Terms

Underground In Russian, подполье (podpolye), "underground" (our translation), is the space beneath the floor of a house, formed from под, "under", and пол, "floor". It gives its title to Part One, and it is there that the offended mouse... Consciousness In Russian, сознание (soznanie), "consciousness" (our translation), joins со-, "with", and знание, "knowledge": knowing oneself, seeing oneself. The narrator calls it a disease when there is too much of it, and the adjective... Will In Russian, хотенье (khotenie), "will" (our translation), is the noun from хотеть, "to want", and the book distinguishes it from желание, "desire", and from воля, "volition". The narrator asks for his own will, willful... Advantage In Russian, выгода (vygoda), "advantage" (our translation), is profit, what benefits whoever receives it, and it is the word of the calculation that the narrator attacks. It appears dozens of times in a single chapter, in which he asks who computed... Caprice In Russian, каприз (kapriz), "caprice" (our translation), is the desire that gives no account of itself, the will because one wills. The narrator joins it to free will and to fantasy irritated to madness, and says that he defends neither suffering... Organ Pin In Russian, штифтик (shtiftik), "pin" (our translation), is a small pin of a mechanism, here that of the cylinder of a mechanical organ, in органный штифтик. The narrator places it beside the piano key: a man without desires, without will, and... Twice Two In Russian, дважды два (dvazhdy dva), literally "twice two" (our translation), is the multiplication table: дважды два четыре, "twice two is four". The narrator makes the formula the image of mathematics, before which one cannot argue... Stone Wall In Russian, каменная стена (kamennaya stena), "stone wall" (our translation), is the word the narrator gives to the impossible: the laws of nature, the conclusions of the natural sciences, mathematics. Before it, men of strong nerves calm down. The... Crystal Palace In Russian, хрустальный дворец (khrustalny dvorets), "crystal palace" (our translation), is the endpoint of science that the narrator describes: everything calculated, nothing to doubt. When he returns to it, he replaces дворец, "palace",... Wet Snow In Russian, мокрый снег (mokry sneg), literally "wet snow" (our translation), is snow that melts as it falls, somewhere between rain and snow. It falls yellow and murky on the day the narrator begins to write, and it gives its title to Part Two: По... Collegiate Assessor In Russian, коллежский асессор (kollezhsky assessor), "collegiate assessor" (our translation), was the eighth of the fourteen grades of the civil career in the Table of Ranks, created by Peter the Great in 1722. It is the only identity the narrator... The Beautiful and the Sublime In Russian, прекрасное и высокое (prekrasnoye i vysokoye), "the beautiful and the sublime" (our translation), is a formula of the idealism of other times, as the narrator himself recalls. He carries it everywhere: he knows the subtleties of the...