They separated, experiencing quite new sensations towards each other. They were full of joyful courage, and firmly resolved to put forth all their strength, so as to succeed in their new work. Three or four days passed, and Orloff had already earned several words of praise for his quickness and zeal. At the same time he remarked, however, that the other attendants were envious of him, and were trying to make mischief, so that he had to be constantly on his guard. This awoke in him a feeling of enmity, whereas, before that, he had been good friends with Pronim. The secret and open enmity of these fellow-workers was really a pain to him. "The jealous brutes," he thought to himself, and ground his teeth together. "But I'll get the chance some day of paying them back in their own coin!" Unconsciously his thoughts travelled to Matrona--for he could talk over everything with her. She would not envy him his success, and would not, like this fellow Pronim, bum his boots with carbolic acid. Each day brought the same busy rush, just as Orloff had experienced at first But it was now no longer so fatiguing to him, for he got more accustomed to it every day. He had learnt to distinguish the smells of the different remedies, and as often as possible he refreshed himself with the smell of the ether, to which he had taken a great fancy. He had observed that the smell of ether was as exciting to him as was a good glass of vodka. He understood quite quickly now the doctors' orders; it was only necessary for them to show him by signs what had to be done. He was chatty and pleasant, and knew how to divert the attention of the patients, and this pleased increasingly the doctors and students. All the impressions which in his new occupation pressed in upon him, worked together to elevate his feelings, and to increase his own self-respect. He felt within himself a lively desire to do something great, so that the attention of all should be directed to him, and that every one should be astonished. It seemed almost as if he had now for the first time become conscious that he was a human being, and as if he felt the need to prove this to himself and others by some heroic deed. Filled with this unaccustomed ambition, Orloff undertook various venturesome deeds, in the hopes of distinguishing himself in the eyes of onlookers. For instance, he would carry alone, without waiting for the help of another attendant, some heavy patient from his bed to the bath-room; he did not shrink from attending to the most filthy among the cholera patients, seeming to despise the possibility of infection, and treating the corpses with cynical indifference. But even all this did not satisfy him. He still longed to do something greater, something more out of the common. This unappeased longing caused him pain, and brought back his former moodiness, and as he had no one else with whom he could speak, he opened his heart to Matrona.