{"id":"01KG6YH9P0S4SKS4ZV02D81SQV","cid":"bafkreibcnnlbygcgbvmhyd4r5zewal6cas3fvjorybxryesufp7rbv2l7m","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1240,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:55.409Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 11","source_file":"01KG6YDDF6PTWG4P7JTS5THSTD","start_line":1190,"text":"duty being transferred to Turkey and Nippers, out of compliment,\r\ndoubtless, to their superior acuteness; moreover, said Bartleby was\r\nnever, on any account, to be dispatched on the most trivial errand of\r\nany sort; and that even if entreated to take upon him such a matter, it\r\nwas generally understood that he would “prefer not to”—in other words,\r\nthat he would refuse point-blank.\r\n\r\nAs days passed on, I became considerably reconciled to Bartleby. His\r\nsteadiness, his freedom from all dissipation, his incessant industry\r\n(except when he chose to throw himself into a standing revery behind\r\nhis screen), his great stillness, his unalterableness of demeanor under\r\nall circumstances, made him a valuable acquisition. One prime thing was\r\nthis—_he was always there_—first in the morning, continually through\r\nthe day, and the last at night. I had a singular confidence in his\r\nhonesty. I felt my most precious papers perfectly safe in his hands.\r\nSometimes, to be sure, I could not, for the very soul of me, avoid\r\nfalling into sudden spasmodic passions with him. For it was exceeding\r\ndifficult to bear in mind all the time those strange peculiarities,\r\nprivileges, and unheard of exemptions, forming the tacit stipulations\r\non Bartleby’s part under which he remained in my office. Now and then,\r\nin the eagerness of dispatching pressing business, I would\r\ninadvertently summon Bartleby, in a short, rapid tone, to put his\r\nfinger, say, on the incipient tie of a bit of red tape with which I was\r\nabout compressing some papers. Of course, from behind the screen the\r\nusual answer, “I prefer not to,” was sure to come; and then, how could\r\na human creature, with the common infirmities of our nature, refrain\r\nfrom bitterly exclaiming upon such perverseness—such unreasonableness.\r\nHowever, every added repulse of this sort which I received only tended\r\nto lessen the probability of my repeating the inadvertence.\r\n\r\nHere it must be said, that according to the custom of most legal\r\ngentlemen occupying chambers in densely-populated law buildings, there\r\nwere several keys to my door. One was kept by a woman residing in the\r\nattic, which person weekly scrubbed and daily swept and dusted my\r\napartments. Another was kept by Turkey for convenience sake. The third\r\nI sometimes carried in my own pocket. The fourth I knew not who had.\r\n\r\nNow, one Sunday morning I happened to go to Trinity Church, to hear a\r\ncelebrated preacher, and finding myself rather early on the ground I\r\nthought I would walk round to my chambers for a while. Luckily I had my\r\nkey with me; but upon applying it to the lock, I found it resisted by\r\nsomething inserted from the inside. Quite surprised, I called out; when\r\nto my consternation a key was turned from within; and thrusting his\r\nlean visage at me, and holding the door ajar, the apparition of\r\nBartleby appeared, in his shirt sleeves, and otherwise in a strangely\r\ntattered deshabille, saying quietly that he was sorry, but he was\r\ndeeply engaged just then, and—preferred not admitting me at present. In\r\na brief word or two, he moreover added, that perhaps I had better walk\r\nround the block two or three times, and by that time he would probably\r\nhave concluded his affairs.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 11"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6YGB7ZQ9TDECCV6B9DR6PT","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6YDDF6PTWG4P7JTS5THSTD","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6YH92KMW7PD0VBYPHPEP38","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6YH9P0RYBWG8JWPK8VSD0E","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:56.800Z","ts":"2026-01-30T07:58:02.833Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}