白痴 英文版 The Idiot
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot II. Page 1
IT was the beginning of June, and for a whole week the weather inSt. Petersburg had been magnificent. The Epanchins had aluxurious country-house at Pavlofsk, [One of the fashionablesummer resorts near St. Petersburg.] and to this spot Mrs.Epanchin determined to proceed without further delay. In a coupleof days all was ready, and the family had left town. A day or twoafter this removal to Pavlofsk, Prince Muishkin arrived in St.Petersburg by the morning train from Moscow. No one met him; but,as he stepped out of the carriage, he suddenly became aware oftwo strangely glowing eyes fixed upon him from among the crowdthat met the train. On endeavouring to re-discover the eyes, andsee to whom they belonged, he could find nothing to guide him. Itmust have been a hallucination. But the disagreeable impressionremained, and without this, the prince was sad and thoughtfulalready, and seemed to be much preoccupied.
His cab took him to a small and bad hotel near the Litaynaya.Here he engaged a couple of rooms, dark and badly furnished. Hewashed and changed, and hurriedly left the hotel again, as thoughanxious to waste no time. Anyone who now saw him for the firsttime since he left Petersburg would judge that he had improvedvastly so far as his exterior was concerned. His clothescertainly were very different; they were more fashionable,perhaps even too much so, and anyone inclined to mockery mighthave found something to smile at in his appearance. But what isthere that people will not smile at?
The prince took a cab and drove to a street near the Nativity,where he soon discovered the house he was seeking. It was a smallwooden villa, and he was struck by its attractive and cleanappearance; it stood in a pleasant little garden, full offlowers. The windows looking on the street were open, and thesound of a voice, reading aloud or making a speech, came throughthem. It rose at times to a shout, and was interruptedoccasionally by bursts of laughter.
Prince Muishkin entered the court-yard, and ascended the steps. Acook with her sleeves turned up to the elbows opened the door.The visitor asked if Mr. Lebedeff were at home.
"He is in there," said she, pointing to the salon.
The room had a blue wall-paper, and was well, almostpretentiously, furnished, with its round table, its divan, andits bronze clock under a glass shade. There was a narrow pier-glass against the wall, and a chandelier adorned with lustreshung by a bronze chain from the ceiling.
When the prince entered, Lebedeff was standing in the middle ofthe room, his back to the door. He was in his shirt-sleeves, onaccount of the extreme heat, and he seemed to have just reachedthe peroration of his speech, and was impressively beating hisbreast.
His audience consisted of a youth of about fifteen years of agewith a clever face, who had a book in his hand, though he was notreading; a young lady of twenty, in deep mourning, stood near himwith an infant in her arms; another girl of thirteen, also inblack, was laughing loudly, her mouth wide open; and on the sofalay a handsome young man, with black hair and eyes, and asuspicion of beard and whiskers. He frequently interrupted thespeaker and argued with him, to the great delight of the others.
"Lukian Timofeyovitch! Lukian Timofeyovitch! Here's someone tosee you! Look here! . . . a gentleman to speak to you! . . .Well, it's not my fault!" and the cook turned and went away redwith anger.
Lebedeff started, and at sight of the prince stood like a statuefor a moment. Then he moved up to him with an ingratiating smile,but stopped short again.
"Prince! ex-ex-excellency!" he stammered. Then suddenly he rantowards the girl with the infant, a movement so unexpected by herthat she staggered and fell back, but next moment he wasthreatening the other child, who was standing, still laughing, inthe doorway. She screamed, and ran towards the kitchen. Lebedeffstamped his foot angrily; then, seeing the prince regarding himwith amazement, he murmured apologetically--"Pardon to showrespect! . . . he-he!"
" You are quite wrong . . ." began the prince.
"At once . . . at once . . . in one moment!"
He rushed like a whirlwind from the room, and Muishkin lookedinquiringly at the others.
They were all laughing, and the guest joined in the chorus.
"He has gone to get his coat," said the boy.
"How annoying!" exclaimed the prince. "I thought . . . Tell me,is he . . ."
"You think he is drunk?" cried the young man on the sofa. " Notin the least. He's only had three or four small glasses,perhaps five; but what is that? The usual thing!"
As the prince opened his mouth to answer, he was interrupted bythe girl, whose sweet face wore an expression of absolutefrankness.
"He never drinks much in the morning; if you have come to talkbusiness with him, do it now. It is the best time. He sometimescomes back drunk in the evening; but just now he passes thegreater part of the evening in tears, and reads passages of HolyScripture aloud, because our mother died five weeks ago."
"No doubt he ran off because he did not know what to say to you,"said the youth on the divan. "I bet he is trying to cheat you,and is thinking how best to do it."
Just then Lebedeff returned, having put on his coat.
"Five weeks!" said he, wiping his eyes. "Only five weeks! Poororphans!"
"But why wear a coat in holes," asked the girl, "when your newone is hanging behind the door? Did you not see it?"
"Hold your tongue, dragon-fly!" he scolded. "What a plague youare!" He stamped his foot irritably, but she only laughed, andanswered:
"Are you trying to frighten me? I am not Tania, you know, and Idon't intend to run away. Look, you are waking Lubotchka, and shewill have convulsions again. Why do you shout like that?"
"Well, well! I won't again," said the master of the house hisanxiety getting the better of his temper. He went up to hisdaughter, and looked at the child in her arms, anxiously makingthe sign of the cross over her three times. "God bless her! Godbless her!" he cried with emotion. "This little creature is mydaughter Luboff," addressing the prince. "My wife, Helena, died--at her birth; and this is my big daughter Vera, in mourning, asyou see; and this, this, oh, this pointing to the young man onthe divan . . .
"Well, go on! never mind me!" mocked the other. "Don't beafraid!"
"Excellency! Have you read that account of the murder of theZemarin family, in the newspaper?" cried Lebedeff, all of asudden.
"Yes," said Muishkin, with some surprise.
"Well, that is the murderer! It is he--in fact--"
"What do you mean?" asked the visitor.
"I am speaking allegorically, of course; but he will be themurderer of a Zemarin family in the future. He is getting ready ... ."
They all laughed, and the thought crossed the prince's mind thatperhaps Lebedeff was really trifling in this way because heforesaw inconvenient questions, and wanted to gain time.
"He is a traitor! a conspirator!" shouted Lebedeff, who seemed tohave lost all control over himself. " A monster! a slanderer!Ought I to treat him as a nephew, the son of my sister Anisia?"
"Oh! do be quiet! You must be drunk! He has taken it into hishead to play the lawyer, prince, and he practices speechifying,and is always repeating his eloquent pleadings to his children.And who do you think was his last client? An old woman who hadbeen robbed of five hundred roubles, her all, by some rogue of ausurer, besought him to take up her case, instead of which hedefended the usurer himself, a Jew named Zeidler, because thisJew promised to give him fifty roubles. . . ."
"It was to be fifty if I won the case, only five if I lost,"interrupted Lebedeff, speaking in a low tone, a great contrast tohis earlier manner.
"The cleverest in the world," interrupted his uncle hastily.
prince took a cab and drove to a street near the Nativity,where!
"I do not pay much attention to that opinion," continued theyoung man calmly. "Colia is very fond of you, but he," pointingto Lebedeff, "is flattering you. I can assure you I have nointention of flattering you, or anyone else, but at least youhave some common-sense. Well, will you judge between us? Shall weask the prince to act as arbitrator?" he went on, addressing hisuncle.
"I am so glad you chanced to come here, prince."
They were all laughing, and the guest joined in the chorus.
"I agree," said Lebedeff, firmly, looking round involuntarily athis daughter, who had come nearer, and was listening attentivelyto the conversation.
"What is it all about?" asked the prince, frowning. His headached, and he felt sure that Lebedeff was trying to cheat him insome way, and only talking to put off the explanation that he hadcome for.
"I will tell you all the story. I am his nephew; he didspeak the truth there, although he is generally telling lies. Iam at the University, and have not yet finished my course. I meanto do so, and I shall, for I have a determined character. I must,however, find something to do for the present, and therefore Ihave got employment on the railway at twenty-four roubles amonth. I admit that my uncle has helped me once or twice before.Well, I had twenty roubles in my pocket, and I gambled them away.Can you believe that I should be so low, so base, as to losemoney in that way?"
"And the man who won it is a rogue, a rogue whom you ought not tohave paid!" cried Lebedeff.
"That is so," observed Lebedeff quietly; "cowardly and base."
"Well, wait a bit, before you begin to triumph," said the nephewviciously; for the words seemed to irritate him. "He isdelighted! I came to him here and told him everything: I actedhonourably, for I did not excuse myself. I spoke most severely ofmy conduct, as everyone here can witness. But I must smartenmyself up before I take up my new post, for I am really like atramp. Just look at my boots! I cannot possibly appear like this,and if I am not at the bureau at the time appointed, the job willbe given to someone else; and I shall have to try for another.Now I only beg for fifteen roubles, and I give my word that Iwill never ask him for anything again. I am also ready to promiseto repay my debt in three months' time, and I will keep my word,even if I have to live on bread and water. My salary will amountto seventy-five roubles in three months. The sum I now ask, addedto what I have borrowed already, will make a total of aboutthirty-five roubles, so you see I shall have enough to pay himand confound him! if he wants interest, he shall have that, too!Haven't I always paid back the money he lent me before? Whyshould he be so mean now? He grudges my having paid thatlieutenant; there can be no other reason! That's the kind he is--a dog in the manger!"
"And he won't go away!" cried Lebedeff. "He has installed himselfhere, and here he remains!"
"I have told you already, that I will not go away until I havegot what I ask. Why are you smiling, prince? You look as if youdisapproved of me."
"I am not smiling, but I really think you are in the wrong,somewhat," replied Muishkin, reluctantly.
"Don't shuffle! Say plainly that you think that I am quite wrong,without any 'somewhat'! Why 'somewhat'?"
"I will say you are quite wrong, if you wish."
"If I wish! That's good, I must say! Do you think I am deceivedas to the flagrant impropriety of my conduct? I am quite awarethat his money is his own, and that my action -As much like anattempt at extortion. But you-you don't know what life is! Ifpeople don't learn by experience, they never understand. Theymust be taught. My intentions are perfectly honest; on myconscience he will lose nothing, and I will pay back the moneywith interest. Added to which he has had the moral satisfactionof seeing me disgraced. What does he want more? and what is hegood for if he never helps anyone? Look what he does himself!just ask him about his dealings with others, how he deceivespeople! How did he manage to buy this house? You may cut off myhead if he has not let you in for something-and if he is nottrying to cheat you again. You are smiling. You don't believeme?"
"It seems to me that all this has nothing to do with youraffairs," remarked the prince.
"I have lain here now for three days," cried the young manwithout noticing, "and I have seen a lot! Fancy! he suspects hisdaughter, that angel, that orphan, my cousin--he suspects her, andevery evening he searches her room, to see if she has a loverhidden in it! He comes here too on tiptoe, creeping softly--oh,so softly--and looks under the sofa--my bed, you know. He is madwith suspicion, and sees a thief in every corner. He runs aboutall night long; he was up at least seven times last night, tosatisfy himself that the windows and doors were barred, and topeep into the oven. That man who appears in court for scoundrels,rushes in here in the night and prays, lying prostrate, banginghis head on the ground by the half-hour--and for whom do youthink he prays? Who are the sinners figuring in his drunkenpetitions? I have heard him with my own ears praying for therepose of the soul of the Countess du Barry! Colia heard it too.He is as mad as a March hare!"
"You hear how he slanders me, prince," said Lebedeff, almostbeside himself with rage. "I may be a drunkard, an evil-doer, athief, but at least I can say one thing for myself. He does notknow--how should he, mocker that he is?--that when he came intothe world it was I who washed him, and dressed him in hisswathing-bands, for my sister Anisia had lost her husband, andwas in great poverty. I was very little better off than she, butI sat up night after night with her, and nursed both mother andchild; I used to go downstairs and steal wood for them from thehouse-porter. How often did I sing him to sleep when I was halfdead with hunger! In short, I was more than a father to him, andnow--now he jeers at me! Even if I did cross myself, and pray forthe repose of the soul of the Comtesse du Barry, what does itmatter? Three days ago, for the first time in my life, I read herbiography in an historical dictionary. Do you know who she was?You there!" addressing his nephew. "Speak! do you know?"
"Of course no one knows anything about her but you," muttered theyoung man in a would-be jeering tone.
"She was a Countess who rose from shame to reign like a Queen. AnEmpress wrote to her, with her own hand, as 'Ma chere cousine.'At a lever-du-roi one morning (do you know what a lever-du-roiwas?)--a Cardinal, a Papal legate, offered to put on herstockings; a high and holy person like that looked on it as anhonour! Did you know this? I see by your expression that you didnot! Well, how did she die? Answer!"
"Oh! do stop--you are too absurd!"
"This is how she died. After all this honour and glory, afterhaving been almost a Queen, she was guillotined by that butcher,Samson. She was quite innocent, but it had to be done, for thesatisfaction of the fishwives of Paris. She was so terrified,that she did not understand what was happening. But when Samsonseized her head, and pushed her under the knife with his foot,she cried out: 'Wait a moment! wait a moment, monsieur!' Well,because of that moment of bitter suffering, perhaps the Saviourwill pardon her other faults, for one cannot imagine a greateragony. As I read the story my heart bled for her. And what doesit matter to you, little worm, if I implored the Divine mercy forher, great sinner as she was, as I said my evening prayer? Imight have done it because I doubted if anyone had ever crossedhimself for her sake before. It may be that in the other worldshe will rejoice to think that a sinner like herself has cried toheaven for the salvation of her soul. Why are you laughing? Youbelieve nothing, atheist! And your story was not even correct! Ifyou had listened to what I was saying, you would have heard thatI did not only pray for the Comtesse du Barry. I said, 'Oh Lord!give rest to the soul of that great sinner, the Comtesse duBarry, and to all unhappy ones like her.' You see that is quite adifferent thing, for how many sinners there are, how many women,who have passed through the trials of this life, are nowsuffering and groaning in purgatory! I prayed for you, too, inspite of your insolence and impudence, also for your fellows, asit seems that you claim to know how I pray. . ."
"Oh! that's enough in all conscience! Pray for whom you choose,and the devil take them and you! We have a scholar here; you didnot know that, prince?" he continued, with a sneer. "He reads allsorts of books and memoirs now."
"At any rate, your uncle has a kind heart," remarked the prince,who really had to force himself to speak to the nephew, so muchdid he dislike him.
"Oh, now you are going to praise him! He will be set up! He putshis hand on his heart, and he is delighted! I never said he was aman without heart, but he is a rascal--that's the pity of it. Andthen, he is addicted to drink, and his mind is unhinged, likethat of most people who have taken more than is good for them foryears. He loves his children--oh, I know that well enough! Herespected my aunt, his late wife ... and he even has a sort ofaffection for me. He has remembered me in his will."
"I shall leave you nothing!" exclaimed his uncle angrily.
"Listen to me, Lebedeff," said the prince in a decided voice,turning his back on the young man. "I know by experience thatwhen you choose, you can be business-like. . I . I have verylittle time to spare, and if you ... By the way--excuse me--whatis your Christian name? I have forgotten it."
"Ti-Ti-Timofey."
"And?"
"Lukianovitch."
Everyone in the room began to laugh.