“You are more than a sister to me,” said Nekhludoff.

“That’s odd,” she said again, and went behind the grating.

CHAPTER XLIV.

MASLOVA’S VIEW OF LIFE.

Before the first interview, Nekhludoff thought that when she saw him and knew of his intention to serve her, Katusha would be pleased and touched, and would be Katusha again; but, to his horror, he found that Katusha existed no more, and there was Maslova in her place.  This astonished and horrified him.

What astonished him most was that Katusha was not ashamed of her position—­not the position of a prisoner (she was ashamed of that), but her position as a prostitute.  She seemed satisfied, even proud of it.  And, yet, how could it be otherwise?  Everybody, in order to be able to act, has to consider his occupation important and good.  Therefore, in whatever position a person is, he is certain to form such a view of the life of men in general which will make his occupation seem important and good.

It is usually imagined that a thief, a murderer, a spy, a prostitute, acknowledging his or her profession as evil, is ashamed of it.  But the contrary is true.  People whom fate and their sin-mistakes have placed in a certain position, however false that position may be, form a view of life in general which makes their position seem good and admissible.  In order to keep up their view of life, these people instinctively keep to the circle of those people who share their views of life and their own place in it.  This surprises us, where the persons concerned are thieves, bragging about their dexterity, prostitutes vaunting their depravity, or murderers boasting of their cruelty.  This surprises us only because the circle, the atmosphere in which these people live, is limited, and we are outside it.  But can we not observe the same phenomenon when the rich boast of their wealth, i.e., robbery; the commanders in the army pride themselves on victories, i.e., murder; and those in high places vaunt their power, i.e., violence?  We do not see the perversion in the views of life held by these people, only because the circle formed by them is more extensive, and we ourselves are moving inside of it.

And in this manner Maslova had formed her views of life and of her own position.  She was a prostitute condemned to Siberia, and yet she had a conception of life which made it possible for her to be satisfied with herself, and even to pride herself on her position before others.

According to this conception, the highest good for all men without exception—­old, young, schoolboys, generals, educated and uneducated, was connected with the relation of the sexes; therefore, all men, even when they pretended to be occupied with other things, in reality took this view.  She was an attractive woman, and therefore she was an important and necessary person.  The whole of her former and present life was a confirmation of the correctness of this conception.