Ivan Turgenev

“ Arina Vlasyevna went up to him and asked him how he felt. He answered, "Better," and turned his face to the wall. Vassily Ivanovich made a gesture to his wife with both hands; she bit her lip to stop herself from crying and left the room. The whole house seemed to have suddenly darkened; every person had a drawn face and a strange stillness reigned; the servants carried off from the courtyard into the village a loudly crowing cock, who for a long time was unable to grasp what they were doing with him. Bazarov continued to lie with his face to the wall. ”

“ It's an astounding thing how human beings have faith in words. You tell a man, for instance, that he's a fool, and even if you don't thrash him he'll be miserable; call him a clever fellow, and he'll be delighted even if you go off without paying him."
This little speech of Bazarov's, recalling his old sallies, greatly moved Vassily Ivanovich. ”

“ When at last he had stopped breathing and a general lamentation arose in the house, Vassily Ivanovich was seized by a sudden fit of frenzy.
"I said I should rebel!" he shouted hoarsely, his face red and distorted, and shaking his fist in the air as if he were threatening someone. "And I rebel, I rebel!"
But Arina Vlasyevna, all in tears, flung her arms round his neck and both fell on their knees together. "So side by side," related Anfisushka afterwards in the servants' room, "they bowed their poor heads like lambs in the heat of noon-day. . ." ”

“ Bazarov was about to take it and go away.
"For God's sake," muttered Vassily Ivanovich, "let me do it myself."
Bazarov smiled.
"What a devoted practitioner you are!"
"Don't laugh, please. Show me your finger. It's a small cut. Am I hurting you?"
"Press harder; don't be afraid."
Vassily Ivanovich stopped.
"What do you think, Evgeny; wouldn't it be better to burn it with a hot iron?"
"That ought to have been done sooner, now really even the silver nitrate is useless. If I've caught the infection, it's too late now."
"How . . . too late . . . ?" murmured Vassily Ivanovich almost inaudibly. ”

“ One day a peasant from a neighboring village brought over to Vassily Ivanovich his brother, who was stricken with typhus. The unhappy man, lying flat on a truss of straw, was dying; his body was covered with dark patches, he had long ago lost consciousness. Vassily Ivanovich expressed his regret that no one had taken any steps to secure medical aid earlier and said it was impossible to save the man. In fact the peasant never got his brother home again; he died as he was, lying in the cart.
Three days later Bazarov came into his father's room and asked him if he had any silver nitrate. ”

“ However, he found an occupation for himself at last. One day Vassily Ivanovich was bandaging a peasant's injured leg in his presence, but the old man's hands trembled and he could not manage the bandages; his son helped him and from that time regularly took part in his father's practice, though without ceasing to joke both about the remedies he himself advised and about his father, who immediately applied them. But Bazarov's gibes did not upset Vassily Ivanovich in the least; they even comforted him. ”

“ I have brought a doctor with me."
"Benefactress!" exclaimed Vassily Ivanovich, and seizing her hand, he pressed it convulsively to his lips, while the doctor brought by Anna Sergeyevna, a little man in spectacles, with a German face, climbed very deliberately out of the carriage. "He's still alive, my Evgeny is alive and now he will be saved! Wife! Wife! An angel from heaven has come to us . ”

“ He gave up his solitary rambles and began to seek company; he drank tea in the drawing room, strolled about the kitchen garden with Vassily Ivanovich, smoked a pipe with him in silence and once even inquired after Father Alexei. At first Vassily Ivanovich rejoiced at this change, but his joy was short-lived.
"Enyusha is breaking my heart," he plaintively confided to his wife. "It's not that he's dissatisfied or angry--that would be almost nothing; but he's distressed, he's downcast--and that is terrible. He's always silent; if only he would start to scold us ”

“ That's nonsense, but don't disillusion the old man. Whatever toy comforts the child . . . you know. And be kind to my mother. People like them can't be found in your great world even if you search for them by day with a torch . ”

“ The doctor, that same district doctor who had been without any caustic, arrived, and after examining the patient, advised them to persevere with a cooling treatment and threw in a few words about the possibility of recovery.
"Have you ever seen people in my state not setting off for the Elysian fields?" asked Bazarov, and suddenly snatching the leg of a heavy table standing near his sofa, he swung it round and pushed it away.
"There's strength enough," he murmured. "It's all there still, and I must die . . . An old man has time at least to outgrow the habit of living, but I . ”