nippers, the second on my list, was a whiskered, sallow, and, upon thewhole, rather piratical-looking young man of about five and twenty. ialways deemed him the victim of two evil powers--ambition andindigestion. the ambition was evinced by a certain impatience of theduties of a mere copyist, an unwarrantable usurpation of strictlyprofessional affairs, such as the original drawing up of legaldocuments. the indigestion seemed betokened in an occasional nervoustestiness and grinning irritability, causing the teeth to audibly grindtogether over mistakes committed in copying; unnecessary maledictions,hissed, rather than spoken, in the heat of business; and especially by acontinual discontent with the height of the table where he worked.
though of a very ingenious mechanical turn, nippers could never get thistable to suit him. he put chips under it, blocks of various sorts, bitsof pasteboard, and at last went so far as to attempt an exquisiteadjustment by final pieces of folded blotting paper. but no inventionwould answer. if, for the sake of easing his back, he brought the tablelid at a sharp angle well up towards his chin, and wrote there like aman using the steep roof of a dutch house for his desk:--then hedeclared that it stopped the circulation in his arms. if now he loweredthe table to his waistbands, and stooped over it in writing, then therewas a sore aching in his back. in short, the truth of the matter was,nippers knew not what he wanted. or, if he wanted any thing, it was tobe rid of a scrivener's table altogether. among the manifestations ofhis diseased ambition was a fondness he had for receiving visits fromcertain ambiguous-looking fellows in seedy coats, whom he called hisclients. indeed i was aware that not only was he, at times,considerable of a ward-politician, but he occasionally did a littlebusiness at the justices' courts, and was not unknown on the steps ofthe tombs. i have good reason to believe, however, that one individualwho called upon him at my chambers, and who, with a grand air, heinsisted was his client, was no other than a dun, and the allegedtitle-deed, a bill. but with all his failings, and the annoyances hecaused me, nippers, like his compatriot turkey, was a very useful man tome; wrote a neat, swift hand; and, when he chose, was not deficient in agentlemanly sort of deportment. added to this, he always dressed in agentlemanly sort of way; and so, incidentally, reflected credit upon mychambers. whereas with respect to turkey, i had much ado to keep himfrom being a reproach to me. his clothes were apt to look oily andsmell of eating-houses. he wore his pantaloons very loose and baggy insummer. his coats were execrable; his hat not to be handled. but whilethe hat was a thing of indifference to me, inasmuch as his naturalcivility and deference, as a dependent englishman, always led him todoff it the moment he entered the room, yet his coat was another matter.
concerning his coats, i reasoned with him; but with no effect. thetruth was, i suppose, that a man of so small an income, could not affordto sport such a lustrous face and a lustrous coat at one and the sametime. as nippers once observed, turkey's money went chiefly for redink. one winter day i presented turkey with a highly-respectablelooking coat of my own, a padded gray coat, of a most comfortablewarmth, and which buttoned straight up from the knee to the neck. ithought turkey would appreciate the favor, and abate his rashness andobstreperousness of afternoons. but no. i verily believe thatbuttoning himself up in so downy and blanket-like a coat had apernicious effect upon him; upon the same principle that too much oatsare bad for horses. in fact, precisely as a rash, restive horse is saidto feel his oats, so turkey felt his coat. it made him insolent. hewas a man whom prosperity harmed.
though concerning the self-indulgent habits of turkey i had my ownprivate surmises, yet touching nippers i was well persuaded thatwhatever might be his faults in other respects, he was, at least, atemperate young man. but indeed, nature herself seemed to have been hisvintner, and at his birth charged him so thoroughly with an irritable,brandy-like disposition, that all subsequent potations were needless.
when i consider how, amid the stillness of my chambers, nippers wouldsometimes impatiently rise from his seat, and stooping over his table,spread his arms wide apart, seize the whole desk, and move it, and jerkit, with a grim, grinding motion on the floor, as if the table were aperverse voluntary agent, intent on thwarting and vexing him; i plainlyperceive that for nippers, brandy and water were altogether superfluous.
it was fortunate for me that, owing to its peculiarcause--indigestion--the irritability and consequent nervousness ofnippers, were mainly observable in the morning, while in the afternoonhe was comparatively mild. so that turkey's paroxysms only coming onabout twelve o'clock, i never had to do with their eccentricities at onetime. their fits relieved each other like guards. when nippers' wason, turkey's was off; and _vice versa_. this was a good naturalarrangement under the circumstances.
ginger nut, the third on my list, was a lad some twelve years old. hisfather was a carman, ambitious of seeing his son on the bench instead ofa cart, before he died. so he sent him to my office as student at law,errand boy, and cleaner and sweeper, at the rate of one dollar a week.
he had a little desk to himself, but he did not use it much. uponinspection, the drawer exhibited a great array of the shells of varioussorts of nuts. indeed, to this quick-witted youth the whole noblescience of the law was contained in a nut-shell. not the least amongthe employments of ginger nut, as well as one which he discharged withthe most alacrity, was his duty as cake and apple purveyor for turkeyand nippers. copying law papers being proverbially dry, husky sort ofbusiness, my two scriveners were fain to moisten their mouths very oftenwith spitzenbergs to be had at the numerous stalls nigh the customhouse and post office. also, they sent ginger nut very frequently forthat peculiar cake--small, flat, round, and very spicy--after which hehad been named by them. of a cold morning when business was but dull,turkey would gobble up scores of these cakes, as if they were merewafers--indeed they sell them at the rate of six or eight for apenny--the scrape of his pen blending with the crunching of the crispparticles in his mouth. of all the fiery afternoon blunders andflurried rashnesses of turkey, was his once moistening a ginger-cakebetween his lips, and clapping it on to a mortgage for a seal. i camewithin an ace of dismissing him then. but he mollified me by making anoriental bow, and saying--"with submission, sir, it was generous of meto find you in stationery on my own account."now my original business--that of a conveyancer and title hunter, anddrawer-up of recondite documents of all sorts--was considerablyincreased by receiving the master's office. there was now great workfor scriveners. not only must i push the clerks already with me, but imust have additional help. in answer to my advertisement, a motionlessyoung man one morning, stood upon my office threshold, the door beingopen, for it was summer. i can see that figure now--pallidly neat,pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn! it was bartleby.
after a few words touching his qualifications, i engaged him, glad tohave among my corps of copyists a man of so singularly sedate an aspect,which i thought might operate beneficially upon the flighty temper ofturkey, and the fiery one of nippers.
i should have stated before that ground glass folding-doors divided mypremises into two parts, one of which was occupied by my scriveners, theother by myself. according to my humor i threw open these doors, orclosed them. i resolved to assign bartleby a corner by thefolding-doors, but on my side of them, so as to have this quiet manwithin easy call, in case any trifling thing was to be done. i placedhis desk close up to a small side-window in that part of the room, awindow which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimyback-yards and bricks, but which, owing to subsequent erections,commanded at present no view at all, though it gave some light. withinthree feet of the panes was a wall, and the light came down from farabove, between two lofty buildings, as from a very small opening in adome. still further to a satisfactory arrangement, i procured a highgreen folding screen, which might entirely isolate bartleby from mysight, though not remove him from my voice. and thus, in a manner,privacy and society were conjoined.
at first bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. as if longfamishing for something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on mydocuments. there was no pause for digestion. he ran a day and nightline, copying by sun-light and by candle-light. i should have beenquite delighted with his application, had he been cheerfullyindustrious. but he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically.
it is, of course, an indispensable part of a scrivener's business toverify the accuracy of his copy, word by word. where there are two ormore scriveners in an office, they assist each other in thisexamination, one reading from the copy, the other holding the original.
it is a very dull, wearisome, and lethargic affair. i can readilyimagine that to some sanguine temperaments it would be altogetherintolerable. for example, i cannot credit that the mettlesome poetbyron would have contentedly sat down with bartleby to examine a lawdocument of, say five hundred pages, closely written in a crimpy hand.
now and then, in the haste of business, it had been my habit to assistin comparing some brief document myself, calling turkey or nippers forthis purpose. one object i had in placing bartleby so handy to mebehind the screen, was to avail myself of his services on such trivialoccasions. it was on the third day, i think, of his being with me, andbefore any necessity had arisen for having his own writing examined,that, being much hurried to complete a small affair i had in hand, iabruptly called to bartleby. in my haste and natural expectancy ofinstant compliance, i sat with my head bent over the original on mydesk, and my right hand sideways, and somewhat nervously extended withthe copy, so that immediately upon emerging from his retreat, bartlebymight snatch it and proceed to business without the least delay.
in this very attitude did i sit when i called to him, rapidly statingwhat it was i wanted him to do--namely, to examine a small paper withme. imagine my surprise, nay, my consternation, when without movingfrom his privacy, bartleby in a singularly mild, firm voice, replied, "iwould prefer not to."i sat awhile in perfect silence, rallying my stunned faculties.
immediately it occurred to me that my ears had deceived me, or bartlebyhad entirely misunderstood my meaning. i repeated my request in theclearest tone i could assume. but in quite as clear a one came theprevious reply, "i would prefer not to.""prefer not to," echoed i, rising in high excitement, and crossing theroom with a stride. "what do you mean? are you moon-struck? i wantyou to help me compare this sheet here--take it," and i thrust ittowards him.
"i would prefer not to," said he.
i looked at him steadfastly. his face was leanly composed; his gray eyedimly calm. not a wrinkle of agitation rippled him. had there been theleast uneasiness, anger, impatience or impertinence in his manner; inother words, had there been any thing ordinarily human about him,doubtless i should have violently dismissed him from the premises. butas it was, i should have as soon thought of turning my paleplaster-of-paris bust of cicero out of doors. i stood gazing at himawhile, as he went on with his own writing, and then reseated myself atmy desk. this is very strange, thought i. what had one best do? butmy business hurried me. i concluded to forget the matter for thepresent, reserving it for my future leisure. so calling nippers fromthe other room, the paper was speedily examined.
a few days after this, bartleby concluded four lengthy documents, beingquadruplicates of a week's testimony taken before me in my high court ofchancery. it became necessary to examine them. it was an importantsuit, and great accuracy was imperative. having all things arranged icalled turkey, nippers and ginger nut from the next room, meaning toplace the four copies in the hands of my four clerks, while i shouldread from the original. accordingly turkey, nippers and ginger nut hadtaken their seats in a row, each with his document in hand, when icalled to bartleby to join this interesting group.
"bartleby! quick, i am waiting."i heard a slow scrape of his chair legs on the uncarpeted floor, andsoon he appeared standing at the entrance of his hermitage.
"what is wanted?" said he mildly.
"the copies, the copies," said i hurriedly. "we are going to examinethem. there"--and i held towards him the fourth quadruplicate.
"i would prefer not to," he said, and gently disappeared behind thescreen.
for a few moments i was turned into a pillar of salt, standing at thehead of my seated column of clerks. recovering myself, i advancedtowards the screen, and demanded the reason for such extraordinaryconduct.
"_why_ do you refuse?""i would prefer not to."with any other man i should have flown outright into a dreadful passion,scorned all further words, and thrust him ignominiously from mypresence. but there was something about bartleby that not onlystrangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner touched anddisconcerted me. i began to reason with him.
"these are your own copies we are about to examine. it is labor savingto you, because one examination will answer for your four papers. it iscommon usage. every copyist is bound to help examine his copy. is itnot so? will you not speak? answer!""i prefer not to," he replied in a flute-like tone. it seemed to methat while i had been addressing him, he carefully revolved everystatement that i made; fully comprehended the meaning; could not gainsaythe irresistible conclusions; but, at the same time, some paramountconsideration prevailed with him to reply as he did.
"you are decided, then, not to comply with my request--a request madeaccording to common usage and common sense?"he briefly gave me to understand that on that point my judgment wassound. yes: his decision was irreversible.
it is not seldom the case that when a man is browbeaten in someunprecedented and violently unreasonable way, he begins to stagger inhis own plainest faith. he begins, as it were, vaguely to surmise that,wonderful as it may be, all the justice and all the reason is on theother side. accordingly, if any disinterested persons are present, heturns to them for some reinforcement for his own faltering mind.
"turkey," said i, "what do you think of this? am i not right?""with submission, sir," said turkey, with his blandest tone, "i thinkthat you are.""nippers," said i, "what do _you_ think of it?""i think i should kick him out of the office."(the reader of nice perceptions will here perceive that, it beingmorning, turkey's answer is couched in polite and tranquil terms, butnippers replies in ill-tempered ones. or, to repeat a previoussentence, nippers' ugly mood was on duty and turkey's off.)"ginger nut," said i, willing to enlist the smallest suffrage in mybehalf, "what do you think of it?""i think, sir, he's a little _luny_," replied ginger nut with a grin.
"you hear what they say," said i, turning towards the screen, "comeforth and do your duty."but he vouchsafed no reply. i pondered a moment in sore perplexity.
but once more business hurried me. i determined again to postpone theconsideration of this dilemma to my future leisure. with a littletrouble we made out to examine the papers without bartleby, though atevery page or two, turkey deferentially dropped his opinion that thisproceeding was quite out of the common; while nippers, twitching in hischair with a dyspeptic nervousness, ground out between his set teethoccasional hissing maledictions against the stubborn oaf behind thescreen. and for his (nippers') part, this was the first and the lasttime he would do another man's business without pay.
meanwhile bartleby sat in his hermitage, oblivious to every thing buthis own peculiar business there.
some days passed, the scrivener being employed upon another lengthywork. his late remarkable conduct led me to regard his ways narrowly.
i observed that he never went to dinner; indeed that he never went anywhere. as yet i had never of my personal knowledge known him to beoutside of my office. he was a perpetual sentry in the corner. atabout eleven o'clock though, in the morning, i noticed that ginger nutwould advance toward the opening in bartleby's screen, as if silentlybeckoned thither by a gesture invisible to me where i sat. the boywould then leave the office jingling a few pence, and reappear with ahandful of ginger-nuts which he delivered in the hermitage, receivingtwo of the cakes for his trouble.
he lives, then, on ginger-nuts, thought i; never eats a dinner, properlyspeaking; he must be a vegetarian then; but no; he never eats evenvegetables, he eats nothing but ginger-nuts. my mind then ran on inreveries concerning the probable effects upon the human constitution ofliving entirely on ginger-nuts. ginger-nuts are so called because theycontain ginger as one of their peculiar constituents, and the finalflavoring one. now what was ginger? a hot, spicy thing. was bartlebyhot and spicy? not at all. ginger, then, had no effect upon bartleby.
probably he preferred it should have none.
nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance. if theindividual so resisted be of a not inhumane temper, and the resistingone perfectly harmless in his passivity; then, in the better moods ofthe former, he will endeavor charitably to construe to his imaginationwhat proves impossible to be solved by his judgment. even so, for themost part, i regarded bartleby and his ways. poor fellow! thought i, hemeans no mischief; it is plain he intends no insolence; his aspectsufficiently evinces that his eccentricities are involuntary. he isuseful to me. i can get along with him. if i turn him away, thechances are he will fall in with some less indulgent employer, and thenhe will be rudely treated, and perhaps driven forth miserably to starve.
yes. here i can cheaply purchase a delicious self-approval. tobefriend bartleby; to humor him in his strange willfulness, will cost melittle or nothing, while i lay up in my soul what will eventually provea sweet morsel for my conscience. but this mood was not invariable withme. the passiveness of bartleby sometimes irritated me. i feltstrangely goaded on to encounter him in new opposition, to elicit someangry spark from him answerable to my own. but indeed i might as wellhave essayed to strike fire with my knuckles against a bit of windsorsoap. but one afternoon the evil impulse in me mastered me, and thefollowing little scene ensued:
"bartleby," said i, "when those papers are all copied, i will comparethem with you.""i would prefer not to.""how? surely you do not mean to persist in that mulish vagary?"no answer.
