白痴 英文版 The Idiot
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot VI. Page 1
LEBEDEFF'S country-house was not large, but it was pretty andconvenient, especially the part which was let to the prince.
A row of orange and lemon trees and jasmines, planted in greentubs, stood on the fairly wide terrace. According to Lebedeff,these trees gave the house a most delightful aspect. Some werethere when he bought it, and he was so charmed with the effectthat he promptly added to their number. When the tubs containingthese plants arrived at the villa and were set in their places,Lebedeff kept running into the street to enjoy the view of thehouse, and every time he did so the rent to be demanded from thefuture tenant went up with a bound.
This country villa pleased the prince very much in his state ofphysical and mental exhaustion. On the day that they left forPavlofsk, that is the day after his attack, he appeared almostwell, though in reality he felt very far from it. The faces ofthose around him for the last three days had made a pleasantimpression. He was pleased to see, not only Colia, who had becomehis inseparable companion, but Lebedeff himself and all thefamily, except the nephew, who had left the house. He was alsoglad to receive a visit from General Ivolgin, before leaving St.Petersburg.
It was getting late when the party arrived at Pavlofsk, butseveral people called to see the prince, and assembled in theverandah. Gania was the first to arrive. He had grown so pale andthin that the prince could hardly recognize him. Then came Variaand Ptitsin, who were rusticating in the neighbourhood. As toGeneral Ivolgin, he scarcely budged from Lebedeff's house, andseemed to have moved to Pavlofsk with him. Lebedeff did his bestto keep Ardalion Alexandrovitch by him, and to prevent him frominvading the prince's quarters. He chatted with himconfidentially, so that they might have been taken for oldfriends. During those three days the prince had noticed that theyfrequently held long conversations; he often heard their voicesraised in argument on deep and learned subjects, which evidentlypleased Lebedeff. He seemed as if he could not do without thegeneral. But it was not only Ardalion Alexandrovitch whomLebedeff kept out of the prince's way. Since they had come to thevilla, he treated his own family the same. Upon the pretext thathis tenant needed quiet, he kept him almost in isolation, andMuishkin protested in vain against this excess of zeal. Lebedeffstamped his feet at his daughters and drove them away if theyattempted to join the prince on the terrace; not even Vera wasexcepted.
"They will lose all respect if they are allowed to be so free andeasy; besides it is not proper for them," he declared at last, inanswer to a direct question from the prince.
"Why on earth not?" asked the latter. "Really, you know, you aremaking yourself a nuisance, by keeping guard over me like this. Iget bored all by myself; I have told you so over and over again,and you get on my nerves more than ever by waving your hands andcreeping in and out in the mysterious way you do."
It was a fact that Lebedeff, though he was so anxious to keepeveryone else from disturbing the patient, was continually in andout of the prince's room himself. He invariably began by openingthe door a crack and peering in to see if the prince was there,or if he had escaped; then he would creep softly up to the arm-chair, sometimes making Muishkin jump by his sudden appearance.He always asked if the patient wanted anything, and when thelatter replied that he only wanted to be left in peace, he wouldturn away obediently and make for the door on tip-toe, withdeprecatory gestures to imply that he had only just looked in,that he would not speak a word, and would go away and not intrudeagain; which did not prevent him from reappearing in ten minutesor a quarter of an hour. Colia had free access to the prince, atwhich Lebedeff was quite disgusted and indignant. He would listenat the door for half an hour at a time while the two weretalking. Colia found this out, and naturally told the prince ofhis discovery.
"Do you think yourself my master, that you try to keep me underlock and key like this?" said the prince to Lebedeff. "In thecountry, at least, I intend to be free, and you may make up yourmind that I mean to see whom I like, and go where I please."
"Why, of course," replied the clerk, gesticulating with hishands.
The prince looked him sternly up and down.
"Well, Lukian Timofeyovitch, have you brought the little cupboardthat you had at the head of your bed with you here?"
"No, I left it where it was."
"Impossible!"
"It cannot be moved; you would have to pull the wall down, it isso firmly fixed."
"Perhaps you have one like it here?"
"I have one that is even better, much better; that is really whyI bought this house."
"Ah! What visitor did you turn away from my door, about an hourago?"
"The-the general. I would not let him in; there is no need forhim to visit you, prince... I have the deepest esteem for him,he is a--a great man. You don't believe it? Well, you will see,and yet, most excellent prince, you had much better not receivehim."
"May I ask why? and also why you walk about on tiptoe and alwaysseem as if you were going to whisper a secret in my ear wheneveryou come near me?"
"I am vile, vile; I know it!" cried Lebedeff, beating his breastwith a contrite air. "But will not the general be too hospitablefor you?"
"Too hospitable?"
"Yes. First, he proposes to come and live in my house. Well andgood; but he sticks at nothing; he immediately makes himself oneof the family. We have talked over our respective relationsseveral times, and discovered that we are connected by marriage.It seems also that you are a sort of nephew on his mother's side;he was explaining it to me again only yesterday. If you are hisnephew, it follows that I must also be a relation of yours, mostexcellent prince. Never mind about that, it is only a foible; butjust now he assured me that all his life, from the day he wasmade an ensign to the 11th of last June, he has entertained atleast two hundred guests at his table every day. Finally, he wentso far as to say that they never rose from the table; they dined,supped, and had tea, for fifteen hours at a stretch. This went onfor thirty years without a break; there was barely time to changethe table-cloth; directly one person left, another took hisplace. On feast-days he entertained as many as three hundredguests, and they numbered seven hundred on the thousandthanniversary of the foundation of the Russian Empire. It amountsto a passion with him; it makes one uneasy to hear of it. It isterrible to have to entertain people who do things on such ascale. That is why I wonder whether such a man is not toohospitable for you and me."
"But you seem to be on the best of terms with him?"
"Quite fraternal--I look upon it as a joke. Let us be brothers-in-law, it is all the same to me,--rather an honour than not. Butin spite of the two hundred guests and the thousandth anniversaryof the Russian Empire, I can see that he is a very remarkableman. I am quite sincere. You said just now that I always lookedas if I was going to tell you a secret; you are right. I have asecret to tell you: a certain person has just let me know thatshe is very anxious for a secret interview with you."
"Why should it be secret? Not at all; I will call on her myselftomorrow."
"No, oh no!" cried Lebedeff, waving his arms; "if she is afraid,it is not for the reason you think. By the way, do you know thatthe monster comes every day to inquire after your health?"
"You call him a monster so often that it makes me suspicious."
"You must have no suspicions, none whatever," said Lebedeffquickly. "I only want you to know that the person in question isnot afraid of him, but of something quite, quite different."
"What on earth is she afraid of, then? Tell me plainly, withoutany more beating about the bush," said the prince, exasperated bythe other's mysterious grimaces.
"Ah that is the secret," said Lebedeff, with a smile.
"Whose secret?"
"Yours. You forbade me yourself to mention it before you, mostexcellent prince," murmured Lebedeff. Then, satisfied that he hadworked up Muishkin's curiosity to the highest pitch, he addedabruptly: "She is afraid of Aglaya Ivanovna."
The prince frowned for a moment in silence, and then saidsuddenly:
"Really, Lebedeff, I must leave your house. Where are GavrilaArdalionovitch and the Ptitsins? Are they here? Have you chasedthem away, too?"
"They are coming, they are coming; and the general as well. Iwill open all the doors; I will call all my daughters, all ofthem, this very minute," said Lebedeff in a low voice, thoroughlyfrightened, and waving his hands as he ran from door to door.
Moved by this news, Lebedeff hurried up to the prince.
"Shall I call the Ptitsins, and Gavrila Ardalionovitch? Shall Ilet the general in?" he asked.
"Why not? Let in anyone who wants to see me. I assure you,Lebedeff, you have misunderstood my position from the very first;you have been wrong all along. I have not the slightest reason tohide myself from anyone," replied the prince gaily.
Seeing him laugh, Lebedeff thought fit to laugh also, and thoughmuch agitated his satisfaction was quite visible.
Colia was right; the Epanchin ladies were only a few steps behindhim. As they approached the terrace other visitors appeared fromLebedeff's side of the house-the Ptitsins, Gania, and ArdalionAlexandrovitch.
The Epanchins had only just heard of the prince's illness and ofhis presence in Pavlofsk, from Colia; and up to this time hadbeen in a state of considerable bewilderment about him. Thegeneral brought the prince's card down from town, and Mrs.Epanchin had felt convinced that he himself would follow his cardat once; she was much excited.
In vain the girls assured her that a man who had not written forsix months would not be in such a dreadful hurry, and thatprobably he had enough to do in town without needing to bustledown to Pavlofsk to see them. Their mother was quite angry at thevery idea of such a thing, and announced her absolute convictionthat he would turn up the next day at latest.
So next day the prince was expected all the morning, and atdinner, tea, and supper; and when he did not appear in theevening, Mrs. Epanchin quarrelled with everyone in the house,finding plenty of pretexts without so much as mentioning theprince's name.
On the third day there was no talk of him at all, until Aglayaremarked at dinner: "Mamma is cross because the prince hasn'tturned up," to which the general replied that it was not hisfault.
Mrs. Epanchin misunderstood the observation, and rising from herplace she left the room in majestic wrath. In the evening,however, Colia came with the story of the prince's adventures, sofar as he knew them. Mrs. Epanchin was triumphant; although Coliahad to listen to a long lecture. "He idles about here the wholeday long, one can't get rid of him; and then when he is wanted hedoes not come. He might have sent a line if he did not wish toinconvenience himself."
At the words "one can't get rid of him," Colia was very angry,and nearly flew into a rage; but he resolved to be quiet for thetime and show his resentment later. If the words had been lessoffensive he might have forgiven them, so pleased was he to seeLizabetha Prokofievna worried and anxious about the prince'sillness.
She would have insisted on sending to Petersburg at once, for acertain great medical celebrity; but her daughters dissuaded her,though they were not willing to stay behind when she at onceprepared to go and visit the invalid. Aglaya, however, suggestedthat it was a little unceremonious to go en masse to see him.
"Very well then, stay at home," said Mrs. Epanchin, and a goodthing too, for Evgenie Pavlovitch is coming down and there willbe no one at home to receive him."
Prince S., who was in the house, was requested to escort theladies. He had been much interested when he first heard of theprince from the Epanchins. It appeared that they had known oneanother before, and had spent some time together in a littleprovincial town three months ago. Prince S. had greatly taken tohim, and was delighted with the opportunity of meeting him again,
The general had not come down from town as yet, nor had EvgeniePavlovitch arrived.
It was not more than two or three hundred yards from theEpanchins' house to Lebedeff's. The first disagreeable impressionexperienced by Mrs. Epanchin was to find the prince surrounded bya whole assembly of other guests--not to mention the fact thatsome of those present were particularly detestable in her eyes.The next annoying circumstance was when an apparently strong andhealthy young fellow, well dressed, and smiling, came forward tomeet her on the terrace, instead of the half-dying unfortunatewhom she had expected to see.
She was astonished and vexed, and her disappointment pleasedColia immensely. Of course he could have undeceived her beforeshe started, but the mischievous boy had been careful not to dothat, foreseeing the probably laughable disgust that she wouldexperience when she found her dear friend, the prince, in goodhealth. Colia was indelicate enough to voice the delight he feltat his success in managing to annoy Lizabetha Prokofievna, withwhom, in spite of their really amicable relations, he wasconstantly sparring.
"Just wait a while, my boy!" said she; "don't be too certain ofyour triumph." And she sat down heavily, in the arm-chair pushedforward by the prince.
Lebedeff, Ptitsin, and General Ivolgin hastened to find chairsfor the young ladies. Varia greeted them joyfully, and theyexchanged confidences in ecstatic whispers.
"I must admit, prince, I was a little put out to see you up andabout like this--I expected to find you in bed; but I give you myword, I was only annoyed for an instant, before I collected mythoughts properly. I am always wiser on second thoughts, and Idare say you are the same. I assure you I am as glad to see youwell as though you were my own son,--yes, and more; and if youdon't believe me the more shame to you, and it's not my fault.But that spiteful boy delights in playing all sorts of tricks.You are his patron, it seems. Well, I warn you that one finemorning I shall deprive myself of the pleasure of his furtheracquaintance."
"What have I done wrong now?" cried Colia. "What was the good oftelling you that the prince was nearly well again? You would nothave believed me; it was so much more interesting to picture himon his death-bed."
"How long do you remain here, prince?" asked Madame Epanchin.
"All the summer, and perhaps longer."
"You are alone, aren't you,--not married?"
"No, I'm not married!" replied the prince, smiling at theingenuousness of this little feeler.
"Oh, you needn't laugh! These things do happen, you know! Nowthen--why didn't you come to us? We have a wing quite empty. Butjust as you like, of course. Do you lease it from HIM?--thisfellow, I mean," she added, nodding towards Lebedeff. "And whydoes he always wriggle so?"
"Is he mad?" asked Madame Epanchin suddenly.
"No, he ..."
"Perhaps he is drunk? Your company is rather peculiar," sheadded, with a glance at the other guests....
"But what a pretty girl! Who is she?"
"That is Lebedeff's daughter--Vera Lukianovna."
"Indeed? She looks very sweet. I should like to make heracquaintance."
The words were hardly out of her mouth, when Lebedeff draggedVera forward, in order to present her.
"Orphans, poor orphans!" he began in a pathetic voice.
"The child she carries is an orphan, too. She is Vera's sister,my daughter Luboff. The day this babe was born, six weeks ago, mywife died, by the will of God Almighty. ... Yes... Vera takesher mother's place, though she is but her sister... nothingmore ... nothing more..."
"And you! You are nothing more than a fool, if you'll excuse me!Well! well! you know that yourself, I expect," said the ladyindignantly.
Lebedeff bowed low. "It is the truth," he replied, with extremerespect.
"Oh, Mr. Lebedeff, I am told you lecture on the Apocalypse. Is ittrue?" asked Aglaya.
"Yes, that is so ... for the last fifteen years."
"No, that was another commentator, whom the papers named. He isdead, however, and I have taken his place," said the other, muchdelighted.
"We are neighbours, so will you be so kind as to come over oneday and explain the Apocalypse to me?" said Aglaya. "I do notunderstand it in the least."
"Allow me to warn you," interposed General Ivolgin, that he isthe greatest charlatan on earth." He had taken the chair next tothe girl, and was impatient to begin talking. "No doubt there arepleasures and amusements peculiar to the country," he continued,"and to listen to a pretended student holding forth on the bookof the Revelations may be as good as any other. It may even beoriginal. But ... you seem to be looking at me with somesurprise--may I introduce myself--General Ivolgin--I carried youin my arms as a baby--"
"Delighted, I'm sure," said Aglaya; "I am acquainted with VarvaraArdalionovna and Nina Alexandrovna." She was trying hard torestrain herself from laughing.
Mrs. Epanchin flushed up; some accumulation of spleen in hersuddenly needed an outlet. She could not bear this GeneralIvolgin whom she had once known, long ago--in society.
"You are deviating from the truth, sir, as usual!" she remarked,boiling over with indignation; "you never carried her in yourlife!"
"You have forgotten, mother," said Aglaya, suddenly. "He reallydid carry me about,--in Tver, you know. I was six years old, Iremember. He made me a bow and arrow, and I shot a pigeon. Don'tyou remember shooting a pigeon, you and I, one day?"
"Yes, and he made me a cardboard helmet, and a little woodensword--I remember!" said Adelaida.
"Yes, I remember too!" said Alexandra. "You quarrelled about thewounded pigeon, and Adelaida was put in the corner, and stoodthere with her helmet and sword and all."