i am a rather elderly man   the nature of my avocations for the last
thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what
would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men  of whom as
yet nothing that i know of has ever been written   i mean the
law copyists or scriveners   i have known very many of them 
professionally and privately  and if i pleased  could relate divers
histories  at which good natured gentlemen might smile  and sentimental
souls might weep   but i waive the biographies of all other scriveners
for a few passages in the life of bartleby  who was a scrivener of the
strangest i ever saw or heard of   while of other law copyists i might
write the complete life  of bartleby nothing of that sort can be done 
i believe that no materials exist for a full and satisfactory biography
of this man   it is an irreparable loss to literature   bartleby was one
of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable  except from the
original sources  and in his case those are very small   what my own
astonished eyes saw of bartleby   that  is all i know of him  except 
indeed  one vague report which will appear in the sequel 

ere introducing the scrivener  as he first appeared to me  it is fit i
make some mention of myself  my  employees   my business  my chambers 
and general surroundings  because some such description is indispensable
to an adequate understanding of the chief character about to be
presented 

imprimis   i am a man who  from his youth upwards  has been filled with
a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best   hence 
though i belong to a profession proverbially energetic and nervous  even
to turbulence  at times  yet nothing of that sort have i ever suffered
to invade my peace   i am one of those unambitious lawyers who never
addresses a jury  or in any way draws down public applause  but in the
cool tranquility of a snug retreat  do a snug business among rich men's
bonds and mortgages and title deeds   all who know me  consider me an
eminently  safe  man   the late john jacob astor  a personage little
given to poetic enthusiasm  had no hesitation in pronouncing my first
grand point to be prudence  my next  method   i do not speak it in
vanity  but simply record the fact  that i was not unemployed in my
profession by the late john jacob astor  a name which  i admit  i love
to repeat  for it hath a rounded and orbicular sound to it  and rings
like unto bullion   i will freely add  that i was not insensible to the
late john jacob astor's good opinion 

some time prior to the period at which this little history begins  my
avocations had been largely increased   the good old office  now extinct
in the state of new york  of a master in chancery  had been conferred
upon me   it was not a very arduous office  but very pleasantly
remunerative   i seldom lose my temper  much more seldom indulge in
dangerous indignation at wrongs and outrages  but i must be permitted to
be rash here and declare  that i consider the sudden and violent
abrogation of the office of master in chancery  by the new constitution 
as a  premature act  inasmuch as i had counted upon a life lease of the
profits  whereas i only received those of a few short years   but this
is by the way 

my chambers were up stairs at no   wall street   at one end they looked
upon the white wall of the interior of a spacious sky light shaft 
penetrating the building from top to bottom   this view might have been
considered rather tame than otherwise  deficient in what landscape
painters call  life    but if so  the view from the other end of my
chambers offered  at least  a contrast  if nothing more   in that
direction my windows commanded an unobstructed view of a lofty brick
wall  black by age and everlasting shade  which wall required no
spy glass to bring out its lurking beauties  but for the benefit of all
near sighted spectators  was pushed up to within ten feet of my window
panes   owing to the great height of the surrounding buildings  and my
chambers being on the second floor  the interval between this wall and
mine not a little resembled a huge square cistern 

at the period just preceding the advent of bartleby  i had two persons
as copyists in my employment  and a promising lad as an office boy 
first  turkey  second  nippers  third  ginger nut   these may seem
names  the like of which are not usually found in the directory   in
truth they were nicknames  mutually conferred upon each other by my
three clerks  and were deemed expressive of their respective persons or
characters   turkey was a short  pursy englishman of about my own age 
that is  somewhere not far from sixty   in the morning  one might say 
his face was of a fine florid hue  but after twelve o'clock 
meridian  his dinner hour  it blazed like a grate full of christmas
coals  and continued blazing  but  as it were  with a gradual wane  till
6 o'clock  p m  or thereabouts  after which i saw no more of the
proprietor of the face  which gaining its meridian with the sun  seemed
to set with it  to rise  culminate  and decline the following day  with
the like regularity and undiminished glory   there are many singular
coincidences i have known in the course of my life  not the least among
which was the fact  that exactly when turkey displayed his fullest beams
from his red and radiant countenance  just then  too  at that critical
moment  began the daily period when i considered his business capacities
as seriously disturbed for the remainder of the twenty four hours   not
that he was absolutely idle  or averse to business then  far from it 
the difficulty was  he was apt to be altogether too energetic   there
was a strange  inflamed  flurried  flighty recklessness of activity
about him   he would be incautious in dipping his pen into his inkstand 
all his blots upon my documents  were dropped there after twelve
o'clock  meridian   indeed  not only would he be reckless and sadly
given to making blots in the afternoon  but some days he went further 
and was rather noisy   at such times  too  his face flamed with
augmented blazonry  as if cannel coal had been heaped on anthracite   he
made an unpleasant racket with his chair  spilled his sand box  in
mending his pens  impatiently split them all to pieces  and threw them
on the floor in a sudden passion  stood up and leaned over his table 
boxing his papers about in a most indecorous manner  very sad to behold
in an elderly man like him   nevertheless  as he was in many ways a most
valuable person to me  and all the time before twelve o'clock  meridian 
was the quickest  steadiest creature too  accomplishing a great deal of
work in a style not easy to be matched  for these reasons  i was willing
to overlook his eccentricities  though indeed  occasionally  i
remonstrated with him   i did this very gently  however  because  though
the civilest  nay  the blandest and most reverential of men in the
morning  yet in the afternoon he was disposed  upon provocation  to be
slightly rash with his tongue  in fact  insolent   now  valuing his
morning services as i did  and resolved not to lose them  yet  at the
same time made uncomfortable by his inflamed ways after twelve o'clock 
and being a man of peace  unwilling by my admonitions to call forth
unseemly retorts from him  i took upon me  one saturday noon  he was
always worse on saturdays   to hint to him  very kindly  that perhaps
now that he was growing old  it might be well to abridge his labors  in
short  he need not come to my chambers after twelve o'clock  but  dinner
over  had best go home to his lodgings and rest himself till teatime 
but no  he insisted upon his afternoon devotions   his countenance
became intolerably fervid  as he oratorically assured me  gesticulating
with a long ruler at the other end of the room  that if his services in
the morning were useful  how indispensable  then  in the afternoon 

 with submission  sir   said turkey on this occasion   i consider myself
your right hand man   in the morning i but marshal and deploy my
columns  but in the afternoon i put myself at their head  and gallantly
charge the foe  thus    and he made a violent thrust with the ruler 

 but the blots  turkey   intimated i 

 true   but  with submission  sir  behold these hairs   i am getting
old   surely  sir  a blot or two of a warm afternoon is not to be
severely urged against gray hairs   old age  even if it blot the
page  is honorable   with submission  sir  we  both  are getting old  

this appeal to my fellow feeling was hardly to be resisted   at all
events  i saw that go he would not   so i made up my mind to let him
stay  resolving  nevertheless  to see to it  that during the afternoon
he had to do with my less important papers 

nippers  the second on my list  was a whiskered  sallow  and  upon the
whole  rather piratical looking young man of about five and twenty   i
always deemed him the victim of two evil powers  ambition and
indigestion   the ambition was evinced by a certain impatience of the
duties of a mere copyist  an unwarrantable usurpation of strictly
professional affairs  such as the original drawing up of legal
documents   the indigestion seemed betokened in an occasional nervous
testiness and grinning irritability  causing the teeth to audibly grind
together over mistakes committed in copying  unnecessary maledictions 
hissed  rather than spoken  in the heat of business  and especially by a
continual discontent with the height of the table where he worked 
though of a very ingenious mechanical turn  nippers could never get this
table to suit him   he put chips under it  blocks of various sorts  bits
of pasteboard  and at last went so far as to attempt an exquisite
adjustment by final pieces of folded blotting paper   but no invention
would answer   if  for the sake of easing his back  he brought the table
lid at a sharp angle well up towards his chin  and wrote there like a
man using the steep roof of a dutch house for his desk   then he
declared that it stopped the circulation in his arms   if now he lowered
the table to his waistbands  and stooped over it in writing  then there
was 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 to
be rid of a scrivener's table altogether   among the manifestations of
his diseased ambition was a fondness he had for receiving visits from
certain ambiguous looking fellows in seedy coats  whom he called his
clients   indeed i was aware that not only was he  at times 
considerable of a ward politician  but he occasionally did a little
business at the justices' courts  and was not unknown on the steps of
the tombs   i have good reason to believe  however  that one individual
who called upon him at my chambers  and who  with a grand air  he
insisted was his client  was no other than a dun  and the alleged
title deed  a bill   but with all his failings  and the annoyances he
caused me  nippers  like his compatriot turkey  was a very useful man to
me  wrote a neat  swift hand  and  when he chose  was not deficient in a
gentlemanly sort of deportment   added to this  he always dressed in a
gentlemanly sort of way  and so  incidentally  reflected credit upon my
chambers   whereas with respect to turkey  i had much ado to keep him
from being a reproach to me   his clothes were apt to look oily and
smell of eating houses   he wore his pantaloons very loose and baggy in
summer   his coats were execrable  his hat not to be handled   but while
the hat was a thing of indifference to me  inasmuch as his natural
civility and deference  as a dependent englishman  always led him to
doff it the moment he entered the room  yet his coat was another matter 
concerning his coats  i reasoned with him  but with no effect   the
truth was  i suppose  that a man of so small an income  could not afford
to sport such a lustrous face and a lustrous coat at one and the same
time   as nippers once observed  turkey's money went chiefly for red
ink   one winter day i presented turkey with a highly respectable
looking coat of my own  a padded gray coat  of a most comfortable
warmth  and which buttoned straight up from the knee to the neck   i
thought turkey would appreciate the favor  and abate his rashness and
obstreperousness of afternoons   but no   i verily believe that
buttoning himself up in so downy and blanket like a coat had a
pernicious effect upon him  upon the same principle that too much oats
are bad for horses   in fact  precisely as a rash  restive horse is said
to feel his oats  so turkey felt his coat   it made him insolent   he
was a man whom prosperity harmed 

though concerning the self indulgent habits of turkey i had my own
private surmises  yet touching nippers i was well persuaded that
whatever might be his faults in other respects  he was  at least  a
temperate young man   but indeed  nature herself seemed to have been his
vintner  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 would
sometimes impatiently rise from his seat  and stooping over his table 
spread his arms wide apart  seize the whole desk  and move it  and jerk
it  with a grim  grinding motion on the floor  as if the table were a
perverse voluntary agent  intent on thwarting and vexing him  i plainly
perceive that for nippers  brandy and water were altogether superfluous 

it was fortunate for me that  owing to its peculiar
cause  indigestion  the irritability and consequent nervousness of
nippers  were mainly observable in the morning  while in the afternoon
he was comparatively mild   so that turkey's paroxysms only coming on
about twelve o'clock  i never had to do with their eccentricities at one
time   their fits relieved each other like guards   when nippers' was
on  turkey's was off  and  vice versa    this was a good natural
arrangement under the circumstances 

ginger nut  the third on my list  was a lad some twelve years old   his
father was a carman  ambitious of seeing his son on the bench instead of
a 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   upon
inspection  the drawer exhibited a great array of the shells of various
sorts of nuts   indeed  to this quick witted youth the whole noble
science of the law was contained in a nut shell   not the least among
the employments of ginger nut  as well as one which he discharged with
the most alacrity  was his duty as cake and apple purveyor for turkey
and nippers   copying law papers being proverbially dry  husky sort of
business  my two scriveners were fain to moisten their mouths very often
with spitzenbergs to be had at the numerous stalls nigh the custom
house and post office   also  they sent ginger nut very frequently for
that peculiar cake  small  flat  round  and very spicy  after which he
had 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 mere
wafers  indeed they sell them at the rate of six or eight for a
penny  the scrape of his pen blending with the crunching of the crisp
particles in his mouth   of all the fiery afternoon blunders and
flurried rashnesses of turkey  was his once moistening a ginger cake
between his lips  and clapping it on to a mortgage for a seal   i came
within an ace of dismissing him then   but he mollified me by making an
oriental bow  and saying   with submission  sir  it was generous of me
to find you in stationery on my own account  

now my original business  that of a conveyancer and title hunter  and
drawer up of recondite documents of all sorts  was considerably
increased by receiving the master's office   there was now great work
for scriveners   not only must i push the clerks already with me  but i
must have additional help   in answer to my advertisement  a motionless
young man one morning  stood upon my office threshold  the door being
open  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 to
have among my corps of copyists a man of so singularly sedate an aspect 
which i thought might operate beneficially upon the flighty temper of
turkey  and the fiery one of nippers 

i should have stated before that ground glass folding doors divided my
premises into two parts  one of which was occupied by my scriveners  the
other by myself   according to my humor i threw open these doors  or
closed them   i resolved to assign bartleby a corner by the
folding doors  but on my side of them  so as to have this quiet man
within easy call  in case any trifling thing was to be done   i placed
his desk close up to a small side window in that part of the room  a
window which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy
back yards and bricks  but which  owing to subsequent erections 
commanded at present no view at all  though it gave some light   within
three feet of the panes was a wall  and the light came down from far
above  between two lofty buildings  as from a very small opening in a
dome   still further to a satisfactory arrangement  i procured a high
green folding screen  which might entirely isolate bartleby from my
sight  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 long
famishing for something to copy  he seemed to gorge himself on my
documents   there was no pause for digestion   he ran a day and night
line  copying by sun light and by candle light   i should have been
quite delighted with his application  had he been cheerfully
industrious   but he wrote on silently  palely  mechanically 

it is  of course  an indispensable part of a scrivener's business to
verify the accuracy of his copy  word by word   where there are two or
more scriveners in an office  they assist each other in this
examination  one reading from the copy  the other holding the original 
it is a very dull  wearisome  and lethargic affair   i can readily
imagine that to some sanguine temperaments it would be altogether
intolerable   for example  i cannot credit that the mettlesome poet
byron would have contentedly sat down with bartleby to examine a law
document 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 assist
in comparing some brief document myself  calling turkey or nippers for
this purpose   one object i had in placing bartleby so handy to me
behind the screen  was to avail myself of his services on such trivial
occasions   it was on the third day  i think  of his being with me  and
before any necessity had arisen for having his own writing examined 
that  being much hurried to complete a small affair i had in hand  i
abruptly called to bartleby   in my haste and natural expectancy of
instant compliance  i sat with my head bent over the original on my
desk  and my right hand sideways  and somewhat nervously extended with
the copy  so that immediately upon emerging from his retreat  bartleby
might snatch it and proceed to business without the least delay 

in this very attitude did i sit when i called to him  rapidly stating
what it was i wanted him to do  namely  to examine a small paper with
me   imagine my surprise  nay  my consternation  when without moving
from his privacy  bartleby in a singularly mild  firm voice  replied   i
would 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 bartleby
had entirely misunderstood my meaning   i repeated my request in the
clearest tone i could assume   but in quite as clear a one came the
previous reply   i would prefer not to  

 prefer not to   echoed i  rising in high excitement  and crossing the
room with a stride    what do you mean   are you moon struck   i want
you to help me compare this sheet here  take it   and i thrust it
towards him 

 i would prefer not to   said he 

i looked at him steadfastly   his face was leanly composed  his gray eye
dimly calm   not a wrinkle of agitation rippled him   had there been the
least uneasiness  anger  impatience or impertinence in his manner  in
other words  had there been any thing ordinarily human about him 
doubtless i should have violently dismissed him from the premises   but
as it was  i should have as soon thought of turning my pale
plaster of paris bust of cicero out of doors   i stood gazing at him
awhile  as he went on with his own writing  and then reseated myself at
my desk   this is very strange  thought i   what had one best do   but
my business hurried me   i concluded to forget the matter for the
present  reserving it for my future leisure   so calling nippers from
the other room  the paper was speedily examined 

a few days after this  bartleby concluded four lengthy documents  being
quadruplicates of a week's testimony taken before me in my high court of
chancery   it became necessary to examine them   it was an important
suit  and great accuracy was imperative   having all things arranged i
called turkey  nippers and ginger nut from the next room  meaning to
place the four copies in the hands of my four clerks  while i should
read from the original   accordingly turkey  nippers and ginger nut had
taken their seats in a row  each with his document in hand  when i
called 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  and
soon 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 examine
them   there   and i held towards him the fourth quadruplicate 

 i would prefer not to   he said  and gently disappeared behind the
screen 

for a few moments i was turned into a pillar of salt  standing at the
head of my seated column of clerks   recovering myself  i advanced
towards the screen  and demanded the reason for such extraordinary
conduct 

  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 my
presence   but there was something about bartleby that not only
strangely disarmed me  but in a wonderful manner touched and
disconcerted me   i began to reason with him 

 these are your own copies we are about to examine   it is labor saving
to you  because one examination will answer for your four papers   it is
common usage   every copyist is bound to help examine his copy   is it
not so   will you not speak   answer  

 i prefer not to   he replied in a flute like tone   it seemed to me
that while i had been addressing him  he carefully revolved every
statement that i made  fully comprehended the meaning  could not gainsay
the irresistible conclusions  but  at the same time  some paramount
consideration prevailed with him to reply as he did 

 you are decided  then  not to comply with my request  a request made
according to common usage and common sense  

he briefly gave me to understand that on that point my judgment was
sound   yes   his decision was irreversible 

it is not seldom the case that when a man is browbeaten in some
unprecedented and violently unreasonable way  he begins to stagger in
his 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 the
other side   accordingly  if any disinterested persons are present  he
turns 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 think
that 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 being
morning  turkey's answer is couched in polite and tranquil terms  but
nippers replies in ill tempered ones   or  to repeat a previous
sentence  nippers' ugly mood was on duty and turkey's off  

 ginger nut   said i  willing to enlist the smallest suffrage in my
behalf   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   come
forth 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 the
consideration of this dilemma to my future leisure   with a little
trouble we made out to examine the papers without bartleby  though at
every page or two  turkey deferentially dropped his opinion that this
proceeding was quite out of the common  while nippers  twitching in his
chair with a dyspeptic nervousness  ground out between his set teeth
occasional hissing maledictions against the stubborn oaf behind the
screen   and for his  nippers'  part  this was the first and the last
time he would do another man's business without pay 

meanwhile bartleby sat in his hermitage  oblivious to every thing but
his own peculiar business there 

some days passed  the scrivener being employed upon another lengthy
work   his late remarkable conduct led me to regard his ways narrowly 
i observed that he never went to dinner  indeed that he never went any
where   as yet i had never of my personal knowledge known him to be
outside of my office   he was a perpetual sentry in the corner   at
about eleven o'clock though  in the morning  i noticed that ginger nut
would advance toward the opening in bartleby's screen  as if silently
beckoned thither by a gesture invisible to me where i sat   the boy
would then leave the office jingling a few pence  and reappear with a
handful of ginger nuts which he delivered in the hermitage  receiving
two of the cakes for his trouble 

he lives  then  on ginger nuts  thought i  never eats a dinner  properly
speaking  he must be a vegetarian then  but no  he never eats even
vegetables  he eats nothing but ginger nuts   my mind then ran on in
reveries concerning the probable effects upon the human constitution of
living entirely on ginger nuts   ginger nuts are so called because they
contain ginger as one of their peculiar constituents  and the final
flavoring one   now what was ginger   a hot  spicy thing   was bartleby
hot 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 the
individual so resisted be of a not inhumane temper  and the resisting
one perfectly harmless in his passivity  then  in the better moods of
the former  he will endeavor charitably to construe to his imagination
what proves impossible to be solved by his judgment   even so  for the
most part  i regarded bartleby and his ways   poor fellow  thought i  he
means no mischief  it is plain he intends no insolence  his aspect
sufficiently evinces that his eccentricities are involuntary   he is
useful to me   i can get along with him   if i turn him away  the
chances are he will fall in with some less indulgent employer  and then
he will be rudely treated  and perhaps driven forth miserably to starve 
yes   here i can cheaply purchase a delicious self approval   to
befriend bartleby  to humor him in his strange willfulness  will cost me
little or nothing  while i lay up in my soul what will eventually prove
a sweet morsel for my conscience   but this mood was not invariable with
me   the passiveness of bartleby sometimes irritated me   i felt
strangely goaded on to encounter him in new opposition  to elicit some
angry spark from him answerable to my own   but indeed i might as well
have essayed to strike fire with my knuckles against a bit of windsor
soap   but one afternoon the evil impulse in me mastered me  and the
following little scene ensued 

 bartleby   said i   when those papers are all copied  i will compare
them with you  

 i would prefer not to  

 how   surely you do not mean to persist in that mulish vagary  

no answer 

i threw open the folding doors near by  and turning upon turkey and
nippers  exclaimed in an excited manner  

 he says  a second time  he won't examine his papers   what do you think
of it  turkey  

it was afternoon  be it remembered   turkey sat glowing like a brass
boiler  his bald head steaming  his hands reeling among his blotted
papers 

 think of it   roared turkey   i think i'll just step behind his screen 
and black his eyes for him  

so saying  turkey rose to his feet and threw his arms into a pugilistic
position   he was hurrying away to make good his promise  when i
detained him  alarmed at the effect of incautiously rousing turkey's
combativeness after dinner 

 sit down  turkey   said i   and hear what nippers has to say   what do
you think of it  nippers   would i not be justified in immediately
dismissing bartleby  

 excuse me  that is for you to decide  sir   i think his conduct quite
unusual  and indeed unjust  as regards turkey and myself   but it may
only be a passing whim  

 ah   exclaimed i   you have strangely changed your mind then  you speak
very gently of him now  

 all beer   cried turkey   gentleness is effects of beer  nippers and i
dined together to day   you see how gentle  i  am  sir   shall i go and
black his eyes  

 you refer to bartleby  i suppose   no  not to day  turkey   i replied 
 pray  put up your fists  

i closed the doors  and again advanced towards bartleby   i felt
additional incentives tempting me to my fate   i burned to be rebelled
against again   i remembered that bartleby never left the office 

 bartleby   said i   ginger nut is away  just step round to the post
office  won't you   it was but a three minute walk   and see if there is
any thing for me  

 i would prefer not to  

 you  will  not  

 i  prefer  not  

i staggered to my desk  and sat there in a deep study   my blind
inveteracy returned   was there any other thing in which i could procure
myself to be ignominiously repulsed by this lean  penniless wight   my
hired clerk   what added thing is there  perfectly reasonable  that he
will be sure to refuse to do 

 bartleby  

no answer 

 bartleby   in a louder tone 

no answer 

 bartleby   i roared 

like a very ghost  agreeably to the laws of magical invocation  at the
third summons  he appeared at the entrance of his hermitage 

 go to the next room  and tell nippers to come to me  

 i prefer not to   he respectfully and slowly said  and mildly
disappeared 

 very good  bartleby   said i  in a quiet sort of serenely severe
self possessed tone  intimating the unalterable purpose of some terrible
retribution very close at hand   at the moment i half intended something
of the kind   but upon the whole  as it was drawing towards my
dinner hour  i thought it best to put on my hat and walk home for the
day  suffering much from perplexity and distress of mind 

shall i acknowledge it   the conclusion of this whole business was  that
it soon became a fixed fact of my chambers  that a pale young scrivener 
by the name of bartleby  and a desk there  that he copied for me at the
usual rate of four cents a folio  one hundred words   but he was
permanently exempt from examining the work done by him  that duty being
transferred to turkey and nippers  one of compliment doubtless to their
superior acuteness  moreover  said bartleby was never on any account to
be dispatched on the most trivial errand of any sort  and that even if
entreated to take upon him such a matter  it was generally understood
that he would prefer not to  in other words  that he would refuse
pointblank 

as days passed on  i became considerably reconciled to bartleby   his
steadiness  his freedom from all dissipation  his incessant industry
 except when he chose to throw himself into a standing revery behind his
screen   his great stillness  his unalterableness of demeanor under all
circumstances  made him a valuable acquisition   one prime thing was
this    he was always there    first in the morning  continually
through the day  and the last at night   i had a singular confidence in
his honesty   i felt my most precious papers perfectly safe in his
hands   sometimes to be sure i could not  for the very soul of me  avoid
falling into sudden spasmodic passions with him   for it was exceeding
difficult to bear in mind all the time those strange peculiarities 
privileges  and unheard of exemptions  forming the tacit stipulations on
bartleby's part under which he remained in my office   now and then  in
the eagerness of dispatching pressing business  i would inadvertently
summon bartleby  in a short  rapid tone  to put his finger  say  on the
incipient tie of a bit of red tape with which i was about compressing
some papers   of course  from behind the screen the usual answer   i
prefer not to   was sure to come  and then  how could a human creature
with the common infirmities of our nature  refrain from bitterly
exclaiming upon such perverseness  such unreasonableness   however 
every added repulse of this sort which i received only tended to lessen
the probability of my repeating the inadvertence 

here it must be said  that according to the custom of most legal
gentlemen occupying chambers in densely populated law buildings  there
were several keys to my door   one was kept by a woman residing in the
attic  which person weekly scrubbed and daily swept and dusted my
apartments   another was kept by turkey for convenience sake   the third
i sometimes carried in my own pocket   the fourth i knew not who had 

now  one sunday morning i happened to go to trinity church  to hear a
celebrated preacher  and finding myself rather early on the ground  i
thought i would walk around to my chambers for a while   luckily i had
my key with me  but upon applying it to the lock  i found it resisted by
something inserted from the inside   quite surprised  i called out  when
to my consternation a key was turned from within  and thrusting his lean
visage at me  and holding the door ajar  the apparition of bartleby
appeared  in his shirt sleeves  and otherwise in a strangely tattered
dishabille  saying quietly that he was sorry  but he was deeply engaged
just then  and  preferred not admitting me at present   in a brief word
or two  he moreover added  that perhaps i had better walk round the
block two or three times  and by that time he would probably have
concluded his affairs 

now  the utterly unsurmised appearance of bartleby  tenanting my
law chambers of a sunday morning  with his cadaverously gentlemanly
 nonchalance   yet withal firm and self possessed  had such a strange
effect upon me  that incontinently i slunk away from my own door  and
did as desired   but not without sundry twinges of impotent rebellion
against the mild effrontery of this unaccountable scrivener   indeed  it
was his wonderful mildness chiefly  which not only disarmed me  but
unmanned me  as it were   for i consider that one  for the time  is a
sort of unmanned when he tranquilly permits his hired clerk to dictate
to him  and order him away from his own premises   furthermore  i was
full of uneasiness as to what bartleby could possibly be doing in my
office in his shirt sleeves  and in an otherwise dismantled condition of
a sunday morning   was any thing amiss going on   nay  that was out of
the question   it was not to be thought of for a moment that bartleby
was an immoral person   but what could he be doing there   copying   nay
again  whatever might be his eccentricities  bartleby was an eminently
decorous person   he would be the last man to sit down to his desk in
any state approaching to nudity   besides  it was sunday  and there was
something about bartleby that forbade the supposition that he would by
any secular occupation violate the proprieties of the day 

nevertheless  my mind was not pacified  and full of a restless
curiosity  at last i returned to the door   without hindrance i inserted
my key  opened it  and entered   bartleby was not to be seen   i looked
round anxiously  peeped behind his screen  but it was very plain that he
was gone   upon more closely examining the place  i surmised that for an
indefinite period bartleby must have ate  dressed  and slept in my
office  and that too without plate  mirror  or bed   the cushioned seat
of a rickety old sofa in one corner bore the faint impress of a lean 
reclining form   rolled away under his desk  i found a blanket  under
the empty grate  a blacking box and brush  on a chair  a tin basin  with
soap and a ragged towel  in a newspaper a few crumbs of ginger nuts and
a morsel of cheese   yes  thought i  it is evident enough that bartleby
has been making his home here  keeping bachelor's hall all by himself 
immediately then the thought came sweeping across me  what miserable
friendlessness and loneliness are here revealed   his poverty is great 
but his solitude  how horrible   think of it   of a sunday  wall street
is deserted as petra  and every night of every day it is an emptiness 
this building too  which of week days hums with industry and life  at
nightfall echoes with sheer vacancy  and all through sunday is forlorn 
and here bartleby makes his home  sole spectator of a solitude which he
has seen all populous  a sort of innocent and transformed marius
brooding among the ruins of carthage 

for the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging
melancholy seized me   before  i had never experienced aught but a
not unpleasing sadness   the bond of a common humanity now drew me
irresistibly to gloom   a fraternal melancholy   for both i and bartleby
were sons of adam   i remembered the bright silks and sparkling faces i
had seen that day  in gala trim  swan like sailing down the mississippi
of broadway  and i contrasted them with the pallid copyist  and thought
to myself  ah  happiness courts the light  so we deem the world is gay 
but misery hides aloof  so we deem that misery there is none   these sad
fancyings  chimeras  doubtless  of a sick and silly brain  led on to
other and more special thoughts  concerning the eccentricities of
bartleby   presentiments of strange discoveries hovered round me   the
scrivener's pale form appeared to me laid out  among uncaring strangers 
in its shivering winding sheet 

suddenly i was attracted by bartleby's closed desk  the key in open
sight left in the lock 

i mean no mischief  seek the gratification of no heartless curiosity 
thought i  besides  the desk is mine  and its contents too  so i will
make bold to look within   every thing was methodically arranged  the
papers smoothly placed   the pigeon holes were deep  and removing the
files of documents  i groped into their recesses   presently i felt
something there  and dragged it out   it was an old bandanna
handkerchief  heavy and knotted   i opened it  and saw it was a savings'
bank 

i now recalled all the quiet mysteries which i had noted in the man   i
remembered that he never spoke but to answer  that though at intervals
he had considerable time to himself  yet i had never seen him
reading  no  not even a newspaper  that for long periods he would stand
looking out  at his pale window behind the screen  upon the dead brick
wall  i was quite sure he never visited any refectory or eating house 
while his pale face clearly indicated that he never drank beer like
turkey  or tea and coffee even  like other men  that he never went any
where in particular that i could learn  never went out for a walk 
unless indeed that was the case at present  that he had declined telling
who he was  or whence he came  or whether he had any relatives in the
world  that though so thin and pale  he never complained of ill health 
and more than all  i remembered a certain unconscious air of pallid  how
shall i call it   of pallid haughtiness  say  or rather an austere
reserve about him  which had positively awed me into my tame compliance
with his eccentricities  when i had feared to ask him to do the
slightest incidental thing for me  even though i might know  from his
long continued motionlessness  that behind his screen he must be
standing in one of those dead wall reveries of his 

revolving all these things  and coupling them with the recently
discovered fact that he made my office his constant abiding place and
home  and not forgetful of his morbid moodiness  revolving all these
things  a prudential feeling began to steal over me   my first emotions
had been those of pure melancholy and sincerest pity  but just in
proportion as the forlornness of bartleby grew and grew to my
imagination  did that same melancholy merge into fear  that pity into
repulsion   so true it is  and so terrible too  that up to a certain
point the thought or sight of misery enlists our best affections  but 
in certain special cases  beyond that point it does not   they err who
would assert that invariably this is owing to the inherent selfishness
of the human heart   it rather proceeds from a certain hopelessness of
remedying excessive and organic ill   to a sensitive being  pity is not
seldom pain   and when at last it is perceived that such pity cannot
lead to effectual succor  common sense bids the soul rid of it   what i
saw that morning persuaded me that the scrivener was the victim of
innate and incurable disorder   i might give alms to his body  but his
body did not pain him  it was his soul that suffered  and his soul i
could not reach 

i did not accomplish the purpose of going to trinity church that
morning   somehow  the things i had seen disqualified me for the time
from church going   i walked homeward  thinking what i would do with
bartleby   finally  i resolved upon this   i would put certain calm
questions to him the next morning  touching his history  etc   and if he
declined to answer them openly and unreservedly  and i supposed he would
prefer not   then to give him a twenty dollar bill over and above
whatever i might owe him  and tell him his services were no longer
required  but that if in any other way i could assist him  i would be
happy to do so  especially if he desired to return to his native place 
wherever that might be  i would willingly help to defray the expenses 
moreover  if  after reaching home  he found himself at any time in want
of aid  a letter from him would be sure of a reply 

the next morning came 

 bartleby   said i  gently calling to him behind his screen 

no reply 

 bartleby   said i  in a still gentler tone   come here  i am not going
to ask you to do any thing you would prefer not to do  i simply wish to
speak to you  

upon this he noiselessly slid into view 

 will you tell me  bartleby  where you were born  

 i would prefer not to  

 will you tell me  any thing  about yourself  

 i would prefer not to  

 but what reasonable objection can you have to speak to me   i feel
friendly towards you  

he did not look at me while i spoke  but kept his glance fixed upon my
bust of cicero  which as i then sat  was directly behind me  some six
inches above my head 

 what is your answer  bartleby   said i  after waiting a considerable
time for a reply  during which his countenance remained immovable  only
there was the faintest conceivable tremor of the white attenuated mouth 

 at present i prefer to give no answer   he said  and retired into his
hermitage 

it was rather weak in me i confess  but his manner on this occasion
nettled me   not only did there seem to lurk in it a certain calm
disdain  but his perverseness seemed ungrateful  considering the
undeniable good usage and indulgence he had received from me 

again i sat ruminating what i should do   mortified as i was at his
behavior  and resolved as i had been to dismiss him when i entered my
offices  nevertheless i strangely felt something superstitious knocking
at my heart  and forbidding me to carry out my purpose  and denouncing
me for a villain if i dared to breathe one bitter word against this
forlornest of mankind   at last  familiarly drawing my chair behind his
screen  i sat down and said   bartleby  never mind then about revealing
your history  but let me entreat you  as a friend  to comply as far as
may be with the usages of this office   say now you will help to examine
papers to morrow or next day  in short  say now that in a day or two you
will begin to be a little reasonable   say so  bartleby  

 at present i would prefer not to be a little reasonable   was his
mildly cadaverous reply 

just then the folding doors opened  and nippers approached   he seemed
suffering from an unusually bad night's rest  induced by severer
indigestion than common   he overheard those final words of bartleby 

  prefer not   eh   gritted nippers   i'd  prefer  him  if i were you 
sir   addressing me   i'd  prefer  him  i'd give him preferences  the
stubborn mule   what is it  sir  pray  that he  prefers  not to do now  

bartleby moved not a limb 

 mr  nippers   said i   i'd prefer that you would withdraw for the
present  

somehow  of late i had got into the way of involuntarily using this word
 prefer  upon all sorts of not exactly suitable occasions   and i
trembled to think that my contact with the scrivener had already and
seriously affected me in a mental way   and what further and deeper
aberration might it not yet produce   this apprehension had not been
without efficacy in determining me to summary means 

as nippers  looking very sour and sulky  was departing  turkey blandly
and deferentially approached 

 with submission  sir   said he   yesterday i was thinking about
bartleby here  and i think that if he would but prefer to take a quart
of good ale every day  it would do much towards mending him  and
enabling him to assist in examining his papers  

 so you have got the word too   said i  slightly excited 

 with submission  what word  sir   asked turkey  respectfully crowding
himself into the contracted space behind the screen  and by so doing 
making me jostle the scrivener    what word  sir  

 i would prefer to be left alone here   said bartleby  as if offended at
being mobbed in his privacy 

  that's  the word  turkey   said i   that's it  

 oh   prefer   oh yes  queer word   i never use it myself   but  sir  as
i was saying  if he would but prefer   

 turkey   interrupted i   you will please withdraw  

 oh certainly  sir  if you prefer that i should  

as he opened the folding door to retire  nippers at his desk caught a
glimpse of me  and asked whether i would prefer to have a certain paper
copied on blue paper or white   he did not in the least roguishly accent
the word prefer   it was plain that it involuntarily rolled from his
tongue   i thought to myself  surely i must get rid of a demented man 
who already has in some degree turned the tongues  if not the heads of
myself and clerks   but i thought it prudent not to break the dismission
at once 

the next day i noticed that bartleby did nothing but stand at his window
in his dead wall revery   upon asking him why he did not write  he said
that he had decided upon doing no more writing 

 why  how now  what next   exclaimed i   do no more writing  

 no more  

 and what is the reason  

 do you not see the reason for yourself   he indifferently replied 

i looked steadfastly at him  and perceived that his eyes looked dull and
glazed   instantly it occurred to me  that his unexampled diligence in
copying by his dim window for the first few weeks of his stay with me
might have temporarily impaired his vision 

i was touched   i said something in condolence with him   i hinted that
of course he did wisely in abstaining from writing for a while  and
urged him to embrace that opportunity of taking wholesome exercise in
the open air   this  however  he did not do   a few days after this  my
other clerks being absent  and being in a great hurry to dispatch
certain letters by the mail  i thought that  having nothing else earthly
to do  bartleby would surely be less inflexible than usual  and carry
these letters to the post office   but he blankly declined   so  much to
my inconvenience  i went myself 

still added days went by   whether bartleby's eyes improved or not  i
could not say   to all appearance  i thought they did   but when i asked
him if they did  he vouchsafed no answer   at all events  he would do no
copying   at last  in reply to my urgings  he informed me that he had
permanently given up copying 

 what   exclaimed i   suppose your eyes should get entirely well  better
than ever before  would you not copy then  

 i have given up copying   he answered  and slid aside 

he remained as ever  a fixture in my chamber   nay  if that were
possible  he became still more of a fixture than before   what was to be
done   he would do nothing in the office  why should he stay there   in
plain fact  he had now become a millstone to me  not only useless as a
necklace  but afflictive to bear   yet i was sorry for him   i speak
less than truth when i say that  on his own account  he occasioned me
uneasiness   if he would but have named a single relative or friend  i
would instantly have written  and urged their taking the poor fellow
away to some convenient retreat   but he seemed alone  absolutely alone
in the universe   a bit of wreck in the mid atlantic   at length 
necessities connected with my business tyrannized over all other
considerations   decently as i could  i told bartleby that in six days'
time he must unconditionally leave the office   i warned him to take
measures  in the interval  for procuring some other abode   i offered to
assist him in this endeavor  if he himself would but take the first step
towards a removal    and when you finally quit me  bartleby   added i 
 i shall see that you go not away entirely unprovided   six days from
this hour  remember  

at the expiration of that period  i peeped behind the screen  and lo 
bartleby was there 

i buttoned up my coat  balanced myself  advanced slowly towards him 
touched his shoulder  and said   the time has come  you must quit this
place  i am sorry for you  here is money  but you must go  

 i would prefer not   he replied  with his back still towards me 

 you  must   

he remained silent 

now i had an unbounded confidence in this man's common honesty   he had
frequently restored to me sixpences and shillings carelessly dropped
upon the floor  for i am apt to be very reckless in such shirt button
affairs   the proceeding then which followed will not be deemed
extraordinary 

 bartleby   said i   i owe you twelve dollars on account  here are
thirty two  the odd twenty are yours   will you take it   and i handed
the bills towards him 

but he made no motion 

 i will leave them here then   putting them under a weight on the table 
then taking my hat and cane and going to the door i tranquilly turned
and added   after you have removed your things from these offices 
bartleby  you will of course lock the door  since every one is now gone
for the day but you  and if you please  slip your key underneath the
mat  so that i may have it in the morning   i shall not see you again 
so good bye to you   if hereafter in your new place of abode i can be of
any service to you  do not fail to advise me by letter   good bye 
bartleby  and fare you well  

but he answered not a word  like the last column of some ruined temple 
he remained standing mute and solitary in the middle of the otherwise
deserted room 

as i walked home in a pensive mood  my vanity got the better of my pity 
i could not but highly plume myself on my masterly management in getting
rid of bartleby   masterly i call it  and such it must appear to any
dispassionate thinker   the beauty of my procedure seemed to consist in
its perfect quietness   there was no vulgar bullying  no bravado of any
sort  no choleric hectoring  and striding to and fro across the
apartment  jerking out vehement commands for bartleby to bundle himself
off with his beggarly traps   nothing of the kind   without loudly
bidding bartleby depart  as an inferior genius might have done  i
 assumed  the ground that depart he must  and upon that assumption built
all i had to say   the more i thought over my procedure  the more i was
charmed with it   nevertheless  next morning  upon awakening  i had my
doubts   i had somehow slept off the fumes of vanity   one of the
coolest and wisest hours a man has  is just after he awakes in the
morning   my procedure seemed as sagacious as ever   but only in theory 
how it would prove in practice  there was the rub   it was truly a
beautiful thought to have assumed bartleby's departure  but  after all 
that assumption was simply my own  and none of bartleby's   the great
point was  not whether i had assumed that he would quit me  but whether
he would prefer so to do   he was more a man of preferences than
assumptions 

after breakfast  i walked down town  arguing the probabilities  pro  and
 con    one moment i thought it would prove a miserable failure  and
bartleby would be found all alive at my office as usual  the next moment
it seemed certain that i should see his chair empty   and so i kept
veering about   at the corner of broadway and canal street  i saw quite
an excited group of people standing in earnest conversation 

 i'll take odds he doesn't   said a voice as i passed 

 doesn't go   done   said i   put up your money  

i was instinctively putting my hand in my pocket to produce my own  when
i remembered that this was an election day   the words i had overheard
bore no reference to bartleby  but to the success or non success of some
candidate for the mayoralty   in my intent frame of mind  i had  as it
were  imagined that all broadway shared in my excitement  and were
debating the same question with me   i passed on  very thankful that the
uproar of the street screened my momentary absent mindedness 

as i had intended  i was earlier than usual at my office door   i stood
listening for a moment   all was still   he must be gone   i tried the
knob   the door was locked   yes  my procedure had worked to a charm  he
indeed must be vanished   yet a certain melancholy mixed with this  i
was almost sorry for my brilliant success   i was fumbling under the
door mat for the key  which bartleby was to have left there for me  when
accidentally my knee knocked against a panel  producing a summoning
sound  and in response a voice came to me from within   not yet  i am
occupied  

it was bartleby 

i was thunderstruck   for an instant i stood like the man who  pipe in
mouth  was killed one cloudless afternoon long ago in virginia  by a
summer lightning  at his own warm open window he was killed  and
remained leaning out there upon the dreamy afternoon  till some one
touched him  when he fell 

 not gone   i murmured at last   but again obeying that wondrous
ascendancy which the inscrutable scrivener had over me  and from which
ascendancy  for all my chafing  i could not completely escape  i slowly
went down stairs and out into the street  and while walking round the
block  considered what i should next do in this unheard of perplexity 
turn the man out by an actual thrusting i could not  to drive him away
by calling him hard names would not do  calling in the police was an
unpleasant idea  and yet  permit him to enjoy his cadaverous triumph
over me   this too i could not think of   what was to be done  or  if
nothing could be done  was there any thing further that i could  assume 
in the matter   yes  as before i had prospectively assumed that bartleby
would depart  so now i might retrospectively assume that departed he
was   in the legitimate carrying out of this assumption  i might enter
my office in a great hurry  and pretending not to see bartleby at all 
walk straight against him as if he were air   such a proceeding would in
a singular degree have the appearance of a home thrust   it was hardly
possible that bartleby could withstand such an application of the
doctrine of assumptions   but upon second thoughts the success of the
plan seemed rather dubious   i resolved to argue the matter over with
him again 

 bartleby   said i  entering the office  with a quietly severe
expression   i am seriously displeased   i am pained  bartleby   i had
thought better of you   i had imagined you of such a gentlemanly
organization  that in any delicate dilemma a slight hint would have
suffice  in short  an assumption   but it appears i am deceived   why  
i added  unaffectedly starting   you have not even touched that money
yet   pointing to it  just where i had left it the evening previous 

he answered nothing 

 will you  or will you not  quit me   i now demanded in a sudden
passion  advancing close to him 

 i would prefer  not  to quit you   he replied  gently emphasizing the
 not  

 what earthly right have you to stay here   do you pay any rent   do you
pay my taxes   or is this property yours  

he answered nothing 

 are you ready to go on and write now   are your eyes recovered   could
you copy a small paper for me this morning  or help examine a few lines 
or step round to the post office   in a word  will you do any thing at
all  to give a coloring to your refusal to depart the premises  

he silently retired into his hermitage 

i was now in such a state of nervous resentment that i thought it but
prudent to check myself at present from further demonstrations 
bartleby and i were alone   i remembered the tragedy of the unfortunate
adams and the still more unfortunate colt in the solitary office of the
latter  and how poor colt  being dreadfully incensed by adams  and
imprudently permitting himself to get wildly excited  was at unawares
hurried into his fatal act  an act which certainly no man could possibly
deplore more than the actor himself   often it had occurred to me in my
ponderings upon the subject  that had that altercation taken place in
the public street  or at a private residence  it would not have
terminated as it did   it was the circumstance of being alone in a
solitary office  up stairs  of a building entirely unhallowed by
humanizing domestic associations  an uncarpeted office  doubtless  of a
dusty  haggard sort of appearance   this it must have been  which
greatly helped to enhance the irritable desperation of the hapless colt 

but when this old adam of resentment rose in me and tempted me
concerning bartleby  i grappled him and threw him   how   why  simply by
recalling the divine injunction   a new commandment give i unto you 
that ye love one another    yes  this it was that saved me   aside from
higher considerations  charity often operates as a vastly wise and
prudent principle  a great safeguard to its possessor   men have
committed murder for jealousy's sake  and anger's sake  and hatred's
sake  and selfishness' sake  and spiritual pride's sake  but no man that
ever i heard of  ever committed a diabolical murder for sweet charity's
sake   mere self interest  then  if no better motive can be enlisted 
should  especially with high tempered men  prompt all beings to charity
and philanthropy   at any rate  upon the occasion in question  i strove
to drown my exasperated feelings towards the scrivener by benevolently
construing his conduct   poor fellow  poor fellow  thought i  he don't
mean any thing  and besides  he has seen hard times  and ought to be
indulged 

i endeavored also immediately to occupy myself  and at the same time to
comfort my despondency   i tried to fancy that in the course of the
morning  at such time as might prove agreeable to him   bartleby  of his
own free accord  would emerge from his hermitage  and take up some
decided line of march in the direction of the door   but no   half past
twelve o'clock came  turkey began to glow in the face  overturn his
inkstand  and become generally obstreperous  nippers abated down into
quietude and courtesy  ginger nut munched his noon apple  and bartleby
remained standing at his window in one of his profoundest dead wall
reveries   will it be credited   ought i to acknowledge it   that
afternoon i left the office without saying one further word to him 

some days now passed  during which  at leisure intervals i looked a
little into  edwards on the will   and  priestly on necessity    under
the circumstances  those books induced a salutary feeling   gradually i
slid into the persuasion that these troubles of mine touching the
scrivener  had been all predestinated from eternity  and bartleby was
billeted upon me for some mysterious purpose of an all wise providence 
which it was not for a mere mortal like me to fathom   yes  bartleby 
stay there behind your screen  thought i  i shall persecute you no more 
you are harmless and noiseless as any of these old chairs  in short  i
never feel so private as when i know you are here   at last i see it  i
feel it  i penetrate to the predestinated purpose of my life   i am
content   others may have loftier parts to enact  but my mission in this
world  bartleby  is to furnish you with office room for such period as
you may see fit to remain 

i believe that this wise and blessed frame of mind would have continued
with me  had it not been for the unsolicited and uncharitable remarks
obtruded upon me by my professional friends who visited the rooms   but
thus it often is  that the constant friction of illiberal minds wears
out at last the best resolves of the more generous   though to be sure 
when i reflected upon it  it was not strange that people entering my
office should be struck by the peculiar aspect of the unaccountable
bartleby  and so be tempted to throw out some sinister observations
concerning him   sometimes an attorney having business with me  and
calling at my office and finding no one but the scrivener there  would
undertake to obtain some sort of precise information from him touching
my whereabouts  but without heeding his idle talk  bartleby would remain
standing immovable in the middle of the room   so after contemplating
him in that position for a time  the attorney would depart  no wiser
than he came 

also  when a reference was going on  and the room full of lawyers and
witnesses and business was driving fast  some deeply occupied legal
gentleman present  seeing bartleby wholly unemployed  would request him
to run round 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
to gather all my faculties together  and for ever 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 commended 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 own
paperweight 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 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  every thing 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 bye  bartleby  i am going  good bye  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 

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 any thing  he says he prefers not to  and he refuses to quit the
premises  

 i am very sorry  sir   said i  with assumed tranquility  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 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 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   every body 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 any thing 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 

 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
clerkship  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   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
eyesight 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 any thing 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 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 tranquility returned i distinctly perceived
that i had now done all 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
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 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 yard 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 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 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 mr  cutlets  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   spacious grounds  cool apartments  sir  hope you'll stay with us
some time  try to make it agreeable   may mrs  cutlets and i have the
pleasure of your company to dinner  sir  in mrs  cutlets' private room  

 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  aint he  

 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 pity'em  can't help it  sir   did
you know monroe edwards   he added touchingly  and paused   then  laying
his hand pityingly 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 without 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 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 dine to day  either   or does he live without dining  

 lives without dining   said i  and closed his eyes 

 eh   he's asleep  aint he  

 with kings and counselors   murmured i 

                      

there would seem little need for proceeding further in this history 
imagination will readily supply the meager 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
certain strange suggestive interest to me  however sad  it may prove the
same with some others  and so i will briefly mention it   the report was
this   that bartleby had been a subordinate clerk in the dead letter
office at washington  from which he had been suddenly removed by a
change in the administration   when i think over this rumor  i cannot
adequately express the emotions which seize me   dead letters  does it
not sound like dead men   conceive a man by nature and misfortune prone
to a pallid hopelessness  can any business seem more fitted to heighten
it than that of continually handling these dead letters  and assorting
them for the flames   for by the cart load they are annually burned 
sometimes from out the folded paper the pale clerk takes a ring   the
finger it was meant for  perhaps  moulders in the grave  a bank note
sent in swiftest charity   he whom it would relieve  nor eats nor
hungers any more  pardon for those who died despairing  hope for those
who died unhoping  good tidings for those who died stifled by unrelieved
calamities   on errands of life  these letters speed to death 

ah bartleby   ah humanity