Read "Isn't it Terrible?" by Vladimir Korolenko online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
He stopped and looked at me bashfully and questioningly, as if he felt that he had said something which was not proper for a railroad conversation. He was somewhat startled when the mathematician exhaled a thick cloud of smoke from his dark corner and said:
"Pavel Semenovich, I see you really are a crank. Isn't that so? . Wonderful! . A man has a hundred thousand and shoots himself! Another lives as he likes, so to speak, healthy and ruddy. A quiet soul. Safe. Is that strange? . By heavens, it's impossible. Good night. It's time to go to sleep. Nothing, nothing! . You won't disturb me by talking. I won't listen."