"What's it going to be then, eh?"
There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is
Pete, Georgie, and Dim. Dim being really dim, and we sat in
the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do
with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry.
The Ko Part 1 rova Milkbar was a milk-plus mesto, and you may, O
my brothers, have forgotten what these mestos were like,
things changing so skorry these days and everybody very
quick to forget, newspapers not being read much neither.
Well, what they sold there was milk plus something else. They
had no license for selling liquor, but there was no law yet
against prodding some of the new veshches which they used
to put into the old moloko, so you could peet it with vel-
locet or synthemesc or drencrom or one or two other vesh-
ches which would give you a nice quiet horrorshow fifteen
minutes admiring Bog And All His Holy Angels and Saints in
your left shoe with lights bursting all over your mozg. Or you
could peet milk with knives in it, as we used to say, and this
would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of dirty
twenty-to-one, and that was what we were peeting this even-
ing I'm starting off the story with.

Our pockets were full of deng, so there was no real need
from the point of view of crasting any more pretty polly to
tolchock some old veck in an alley and viddy him swim in his
blood while we counted the takings and divided by four, nor
to do the ultra-violent on some shivering starry grey-haired
ptitsa in a shop and go smecking off with the till's guts. But, as
they say, money isn't everything.

Glossary of Nadsat Language

Words that do not appear to be of Russian origin are distinguished
by asterisks. (For help with the Russian, I am indebted to the kind-
ness of my colleague Nora Montesinos and a number of correspon-
dents.)

*appy polly loggy - apology choodesny - wonderful
baboochka - old woman *chumble - to mumble
*baddiwad - bad clop - to knock
banda - band cluve - beak
bezoomny - mad collocoll - bell
biblio - library *crack - to break up or 'bust'
bitva - battle *crark - to yowl?
Bog - God crast - to steal or rob;
bolnoy - sick robbery
bolshy - big, great creech - to shout or scream
brat, bratty - brother *cutter - money
bratchny - bastard dama - lady
britva - razor ded - old man
brooko - belly deng - money
brosay - to throw devotchka - girl
bugatty - rich dobby - good
cal - feces *dook - trace, ghost
*cancer - cigarette domy - house
cantora - office dorogoy - dear, valuable
carman - pocket dratsing - fighting
chai - tea *drencrom - drug
*charles, charlie - chaplain droog - friend
chasha - cup *dung - to defecate
chasso - guard dva - two
cheena - woman eegra - game
cheest - to wash eemya - name
chelloveck - person, man, *eggiweg - egg
fellow *filly - to play or fool with
chepooka - nonsense *firegold - drink


*fist - to punch loveted - caught
*flip - wild? lubbilubbing - making love
forella - 'trout' *luscious glory - hair
gazetta - newspaper malchick - boy
glazz - eye malenky - little, tiny
gloopy - stupid maslo - butter
*golly - unit of money merzky - filthy
goloss - voice messel - thought, fancy
goober - lip mesto - place
gooly - to walk millicent - policeman
gorlo - throat minoota - minute
govoreet - to speak or talk molodoy - young
grahzny - dirty moloko - milk
grazzy - soiled moodge - man
gromky - loud morder - snout
groody - breast *mounch - snack
gruppa - group mozg - brain
*guff - guffaw nachinat - to begin
gulliver - head nadmenny - arrogant
*guttiwuts - guts nadsat - teenage
*hen-korm - chickenfeed nagoy - naked
*horn - to cry out *nazz - fool
horrorshow - good, well neezhnies - underpants
*in-out in-out - copulation nochy - night
interessovat - to interest hoga - foot, leg
itty - to go nozh - knife
*jammiwam - jam nuking - smelling
jeezny - life oddy knocky - lonesome
kartoffel - potato odin - one
keeshkas - guts okno - window
kleb - bread oobivat - to kill
klootch - key ookadeet - to leave
knopka - button ooko - ear
kopat - to 'dig' oomny - brainy
koshka - cat oozhassny - terrible
kot - tomcat oozy - chain
krovvy - blood osoosh - to wipe
kupet - to buy otchkies - eyeglasses
lapa - paw *pan-handle - erection
lewdies - people *pee and em - parents
*lighter - crone? peet - to drink
litso - face pishcha - food
lomtick, piece, bit platch - to cry


platties - clothes *shlaga - club
pletcho - shoulder shlapa - hat
plenny - prisoner shoom - noise
plesk - splash shoot - fool
*plosh - to splash *sinny - cinema
plott - body skazat - to say
podooshka - pillow *skolliwoll - school
pol - sex skorry - quick, quickly
polezny - useful *skriking - scratching
*polyclef - skeleton key skvat - to grab
pony - to understand sladky - sweet
poogly - frightened sloochat - to happen
pooshka - 'cannon' sloosh, slooshy - to hear, to
prestoopnick - criminal listen
privodeet - to lead slovo - word
somewhere smeck - laugh
*pretty polly - money smot - to look
prod - to produce sneety - dream
ptitsa - 'chick' *snoutie - tobacco?
pyahnitsa - drunk *snuff it - to die
rabbit - work, job sobirat - to pick up
radosty - joy *sod - to fornicate, fornicator
raskazz - story soomka - 'bag'
rassoodock - mind soviet - advice, order
raz - time spat - to sleep
razdraz - upset *splodge, splosh - splash
razrez - to rip, ripping *spoogy - terrified
rook, rooker - hand, arm *Staja - State Jail
rot - mouth starry - ancient
rozz - policeman strack - horror
sabog - shoe *synthemesc - drug
sakar - sugar tally - waist
sammy - generous *tashtook - handkerchief
*sarky - sarcastic *tass - cup
scoteena - 'cow' tolchock - to hit or push; blow,
shaika - gang beating
*sharp - female toofles - slippers
sharries - buttocks tree - three
shest - barrier vareet - to 'cook up'
*shilarny - concern *vaysay - washroom
*shive - slice veck - (see chelloveck)
shiyah - neck *vellocet - drug
shlem - helmet veshch - thing


viddy - to see or look yeckate - to drive
voloss - hair *warble - song
von - smell zammechat - remarkable
vred - to harm or damage zasnoot - sleep
yahma - hole zheena - wife
*yahoodies - Jews zoobies - teeth
yahzick - tongue zvonock - bellpull
*yarbles - testicles zvook - sound


"Sir, I have done my best, have I not?" I always used my very
polite gentleman's goloss govoreeting with those at the top.
"I've tried, sir, haven't I?"
"I think," said the charlie, "that on the whole you have,
6655321. You've been very helpful and, I consider, shown a
genuine desire to reform. You will, if you continue in this
manner, earn your remission with no trouble at all."
"But sir," I said, "how about this new thing they're talking
about? How about this new like treatment that gets you out
of prison in no time at all and makes sure that you never get
back in again?"
"Oh," he said, very like wary. "Where did you hear this?
Who's been telling you these things?"
"These things get around, sir," I said. "Two warders talk, as it
might be, and somebody can't help hearing what they say. And
then somebody picks up a scrap of newspaper in the work-
shops and the newspaper says all about it. How about you
putting me in for this thing, sir, if I may make so bold as to
make the suggestion?"
You could viddy him thinking about that while he puffed
away at his cancer, wondering how much to say to me about
what he knew about this veshch I'd mentioned. Then he said:
"I take it you're referring to Ludovico's Technique." He was
still very wary.
"I don't know what it's called, sir," I said. "All I know is that
it gets you out quickly and makes sure that you don't get in
again."
"That is so," he said, his eyebrows like all beetling while he
looked down at me. "That is quite so, 6655321. Of course, it's
only in the experimental stage at the moment. It's very simple
but very drastic."



"But it's being used here, isn't it, sir?" I said. "Those new like
white buildings by the South wall, sir. We've watched those
being built, sir, when we've been doing our exercise."
"It's not been used yet," he said, "not in this prison,
6655321. Himself has grave doubts about it. I must confess I
share those doubts. The question is whether such a technique
can really make a man good. Goodness comes from within,
6655321. Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot
choose he ceases to be a man."