Monday 24 January 2011

...of enemies at odds

Peter dashed off and while he ran for the droshky the two opponents sat on the ground and kept silent. Pavel Petrovich tried not to look at Bazarov. He had no wish to be reconciled with him. He was ashamed of his arrogance and his failure, ashamed of the whole enterprise, although he also felt it couldn't have ended in a more satisfactory way. At least he won't be seen around here any longer, he comforted himself, and one can be thankful for that. The silence continued, oppressive and awkward. Both of them felt in the wrong. Each of them knew that the other understood him. For friends this knowledge is pleasant, and for enemies it is particularly unpleasant, especially when there can be neither explanation, nor any chance of escaping each other.

[Fathers and Sons, Turgenev, I.]

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