Billy Budd and the Piazza Tales

by Herman Melville

  Also, when a reference was going on, and the room full of lawyers and witnesses, and business driving fast, some deeply-occupied legal gentleman present, seeing Bartleby wholly unemployed, would request him to run round [pg 089]

  to his (the legal gentleman's) office and fetch some papers for him. Thereupon, Bartleby would tranquilly decline, and yet remain idle as before. Then the lawyer would give a great stare, and turn to me. And what could I say? At last I was made aware that all through the circle of my professional acquaintance, a whisper of wonder was running round, having reference to the strange creature I kept at my office. This worried me very much. And as the idea came upon me of his possibly turning out a long-lived man, and keep occupying my chambers, and denying my authority; and perplexing my visitors; and scandalizing my professional reputation; and casting a general gloom over the premises; keeping soul and body together to the last upon his savings (for doubtless he spent but half a dime a day), and in the end perhaps outlive me, and claim possession of my office by right of his perpetual occupancy: as all these dark anticipations crowded upon me more and more, and my friends continually intruded their relentless remarks upon the apparition in my room; a great change was wrought in me. I resolved [pg 090] to gather all my faculties together, and forever rid me of this intolerable incubus.

  Ere revolving any complicated project, however, adapted to this end, I first simply suggested to Bartleby the propriety of his permanent departure. In a calm and serious tone, I commanded the idea to his careful and mature consideration. But, having taken three days to meditate upon it, he apprised me, that his original determination remained the same; in short, that he still preferred to abide with me.

  What shall I do? I now said to myself, buttoning up my coat to the last button. What shall I do? what ought I to do? what does conscience say I should do with this man, or, rather, ghost. Rid myself of him, I must; go, he shall. But how? You will not thrust him, the poor, pale, passive mortal-you will not thrust such a helpless creature out of your door? you will not dishonor yourself by such cruelty? No, I will not, I cannot do that. Rather would I let him live and die here, and then mason up his remains in the wall. What, then, will you do? For all your coaxing, he will not budge. Bribes he leaves under your [pg 091]

  own paper-weight on your table; in short, it is quite plain that he prefers to cling to you.

  Then something severe, something unusual must be done. What! surely you will not have him collared by a constable, and commit his innocent pallor to the common jail? And upon what ground could you procure such a thing to be done? — a vagrant, is he? What! he a vagrant, a wanderer, who refuses to budge? It is because he will not be a vagrant, then, that you seek to count him as a vagrant. That is too absurd. No visible means of support: there I have him. Wrong again: for indubitably he does support himself, and that is the only unanswerable proof that any man can show of his possessing the means so to do. No more, then. Since he will not quit me, I must quit him. I will change my offices; I will move elsewhere, and give him fair notice, that if I find him on my new premises I will then proceed against him as a common trespasser.

  Acting accordingly, next day I thus addressed him: "I find these chambers too far from the City Hall; the air is unwholesome. In a [pg 092]

  word, I propose to remove my offices next week, and shall no longer require your services. I tell you this now, in order that you may seek another place."

  He made no reply, and nothing more was said.

  On the appointed day I engaged carts and men, proceeded to my chambers, and, having but little furniture, everything was removed in a few hours. Throughout, the scrivener remained standing behind the screen, which I directed to be removed the last thing. It was withdrawn; and, being folded up like a huge folio, left him the motionless occupant of a naked room. I stood in the entry watching him a moment, while something from within me upbraided me.

  I re-entered, with my hand in my pocket-and-and my heart in my mouth.

  "Good-by, Bartleby; I am going-good-by, and God some way bless you; and take that," slipping something in his hand. But it dropped upon the floor, and then-strange to say-I tore myself from him whom I had so longed to be rid of. [pg 093]

  Established in my new quarters, for a day or two I kept the door locked, and started at every footfall in the passages. When I returned to my rooms, after any little absence, I would pause at the threshold for an instant, and attentively listen, ere applying my key. But these fears were needless. Bartleby never came nigh me.

  I thought all was going well, when a perturbed-looking stranger visited me, inquiring whether I was the person who had recently occupied rooms at No. - Wall street.

  Full of forebodings, I replied that I was.

  "Then, sir," said the stranger, who proved a lawyer, "you are responsible for the man you left there. He refuses to do any copying; he refuses to do anything; he says he prefers not to; and he refuses to quit the premises."

  "I am very sorry, sir," said I, with assumed tranquillity, but an inward tremor, "but, really, the man you allude to is nothing to me-he is no relation or apprentice of mine, that you should hold me responsible for him."

  "In mercy's name, who is he?"

  "I certainly cannot inform you. I know [pg 094]

  nothing about him. Formerly I employed him as a copyist; but he has done nothing for me now for some time past."

  "I shall settle him, then-good morning, sir."

  Several days passed, and I heard nothing more; and, though I often felt a charitable prompting to call at the place and see poor Bartleby, yet a certain squeamishness, of I know not what, withheld me.

  All is over with him, by this time, thought I, at last, when, through another week, no further intelligence reached me. But, coming to my room the day after, I found several persons waiting at my door in a high state of nervous excitement.

  "That's the man-here he comes," cried the foremost one, whom I recognized as the lawyer who had previously called upon me alone.

  "You must take him away, sir, at once," cried a portly person among them, advancing upon me, and whom I knew to be the landlord of No. - Wall street. "These gentlemen, my tenants, cannot stand it any longer; Mr. B-," pointing to the lawyer, "has [pg 095]

  turned him out of his room, and he now persists in haunting the building generally, sitting upon the banisters of the stairs by day, and sleeping in the entry by night. Everybody is concerned; clients are leaving the offices; some fears are entertained of a mob; something you must do, and that without delay."

  Aghast at this torrent, I fell back before it, and would fain have locked myself in my new quarters. In vain I persisted that Bartleby was nothing to me-no more than to any one else. In vain-I was the last person known to have anything to do with him, and they held me to the terrible account. Fearful, then, of being exposed in the papers (as one person present obscurely threatened), I considered the matter, and, at length, said, that if the lawyer would give me a confidential interview with the scrivener, in his (the lawyer's) own room, I would, that afternoon, strive my best to rid them of the nuisance they complained of.

  Going up stairs to my old haunt, there was Bartleby silently sitting upon the banister at the landing.

  "What are you doing here, Bartleby?" said I. [pg 096]

  "Sitting upon the banister," he mildly replied.

  I motioned him into the lawyer's room, who then left us.

  "Bartleby" said I, "are you aware that you are the cause of great tribulation to me, by persisting in occupying the entry after being dismissed from the office?"

  No answer.

  "Now one of two things must take place. Either you must do something, or something must be done to you. Now what sort of business would you like to engage in? Would you like to re-engage in copying for some one?"

  "No; I would prefer not to make any change."

  "Would you like a clerkship in a dry-goods store?"

  "There is too much confinement about that. No, I would not like a cl
erkship; but I am not particular."

  "Too much confinement," I cried, "why you keep yourself confined all the time!"

  "I would prefer not to take a clerkship," [pg 097]

  he rejoined, as if to settle that little item at once.

  "How would a bar-tender's business suit you? There is no trying of the eye-sight in that."

  "I would not like it at all; though, as I said before, I am not particular."

  His unwonted wordiness inspirited me. I returned to the charge.

  "Well, then, would you like to travel through the country collecting bills for the merchants? That would improve your health."

  "No, I would prefer to be doing something else."

  "How, then, would going as a companion to Europe, to entertain some young gentleman with your conversation-how would that suit you?"

  "Not at all. It does not strike me that there is anything definite about that. I like to be stationary. But I am not particular."

  "Stationary you shall be, then," I cried, now losing all patience, and, for the first time in all my exasperating connection with him, fairly flying into a passion. "If you do not go away [pg 098]

  from these premises before night, I shall feel bound-indeed, I am bound-to-to-to quit the premises myself!" I rather absurdly concluded, knowing not with what possible threat to try to frighten his immobility into compliance. Despairing of all further efforts, I was precipitately leaving him, when a final thought occurred to me-one which had not been wholly unindulged before.

  "Bartleby," said I, in the kindest tone I could assume under such exciting circumstances, "will you go home with me now-not to my office, but my dwelling-and remain there till we can conclude upon some convenient arrangement for you at our leisure? Come, let us start now, right away."

  "No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all."

  I answered nothing; but, effectually dodging every one by the suddenness and rapidity of my flight, rushed from the building, ran up Wall street towards Broadway, and, jumping into the first omnibus, was soon removed from pursuit. As soon as tranquillity returned, I distinctly perceived that I had now done all [pg 099]

  that I possibly could, both in respect to the demands of the landlord and his tenants, and with regard to my own desire and sense of duty, to benefit Bartleby, and shield him from rude persecution, I now strove to be entirely care-free and quiescent; and my conscience justified me in the attempt; though, indeed, it was not so successful as I could have wished. So fearful was I of being again hunted out by the incensed landlord and his exasperated tenants, that, surrendering my business to Nippers, for a few days, I drove about the upper part of the town and through the suburbs, in my rockaway; crossed over to Jersey City and Hoboken, and paid fugitive visits to Manhattanville and Astoria. In fact, I almost lived in my rockaway for the time.

  When again I entered my office, lo, a note from the landlord lay upon the desk. I opened it with trembling hands. It informed me that the writer had sent to the police, and had Bartleby removed to the Tombs as a vagrant. Moreover, since I knew more about him than any one else, he wished me to appear at that place, and make a suitable statement of the [pg 100]

  facts. These tidings had a conflicting effect upon me. At first I was indignant; but, at last, almost approved. The landlord's energetic, summary disposition, had led him to adopt a procedure which I do not think I would have decided upon myself; and yet, as a last resort, under such peculiar circumstances, it seemed the only plan.

  As I afterwards learned, the poor scrivener, when told that he must be conducted to the Tombs, offered not the slightest obstacle, but, in his pale, unmoving way, silently acquiesced.

  Some of the compassionate and curious bystanders joined the party; and headed by one of the constables arm in arm with Bartleby, the silent procession filed its way through all the noise, and heat, and joy of the roaring thoroughfares at noon.

  The same day I received the note, I went to the Tombs, or, to speak more properly, the Halls of Justice. Seeking the right officer, I stated the purpose of my call, and was informed that the individual I described was, indeed, within. I then assured the functionary that Bartleby was a perfectly honest man, and [pg 101]

  greatly to be compassionated, however unaccountably eccentric. I narrated all I knew and closed by suggesting the idea of letting him remain in as indulgent confinement as possible, till something less harsh might be done-though, indeed, I hardly knew what. At all events, if nothing else could be decided upon, the alms-house must receive him. I then begged to have an interview.

  Being under no disgraceful charge, and quite serene and harmless in all his ways, they had permitted him freely to wander about the prison, and, especially, in the inclosed grass-platted yards thereof. And so I found him there, standing all alone in the quietest of the yards, his face towards a high wall, while all around, from the narrow slits of the jail windows, I thought I saw peering out upon him the eyes of murderers and thieves.

  "Bartleby!"

  "I know you," he said, without looking round-"and I want nothing to say to you."

  "It was not I that brought you here, Bartleby," said I, keenly pained at his implied suspicion. "And to you, this should not be [pg 102]

  so vile a place. Nothing reproachful attaches to you by being here. And see, it is not so sad a place as one might think. Look, there is the sky, and here is the grass."

  "I know where I am," he replied, but would say nothing more, and so I left him.

  As I entered the corridor again, a broad meat-like man, in an apron, accosted me, and, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, said-"Is that your friend?"

  "Yes."

  "Does he want to starve? If he does, let him live on the prison fare, that's all."

  "Who are you?" asked I, not knowing what to make of such an unofficially speaking person in such a place.

  "I am the grub-man. Such gentlemen as have friends here, hire me to provide them with something good to eat."

  "Is this so?" said I, turning to the turnkey.

  He said it was.

  "Well, then," said I, slipping some silver into the grub-man's hands (for so they called him), "I want you to give particular attention to my friend there; let him have the best dinner [pg 103]

  you can get. And you must be as polite to him as possible."

  "Introduce me, will you?" said the grub-man, looking at me with an expression which seem to say he was all impatience for an opportunity to give a specimen of his breeding.

  Thinking it would prove of benefit to the scrivener, I acquiesced; and, asking the grub-man his name, went up with him to Bartleby.

  "Bartleby, this is a friend; you will find him very useful to you."

  "Your sarvant, sir, your sarvant," said the grub-man, making a low salutation behind his apron. "Hope you find it pleasant here, sir; nice grounds-cool apartments-hope you'll stay with us some time-try to make it agreeable. What will you have for dinner to-day?"

  "I prefer not to dine to-day," said Bartleby, turning away. "It would disagree with me; I am unused to dinners." So saying, he slowly moved to the other side of the inclosure, and took up a position fronting the dead-wall.

  "How's this?" said the grub-man, addressing me with a stare of astonishment. "He's odd, ain't he?" [pg 104]

  "I think he is a little deranged," said I, sadly.

  "Deranged? deranged is it? Well, now, upon my word, I thought that friend of yourn was a gentleman forger; they are always pale, and genteel-like, them forgers. I can't help pity 'em-can't help it, sir. Did you know Monroe Edwards?" he added, touchingly, and paused. Then, laying his hand piteously on my shoulder, sighed, "he died of consumption at Sing-Sing. So you weren't acquainted with Monroe?"

  "No, I was never socially acquainted with any forgers. But I cannot stop longer. Look to my friend yonder. You will not lose by it. I will see you again."

  Some few days after this, I again obtained admission to the Tombs, and went through the corridors in quest of Bartleby; but w
ithout finding him.

  "I saw him coming from his cell not long ago," said a turnkey, "may be he's gone to loiter in the yards."

  So I went in that direction.

  "Are you looking for the silent man?" said [pg 105]

  another turnkey, passing me. "Yonder he lies-sleeping in the yard there. 'Tis not twenty minutes since I saw him lie down."

  The yard was entirely quiet. It was not accessible to the common prisoners. The surrounding walls, of amazing thickness, kept off all sounds behind them. The Egyptian character of the masonry weighed upon me with its gloom. But a soft imprisoned turf grew under foot. The heart of the eternal pyramids, it seemed, wherein, by some strange magic, through the clefts, grass-seed, dropped by birds, had sprung.

  Strangely huddled at the base of the wall, his knees drawn up, and lying on his side, his head touching the cold stones, I saw the wasted Bartleby. But nothing stirred. I paused; then went close up to him; stooped over, and saw that his dim eyes were open; otherwise he seemed profoundly sleeping. Something prompted me to touch him. I felt his hand, when a tingling shiver ran up my arm and down my spine to my, feet.

  The round face of the grub-man peered upon me now. "His dinner is ready. Won't he [pg 106]

  dine to-day, either? Or does he live without dining?"

  "Lives without dining," said I, and closed the eyes.

  "Eh! — He's asleep, ain't he?"

  "With kings and counselors," murmured I.

  * * *

  There would seem little need for proceeding further in this history. Imagination will readily supply the meagre recital of poor Bartleby's interment. But, ere parting with the reader, let me say, that if this little narrative has sufficiently interested him, to awaken curiosity as to who Bartleby was, and what manner of life he led prior to the present narrator's making his acquaintance, I can only reply, that in such curiosity I fully share, but am wholly unable to gratify it. Yet here I hardly know whether I should divulge one little item of rumor, which came to my ear a few months after the scrivener's decease. Upon what basis it rested, I could never ascertain; and hence, how true it is I cannot now tell. But, inasmuch as this vague report has not been without a certain suggestive interest to me, however [pg 107]