prove agreeable to him Bartleby of

1:13:35

his own free accord would emerge from his

1:13:37

hermitage and take up some decided line of

1:13:40

march in the direction of the door. But

1:13:43

no, half past twelve

1:13:45

o'clock came, Turkey began to glow

1:13:47

in the face, overturn his inkstand

1:13:50

and become generally obstreperous, nippers

1:13:52

abated down into quietude

1:13:54

and courtesy, Ginger Nut

1:13:57

munched his noon apple, and

1:13:59

Bartleby, reared. remained standing at his window

1:14:01

in one of his profound

1:14:03

dead-wall reveries. Will it be

1:14:05

credited? Ought I to acknowledge

1:14:07

it? That afternoon I left

1:14:10

the office without saying one further word

1:14:12

to him. Some

1:14:15

days now passed, during

1:14:17

which at leisure intervals I looked

1:14:19

a little into Edwards on the

1:14:21

will and Priestley on necessity. Under

1:14:24

the circumstances those books induced a

1:14:27

salutary feeling. Gradually

1:14:29

I slid into the persuasion that these

1:14:31

troubles of mine touching the Scrivener had

1:14:34

been all predestined from eternity, and

1:14:36

Bartleby was billeted upon me

1:14:39

for some mysterious purpose of an

1:14:41

all-wise providence, which it

1:14:43

was not for a mere mortal man like me

1:14:45

to fathom. Yes, Bartleby,

1:14:48

stay there behind your screen, thought

1:14:50

I. I shall persecute

1:14:52

you no more. You are harmless and

1:14:55

noiseless as any one of these old

1:14:57

chairs. In short, I never

1:14:59

feel so private as when I know you

1:15:01

are here. At last

1:15:03

I see it. I feel it.

1:15:06

I penetrate to the predestined purpose of

1:15:09

my life. I am content. Others

1:15:12

may have loftier parts to enact,

1:15:14

but my mission in this world, Bartleby,

1:15:17

is to furnish you with office room

1:15:19

for such period as you may see

1:15:21

fit to remain. I

1:15:24

believe that this wise and blessed frame

1:15:26

of mind would have continued with me

1:15:28

had it not been for the

1:15:30

unsolicited and uncharitable remarks, obstruded upon

1:15:33

me by my professional friends who

1:15:35

visited the rooms. But

1:15:37

this it often is, that the

1:15:40

constant friction of liberal minds wears

1:15:42

out at last the best resolves

1:15:44

of the more generous. So

1:15:46

to be sure when I reflected upon it, it

1:15:49

was not strange that people entering my office

1:15:51

should be struck by the peculiar

1:15:53

aspect of the unaccountable Bartleby, and

1:15:56

so be tempted to throw out some

1:15:58

sinister observations concerning him. Sometimes

1:16:01

an attorney having business with me and

1:16:03

calling at my office and

1:16:05

finding no one but the scrivener

1:16:07

there would undertake to obtain some

1:16:10

sort of precise information from him

1:16:12

touching my whereabouts. But

1:16:14

without heeding his idle talk, Bartleby

1:16:17

would remain standing immovable in the middle

1:16:19

of the room. So

1:16:21

after contemplating him in that position for

1:16:23

a while, the attorney would depart no wiser

1:16:26

than he came. Also,

1:16:29

when a reference was going on

1:16:31

and the room full of lawyers

1:16:33

and witnesses and business driving fast,

1:16:36

some deeply occupied legal gentleman present,

1:16:38

seeing Bartleby wholly unemployed, would request him

1:16:41

to run around to his, the legal

1:16:43

gentleman's office and fetch some papers for

1:16:45

him. Thereupon Bartleby would

1:16:47

tranquilly decline and yet remain

1:16:50

idle as before. Then

1:16:52

the lawyer would give a great stare and turn to

1:16:54

me. And what could I say?

1:16:58

At last I was made aware that all

1:17:00

through the circle of my professional acquaintance, a

1:17:02

whisper of wonder was running round,

1:17:05

having reference to the strange creature I

1:17:07

kept at my office. This

1:17:09

worried me very much. And

1:17:12

as the idea came upon me of

1:17:14

his possibly turning out a long-lived man

1:17:16

and keep occupying my chambers and

1:17:19

denying my authority and perplexing

1:17:21

my visitors and scandalizing my

1:17:24

professional reputation and casting

1:17:26

a general gloom over the premises,

1:17:28

keeping soul and body together to

1:17:30

the last upon his savings, for

1:17:33

doubtless he spent but half a dime

1:17:35

a day, and in the end perhaps

1:17:38

outlive me and claim possession of

1:17:40

my office by right of his

1:17:42

perpetual occupancy. As all

1:17:44

these dark anticipations crowded upon me

1:17:46

more and more, and my

1:17:48

friends continually intruded their relentless remarks upon

1:17:50

the apparition in my room, a great

1:17:53

change was wrought in me. I

1:17:56

resolved to gather all my faculties

1:17:59

together. and forever rid

1:18:01

me of this intolerable incubus.

1:18:04

Here, revolving any complicated project,

1:18:06

however, adapted to this end,

1:18:08

I first simply suggested

1:18:11

to Bartleby the propriety of

1:18:13

his permanent departure. In

1:18:15

a calm and serious tone, I commended

1:18:18

the idea to his careful and

1:18:20

mature consideration. But having

1:18:22

taken three days to meditate upon it, he

1:18:25

apprised me that his original

1:18:27

determination remained the same. In

1:18:30

short, that he still preferred to abide

1:18:32

with me. What shall I

1:18:34

do? I now say to

1:18:36

myself, buttoning up my coat to the last button,

1:18:39

What shall I do? What

1:18:41

ought I to do? What does

1:18:43

conscience say I should do with this man,

1:18:46

or rather ghost? Rid myself

1:18:48

of him I must. Go he

1:18:50

shall, but how? You

1:18:52

will not thrust him, the poor pale

1:18:55

passive mortal. You will not thrust such

1:18:57

a helpless creature out of your door.

1:19:00

You will not dishonor yourself by such

1:19:02

cruelty. No, I will

1:19:05

not. I cannot do that. Rather

1:19:07

would I let him live and die here,

1:19:09

and then mason up his remains in the

1:19:12

wall. What then will you do?

1:19:14

For all your coaxing he will not budge. Brides

1:19:17

he leaves under your own paper weight on

1:19:19

your table. In short, it is

1:19:22

quite plain that he prefers to cling to you.

1:19:25

Then something severe, something

1:19:28

unusual, must be done. What?

1:19:31

Surely you will not have him collared by

1:19:34

a constable and commit his innocent pallor to

1:19:36

the common jail. And upon

1:19:38

what ground could you procure such a thing to be

1:19:40

done? A vagrant, is he? What?

1:19:43

He a vagrant, a wanderer who refuses

1:19:45

to budge? It is because he

1:19:48

will not be a vagrant then, that you seek to

1:19:50

count him as a vagrant. That

1:19:52

is too absurd. No visible

1:19:54

means of support. There

1:19:56

I have him. Wrong

1:19:58

again. For in And dutably he

1:20:01

does support himself, and

1:20:03

that is the only answerable proof that

1:20:05

any man can show of his possessing the means to

1:20:07

do so. No more

1:20:09

then. Since he will not

1:20:11

quit me, I must quit him. I

1:20:15

will change my offices. I will

1:20:17

move elsewhere and give him fair

1:20:19

notice that if I find him on

1:20:21

my new premises I will then proceed

1:20:23

against him as a common trespasser. Looking

1:20:27

accordingly, next day I thus addressed

1:20:29

him. I find these chambers

1:20:31

too far from the city hall. The

1:20:33

air is unwholesome. In a

1:20:35

word, I propose to remove my offices

1:20:38

next week and shall no longer

1:20:40

require your services. I tell you

1:20:42

now in order that you may seek another place.

1:20:46

He made no reply, and nothing

1:20:48

more was said. On

1:20:51

the appointed day I engaged carts and

1:20:53

men, proceeded to my chambers, and

1:20:55

having but little furniture, everything

1:20:57

was removed in a few hours. Throughout

1:21:01

the scrivener remained standing behind the screen

1:21:03

which I directed to be removed the

1:21:05

last thing. It

1:21:08

was withdrawn, and being folded

1:21:10

up like a huge folio, left him

1:21:12

the motionless occupant of a naked room.

1:21:16

I stood in the entry watching him a moment, while

1:21:18

something from within me upbraided me.

1:21:22

I re-entered with my hand in my pocket

1:21:24

and my heart

1:21:26

in my mouth. Good-bye,

1:21:29

Bartleby. I am going. Good-bye.

1:21:35

And God some way blessed you, and

1:21:38

take that slipping something in his hand,

1:21:40

but it dropped upon the floor, and

1:21:42

then strange to say, I tore

1:21:45

myself from him whom

1:21:47

I had so longed to be rid of. Just

1:21:51

in my new quarters for a day or two I kept

1:21:54

the door locked, and started

1:21:56

at every footfall in the passages. When

1:21:59

I returned to my rooms after any little absence

1:22:01

I would pause at the threshold for

1:22:03

an instant and attentively listen,

1:22:06

air-replying my key. But

1:22:08

these fears were needless. Bartleby

1:22:11

never came nigh me. I

1:22:14

thought all was going well when a perturbed-looking

1:22:16

stranger visited me, inquiring whether

1:22:19

I was the person who had

1:22:21

recently occupied Room's number-blank Wall Street.

1:22:24

Full of forebodings, I replied that I

1:22:26

was. "'Then,

1:22:28

sir,' said the stranger, who

1:22:30

proved a lawyer, "'you are responsible

1:22:32

for the man you left there. He

1:22:35

refuses to do any copying. He

1:22:37

refuses to do anything. He says

1:22:39

he prefers not to, and he

1:22:42

refuses to quit the premises.' "'I

1:22:45

am very sorry, sir,' said

1:22:47

I, with assumed tranquility, but an

1:22:49

inward tremor. "'But really,

1:22:51

the man you allude to is nothing to me.

1:22:53

He is no relation or apprentice of mine, "'that

1:22:56

you should hold me responsible for him.' "'In

1:22:59

Mercy's name, who is he?' "'I

1:23:02

certainly cannot inform you. I know

1:23:04

nothing about him. Formally, I employed

1:23:06

him as a copyist. "'But he has

1:23:08

done nothing for me now for some time past.'

1:23:12

"'I shall settle him then. Good morning,

1:23:15

sir.' "'Several days

1:23:17

passed, and I heard nothing more,

1:23:19

and though I often felt

1:23:21

a charitable "'prompting to call it

1:23:23

the place and see poor Bartleby,

1:23:25

yet a certain squeamishness of, "'I

1:23:27

know not what, withheld me.' "'All

1:23:31

is over with him by this time,' thought I. "'At

1:23:34

last, when, through another week, no

1:23:37

further intelligence reached me. "'But

1:23:39

coming to my room the day after, I found

1:23:42

several persons waiting at my door "'in

1:23:44

a high state of nervous excitement.' "'That's

1:23:48

the man! Here he comes!' cried

1:23:50

the foremost one, whom I recognized as the

1:23:52

lawyer "'who had previously called upon me.' "'You

1:23:55

must take him away, sir, at once,'

1:23:58

cried a portly person among the men. them advancing

1:24:00

upon me, and whom I

1:24:02

knew to be the landlord of Number Blank Wall

1:24:05

Street. These gentlemen,

1:24:07

my tenants, cannot stand it

1:24:09

any longer. Mr.

1:24:11

B. — pointing to the lawyer —

1:24:13

has turned him out of his room, and he

1:24:16

now persists in haunting the building

1:24:18

generally, sitting upon the banisters of

1:24:20

the stairs by day and sleeping

1:24:23

in the entry by night. He

1:24:26

is concerned. Clients are leaving

1:24:28

the offices. Some fears are entertained of

1:24:31

a mob. Something you

1:24:33

must do, and that without delay." Agast

1:24:36

at this torrent, I fell back before

1:24:38

it, and would Fane have locked myself

1:24:40

in my new quarters. In

1:24:43

vain I persisted that Bartleby was

1:24:45

nothing to me, no more

1:24:47

than to anyone else. In

1:24:49

vain. I was the last

1:24:51

person known to have anything to do with him, and

1:24:54

they held me to the terrible account. Fearful

1:24:58

then of being exposed in the papers

1:25:00

as one person presently obscurely threatened, I

1:25:03

considered the matter, and at

1:25:05

length said that if the lawyer would

1:25:07

give me a confidential interview with the

1:25:09

scrivener, in his the lawyer's own

1:25:12

room, I would, that

1:25:14

afternoon, strive my best

1:25:16

to rid them of the nuisance they complained

1:25:18

of. Going

1:25:20

upstairs to my old haunt, there was

1:25:22

Bartleby, silently sitting on the banister

1:25:25

at the landing. "'What

1:25:27

are you doing here, Bartleby?' said I.

1:25:31

Sitting upon the banister, he

1:25:33

mildly replied. I motioned

1:25:35

him into the lawyer's room, who then left

1:25:38

us. "'Bartleby,'

1:25:41

said I, "'you are aware that

1:25:43

you are the cause of great tribulation

1:25:45

to me by persisting in occupying the

1:25:48

entry after being dismissed from the office?'

1:25:51

No answer. Now one

1:25:54

of two things must take place. Either

1:25:57

you must do something, or something must be

1:25:59

done to you." Now what sort

1:26:01

of business would you like to engage in?

1:26:03

Would you like to re-engage in copying for

1:26:05

someone?" No, I would

1:26:07

prefer not to make any change. Would

1:26:10

you like a clerkship in a dry goods

1:26:12

store?" There is

1:26:14

too much confinement about that, no. I

1:26:18

would not like a clerkship, but I am

1:26:20

not particular. Too much

1:26:22

confinement, I cried. Why you

1:26:24

keep yourself confined all the time?" I

1:26:28

would prefer not to take a clerkship, he

1:26:30

rejoined, as if to settle this little item

1:26:32

at once. How

1:26:35

would a bartender's business suit you? There is

1:26:37

no trying of the eyesight in that. I

1:26:40

would not like it at all, though, as

1:26:42

I said before, I am not

1:26:45

particular. His

1:26:47

unwonted wordiness inspirited me.

1:26:50

I returned to the charge. Well,

1:26:52

then, would you like to travel through the

1:26:55

country collecting bills for the merchants? Have

1:26:57

it improve your health? No,

1:26:59

I would prefer to be

1:27:01

doing something else. How,

1:27:04

then, would going as a

1:27:06

companion to Europe to entertain some young

1:27:08

gentleman with your conversation, how would

1:27:11

that suit you? Not at

1:27:13

all. It does not strike me

1:27:15

that there is anything definite about that. I

1:27:17

like to be stationary, but I am not

1:27:20

particular. Stationary

1:27:23

you shall be, then, I

1:27:25

cried, now losing all patience, and

1:27:27

for the first time in all my

1:27:29

exasperating connection with him, fairly flying into

1:27:31

a passion. If

1:27:34

you do not go away from these

1:27:36

premises before night, I shall feel bound.

1:27:38

Indeed, I am bound to who

1:27:41

quit the premises myself. I

1:27:44

rather absurdly concluded, knowing not what the

1:27:46

possible threat to try to frighten his

1:27:48

immobility into compliance. In

1:27:51

despairing of all further efforts, I was

1:27:53

precipitately leaving him when a final

1:27:55

thought occurred to me, one which

1:27:57

had not been wholly unindulged before. "'Bartleby,'

1:28:02

said I, in the kindest tone

1:28:04

I could assume under such existing

1:28:06

circumstances. "'Will you

1:28:08

go home with me now, not to my office,

1:28:11

but my dwelling, and remain

1:28:13

there till we can conclude upon some

1:28:15

convenient arrangement for you at your leisure?

1:28:18

Come, let us start now right away.'

1:28:21

"'No. At

1:28:24

present I would prefer not to make any

1:28:26

change at all.' I

1:28:29

answered nothing. But

1:28:31

effectually dodging everyone by the suddenness

1:28:33

and rapidity of my flight, rushed

1:28:36

from the building, ran up Wall

1:28:38

Street towards Broadway, and jumping

1:28:40

into the first omnibus was soon

1:28:42

removed from pursuit. As

1:28:45

soon as tranquility returned, I distinctly perceived

1:28:47

that I had now done all that

1:28:49

I possibly could, both in respect

1:28:51

to the demands of the landlord and his tenants,

1:28:54

and with great regard to my own

1:28:56

desire and sense of duty to benefit

1:28:59

Bartleby and shield him from rude persecution.

1:29:02

I now strove to be entirely carefree

1:29:04

and quiescent, and my conscience justified

1:29:06

me in the attempt, though indeed

1:29:08

it was not so successful as I could have

1:29:10

wished. So fearful was

1:29:13

I of being again hunted out

1:29:15

by the incensed landlord and his

1:29:17

exasperated tenants. That surrendering

1:29:19

my business to Nippers for a few

1:29:21

days, I drove about the upper part

1:29:23

of the town and through the

1:29:25

suburbs in my rockaway, crossed

1:29:28

over to Jersey City and Hoboken, and

1:29:30

paid fugitive visits to Manhattanville

1:29:32

and Astoria. In fact,

1:29:35

I almost lived in my rockaway for the time.

1:29:38

When I again entered my office, Lo,

1:29:40

a note from the landlord

1:29:42

lay upon the desk. I

1:29:45

opened it with trembling hands. It

1:29:47

informed me that the writer had sent

1:29:49

to the police and that Bartleby removed

1:29:51

to the tomes as a vagrant. Moreover,

1:29:54

since I knew more about him than anyone

1:29:57

else, he wished me to appear at that

1:29:59

place. and make a suitable statement of

1:30:01

the facts. These tidings had

1:30:03

a conflicting effect upon me. At

1:30:06

first I was indignant, but at

1:30:08

last almost approved. The landlord's

1:30:10

energetic summary disposition had led him to

1:30:12

adopt a procedure which I did not

1:30:15

think I would have decided upon myself,

1:30:18

and yet, as a last

1:30:20

resort under such peculiar circumstances, it

1:30:23

seemed the only plan. As

1:30:26

I afterwards learned, the poor Scrivener, when told that

1:30:29

he must be conducted to the tomes, offered

1:30:32

not the slightest obstacle, but

1:30:35

in his pale, unmoving way, silently

1:30:37

acquiesced. Some

1:30:39

of the compassionate and curious bystanders joined

1:30:41

the party, and headed by one of the constables

1:30:44

arm in arm with Bartleby, the

1:30:47

silent procession filed its way through all the noise

1:30:49

and heat and joy of the roaring thoroughfares at

1:30:51

noon. The

1:30:55

same day I received the note, I went to the tomes,

1:30:57

or, to speak more properly, the halls of justice. Seeking the

1:30:59

right officer, I stated the purpose of my call, and

1:31:04

was informed that the individual I described

1:31:06

was indeed within. I then assured the

1:31:08

functionary that Bartleby

1:31:10

was a perfectly honest man and greatly to be compassionate,

1:31:12

however unaccountably eccentric.

1:31:19

I narrated all I knew, and closed

1:31:21

by suggesting the idea of letting

1:31:23

him remain in as indulgent confinement

1:31:26

as possible, though something less harsh

1:31:28

might be done, though indeed I

1:31:30

hardly knew what. At all

1:31:32

events, if nothing else could be decided upon,

1:31:35

the almshouse must receive him, I

1:31:37

then begged to have an interview. Being

1:31:40

under no disgraceful charge, and quite

1:31:42

serene and harmless in all his

1:31:44

ways, they had permitted him freely

1:31:46

to wander about the prison, and

1:31:49

especially in the enclosed grass-platted yards

1:31:51

thereof. And so I

1:31:53

found him there, standing all alone in the

1:31:55

quietest of the yards, his face

1:31:58

towards a high wall, while all the All

1:32:00

round, from the narrow slits of the

1:32:02

jail windows, I thought I

1:32:04

saw peering out upon him

1:32:06

the eyes of murderers and

1:32:08

thieves. BORTALBY! I

1:32:12

know you, he said without

1:32:14

looking round, and I

1:32:16

want nothing to say to you. It

1:32:19

was not I that brought you here, Bortalby, said

1:32:22

I keenly pained at his implied suspicion.

1:32:25

And to you this should not be so vile a

1:32:27

place. Nothing reproachful attaches

1:32:29

to you by being here. And

1:32:32

see, it is not so sad a place

1:32:34

as one might think. Look there is

1:32:36

the sky and here is the grass. I

1:32:38

know where I am. He replied,

1:32:41

but would say nothing more. And

1:32:43

so I left him. As

1:32:46

I entered the corridor again a broad

1:32:48

meat-like man in an apron accosted me

1:32:50

and jerking his thumb over his shoulder

1:32:52

said, Is that your friend?

1:32:56

Yes. Does he want to starve?

1:32:58

If he does let him live on the prison

1:33:01

fair, that's all. Who

1:33:03

are you? asked I, not knowing

1:33:05

what to make of such an unofficially speaking

1:33:07

person in such a place. I

1:33:09

am the grubman. Such gentlemen

1:33:12

as have friends here hire me to

1:33:14

provide them with something good to eat.

1:33:17

Is this so? said I, turning

1:33:19

to the turnkey. He said it

1:33:21

was. Well then said

1:33:23

I, slipping some silver into the grubman's hands,

1:33:25

for so they called him. I

1:33:28

want you to give particular attention to my friend

1:33:30

there. Let him have the best

1:33:32

dinner you can get and you must be as

1:33:34

polite to him as possible. Introduce

1:33:37

me will you? said the grubman, looking

1:33:39

at me with an expression which seemed to

1:33:41

say he was all impatient for an opportunity

1:33:44

to give a specimen of his breeding. Knowing

1:33:48

it would prove a benefit to the scrivener, I acquiesced,

1:33:50

and asking the grubman his name

1:33:52

went up with him to Bartleby.

1:33:56

Bartleby this is a friend. You will find him

1:33:59

very useful to you. "'Your

1:34:01

servant, sir, your servant,' said

1:34:04

the grubman, making a low salutation behind

1:34:06

his apron. "'Hope you find it

1:34:08

pleasant here, sir. Nice grounds,

1:34:10

cool apartments. Hope you'll

1:34:12

stay with us some time and try to make it

1:34:14

agreeable. What will you have for dinner

1:34:17

today?' "'I

1:34:19

prefer not to dine today,' said

1:34:22

Bartleby, turning away. It

1:34:24

would disagree with me. I

1:34:26

am unused to dinners. So

1:34:29

saying, he slowly moved to the

1:34:32

other side of the enclosure and took

1:34:34

up a position fronting the dead wall.

1:34:37

"'How's this?' said the

1:34:39

grubman, addressing me with a stare of astonishment.

1:34:42

"'He's odd, ain't he?' "'I

1:34:45

think he's a little deranged,' said

1:34:47

I sadly. "'Deranged,

1:34:49

is it? Well, now, upon my word,

1:34:52

I thought that friend of

1:34:54

yawn was a gentleman forger. They're

1:34:56

always pale and genteel like them

1:34:58

forgers. I can't help pity him.

1:35:00

I can't help it, sir. Did

1:35:03

you know Monroe Edwards?' he

1:35:05

added, touchingly, and paused, then

1:35:08

laying his hand piteously on my shoulder

1:35:10

side. He died of

1:35:12

consumption at Sing-Sing. So you

1:35:14

weren't acquainted with Monroe?' "'No,

1:35:17

I was never socially acquainted with any

1:35:19

forgers. But I cannot stop

1:35:21

longer. Look to my friend Yonder. You will not

1:35:23

lose by it. I will see you again.' Some

1:35:27

few days after this, I again obtained

1:35:29

admission to the tomes and

1:35:32

went through the corridors in quest of Bartleby

1:35:34

but without finding him. "'I

1:35:37

saw him coming from his cell not long ago,'

1:35:40

said a turnkey. "'Maybe

1:35:42

he's gone to loiter in the yards.' So

1:35:45

I went in that direction. "'Are

1:35:47

you looking for the silent man?' said

1:35:50

another turnkey, passing me. Yonder

1:35:52

he lies, sleeping in the yard there.

1:35:54

It is not twenty minutes since I saw him lie

1:35:56

down. The

1:35:58

yard was entirely climbed." quiet. It

1:36:01

was not accessible to the common prisoners. The

1:36:04

surrounding walls of amazing thickness kept

1:36:06

off all sounds behind them. The

1:36:09

Egyptian character of the masonry weighed

1:36:11

upon me with its gloom, but

1:36:14

a soft imprisoned turf grew

1:36:16

underfoot. The heart of

1:36:18

the eternal pyramids it seemed, wherein

1:36:21

by some strange magic through the

1:36:23

clefts grass seed dropped by birds

1:36:25

had sprung. Strangely

1:36:27

huddled at the base of the wall,

1:36:29

his knees drawn up and lying on

1:36:31

his side, his head touching the cold

1:36:33

stones, I saw the wasted Bartleby. But

1:36:37

nothing stirred. I

1:36:40

paused, then went

1:36:43

close up to him, stooped

1:36:45

over, and saw

1:36:47

that his dim eyes were open. Otherwise

1:36:50

he seemed profoundly sleeping.

1:36:54

Something prompted me to touch him. I felt

1:36:57

his hand when a tingling

1:36:59

shiver ran up my arm and down

1:37:01

my spine to my feet. The

1:37:05

round face of the grubman peered upon

1:37:07

me now. His dinner is ready. Why dine

1:37:10

today either, or does he live without

1:37:12

dining? Lives

1:37:14

without dining, said I, and

1:37:17

closed the eyes. Eh? He's

1:37:20

asleep, ain't he? With

1:37:22

kings and counsellors, murmured

1:37:24

I. There

1:37:27

would seem little need for proceeding further in

1:37:29

this history. Imagination will

1:37:32

readily supply the meager recital

1:37:34

of poor Bartleby's interment. But

1:37:37

air parting with a reader, let me

1:37:39

say that if this little narrative has

1:37:41

sufficiently interested him to awaken

1:37:43

curiosity as to who Bartleby was

1:37:46

and what manner of life he led prior

1:37:48

to the present narrators making his acquaintance, I

1:37:51

can only reply that in such

1:37:54

curiosity I fully share, but

1:37:56

am wholly unable to gratify it. Yet

1:37:59

here, I hardly know whether

1:38:01

I should divulge one little item of

1:38:03

rumor which came to my

1:38:05

ear a few months after the Scrivener's disease.

1:38:08

Upon what basis it rested I could

1:38:11

never ascertain, and hence how true

1:38:13

it is I cannot now tell. But

1:38:15

inasmuch as this vague report has

1:38:17

not been without a certain suggestive

1:38:19

interest to me, however sad, it

1:38:22

may prove the same with some others. And

1:38:25

so I briefly mention it. The

1:38:27

report was this, that Bartleby

1:38:30

had been a subordinate clerk in

1:38:32

the dead letter office at Washington,

1:38:35

from which he had been suddenly removed

1:38:37

by a change in the administration. When

1:38:41

I think over this rumor, hardly can

1:38:43

I express the emotions which seize me. Dead

1:38:46

letters. Does it not sound

1:38:49

like dead men? Conceive

1:38:51

a man by nature and misfortune

1:38:53

prone to a pallid hopelessness. Can

1:38:56

any business seem more fitted to heighten

1:38:58

it than that of continually

1:39:00

handling those dead letters and

1:39:03

assorting them for the flames? For

1:39:05

by the carte-lo they are annually burned.

1:39:09

Sometimes from out of the folded paper the pale

1:39:11

clerk takes a ring, the finger

1:39:13

it was meant for perhaps molders in the

1:39:15

grave, a bank-note sent

1:39:18

in swiftest charity, he

1:39:20

whom it would relieve, nor

1:39:22

eats nor hungers any more. Pardon

1:39:26

for those who died despairing, hope

1:39:29

for those who died un-hoping, good

1:39:32

tidings for those who died

1:39:34

stifled by unrelieved calamities. On

1:39:37

errands of life, these letters

1:39:39

speed to death. Ah,

1:39:43

Bartleby. Ah,

1:39:46

humanity. This

1:40:00

is BJ Harrison. I hope

1:40:03

you've enjoyed this vintage episode of

1:40:05

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville.

1:40:08

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