白痴 英文版 The Idiot
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot IV.
murmuring almost inaudibly,Come!"her eyes, so is God's joy when one.
THEY passed through the same rooms which the prince had traversedon his arrival. In the largest there were pictures on the walls,portraits and landscapes of little interest. Over the door,however, there was one of strange and rather striking shape; itwas six or seven feet in length, and not more than a foot inheight. It represented the Saviour just taken from the cross.
The prince glanced at it, but took no further notice. He moved onhastily, as though anxious to get out of the house. But Rogojinsuddenly stopped underneath the picture.
"My father picked up all these pictures very cheap at auctions,and so on," he said; "they are all rubbish, except the one overthe door, and that is valuable. A man offered five hundredroubles for it last week."
"Yes--that's a copy of a Holbein," said the prince, looking at itagain, "and a good copy, too, so far as I am able to judge. I sawthe picture abroad, and could not forget it--what's the matter?"
Rogojin had dropped the subject of the picture and walked on. Ofcourse his strange frame of mind was sufficient to account forhis conduct; but, still, it seemed queer to the prince that heshould so abruptly drop a conversation commenced by himself.Rogojin did not take any notice of his question.
"Lef Nicolaievitch," said Rogojin, after a pause, during whichthe two walked along a little further, "I have long wished to askyou, do you believe in God?"
"How strangely you speak, and how odd you look!" said the other,involuntarily.
"I like looking at that picture," muttered Rogojin, not noticing,apparently, that the prince had not answered his question.
"That picture! That picture!" cried Muishkin, struck by a suddenidea. "Why, a man's faith might be ruined by looking at thatpicture!"
"So it is!" said Rogojin, unexpectedly. They had now reached thefront door.
The prince stopped.
"How?" he said. "What do you mean? I was half joking, and youtook me up quite seriously! Why do you ask me whether I believein God
"Oh, no particular reason. I meant to ask you before--many peopleare unbelievers nowadays, especially Russians, I have been told.You ought to know--you've lived abroad."
Rogojin laughed bitterly as he said these words, and opening thedoor, held it for the prince to pass out. Muishkin lookedsurprised, but went out. The other followed him as far as thelanding of the outer stairs, and shut the door behind him. Theyboth now stood facing one another, as though oblivious of wherethey were, or what they had to do next.
"Well, good-bye!" said the prince, holding out his hand.
"Good-bye," said Rogojin, pressing it hard, but quitemechanically.
The prince made one step forward, and then turned round.
"As to faith," he said, smiling, and evidently unwilling to leaveRogojin in this state--"as to faith, I had four curiousconversations in two days, a week or so ago. One morning I met aman in the train, and made acquaintance with him at once. I hadoften heard of him as a very learned man, but an atheist; and Iwas very glad of the opportunity of conversing with so eminentand clever a person. He doesn't believe in God, and he talked agood deal about it, but all the while it appeared to me that hewas speaking OUTSIDE THE SUBJECT. And it has always struck me,both in speaking to such men and in reading their books, thatthey do not seem really to be touching on that at all, though onthe surface they may appear to do so. I told him this, but I daresay I did not clearly express what I meant, for he could notunderstand me.
"That same evening I stopped at a small provincial hotel, and itso happened that a dreadful murder had been committed there thenight before, and everybody was talking about it. Two peasants--elderly men and old friends--had had tea together there the nightbefore, and were to occupy the same bedroom. They were not drunkbut one of them had noticed for the first time that his friendpossessed a silver watch which he was wearing on a chain. He wasby no means a thief, and was, as peasants go, a rich man; butthis watch so fascinated him that he could not restrain himself.He took a knife, and when his friend turned his back, he came upsoftly behind, raised his eyes to heaven, crossed himself, andsaying earnestly--'God forgive me, for Christ's sake!' he cut hisfriend's throat like a sheep, and took the watch."
Rogojin roared with laughter. He laughed as though he were in asort of fit. It was strange to see him laughing so after thesombre mood he had been in just before.
"Oh, I like that! That beats anything!" he cried convulsively,panting for breath. "One is an absolute unbeliever; the other issuch a thorough--going believer that he murders his friend to thetune of a prayer! Oh, prince, prince, that's too good foranything! You can't have invented it. It's the best thing I'veheard!"
"Next morning I went out for a stroll through the town,"continued the prince, so soon as Rogojin was a little quieter,though his laughter still burst out at intervals, "and soonobserved a drunken-looking soldier staggering about the pavement.He came up to me and said, 'Buy my silver cross, sir! You shallhave it for fourpence--it's real silver.' I looked, and there heheld a cross, just taken off his own neck, evidently, a large tinone, made after the Byzantine pattern. I fished out fourpence,and put his cross on my own neck, and I could see by his facethat he was as pleased as he could be at the thought that he hadsucceeded in cheating a foolish gentleman, and away he went todrink the value of his cross. At that time everything that I sawmade a tremendous impression upon me. I had understood nothingabout Russia before, and had only vague and fantastic memories ofit. So I thought, 'I will wait awhile before I condemn thisJudas. Only God knows what may be hidden in the hearts ofdrunkards.'
"Well, I went homewards, and near the hotel I came across a poorwoman, carrying a child--a baby of some six weeks old. The motherwas quite a girl herself. The baby was smiling up at her, for thefirst time in its life, just at that moment; and while I watchedthe woman she suddenly crossed herself, oh, so devoutly! 'What isit, my good woman I asked her. (I was never but asking questionsthen!) Exactly as is a mother's joy when her baby smiles for thefirst time into her eyes, so is God's joy when one of Hischildren turns and prays to Him for the first time, with all hisheart!' This is what that poor woman said to me, almost word forword; and such a deep, refined, truly religious thought it was--athought in which the whole essence of Christianity was expressedin one flash--that is, the recognition of God as our Father, andof God's joy in men as His own children, which is the chief ideaof Christ. She was a simple country-woman--a mother, it's true--and perhaps, who knows, she may have been the wife of the drunkensoldier!
"Listen, Parfen; you put a question to me just now. This is myreply. The essence of religious feeling has nothing to do withreason, or atheism, or crime, or acts of any kind--it has nothingto do with these things--and never had. There is something besidesall this, something which the arguments of the atheists can nevertouch. But the principal thing, and the conclusion of myargument, is that this is most clearly seen in the heart of aRussian. This is a conviction which I have gained while I havebeen in this Russia of ours. Yes, Parfen! there is work to bedone; there is work to be done in this Russian world! Rememberwhat talks we used to have in Moscow! And I never wished to comehere at all; and I never thought to meet you like this, Parfen!Well, well--good-bye--good-bye! God be with you!"
He turned and went downstairs.
"Lef Nicolaievitch!" cried Parfen, before he had reached the nextlanding. "Have you got that cross you bought from the soldierwith you?"
"Yes, I have," and the prince stopped again.
"Show it me, will you?"
A new fancy! The prince reflected, and then mounted the stairsonce more. He pulled out the cross without taking it off hisneck.
"Give it to me," said Parfen.
"Why? do you--"
The prince would rather have kept this particular cross.
"I'll wear it; and you shall have mine. I'll take it off atonce."
"You wish to exchange crosses? Very well, Parfen, if that's thecase, I'm glad enough--that makes us brothers, you know."
The prince took off his tin cross, Parfen his gold one, and theexchange was made.
Parfen was silent. With sad surprise the prince observed that thelook of distrust, the bitter, ironical smile, had still notaltogether left his newly-adopted brother's face. At moments, atall events, it showed itself but too plainly,
At last Rogojin took the prince's hand, and stood so for somemoments, as though he could not make up his mind. Then he drewhim along, murmuring almost inaudibly,
"Come!"
They stopped on the landing, and rang the bell at a door oppositeto Parfen's own lodging.
An old woman opened to them and bowed low to Parfen, who askedher some questions hurriedly, but did not wait to hear heranswer. He led the prince on through several dark, cold-lookingrooms, spotlessly clean, with white covers over all thefurniture.
Without the ceremony of knocking, Parfen entered a smallapartment, furnished like a drawing-room, but with a polishedmahogany partition dividing one half of it from what was probablya bedroom. In one corner of this room sat an old woman in an arm-chair, close to the stove. She did not look very old, and herface was a pleasant, round one; but she was white-haired and, asone could detect at the first glance, quite in her secondchildhood. She wore a black woollen dress, with a blackhandkerchief round her neck and shoulders, and a white cap withblack ribbons. Her feet were raised on a footstool. Beside hersat another old woman, also dressed in mourning, and silentlyknitting a stocking; this was evidently a companion. They bothlooked as though they never broke the silence. The first oldwoman, so soon as she saw Rogojin and the prince, smiled andbowed courteously several times, in token of her gratification attheir visit.
"Mother," said Rogojin, kissing her hand, "here is my greatfriend, Prince Muishkin; we have exchanged crosses; he was like areal brother to me at Moscow at one time, and did a great dealfor me. Bless him, mother, as you would bless your own son. Waita moment, let me arrange your hands for you."
But the old lady, before Parfen had time to touch her, raised herright hand, and, with three fingers held up, devoutly made thesign of the cross three times over the prince. She then noddedher head kindly at him once more.
"There, come along, Lef Nicolaievitch; that's all I brought youhere for," said Rogojin.
When they reached the stairs again he added:
"She understood nothing of what I said to her, and did not knowwhat I wanted her to do, and yet she blessed you; that shows shewished to do so herself. Well, goodbye; it's time you went, and Imust go too."
He opened his own door.
"Well, let me at least embrace you and say goodbye, you strangefellow!" cried the prince, looking with gentle reproach atRogojin, and advancing towards him. But the latter had hardlyraised his arms when he dropped them again. He could not make uphis mind to it; he turned away from the prince in order to avoidlooking at him. He could not embrace him.
"Don't be afraid," he muttered, indistinctly, "though I havetaken your cross, I shall not murder you for your watch." Sosaying, he laughed suddenly, and strangely. Then in a moment hisface became transfigured; he grew deadly white, his lipstrembled, his eves burned like fire. He stretched out his armsand held the prince tightly to him, and said in a strangledvoice:
"Well, take her! It's Fate! She's yours. I surrender her....Remember Rogojin!" And pushing the prince from him, withoutlooking back at him, he hurriedly entered his own flat, andbanged the door.