{"id":"01KG6YH9P085RZP99C5W82DG56","cid":"bafkreifjkovwcgs6qo7mhk5tmtsgxtcpi2wswwxu2gb4ulb5xohc6vigcu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1513,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:55.409Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KG6YDDF6PTWG4P7JTS5THSTD","start_line":1452,"text":"himself into the contracted space behind the screen, and by so doing,\r\nmaking me jostle the scrivener. “What word, sir?”\r\n\r\n“I would prefer to be left alone here,” said Bartleby, as if offended\r\nat being mobbed in his privacy.\r\n\r\n“_That’s_ the word, Turkey,” said I—“_that’s_ it.”\r\n\r\n“Oh, _prefer_? oh yes—queer word. I never use it myself. But, sir, as I\r\nwas saying, if he would but prefer—”\r\n\r\n“Turkey,” interrupted I, “you will please withdraw.”\r\n\r\n“Oh certainly, sir, if you prefer that I should.”\r\n\r\nAs he opened the folding-door to retire, Nippers at his desk caught a\r\nglimpse of me, and asked whether I would prefer to have a certain paper\r\ncopied on blue paper or white. He did not in the least roguishly accent\r\nthe word prefer. It was plain that it involuntarily rolled from his\r\ntongue. I thought to myself, surely I must get rid of a demented man,\r\nwho already has in some degree turned the tongues, if not the heads of\r\nmyself and clerks. But I thought it prudent not to break the dismission\r\nat once.\r\n\r\nThe next day I noticed that Bartleby did nothing but stand at his\r\nwindow in his dead-wall revery. Upon asking him why he did not write,\r\nhe said that he had decided upon doing no more writing.\r\n\r\n“Why, how now? what next?” exclaimed I, “do no more writing?”\r\n\r\n“No more.”\r\n\r\n“And what is the reason?”\r\n\r\n“Do you not see the reason for yourself,” he indifferently replied.\r\n\r\nI looked steadfastly at him, and perceived that his eyes looked dull\r\nand glazed. Instantly it occurred to me, that his unexampled diligence\r\nin copying by his dim window for the first few weeks of his stay with\r\nme might have temporarily impared his vision.\r\n\r\nI was touched. I said something in condolence with him. I hinted that\r\nof course he did wisely in abstaining from writing for a while; and\r\nurged him to embrace that opportunity of taking wholesome exercise in\r\nthe open air. This, however, he did not do. A few days after this, my\r\nother clerks being absent, and being in a great hurry to dispatch\r\ncertain letters by the mail, I thought that, having nothing else\r\nearthly to do, Bartleby would surely be less inflexible than usual, and\r\ncarry these letters to the post-office. But he blankly declined. So,\r\nmuch to my inconvenience, I went myself.\r\n\r\nStill added days went by. Whether Bartleby’s eyes improved or not, I\r\ncould not say. To all appearance, I thought they did. But when I asked\r\nhim if they did, he vouchsafed no answer. At all events, he would do no\r\ncopying. At last, in reply to my urgings, he informed me that he had\r\npermanently given up copying.\r\n\r\n“What!” exclaimed I; “suppose your eyes should get entirely well—better\r\nthan ever before—would you not copy then?”\r\n\r\n“I have given up copying,” he answered, and slid aside.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6YGB7ZZ4F251SWKNDDK547","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6YDDF6PTWG4P7JTS5THSTD","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6YH9P0X3P76MT1YT0P9C92","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6YH9P0E9406ABB98B4WAD0","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:56.800Z","ts":"2026-01-30T07:58:02.881Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}