_As to what happened to Peredonov after he had left the hospital, my information is rather vague and contradictory. Some people have told me that Peredonov has entered the police department, as he had been advised to do by Skouchayev, and has served as a councillor in the District Government. He has distinguished himself in some way or other, and is making a fine career._ _I have heard from others, however, that it was not Ardalyon Borisitch who served in the police, but another Peredonov, a relative of our Peredonov. Ardalyon Borisitch himself did not succeed in entering the service, or else he did not wish to; instead, he has taken up with literary criticism. His articles reveal those qualities which distinguished him before._ _This rumour strikes me as being even more unlikely than the first._ _In any case, if I should succeed in receiving precise information about the latest doings of Peredonov, I will try to relate it in all its adequate detail._ DIALOGUE TO THE SEVENTH RUSSIAN EDITION, MAY 1913 "_My soul, why are you thus dismayed?"_ "_Because of the hate that surrounds the name of the author of 'The Little Demon.' Many people who disagree upon other things are agreed on this._" "_Accept the malice and the abuse submissively._" "_But is not our labour worthy of gratitude? Why then this hate?_" "_This hate is rather like fear. You waken the conscience too loudly, you are too frank."_ "_But isn't there some use in my truth?"_ "_You want compliments! But this is not Paris."_ "_Oh, no, it is not Paris!"_ "_My soul, you are a true Parisienne, a child of European civilisation. You have come in a charming dress and in light sandals to a place where they wear smocks and greased boots. Do not be astonished if the greased boot sometimes steps rudely on your tender foot. Its possessor is an honest fellow."_ "_But what a morose, what an awkward fellow!"_ AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH EDITION _It is quite natural for the author of a novel to experience pleasure and pride upon learning that his work is about to become accessible to a new circle of readers. Upon learning, however, that Mr. John Cournos was translating my novel,_ "_The Little Demon," into English I experienced not a little apprehension. In days of Anglo-Russian rapprochement, in days of great stress, when a common danger unites the two great nations, it seemed to me perhaps unseasonable to acquaint England with this sombre picture. It occurred to me that there was a danger of my new readers accepting this novel as a precise and characteristic portrayal of Russian life. But my friends told me that Mr. John Cournos was fulfilling his task with great love and care_, _and this gives me the hope that the true meaning of my work will be also understood in the translation, reproducing so accurately the original._