Terms

Judicial Chamber In Russian, Судебная палата (our translation). It is the court of which Ivan Ilyich is a member when he dies, the last rung of his career: the death notice calls him a member of the Judicial Chamber, and it is in the courthouse, in a colleague's office, that... Examining Magistrate In Russian, судебный следователь (our translation). This is the examining magistrate who leads the investigation before trial. Ivan Ilyich takes up the post when the new judicial institutions arrive, learns there the technique of reducing any case to... School of Jurisprudence In Russian, Училище правоведения, or just Правоведение (our translation). It is the school where Ivan Ilyich studies with his younger brother, who is expelled; where Pyotr Ivanovich was his classmate; and where he wanted to put the son, whom the mother sent... Whist In Russian, вист (our translation). It is the card game, whist, that Ivan Ilyich begins to play as an examining magistrate, and in which he almost always wins; along with conversations and dinners, it fills his life in the provinces before giving way to the... Vint In Russian, винт (our translation): the word also means screw. It is the card game of Ivan Ilyich's circle in his maturity, the joy the narrator calls true; his colleagues do not cancel it on the day of the mass, and the verb of the game (винтить, and in... Slam In Russian, шлем (our translation). It is the slam that everyone expects from Ivan Ilyich on a vint night, with seven diamonds in hand and his partner's support, and that he loses by three tricks when the pain spoils his joy. The same chapter uses the grand... Decorous In Russian, приличный, and the noun приличие (our translation). It is the word that measures Ivan Ilyich's life, always alongside agreeable (приятный): life should run in a pleasant and decorous way. It returns in the decorous lie that the family does not... Comme il faut The French expression comme il faut (as it should be), which the Russian text renders with the adjective комильфотный (our translation). It qualifies the correct examining magistrate Ivan Ilyich was, the style he gives the old furniture of the new house, and... High Society In Russian, высшее общество (high society), and, in the same sentence as the moth, свет, which means both light and fashionable society (our translation). Ivan Ilyich takes his bearings from the best-placed people in it (наивысше поставленные люди), adopts... Muzhik In Russian, мужик, and in the Golovins' house буфетный мужик, the pantry muzhik (our translation). The muzhik is the peasant, the man of the people, in contrast to the master. This is Gerasim's status: he serves in the pantry and acts as the master's nurse,... The Court Is Coming In Russian, Суд идет (our translation), the bailiff's call in the courtroom. The word суд means court and also judgment, and Ivan Ilyich repeats it on the night of the inner voice: here is the judgment, but I am not guilty. Not That In Russian, не то, and at the end «то», that (our translation). It is the expression of the suspicion that arises before Gerasim's face, that the whole life was not that, and of the discovery of the last chapter: everything was not that, but that can still be...