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"The notice was only brought me a quarter of an hour ago,"

Raskolnikov answered loudly over his shoulder. To his own

surprise he, too, grew suddenly angry and found a certain

pleasure in it. "And it's enough that I have come here ill with

fever."

"Kindly refrain from shouting!"

"I'm not shouting, I'm speaking very quietly, it's you who are

shouting at me. I'm a student, and allow no one to shout at me."

The assistant superintendent was so furious that for the first

minute he could only splutter inarticulately. He leaped up from

his seat.

"Be silent! You are in a government office. Don't be impudent,

sir!"

"You're in a government office, too," cried Raskolnikov, "and

you're smoking a cigarette as well as shouting, so you are

showing disrespect to all of us."

He felt an indescribable satisfaction at having said this.

The head clerk looked at him with a smile. The angry assistant

superintendent was obviously disconcerted.