白痴 英文版 The Idiot
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot VII.
THE young fellow accompanying the general was about twenty-eight,tall, and well built, with a handsome and clever face, and brightblack eyes, full of fun and intelligence.
But the new guests at least somewhat eased his strained anduncomfortable position. Seeing them approaching, he rose from hischair, and nodding amicably to the general, signed to him not tointerrupt the recitation. He then got behind his chair, and stoodthere with his left hand resting on the back of it. Thanks tothis change of position, he was able to listen to the ballad withfar less embarrassment than before. Mrs. Epanchin had also twicemotioned to the new arrivals to be quiet, and stay where theywere.
The prince was much interested in the young man who had justentered. He easily concluded that this was Evgenie PavlovitchRadomski, of whom he had already heard mention several times. Hewas puzzled, however, by the young man's plain clothes, for hehad always heard of Evgenie Pavlovitch as a military man. Anironical smile played on Evgenie's lips all the while therecitation was proceeding, which showed that he, too, wasprobably in the secret of the 'poor knight' joke. But it hadbecome quite a different matter with Aglaya. All the affectationof manner which she had displayed at the beginning disappeared asthe ballad proceeded. She spoke the lines in so serious andexalted a manner, and with so much taste, that she even seemed tojustify the exaggerated solemnity with which she had steppedforward. It was impossible to discern in her now anything but adeep feeling for the spirit of the poem which she had undertakento interpret.
Her eyes were aglow with inspiration, and a slight tremor ofrapture passed over her lovely features once or twice. Shecontinued to recite:
"Once there came a vision glorious,Mystic, dreadful, wondrous fair;Burned itself into his spirit,And abode for ever there!
"Never more--from that sweet moment--Gazed he on womankind;He was dumb to love and wooingAnd to all their graces blind.
"Full of love for that sweet vision,Brave and pure he took the field;With his blood he stained the lettersN. P. B. upon his shield.
"'Lumen caeli, sancta Rosa!'Shouting on the foe he fell,And like thunder rang his war-cryO'er the cowering infidel.
"Then within his distant castle,Home returned, he dreamed his days-Silent, sad,--and when death took himHe was mad, the legend says."
When recalling all this afterwards the prince could not for thelife of him understand how to reconcile the beautiful, sincere,pure nature of the girl with the irony of this jest. That it wasa jest there was no doubt whatever; he knew that well enough, andhad good reason, too, for his conviction; for during herrecitation of the ballad Aglaya had deliberately changed theletters A. N. B. into N. P. B. He was quite sure she had not donethis by accident, and that his ears had not deceived him. At allevents her performance--which was a joke, of course, if rather acrude one,--was premeditated. They had evidently talked (andlaughed) over the 'poor knight' for more than a month.
Yet Aglaya had brought out these letters N. P. B. not onlywithout the slightest appearance of irony, or even any particularaccentuation, but with so even and unbroken an appearance ofseriousness that assuredly anyone might have supposed that theseinitials were the original ones written in the ballad. The thingmade an uncomfortable impression upon the prince. Of course Mrs.Epanchin saw nothing either in the change of initials or in theinsinuation embodied therein. General Epanchin only knew thatthere was a recitation of verses going on, and took no furtherinterest in the matter. Of the rest of the audience, many hadunderstood the allusion and wondered both at the daring of thelady and at the motive underlying it, but tried to show no signof their feelings. But Evgenie Pavlovitch (as the prince wasready to wager) both comprehended and tried his best to show thathe comprehended; his smile was too mocking to leave any doubt onthat point.
"How beautiful that is!" cried Mrs. Epanchin, with sincereadmiration. "Whose is it? '
"Pushkin's, mama, of course! Don't disgrace us all by showingyour ignorance," said Adelaida.
I'm quite well now, thank you, and very glad to makeyour acquaintance. Prince.
"As soon as we reach home give it to me to read."
"I don't think we have a copy of Pushkin in the house."
"There are a couple of torn volumes somewhere; they have beenlying about from time immemorial," added Alexandra.
"Send Feodor or Alexey up by the very first train to buy a copy,then.--Aglaya, come here--kiss me, dear, you recited beautifully!but," she added in a whisper, "if you were sincere I am sorry foryou. If it was a joke, I do not approve of the feelings whichprompted you to do it, and in any case you would have done farbetter not to recite it at all. Do you understand?--Now comealong, young woman; we've sat here too long. I'll speak to youabout this another time."
Meanwhile the prince took the opportunity of greeting GeneralEpanchin, and the general introduced Evgenie Pavlovitch to him.
"I caught him up on the way to your house," explained thegeneral. "He had heard that we were all here."
"Yes, and I heard that you were here, too," added EvgeniePavlovitch; "and since I had long promised myself the pleasure ofseeking not only your acquaintance but your friendship, I did notwish to waste time, but came straight on. I am sorry to hear thatyou are unwell."
"Oh, but I'm quite well now, thank you, and very glad to makeyour acquaintance. Prince S. has often spoken to me about you,"said Muishkin, and for an instant the two men looked intentlyinto one another's eyes.
The prince remarked that Evgenie Pavlovitch's plain clothes hadevidently made a great impression upon the company present, somuch so that all other interests seemed to be effaced before thissurprising fact.
His change of dress was evidently a matter of some importance.Adelaida and Alexandra poured out a stream of questions; PrinceS., a relative of the young man, appeared annoyed; and IvanFedorovitch quite excited. Aglaya alone was not interested. Shemerely looked closely at Evgenie for a minute, curious perhaps asto whether civil or military clothes became him best, then turnedaway and paid no more attention to him or his costume. LizabethaProkofievna asked no questions, but it was clear that she wasuneasy, and the prince fancied that Evgenie was not in her goodgraces.
"He has astonished me," said Ivan Fedorovitch. "I nearly felldown with surprise. I could hardly believe my eyes when I met himin Petersburg just now. Why this haste? That's what I want toknow. He has always said himself that there is no need to breakwindows."
Evgenie Pavlovitch remarked here that he had spoken of hisintention of leaving the service long ago. He had, however,always made more or less of a joke about it, so no one had takenhim seriously. For that matter he joked about everything, and hisfriends never knew what to believe, especially if he did not wishthem to understand him.
"I have only retired for a time," said he, laughing. "For a fewmonths; at most for a year."
"But there is no necessity for you to retire at all," complainedthe general, "as far as I know."
"I want to go and look after my country estates. You advised meto do that yourself," was the reply. "And then I wish to goabroad."
After a few more expostulations, the conversation drifted intoother channels, but the prince, who had been an attentivelistener, thought all this excitement about so small a mattervery curious. "There must be more in it than appears," he said tohimself.
"I see the 'poor knight' has come on the scene again," saidEvgenie Pavlovitch, stepping to Aglaya's side.
To the amazement of the prince, who overheard the remark, Aglayalooked haughtily and inquiringly at the questioner, as though shewould give him to know, once for all, that there could be no talkbetween them about the 'poor knight,' and that she did notunderstand his question.
"But not now! It is too late to send to town for a Pushkin now.It is much too late, I say!" Colia was exclaiming in a loudvoice. "I have told you so at least a hundred times."
"Yes, it is really much too late to send to town now," saidEvgenie Pavlovitch, who had escaped from Aglaya as rapidly aspossible. "I am sure the shops are shut in Petersburg; it is pasteight o'clock," he added, looking at his watch.
"We have done without him so far," interrupted Adelaida in herturn. "Surely we can wait until to-morrow."
"Besides," said Colia, "it is quite unusual, almost improper, forpeople in our position to take any interest in literature. AskEvgenie Pavlovitch if I am not right. It is much more fashionableto drive a waggonette with red wheels."
"You got that from some magazine, Colia," remarked Adelaida.
"He gets most of his conversation in that way," laughed EvgeniePavlovitch. "He borrows whole phrases from the reviews. I havelong had the pleasure of knowing both Nicholai Ardalionovitch andhis conversational methods, but this time he was not repeatingsomething he had read; he was alluding, no doubt, to my yellowwaggonette, which has, or had, red wheels. But I have exchangedit, so you are rather behind the times, Colia."
The prince had been listening attentively to Radomski's words,and thought his manner very pleasant. When Colia chaffed himabout his waggonette he had replied with perfect equality and ina friendly fashion. This pleased Muishkin.
At this moment Vera came up to Lizabetha Prokofievna, carryingseveral large and beautifully bound books, apparently quite new.
"What is it?" demanded the lady.
"This is Pushkin," replied the girl. "Papa told me to offer itto you."
"What? Impossible!" exclaimed Mrs. Epanchin.
"Not as a present, not as a present! I should not have taken theliberty," said Lebedeff, appearing suddenly from behind hisdaughter. "It is our own Pushkin, our family copy, Annenkoff'sedition; it could not be bought now. I beg to suggest, with greatrespect, that your excellency should buy it, and thus quench thenoble literary thirst which is consuming you at this moment," heconcluded grandiloquently.
"Oh! if you will sell it, very good--and thank you. You shall notbe a loser! But for goodness' sake, don't twist about like that,sir! I have heard of you; they tell me you are a very learnedperson. We must have a talk one of these days. You will bring methe books yourself?"
"With the greatest respect ... and ... and veneration," repliedLebedeff, making extraordinary grimaces.
"Well, bring them, with or without respect, provided always youdo not drop them on the way; but on the condition," went on thelady, looking full at him, "that you do not cross my threshold. Ido not intend to receive you today. You may send your daughterVera at once, if you like. I am much pleased with her."
"Why don't you tell him about them?" said Vera impatiently to herfather. "They will come in, whether you announce them or not, andthey are beginning to make a row. Lef Nicolaievitch,"--sheaddressed herself to the prince--"four men are here asking foryou. They have waited some time, and are beginning to make afuss, and papa will not bring them in."
"Who are these people?" said the prince.
"They say that they have come on business, and they are the kindof men, who, if you do not see them here, will follow you aboutthe street. It would be better to receive them, and then you willget rid of them. Gavrila Ardalionovitch and Ptitsin are boththere, trying to make them hear reason."
"Pavlicheff's son! It is not worth while!" cried Lebedeff. "Thereis no necessity to see them, and it would be most unpleasant foryour excellency. They do not deserve ..."
"What? Pavlicheff's son!" cried the prince, much perturbed. "Iknow ... I know--but I entrusted this matter to GavrilaArdalionovitch. He told me ..."
At that moment Gania, accompanied by Ptitsin, came out to theterrace. From an adjoining room came a noise of angry voices, andGeneral Ivolgin, in loud tones, seemed to be trying to shout themdown. Colia rushed off at once to investigate the cause of theuproar.
"This is most interesting!" observed Evgenie Pavlovitch.
"I expect he knows all about it!" thought the prince.
"What, the son of Pavlicheff? And who may this son of Pavlicheffbe?" asked General Epanchin with surprise; and looking curiouslyaround him, he discovered that he alone had no clue to themystery. Expectation and suspense were on every face, with theexception of that of the prince, who stood gravely wondering howan affair so entirely personal could have awakened such livelyand widespread interest in so short a time.
Aglaya went up to him with a peculiarly serious look
"It will be well," she said, "if you put an end to this affairyourself AT ONCE: but you must allow us to be your witnesses.They want to throw mud at you, prince, and you must betriumphantly vindicated. I give you joy beforehand!"
"And I also wish for justice to be done, once for all," criedMadame Epanchin, "about this impudent claim. Deal with thempromptly, prince, and don't spare them! I am sick of hearingabout the affair, and many a quarrel I have had in your cause.But I confess I am anxious to see what happens, so do make themcome out here, and we will remain. You have heard people talkingabout it, no doubt?" she added, turning to Prince S.
"Of course," said he. "I have heard it spoken about at yourhouse, and I am anxious to see these young men!"
"They are Nihilists, are they not?"
"No, they are not Nihilists," explained Lebedeff, who seemed muchexcited. "This is another lot--a special group. According to mynephew they are more advanced even than the Nihilists. You arequite wrong, excellency, if you think that your presence willintimidate them; nothing intimidates them. Educated men, learnedmen even, are to be found among Nihilists; these go further, inthat they are men of action. The movement is, properly speaking,a derivative from Nihilism--though they are only knownindirectly, and by hearsay, for they never advertise their doingsin the papers. They go straight to the point. For them, it is nota question of showing that Pushkin is stupid, or that Russiamust be torn in pieces. No; but if they have a great desire foranything, they believe they have a right to get it even at thecost of the lives, say, of eight persons. They are checked by noobstacles. In fact, prince, I should not advise you ..."
But Muishkin had risen, and was on his way to open the door forhis visitors.
"You are slandering them, Lebedeff," said he, smiling.
"You are always thinking about your nephew's conduct. Don'tbelieve him, Lizabetha Prokofievna. I can assure you Gorsky andDaniloff are exceptions--and that these are only ... mistaken.However, I do not care about receiving them here, in public.Excuse me, Lizabetha Prokofievna. They are coming, and you cansee them, and then I will take them away. Please come in,gentlemen!"
Don'tbelieve him, Lizabetha Prokofievna?
Another thought tormented him: He wondered was this an arrangedbusiness--arranged to happen when he had guests in his house, andin anticipation of his humiliation rather than of his triumph?But he reproached himself bitterly for such a thought, and feltas if he should die of shame if it were discovered. When his newvisitors appeared, he was quite ready to believe himselfinfinitely less to be respected than any of them.
, and I heard that you were here, too," added EvgeniePavlovitch.
Four persons entered, led by General Ivolgin, in a state of greatexcitement, and talking eloquently.
"He is for me, undoubtedly!" thought the prince, with a smile.Colia also had joined the party, and was talking with animationto Hippolyte, who listened with a jeering smile on his lips.
The prince begged the visitors to sit down. They were all soyoung that it made the proceedings seem even more extraordinary.Ivan Fedorovitch, who really understood nothing of what was goingon, felt indignant at the sight of these youths, and would haveinterfered in some way had it not been for the extreme interestshown by his wife in the affair. He therefore remained, partlythrough curiosity, partly through good-nature, hoping that hispresence might be of some use. But the bow with which GeneralIvolgin greeted him irritated him anew; he frowned, and decidedto be absolutely silent.
As to the rest, one was a man of thirty, the retired officer, nowa boxer, who had been with Rogojin, and in his happier days hadgiven fifteen roubles at a time to beggars. Evidently he hadjoined the others as a comrade to give them moral, and ifnecessary material, support. The man who had been spoken of as"Pavlicheff's son," although he gave the name of Antip Burdovsky,was about twenty-two years of age, fair, thin and rather tall. Hewas remarkable for the poverty, not to say uncleanliness, of hispersonal appearance: the sleeves of his overcoat were greasy; hisdirty waistcoat, buttoned up to his neck, showed not a trace oflinen; a filthy black silk scarf, twisted till it resembled acord, was round his neck, and his hands were unwashed. He lookedround with an air of insolent effrontery. His face, covered withpimples, was neither thoughtful nor even contemptuous; it wore anexpression of complacent satisfaction in demanding his rights andin being an aggrieved party. His voice trembled, and he spoke sofast, and with such stammerings, that he might have been takenfor a foreigner, though the purest Russian blood ran in hisveins. Lebedeff's nephew, whom the reader has seen already,accompanied him, and also the youth named Hippolyte Terentieff.The latter was only seventeen or eighteen. He had an intelligentface, though it was usually irritated and fretful in expression.His skeleton-like figure, his ghastly complexion, the brightnessof his eyes, and the red spots of colour on his cheeks, betrayedthe victim of consumption to the most casual glance. He coughedpersistently, and panted for breath; it looked as though he hadbut a few weeks more to live. He was nearly dead with fatigue,and fell, rather than sat, into a chair. The rest bowed as theycame in; and being more or less abashed, put on an air of extremeself-assurance. In short, their attitude was not that which onewould have expected in men who professed to despise alltrivialities, all foolish mundane conventions, and indeedeverything, except their own personal interests.
"Antip Burdovsky," stuttered the son of Pavlicheff.
"Vladimir Doktorenko," said Lebedeff's nephew briskly, and with acertain pride, as if he boasted of his name.
"Keller," murmured the retired officer.
"Hippolyte Terentieff," cried the last-named, in a shrill voice.
They sat now in a row facing the prince, and frowned, and playedwith their caps. All appeared ready to speak, and yet all weresilent; the defiant expression on their faces seemed to say, "No,sir, you don't take us in!" It could be felt that the first wordspoken by anyone present would bring a torrent of speech from thewhole deputation.