"But the material here is in reality tremendous,
downright crushing, terrible ... And not at all terrible are the
loud phrases about the traffic in women's flesh, about the white
slaves, about prostitution being a corroding fester of large
cities, and so on, and so on ... an old hurdy-gurdy of which all
have tired! No, horrible are the everyday, accustomed trifles,
these business-like, daily, commercial reckonings, this thousand
year old science of amatory practice, this prosaic usage,
determined by the ages. In these unnoticeable nothings are
completely dissolved such feelings as resentment, humiliation,
shame. There remains a dry profession, a contract, an agreement, a
well-nigh honest petty trade, no better, no worse than, say, the
trade in groceries. Do you understand, gentlemen, that all the
horror is in just this, that there is no horror! Bourgeois work
days--and that is all. And also an after taste of an exclusive
educational institution, with its NAIVETE, harshness,
sentimentality and imitativeness."
"That's right," confirmed Lichonin, while the reporter continued,
gazing pensively into his glass:
"We read in the papers, in leading articles, various wailings of
anxious souls.
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