concept
"Even the Walls Have Ears"
walls have ears
also: и стены слышат
A proverb warning that private speech may be overheard, invoked by the sick man to explain his terror of the doctors' loud talk -- a miniature emblem of surveillance-anxiety under Alexander III's tightened censorship.
Reading notes
- At the Bedside of the Sick Man §9 even the walls have ears
A proverbial warning against being overheard, sharpened here into a specifically political fear: under Alexander III's tightened press and speech controls, ordinary citizens grew wary of voicing opinions where a servant, neighbor, or informer might listen in.