白痴 英文版 The Idiot
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot I. Page 2
"In the first place, what is liberalism, speaking generally, butan attack (whether mistaken or reasonable, is quite anotherquestion) upon the existing order of things? Is this so? Yes.Very well. Then my 'fact' consists in this, that RUSSIANliberalism is not an attack upon the existing order of things,but an attack upon the very essence of things themselves--indeed,on the things themselves; not an attack on the Russian order ofthings, but on Russia itself. My Russian liberal goes so far asto reject Russia; that is, he hates and strikes his own mother.Every misfortune and mishap of the mother-country fills him withmirth, and even with ecstasy. He hates the national customs,Russian history, and everything. If he has a justification, it isthat he does not know what he is doing, and believes that hishatred of Russia is the grandest and most profitable kind ofliberalism. (You will often find a liberal who is applauded andesteemed by his fellows, but who is in reality the dreariest,blindest, dullest of conservatives, and is not aware of thefact.) This hatred for Russia has been mistaken by some of our'Russian liberals' for sincere love of their country, and theyboast that they see better than their neighbours what real loveof one's country should consist in. But of late they have grown,more candid and are ashamed of the expression 'love of country,'and have annihilated the very spirit of the words as somethinginjurious and petty and undignified. This is the truth, and Ihold by it; but at the same time it is a phenomenon which has notbeen repeated at any other time or place; and therefore, though Ihold to it as a fact, yet I recognize that it is an accidentalphenomenon, and may likely enough pass away. There can be no suchthing anywhere else as a liberal who really hates his country;and how is this fact to be explained among US? By my originalstatement that a Russian liberal is NOT a RUSSIAN liberal--that'sthe only explanation that I can see."
"I take all that you have said as a joke," said Prince S.seriously.
"I have not seen all kinds of liberals, and cannot, therefore,set myself up as a judge," said Alexandra, "but I have heard allyou have said with indignation. You have taken some accidentalcase and twisted it into a universal law, which is unjust."
"Accidental case!" said Evgenie Pavlovitch. "Do you consider itan accidental case, prince?"
"I must also admit," said the prince, "that I have not seen much,or been very far into the question; but I cannot help thinkingthat you are more or less right, and that Russian liberalism--that phase of it which you are considering, at least--really issometimes inclined to hate Russia itself, and not only itsexisting order of things in general. Of course this is onlyPARTIALLY the truth; you cannot lay down the law for all..."
The prince blushed and broke off, without finishing what he meantto say.
In spite of his shyness and agitation, he could not help beinggreatly interested in the conversation. A special characteristicof his was the naive candour with which he always listened toarguments which interested him, and with which he answered anyquestions put to him on the subject at issue. In the veryexpression of his face this naivete was unmistakably evident,this disbelief in the insincerity of others, and unsuspectingdisregard of irony or humour in their words.
But though Evgenie Pavlovitch had put his questions to the princewith no other purpose but to enjoy the joke of his simple-mindedseriousness, yet now, at his answer, he was surprised into someseriousness himself, and looked gravely at Muishkin as though hehad not expected that sort of answer at all.
"Why, how strange!" he ejaculated. "You didn't answer meseriously, surely, did you?"
"Did not you ask me the question seriously" inquired the prince,in amazement.
Everybody laughed.
"Oh, trust HIM for that!" said Adelaida. "Evgenie Pavlovitchturns everything and everybody he can lay hold of to ridicule.You should hear the things he says sometimes, apparently inperfect seriousness."
"In my opinion the conversation has been a painful onethroughout, and we ought never to have begun it," said Alexandra."We were all going for a walk--"
"Come along then," said Evgenie; "it's a glorious evening. But,to prove that this time I was speaking absolutely seriously, andespecially to prove this to the prince (for you, prince, haveinterested me exceedingly, and I swear to you that I am not quitesuch an ass as I like to appear sometimes, although I am ratheran ass, I admit), and--well, ladies and gentlemen, will you allowme to put just one more question to the prince, out of purecuriosity? It shall be the last. This question came into my minda couple of hours since (you see, prince, I do think seriously attimes), and I made my own decision upon it; now I wish to hearwhat the prince will say to it."
"We have just used the expression 'accidental case.' This is asignificant phrase; we often hear it. Well, not long sinceeveryone was talking and reading about that terrible murder ofsix people on the part of a--young fellow, and of theextraordinary speech of the counsel for the defence, who observedthat in the poverty-stricken condition of the criminal it musthave come NATURALLY into his head to kill these six people. I donot quote his words, but that is the sense of them, or somethingvery like it. Now, in my opinion, the barrister who put forwardthis extraordinary plea was probably absolutely convinced that hewas stating the most liberal, the most humane, the mostenlightened view of the case that could possibly be broughtforward in these days. Now, was this distortion, this capacityfor a perverted way of viewing things, a special or accidentalcase, or is such a general rule?"
Everyone laughed at this.
much attention at first. He isdecidedly better today, and says he has not felt.
"A special case--accidental, of course!" cried Alexandra andAdelaida.
"Let me remind you once more, Evgenie," said Prince S., "thatyour joke is getting a little threadbare."
"What do you think about it, prince?" asked Evgenie, taking nonotice of the last remark, and observing Muishkin's serious eyesfixed upon his face. "What do you think--was it a special or ausual case--the rule, or an exception? I confess I put thequestion especially for you."
"No, I don't think it was a special case," said the prince,quietly, but firmly.
"My dear fellow!" cried Prince S., with some annoyance, "don'tyou see that he is chaffing you? He is simply laughing at you,and wants to make game of you."
"I thought Evgenie Pavlovitch was talking seriously," said theprince, blushing and dropping his eyes.
"My dear prince," continued Prince S. "remember what you and Iwere saying two or three months ago. We spoke of the fact that inour newly opened Law Courts one could already lay one's fingerupon so many talented and remarkable young barristers. Howpleased you were with the state of things as we found it, and howglad I was to observe your delight! We both said it was a matterto be proud of; but this clumsy defence that Evgenie mentions,this strange argument CAN, of course, only be an accidental case--one in a thousand!"
The prince reflected a little, but very soon he replied, withabsolute conviction in his tone, though he still spoke somewhatshyly and timidly:
"I only wished to say that this 'distortion,' as EvgeniePavlovitch expressed it, is met with very often, and is far morethe general rule than the exception, unfortunately for Russia. Somuch so, that if this distortion were not the general rule,perhaps these dreadful crimes would be less frequent."
"Dreadful crimes? But I can assure you that crimes just asdreadful, and probably more horrible, have occurred before ourtimes, and at all times, and not only here in Russia, buteverywhere else as well. And in my opinion it is not at alllikely that such murders will cease to occur for a very long timeto come. The only difference is that in former times there wasless publicity, while now everyone talks and writes freely aboutsuch things--which fact gives the impression that such crimeshave only now sprung into existence. That is where your mistakelies--an extremely natural mistake, I assure you, my dearfellow!" said Prince S.
"I know that there were just as many, and just as terrible,crimes before our times. Not long since I visited a convictprison and made acquaintance with some of the criminals. Therewere some even more dreadful criminals than this one we have beenspeaking of--men who have murdered a dozen of their fellow-creatures, and feel no remorse whatever. But what I especiallynoticed was this, that the very most hopeless and remorselessmurderer--however hardened a criminal he may be--still KNOWS THATHE IS A CRIMINAL; that is, he is conscious that he has actedwickedly, though he may feel no remorse whatever. And they wereall like this. Those of whom Evgenie Pavlovitch has spoken, donot admit that they are criminals at all; they think they had aright to do what they did, and that they were even doing a gooddeed, perhaps. I consider there is the greatest differencebetween the two cases. And recollect--it was a YOUTH, at theparticular age which is most helplessly susceptible to thedistortion of ideas!"
Prince S. was now no longer smiling; he gazed at the prince inbewilderment.
Alexandra, who had seemed to wish to put in her word when theprince began, now sat silent, as though some sudden thought hadcaused her to change her mind about speaking.
Evgenie Pavlovitch gazed at him in real surprise, and this timehis expression of face had no mockery in it whatever.
"What are you looking so surprised about, my friend?" asked Mrs.Epanchin, suddenly. "Did you suppose he was stupider thanyourself, and was incapable of forming his own opinions, orwhat?"
"No! Oh no! Not at all!" said Evgenie. "But--how is it, prince,that you--(excuse the question, will you?)--if you are capable ofobserving and seeing things as you evidently do, how is it thatyou saw nothing distorted or perverted in that claim upon yourproperty, which you acknowledged a day or two since; and whichwas full of arguments founded upon the most distorted views ofright and wrong?"
"I'll tell you what, my friend," cried Mrs. Epanchin, of asudden, "here are we all sitting here and imagining we are veryclever, and perhaps laughing at the prince, some of us, andmeanwhile he has received a letter this very day in which thatsame claimant renounces his claim, and begs the prince's pardon.There I we don't often get that sort of letter; and yet we arenot ashamed to walk with our noses in the air before him."
"And Hippolyte has come down here to stay," said Colia, suddenly.
"What! has he arrived?" said the prince, starting up.
"Yes, I brought him down from town just after you had left thehouse."
"There now! It's just like him," cried Lizabetha Prokofievna,boiling over once more, and entirely oblivious of the fact thatshe had just taken the prince's part. "I dare swear that you wentup to town yesterday on purpose to get the little wretch to doyou the great honour of coming to stay at your house. You did goup to town, you know you did--you said so yourself! Now then, didyou, or did you not, go down on your knees and beg him to come,confess!"
"No, he didn't, for I saw it all myself," said Colia. "On thecontrary, Hippolyte kissed his hand twice and thanked him; andall the prince said was that he thought Hippolyte might feelbetter here in the country!"
"Don't, Colia,--what is the use of saying all that?" cried theprince, rising and taking his hat.
"Where are you going to now?" cried Mrs. Epanchin.
"Never mind about him now, prince," said Colia. "He is all rightand taking a nap after the journey. He is very happy to be here;but I think perhaps it would be better if you let him alone fortoday,--he is very sensitive now that he is so ill--and he mightbe embarrassed if you show him too much attention at first. He isdecidedly better today, and says he has not felt so well for thelast six months, and has coughed much less, too."
The prince observed that Aglaya came out of her corner andapproached the table at this point.
He did not dare look at her, but he was conscious, to the verytips of his fingers, that she was gazing at him, perhaps angrily;and that she had probably flushed up with a look of fieryindignation in her black eyes.
"It seems to me, Mr. Colia, that you were very foolish to bringyour young friend down--if he is the same consumptive boy who weptso profusely, and invited us all to his own funeral," remarkedEvgenie Pavlovitch. "He talked so eloquently about the blank walloutside his bedroom window, that I'm sure he will never supportlife here without it. "
"I think so too," said Mrs. Epanchin; "he will quarrel with you,and be off," and she drew her workbox towards her with an air ofdignity, quite oblivious of the fact that the family was about tostart for a walk in the park.
"Yes, I remember he boasted about the blank wall in anextraordinary way," continued Evgenie, "and I feel that withoutthat blank wall he will never be able to die eloquently; and hedoes so long to die eloquently!"
"Oh, you must forgive him the blank wall," said the prince,quietly. "He has come down to see a few trees now, poor fellow."
"Oh, I forgive him with all my heart; you may tell him so ifyou like," laughed Evgenie.
"I don't think you should take it quite like that," said theprince, quietly, and without removing his eyes from the carpet."I think it is more a case of his forgiving you "
"Forgiving me! why so? What have I done to need his forgiveness?"
"If you don't understand, then--but of course, you do understand.He wished--he wished to bless you all round and to have yourblessing--before he died--that's all."
"My dear prince," began Prince S., hurriedly, exchanging glanceswith some of those present, "you will not easily find heaven onearth, and yet you seem to expect to. Heaven is a difficult thingto find anywhere, prince; far more difficult than appears to thatgood heart of yours. Better stop this conversation, or we shallall be growing quite disturbed in our minds, and--"
"Let's go and hear the band, then," said Lizabetha Prokofievna,angrily rising from her place.
The rest of the company followed her example.