白痴 英文版 The Idiot
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot I.
Towards the end of November, during a thaw, at nine o'clock onemorning, a train on the Warsaw and Petersburg railway wasapproaching the latter city at full speed. The morning was sodamp and misty that it was only with great difficulty that theday succeeded in breaking; and it was impossible to distinguishanything more than a few yards away from the carriage windows.
Some of the passengers by this particular train were returningfrom abroad; but the third-class carriages were the best filled,chiefly with insignificant persons of various occupations anddegrees, picked up at the different stations nearer town. All ofthem seemed weary, and most of them had sleepy eyes and ashivering expression, while their complexions generally appearedto have taken on the colour of the fog outside.
When day dawned, two passengers in one of the third-classcarriages found themselves opposite each other. Both were youngfellows, both were rather poorly dressed, both had remarkablefaces, and both were evidently anxious to start a conversation.If they had but known why, at this particular moment, they wereboth remarkable persons, they would undoubtedly have wondered atthe strange chance which had set them down opposite to oneanother in a third-class carriage of the Warsaw Railway Company.
One of them was a young fellow of about twenty-seven, not tall,with black curling hair, and small, grey, fiery eyes. His nosewas broad and flat, and he had high cheek bones; his thin lipswere constantly compressed into an impudent, ironical--it mightalmost be called a malicious--smile; but his forehead was highand well formed, and atoned for a good deal of the ugliness ofthe lower part of his face. A special feature of this physiognomywas its death-like pallor, which gave to the whole man anindescribably emaciated appearance in spite of his hard look, andat the same time a sort of passionate and suffering expressionwhich did not harmonize with his impudent, sarcastic smile andkeen, self-satisfied bearing. He wore a large fur--or ratherastrachan--overcoat, which had kept him warm all night, while hisneighbour had been obliged to bear the full severity of a RussianNovember night entirely unprepared. His wide sleeveless mantlewith a large cape to it--the sort of cloak one sees upontravellers during the winter months in Switzerland or NorthItaly--was by no means adapted to the long cold journey throughRussia, from Eydkuhnen to St. Petersburg.
The wearer of this cloak was a young fellow, also of abouttwenty-six or twenty-seven years of age, slightly above themiddle height, very fair, with a thin, pointed and very lightcoloured beard; his eyes were large and blue, and had an intentlook about them, yet that heavy expression which some peopleaffirm to be a peculiarity. as well as evidence, of an epilepticsubject. His face was decidedly a pleasant one for all that;refined, but quite colourless, except for the circumstance thatat this moment it was blue with cold. He held a bundle made up ofan old faded silk handkerchief that apparently contained all histravelling wardrobe, and wore thick shoes and gaiters, his wholeappearance being very un-Russian.
His black-haired neighbour inspected these peculiarities, havingnothing better to do, and at length remarked, with that rudeenjoyment of the discomforts of others which the common classesso often show:
"Cold?"
"Very," said his neighbour, readily. "and this is a thaw, too.Fancy if it had been a hard frost! I never thought it would be socold in the old country. I've grown quite out of the way of it."
"What, been abroad, I suppose?"
"Yes, straight from Switzerland."
"Wheugh! my goodness!" The black-haired young fellow whistled,and then laughed.
The conversation proceeded. The readiness of the fair-hairedyoung man in the cloak to answer all his opposite neighbour'squestions was surprising. He seemed to have no suspicion of anyimpertinence or inappropriateness in the fact of such questionsbeing put to him. Replying to them, he made known to the inquirerthat he certainly had been long absent from Russia, more thanfour years; that he had been sent abroad for his health; that hehad suffered from some strange nervous malady--a kind ofepilepsy, with convulsive spasms. His interlocutor burst outlaughing several times at his answers; and more than ever, whento the question, " whether he had been cured?" the patientreplied:
"No, they did not cure me."
"Hey! that's it! You stumped up your money for nothing, and webelieve in those fellows, here!" remarked the black-hairedindividual, sarcastically.
"Gospel truth, sir, Gospel truth!" exclaimed another passenger, ashabbily dressed man of about forty, who looked like a clerk, andpossessed a red nose and a very blotchy face. "Gospel truth! Allthey do is to get hold of our good Russian money free, gratis,and for nothing. "
"Oh, but you're quite wrong in my particular instance," said theSwiss patient, quietly. "Of course I can't argue the matter,because I know only my own case; but my doctor gave me money--andhe had very little--to pay my journey back, besides having keptme at his own expense, while there, for nearly two years."
"Why? Was there no one else to pay for you?" asked the black-haired one.
"No--Mr. Pavlicheff, who had been supporting me there, died acouple of years ago. I wrote to Mrs. General Epanchin at the time(she is a distant relative of mine), but she did not answer myletter. And so eventually I came back."
"And where have you come to?"
"That is--where am I going to stay? I--I really don't quite knowyet, I--"
Both the listeners laughed again.
"I suppose your whole set-up is in that bundle, then?" asked thefirst.
"I bet anything it is!" exclaimed the red-nosed passenger, withextreme satisfaction, "and that he has precious little in theluggage van!--though of course poverty is no crime--we mustremember that!"
It appeared that it was indeed as they had surmised. The youngfellow hastened to admit the fact with wonderful readiness.
"Your bundle has some importance, however," continued the clerk,when they had laughed their fill (it was observable that thesubject of their mirth joined in the laughter when he saw themlaughing); "for though I dare say it is not stuffed full offriedrichs d'or and louis d'or--judge from your costume andgaiters--still--if you can add to your possessions such avaluable property as a relation like Mrs. General Epanchin, thenyour bundle becomes a significant object at once. That is, ofcourse, if you really are a relative of Mrs. Epanchin's, and havenot made a little error through--well, absence of mind, which isvery common to human beings; or, say--through a too luxuriantfancy?"
"Oh, you are right again," said the fair-haired traveller, "for Ireally am ALMOST wrong when I say she and I are related. She ishardly a relation at all; so little, in fact, that I was not inthe least surprised to have no answer to my letter. I expected asmuch."
"H'm! you spent your postage for nothing, then. H'm! you arecandid, however--and that is commendable. H'm! Mrs. Epanchin--ohyes! a most eminent person. I know her. As for Mr. Pavlicheff,who supported you in Switzerland, I know him too--at least, if itwas Nicolai Andreevitch of that name? A fine fellow he was--andhad a property of four thousand souls in his day."
"Yes, Nicolai Andreevitch--that was his name," and the youngfellow looked earnestly and with curiosity at the all-knowinggentleman with the red nose.
This sort of character is met with pretty frequently in a certainclass. They are people who know everyone--that is, they knowwhere a man is employed, what his salary is, whom he knows, whomhe married, what money his wife had, who are his cousins, andsecond cousins, etc., etc. These men generally have about ahundred pounds a year to live on, and they spend their whole timeand talents in the amassing of this style of knowledge, whichthey reduce--or raise--to the standard of a science.
During the latter part of the conversation the black-haired youngman had become very impatient. He stared out of the window, andfidgeted, and evidently longed for the end of the journey. He wasvery absent; he would appear to listen-and heard nothing; and hewould laugh of a sudden, evidently with no idea of what he waslaughing about.
"Excuse me," said the red-nosed man to the young fellow with thebundle, rather suddenly; "whom have I the honour to be talkingto?"
"Prince Lef Nicolaievitch Muishkin," replied the latter, withperfect readiness.
"Prince Muishkin? Lef Nicolaievitch? H'm! I don't know, I'm sure!I may say I have never heard of such a person," said the clerk,thoughtfully. "At least, the name, I admit, is historical.Karamsin must mention the family name, of course, in his history--but as an individual--one never hears of any Prince Muishkinnowadays."
"Of course not," replied the prince; "there are none, exceptmyself. I believe I am the last and only one. As to myforefathers, they have always been a poor lot; my own father wasa sublieutenant in the army. I don't know how Mrs. Epanchin comesinto the Muishkin family, but she is descended from the PrincessMuishkin, and she, too, is the last of her line."
"And did you learn science and all that, with your professor overthere?" asked the black-haired passenger.
"Oh yes--I did learn a little, but--"
"I've never learned anything whatever," said the other.
"Oh, but I learned very little, you know!" added the prince, asthough excusing himself. "They could not teach me very much onaccount of my illness. "
"Do you know the Rogojins?" asked his questioner, abruptly.
"No, I don't--not at all! I hardly know anyone in Russia. Why, isthat your name?"
"Yes, I am Rogojin, Parfen Rogojin."
"Parfen Rogojin? dear me--then don't you belong to those veryRogojins, perhaps--" began the clerk, with a very perceptibleincrease of civility in his tone.
"Yes--those very ones," interrupted Rogojin, impatiently, andwith scant courtesy. I may remark that he had not once taken anynotice of the blotchy-faced passenger, and had hitherto addressedall his remarks direct to the prince.
"Dear me--is it possible?" observed the clerk, while his faceassumed an expression of great deference and servility--if not ofabsolute alarm: "what, a son of that very Semen Rogojin--hereditary honourable citizen--who died a month or so ago andleft two million and a half of roubles?"
"And how do YOU know that he left two million and a half ofroubles?" asked Rogojin, disdainfully, and no deigning so much asto look at the other. "However, it's true enough that my fatherdied a month ago, and that here am I returning from Pskoff, amonth after, with hardly a boot to my foot. They've treated me likea dog! I've been ill of fever at Pskoff the whole time, and not aline, nor farthing of money, have I received from my mother or myconfounded brother!"
"And now you'll have a million roubles, at least--goodnessgracious me!" exclaimed the clerk, rubbing his hands.
"Five weeks since, I was just like yourself," continued Rogojin,addressing the prince, "with nothing but a bundle and the clothesI wore. I ran away from my father and came to Pskoff to my aunt'shouse, where I caved in at once with fever, and he went and diedwhile I was away. All honour to my respected father's memory--buthe uncommonly nearly killed me, all the same. Give you my word,prince, if I hadn't cut and run then, when I did, he'd havemurdered me like a dog."
"I suppose you angered him somehow?" asked the prince, looking atthe millionaire with considerable curiosity But though there mayhave been something remarkable in the fact that this man was heirto millions of roubles there was something about him whichsurprised and interested the prince more than that. Rogojin, too,seemed to have taken up the conversation with unusual alacrity itappeared that he was still in a considerable state of excitement,if not absolutely feverish, and was in real need of someone totalk to for the mere sake of talking, as safety-valve to hisagitation.
As for his red-nosed neighbour, the latter--since the informationas to the identity of Rogojin--hung over him, seemed to be livingon the honey of his words and in the breath of his nostrils,catching at every syllable as though it were a pearl of greatprice.
"Oh, yes; I angered him--I certainly did anger him," repliedRogojin. "But what puts me out so is my brother. Of course mymother couldn't do anything--she's too old--and whatever brotherSenka says is law for her! But why couldn't he let me know? Hesent a telegram, they say. What's the good of a telegram? Itfrightened my aunt so that she sent it back to the officeunopened, and there it's been ever since! It's only thanks toKonief that I heard at all; he wrote me all about it. He says mybrother cut off the gold tassels from my father's coffin, atnight because they're worth a lot of money!' says he. Why, I canget him sent off to Siberia for that alone, if I like; it'ssacrilege. Here, you--scarecrow!" he added, addressing the clerkat his side, "is it sacrilege or not, by law?'
"Sacrilege, certainly--certainly sacrilege," said the latter.
"And it's Siberia for sacrilege, isn't it?"
"Undoubtedly so; Siberia, of course!"
"They will think that I'm still ill," continued Rogojin to theprince, "but I sloped off quietly, seedy as I was, took the trainand came away. Aha, brother Senka, you'll have to open your gatesand let me in, my boy! I know he told tales about me to myfather--I know that well enough but I certainly did rile myfather about Nastasia Philipovna that's very sure, and that wasmy own doing."
"Nastasia Philipovna?" said the clerk, as though trying to thinkout something.
"Come, you know nothing about HER," said Rogojin, impatiently.
"And supposing I do know something?" observed the other,triumphantly.
"Bosh! there are plenty of Nastasia Philipovnas. And what animpertinent beast you are!" he added angrily. "I thought somecreature like you would hang on to me as soon as I got hold of mymoney. "
"Oh, but I do know, as it happens," said the clerk in anaggravating manner. "Lebedeff knows all about her. You arepleased to reproach me, your excellency, but what if I prove thatI am right after all? Nastasia Phillpovna's family name isBarashkoff--I know, you see-and she is a very well known lady,indeed, and comes of a good family, too. She is connected withone Totski, Afanasy Ivanovitch, a man of considerable property, adirector of companies, and so on, and a great friend of GeneralEpanchin, who is interested in the same matters as he is."
"My eyes!" said Rogojin, really surprised at last. "The deviltake the fellow, how does he know that?"
"Why, he knows everything--Lebedeff knows everything! I was amonth or two with Lihachof after his father died, yourexcellency, and while he was knocking about--he's in the debtor'sprison now--I was with him, and he couldn't do a thing withoutLebedeff; and I got to know Nastasia Philipovna and severalpeople at that time."
"Nastasia Philipovna? Why, you don't mean to say that she andLihachof--" cried Rogojin, turning quite pale.
"No, no, no, no, no! Nothing of the sort, I assure you!" saidLebedeff, hastily. "Oh dear no, not for the world! Totski's theonly man with any chance there. Oh, no! He takes her to his boxat the opera at the French theatre of an evening, and theofficers and people all look at her and say, 'By Jove, there'sthe famous Nastasia Philipovna!' but no one ever gets any furtherthan that, for there is nothing more to say."
"Yes, it's quite true," said Rogojin, frowning gloomily; "soZaleshoff told me. I was walking about the Nefsky one fine day,prince, in my father's old coat, when she suddenly came out of ashop and stepped into her carriage. I swear I was all of a blazeat once. Then I met Zaleshoff--looking like a hair-dresser'sassistant, got up as fine as I don't know who, while I lookedlike a tinker. 'Don't flatter yourself, my boy,' said he; 'she'snot for such as you; she's a princess, she is, and her name isNastasia Philipovna Barashkoff, and she lives with Totski, whowishes to get rid of her because he's growing rather old--fifty-five or so--and wants to marry a certain beauty, the loveliestwoman in all Petersburg.' And then he told me that I could seeNastasia Philipovna at the opera-house that evening, if I liked,and described which was her box. Well, I'd like to see my fatherallowing any of us to go to the theatre; he'd sooner have killedus, any day. However, I went for an hour or so and saw NastasiaPhilipovna, and I never slept a wink all night after. Nextmorning my father happened to give me two government loan bondsto sell, worth nearly five thousand roubles each. 'Sell them,'said he, 'and then take seven thousand five hundred roubles tothe office, give them to the cashier, and bring me back the restof the ten thousand, without looking in anywhere on the way; looksharp, I shall be waiting for you.' Well, I sold the bonds, but Ididn't take the seven thousand roubles to the office; I wentstraight to the English shop and chose a pair of earrings, with adiamond the size of a nut in each. They cost four hundred roublesmore than I had, so I gave my name, and they trusted me. With theearrings I went at once to Zaleshoff's. 'Come on!' I said, 'comeon to Nastasia Philipovna's,' and off we went without more ado. Itell you I hadn't a notion of what was about me or before me orbelow my feet all the way; I saw nothing whatever. We wentstraight into her drawing-room, and then she came out to us.
"I didn't say right out who I was, but Zaleshoff said: 'FromParfen Rogojin, in memory of his first meeting with youyesterday; be so kind as to accept these!'
"She opened the parcel, looked at the earrings, and laughed.
"'Thank your friend Mr. Rogojin for his kind attention,' saysshe, and bowed and went off. Why didn't I die there on the spot?The worst of it all was, though, that the beast Zaleshoff got allthe credit of it! I was short and abominably dressed, and stoodand stared in her face and never said a word, because I was shy,like an ass! And there was he all in the fashion, pomaded anddressed out, with a smart tie on, bowing and scraping; and I betanything she took him for me all the while!
"'Look here now,' I said, when we came out, 'none of yourinterference here after this-do you understand?' He laughed: 'Andhow are you going to settle up with your father?' says he. Ithought I might as well jump into the Neva at once without goinghome first; but it struck me that I wouldn't, after all, and Iwent home feeling like one of the damned."
"My goodness!" shivered the clerk. "And his father," he added,for the prince's instruction, "and his father would have given aman a ticket to the other world for ten roubles any day--not tospeak of ten thousand!"
The prince observed Rogojin with great curiosity; he seemed palerthan ever at this moment.
"What do you know about it?" cried the latter. "Well, my fatherlearned the whole story at once, and Zaleshoff blabbed it allover the town besides. So he took me upstairs and locked me up,and swore at me for an hour. 'This is only a foretaste,' says he;'wait a bit till night comes, and I'll come back and talk to youagain.'
"Well, what do you think? The old fellow went straight off toNastasia Philipovna, touched the floor with his forehead, andbegan blubbering and beseeching her on his knees to give him backthe diamonds. So after awhile she brought the box and flew out athim. 'There,' she says, 'take your earrings, you wretched oldmiser; although they are ten times dearer than their value to menow that I know what it must have cost Parfen to get them! GiveParfen my compliments,' she says, 'and thank him very much!'Well, I meanwhile had borrowed twenty-five roubles from a friend,and off I went to Pskoff to my aunt's. The old woman therelectured me so that I left the house and went on a drinking tourround the public-houses of the place. I was in a high fever whenI got to Pskoff, and by nightfall I was lying delirious in thestreets somewhere or other!"
"Oho! we'll make Nastasia Philipovna sing another song now!"giggled Lebedeff, rubbing his hands with glee. "Hey, my boy,we'll get her some proper earrings now! We'll get her suchearrings that--"
"Look here," cried Rogojin, seizing him fiercely by the arm,"look here, if you so much as name Nastasia Philipovna again,I'll tan your hide as sure as you sit there!"
"Aha! do--by all means! if you tan my hide you won't turn me awayfrom your society. You'll bind me to you, with your lash, forever. Ha, ha! here we are at the station, though."
Sure enough, the train was just steaming in as he spoke.
Though Rogojin had declared that he left Pskoff secretly, a largecollection of friends had assembled to greet him, and did so withprofuse waving of hats and shouting.
"Why, there's Zaleshoff here, too!" he muttered, gazing at thescene with a sort of triumphant but unpleasant smile. Then hesuddenly turned to the prince: "Prince, I don't know why I havetaken a fancy to you; perhaps because I met you just when I did.But no, it can't be that, for I met this fellow " (nodding atLebedeff) "too, and I have not taken a fancy to him by any means.Come to see me, prince; we'll take off those gaiters of yours anddress you up in a smart fur coat, the best we can buy. You shallhave a dress coat, best quality, white waistcoat, anything youlike, and your pocket shall be full of money. Come, and you shallgo with me to Nastasia Philipovna's. Now then will you come orno?"
"Accept, accept, Prince Lef Nicolaievitch" said Lebedef solemnly;"don't let it slip! Accept, quick!"
Prince Muishkin rose and stretched out his hand courteously,while he replied with some cordiality:
"I will come with the greatest pleasure, and thank you very muchfor taking a fancy to me. I dare say I may even come today if Ihave time, for I tell you frankly that I like you very much too.I liked you especially when you told us about the diamondearrings; but I liked you before that as well, though you havesuch a dark-clouded sort of face. Thanks very much for the offerof clothes and a fur coat; I certainly shall require both clothesand coat very soon. As for money, I have hardly a copeck about meat this moment."
"You shall have lots of money; by the evening I shall haveplenty; so come along!"
"That's true enough, he'll have lots before evening!" put inLebedeff.
"But, look here, are you a great hand with the ladies? Let's knowthat first?" asked Rogojin.
"Oh no, oh no! said the prince; "I couldn't, you know--myillness--I hardly ever saw a soul."
"H'm! well--here, you fellow-you can come along with me now ifyou like!" cried Rogojin to Lebedeff, and so they all left thecarriage.
Lebedeff had his desire. He went off with the noisy group ofRogojin's friends towards the Voznesensky, while the prince'sroute lay towards the Litaynaya. It was damp and wet. The princeasked his way of passers-by, and finding that he was a couple ofmiles or so from his destination, he determined to take adroshky.