At last he looked straight at Raskolnikov, and said loudly and resolutely: "May I venture, honoured sir, to engage you in polite conversation?
Forasmuch as, though your exterior would not command respect, my experience admonishes me that you are a man of education and not accustomed to drinking.

I have always respected education when in conjunction with genuine sentiments, and I am besides a titular counsellor in rank.

Marmeladov--such is my name; titular counsellor.

I make bold to inquire--have you been in the service ?" "No, I am studying," answered the young man, somewhat surprised at the grandiloquent style of the speaker and also at being so directly addressed.

In spite of the momentary desire he had just been feeling for company of any sort, on being actually spoken to he felt immediately his habitual irritable and uneasy aversion for any stranger who approached or attempted to approach him.
"A student then, or formerly a student," cried the clerk.