asking forgiveness, burying his past in—
Oh, the betrayal of hopes... no, the beastliness of men! He could not bear the looks of contempt that poured down upon him, just as he had not borne that arrogance with which Najib had met him.
The wretch... he no longer knew him? He, who with the pickaxe of evil had torn down his life! Yes, he had torn it down, and it had collapsed into ruins, over whose remains perch the owl of despair and the raven of ill omen.
Two victims sentenced to pain: the mother, who died of grief and anguish; and he — after hopes had died in his breast, and still died a thousand deaths a day — while that villain lived life at its most smiling and prosperous, enjoying wealth and position and respect...
Let the tongues that prate of justice fall silent, for people know nothing of it but its name.
*
The poor man went hungry for days, and he would not ask people for a few morsels to keep body and soul together. He had come to hate all human beings — yes, all of them, for they were criminals, brutes, hard of heart... And a terrible idea began to haunt him: why should he not go back to prison, and set a barrier between himself and this world? There, at least, shelter and food would be his... The roughness of the prison bed was better than sleeping in the open... and that plain soup and dry black bread better than starvation... But how to find the way back?
He thought long... with his stomach... for reason does not dwell in a hungry man's head...! He listened long to the whispering of the devils... and smiled a savage smile as their "inspiration...!" descended upon him, and sprang
up shouting like a madman: I will kill him... yes, I will kill him... and my revenge will be tremendous.
*
As for the end of the road, it came in the terrible iron cage, in the hall of the criminal court, where Raouf crouched in a corner of it, his lips pressed shut, parting only over the two words with which he answered the judge's question: Why did you try to kill him, man?
— Because I want it so! — and then he would return to his silence...
He did not know how much time had passed over him as he crouched in his corner before he heard the judge's voice split, with its ringing tones, the silence that had settled over the hall: So that is what you want? Back to prison, then... and let it be a life term this time!
And Raouf returned.
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