Notes from Underground — Part II A Propos the Wet Snow — Chapter VIII

In the morning, the narrator awakens ashamed of his previous night’s “sentimentality” with Liza but prioritizes salvaging his reputation with Zverkov and Simonov. He borrows fifteen roubles from Anton Antonitch, boasting about a grand farewell party, and then writes Simonov a suave, self-justifying apology, enclosing six roubles and blaming his behavior on inexperience with wine.

After sending the letter via Apollon, the narrator wanders the city in a fog of guilt and irritation. Though he tries to dismiss the previous night’s events, one image haunts him: Liza’s pale, tortured face. He alternates between contempt for her “romanticism,” fear she will visit and expose his squalor, and sudden defensive claims that his speech had been sincere.

Over the next days he swings from dread to grand fantasies of saving and marrying Liza, imagining her grateful devotion and his noble restraint. Convinced she will come at seven in the evening, he both longs for and fears the encounter, resenting the power a few “bookish” words might have had over her life.

Seeking to reassert control, he rekindles a long-standing feud with his servant Apollon by withholding wages to humiliate him. Apollon’s silent, contemptuous stares and pedantic composure provoke the narrator into a shouting match. He brandishes the money yet refuses to pay, demanding an apology; Apollon remains implacable and even threatens to summon the police for insult.

Driven to fury, the narrator orders Apollon to fetch a police-officer, only to be interrupted by the quiet entrance of Liza. Overcome by shame, he retreats to his room as Apollon announces “some woman” is asking for him. The clock strikes seven as Liza steps in, catching the narrator at the height of his humiliation.