白痴 英文版 The Idiot
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot IV. Page 1
THE prince observed with great surprise, as he approached hisvilla, accompanied by Rogojin, that a large number of people wereassembled on his verandah, which was brilliantly lighted up. Thecompany seemed merry and were noisily laughing and talking--evenquarrelling, to judge from the sounds. At all events they wereclearly enjoying themselves, and the prince observed further oncloser investigation--that all had been drinking champagne. Tojudge from the lively condition of some of the party, it was tobe supposed that a considerable quantity of champagne had beenconsumed already.
All the guests were known to the prince; but the curious part ofthe matter was that they had all arrived on the same evening, asthough with one accord, although he had only himself recollectedthe fact that it was his birthday a few moments since.
"You must have told somebody you were going to trot out thechampagne, and that's why they are all come!" muttered Rogojin,as the two entered the verandah. "We know all about that! You'veonly to whistle and they come up in shoals!" he continued, almostangrily. He was doubtless thinking of his own late experienceswith his boon companions.
All surrounded the prince with exclamations of welcome, and, onhearing that it was his birthday, with cries of congratulationand delight; many of them were very noisy.
The presence of certain of those in the room surprised the princevastly, but the guest whose advent filled him with the greatestwonder--almost amounting to alarm--was Evgenie Pavlovitch. Theprince could not believe his eyes when he beheld the latter, andcould not help thinking that something was wrong.
Lebedeff ran up promptly to explain the arrival of all thesegentlemen. He was himself somewhat intoxicated, but the princegathered from his long-winded periods that the party hadassembled quite naturally, and accidentally.
First of all Hippolyte had arrived, early in the evening, andfeeling decidedly better, had determined to await the prince onthe verandah. There Lebedeff had joined him, and his householdhad followed--that is, his daughters and General Ivolgin.Burdovsky had brought Hippolyte, and stayed on with him. Ganiaand Ptitsin had dropped in accidentally later on; then cameKeller, and he and Colia insisted on having champagne. EvgeniePavlovitch had only dropped in half an hour or so ago. Lebedeffhad served the champagne readily.
"My own though, prince, my own, mind," he said, "and there'll besome supper later on; my daughter is getting it ready now. Comeand sit down, prince, we are all waiting for you, we want youwith us. Fancy what we have been discussing! You know thequestion, 'to be or not to be,'--out of Hamlet! A contemporarytheme! Quite up-to-date! Mr. Hippolyte has been eloquent to adegree. He won't go to bed, but he has only drunk a littlechampagne, and that can't do him any harm. Come along, prince,and settle the question. Everyone is waiting for you, sighing forthe light of your luminous intelligence..."
The prince noticed the sweet, welcoming look on Vera Lebedeff'sface, as she made her way towards him through the crowd. He heldout his hand to her. She took it, blushing with delight, andwished him "a happy life from that day forward." Then she ran offto the kitchen, where. her presence was necessary to help in thepreparations for supper. Before the prince's arrival she hadspent some time on the terrace, listening eagerly to theconversation, though the visitors, mostly under the influence ofwine, were discussing abstract subjects far beyond hercomprehension. In the next room her younger sister lay on awooden chest, sound asleep, with her mouth wide open; but theboy, Lebedeff's son, had taken up his position close beside Coliaand Hippolyte, his face lit up with interest in the conversationof his father and the rest, to which he would willingly havelistened for ten hours at a stretch.
"I have waited for you on purpose, and am very glad to see youarrive so happy," said Hippolyte, when the prince came forward topress his hand, immediately after greeting Vera.
"And how do you know that I am 'so happy'?
"I can see it by your face! Say 'how do you do' to the others,and come and sit down here, quick--I've been waiting for you!" headded, accentuating the fact that he had waited. On the prince'sasking, "Will it not be injurious to you to sit out so late?" hereplied that he could not believe that he had thought himselfdying three days or so ago, for he never had felt better thanthis evening.
Burdovsky next jumped up and explained that he had come in byaccident, having escorted Hippolyte from town. He murmured thathe was glad he had "written nonsense" in his letter, and thenpressed the prince's hand warmly and sat down again.
The prince approached Evgenie Pavlovitch last of all. The latterimmediately took his arm.
"I have a couple of words to say to you," he began, "and those ona very important matter; let's go aside for a minute or two."
this 'star'?" asked another. Evgenie Pavlovitch.is.
"Just a couple of words!" whispered another voice in the prince'sother ear, and another hand took his other arm. Muishkin turned,and to his great surprise observed a red, flushed face and adroll-looking figure which he recognized at once as that ofFerdishenko. Goodness knows where he had turned up from!
"Do you remember Ferdishenko?" he asked.
"Where have you dropped from?" cried the prince.
"He is sorry for his sins now, prince," cried Keller. "He did notwant to let you know he was here; he was hidden over there in thecorner,--but he repents now, he feels his guilt."
"Why, what has he done?"
"I met him outside and brought him in--he's a gentleman whodoesn't often allow his friends to see him, of late--but he'ssorry now."
"Delighted, I'm sure!--I'll come back directly, gentlemen,--sitdown there with the others, please,--excuse me one moment," saidthe host, getting away with difficulty in order to followEvgenie.
"You are very gay here," began the latter, "and I have had quitea pleasant half-hour while I waited for you. Now then, my dearLef Nicolaievitch, this is what's the matter. I've arranged itall with Moloftsoff, and have just come in to relieve your mindon that score. You need be under no apprehensions. He was verysensible, as he should be, of course, for I think he was entirelyto blame himself."
"What Moloftsoff?"
"The young fellow whose arms you held, don't you know? He was sowild with you that he was going to send a friend to you tomorrowmorning."
"What nonsense!"
"Of course it is nonsense, and in nonsense it would have ended,doubtless; but you know these fellows, they--"
"Excuse me, but I think you must have something else that youwished to speak about, Evgenie Pavlovitch?"
"Of course, I have!" said the other, laughing. "You see, my dearfellow, tomorrow, very early in the morning, I must be off totown about this unfortunate business(my uncle, you know!). Justimagine, my dear sir, it is all true--word for word--and, ofcourse, everybody knew it excepting myself. All this has beensuch a blow to me that I have not managed to call in at theEpanchins'. Tomorrow I shall not see them either, because Ishall be in town. I may not be here for three days or more; in aword, my affairs are a little out of gear. But though my townbusiness is, of course, most pressing, still I determined not to goaway until I had seen you, and had a clear understanding with youupon certain points; and that without loss of time. I will wait now,if you will allow me, until the company departs; I may just aswell, for I have nowhere else to go to, and I shall certainly notdo any sleeping tonight; I'm far too excited. And finally, I mustconfess that, though I know it is bad form to pursue a man inthis way, I have come to beg your friendship, my dear prince. Youare an unusual sort of a person; you don't lie at every step, assome men do; in fact, you don't lie at all, and there is a matterin which I need a true and sincere friend, for I really may claimto be among the number of bona fide unfortunates just now."
He laughed again.
"But the trouble is," said the prince, after a slight pause forreflection, "that goodness only knows when this party will breakup. Hadn't we better stroll into the park? I'll excuse myself,there's no danger of their going away."
"No, no! I have my reasons for wishing them not to suspect us ofbeing engaged in any specially important conversation. There aregentry present who are a little too much interested in us. Youare not aware of that perhaps, prince? It will be a great dealbetter if they see that we are friendly just in an ordinary way.They'll all go in a couple of hours, and then I'll ask you togive me twenty minutes-half an hour at most."
"By all means! I assure you I am delighted--you need not haveentered into all these explanations. As for your remarks aboutfriendship with me--thanks, very much indeed. You must excuse mybeing a little absent this evening. Do you know, I cannot somehowbe attentive to anything just now?"
"I see, I see," said Evgenie, smiling gently. His mirth seemedvery near the surface this evening.
"What do you see?" said the prince, startled.
"I don't want you to suspect that I have simply come here todeceive you and pump information out of you!" said Evgenie, stillsmiling, and without making any direct reply to the question.
"Oh, but I haven't the slightest doubt that you did come to pumpme," said the prince, laughing himself, at last; "and I dare sayyou are quite prepared to deceive me too, so far as that goes.But what of that? I'm not afraid of you; besides, you'll hardlybelieve it, I feel as though I really didn't care a scrap one wayor the other, just now!--And-and-and as you are a capital fellow,I am convinced of that, I dare say we really shall end by beinggood friends. I like you very much Evgenie Pavlovitch; I consideryou a very good fellow indeed."
"Well, in any case, you are a most delightful man to have to dealwith, be the business what it may," concluded Evgenie. "Comealong now, I'll drink a glass to your health. I'm charmed to haveentered into alliance with you. By-the-by," he added suddenly,has this young Hippolyte come down to stay with you
"Yes."
"He's not going to die at once, I should think, is he?"
"Why?"
"Oh, I don't know. I've been half an hour here with him, and he--"
Hippolyte had been waiting for the prince all this time, and hadnever ceased looking at him and Evgenie Pavlovitch as theyconversed in the corner. He became much excited when theyapproached the table once more. He was disturbed in his mind, itseemed; perspiration stood in large drops on his forehead; in hisgleaming eyes it was easy to read impatience and agitation; hisgaze wandered from face to face of those present, and from objectto object in the room, apparently without aim. He had taken apart, and an animated one, in the noisy conversation of thecompany; but his animation was clearly the outcome of fever. Histalk was almost incoherent; he would break off in the middle of asentence which he had begun with great interest, and forget whathe had been saying. The prince discovered to his dismay thatHippolyte had been allowed to drink two large glasses ofchampagne; the one now standing by him being the third. All thishe found out afterwards; at the moment he did not noticeanything, very particularly.
"Do you know I am specially glad that today is your birthday!"cried Hippolyte.
"Why?"
"You'll soon see. D'you know I had a feeling that there would bea lot of people here tonight? It's not the first time that mypresentiments have been fulfilled. I wish I had known it was yourbirthday, I'd have brought you a present--perhaps I have got apresent for you! Who knows? Ha, ha! How long is it now beforedaylight?"
"Not a couple of hours," said Ptitsin, looking at his watch.What's the good of daylight now? One can read all night in theopen air without it," said someone.
"The good of it! Well, I want just to see a ray of the sun," saidHippolyte. Can one drink to the sun's health, do you think,prince?"
"Oh, I dare say one can; but you had better be calm and lie down,Hippolyte--that's much more important.
"You are always preaching about resting; you are a regular nurseto me, prince. As soon as the sun begins to 'resound' in the sky--what poet said that? 'The sun resounded in the sky.' It isbeautiful, though there's no sense in it!--then we will go tobed. Lebedeff, tell me, is the sun the source of life? What doesthe source, or 'spring,' of life really mean in the Apocalypse?You have heard of the 'Star that is called Wormwood,' prince?"
"I have heard that Lebedeff explains it as the railroads thatcover Europe like a net."
Everybody laughed, and Lebedeff got up abruptly.
"No! Allow me, that is not what we are discussing!" he cried,waving his hand to impose silence. "Allow me! With thesegentlemen ... all these gentlemen," he added, suddenly addressingthe prince, "on certain points ... that is ..." He thumpedthe table repeatedly, and the laughter increased. Lebedeff was inhis usual evening condition, and had just ended a long andscientific argument, which had left him excited and irritable. Onsuch occasions he was apt to evince a supreme contempt for hisopponents.
"It is not right! Half an hour ago, prince, it was agreed amongus that no one should interrupt, no one should laugh, that eachperson was to express his thoughts freely; and then at the end,when everyone had spoken, objections might be made, even by theatheists. We chose the general as president. Now without somesuch rule and order, anyone might be shouted down, even in theloftiest and most profound thought. . . ."
"Go on! Go on! Nobody is going to interrupt you!" cried severalvoices.
"Speak, but keep to the point!"
"What is this 'star'?" asked another.
I have no idea," replied General Ivolgin, who presided with muchgravity.
"I love these arguments, prince," said Keller, also more thanhalf intoxicated, moving restlessly in his chair. "Scientific andpolitical." Then, turning suddenly towards Evgenie Pavlovitch,who was seated near him: "Do you know, I simply adore reading theaccounts of the debates in the English parliament. Not that thediscussions themselves interest me; I am not a politician, youknow; but it delights me to see how they address each other 'thenoble lord who agrees with me,' 'my honourable opponent whoastonished Europe with his proposal,' 'the noble viscount sittingopposite'--all these expressions, all this parliamentarism of afree people, has an enormous attraction for me. It fascinates me,prince. I have always been an artist in the depths of my soul, Iassure you, Evgenie Pavlovitch."
"Do you mean to say," cried Gania, from the other corner, "do youmean to say that railways are accursed inventions, that they area source of ruin to humanity, a poison poured upon the earth tocorrupt the springs of life?"
Gavrila Ardalionovitch was in high spirits that evening, and itseemed to the prince that his gaiety was mingled with triumph. Ofcourse he was only joking with Lebedeff, meaning to egg him on,but he grew excited himself at the same time.
"Not the railways, oh dear, no!" replied Lebedeff, with a mixtureof violent anger and extreme enjoyment. "Considered alone, therailways will not pollute the springs of life, but as a wholethey are accursed. The whole tendency of our latest centuries, inits scientific and materialistic aspect, is most probablyaccursed."
"Is it certainly accursed? ... or do you only mean it might be?That is an important point," said Evgenie Pavlovitch.
"It is accursed, certainly accursed!" replied the clerk,vehemently.
"Don't go so fast, Lebedeff; you are much milder in the morning,"said Ptitsin, smiling.
"But, on the other hand, more frank in the evening! In theevening sincere and frank," repeated Lebedeff, earnestly. "Morecandid, more exact, more honest, more honourable, and ...although I may show you my weak side, I challenge you all; youatheists, for instance! How are you going to save the world? Howfind a straight road of progress, you men of science, ofindustry, of cooperation, of trades unions, and all the rest?How are you going to save it, I say? By what? By credit? What iscredit? To what will credit lead you?"
"You are too inquisitive," remarked Evgenie Pavlovitch.
"Well, anyone who does not interest himself in questions such asthis is, in my opinion, a mere fashionable dummy."
"But it will lead at least to solidarity, and balance ofinterests," said Ptitsin.
"You will reach that with nothing to help you but credit? Withoutrecourse to any moral principle, having for your foundation onlyindividual selfishness, and the satisfaction of material desires?Universal peace, and the happiness of mankind as a whole, beingthe result! Is it really so that I may understand you, sir?"
"But the universal necessity of living, of drinking, of eating--in short, the whole scientific conviction that this necessity canonly be satisfied by universal co-operation and the solidarity ofinterests--is, it seems to me, a strong enough idea to serve as abasis, so to speak, and a 'spring of life,' for humanity infuture centuries," said Gavrila Ardalionovitch, now thoroughlyroused.
"The necessity of eating and drinking, that is to say, solely theinstinct of self-preservation..."
"Is not that enough? The instinct of self-preservation is thenormal law of humanity..."
"Who told you that?" broke in Evgenie Pavlovitch.
"It is a law, doubtless, but a law neither more nor less normalthan that of destruction, even self-destruction. Is it possiblethat the whole normal law of humanity is contained in thissentiment of self-preservation?"
"Ah!" cried Hippolyte, turning towards Evgenie Pavlovitch, andlooking at him with a queer sort of curiosity.
Then seeing that Radomski was laughing, he began to laughhimself, nudged Colia, who was sitting beside him, with hiselbow, and again asked what time it was. He even pulled Colia'ssilver watch out of his hand, and looked at it eagerly. Then, asif he had forgotten everything, he stretched himself out on thesofa, put his hands behind his head, and looked up at the sky.After a minute or two he got up and came back to the table tolisten to Lebedeff's outpourings, as the latter passionatelycommentated on Evgenie Pavlovitch's paradox.
"That is an artful and traitorous idea. A smart notion,"vociferated the clerk, "thrown out as an apple of discord. But itis just. You are a scoffer, a man of the world, a cavalryofficer, and, though not without brains, you do not realize howprofound is your thought, nor how true. Yes, the laws of self-preservation and of self-destruction are equally powerful in thisworld. The devil will hold his empire over humanity until a limitof time which is still unknown. You laugh? You do not believe inthe devil? Scepticism as to the devil is a French idea, and it isalso a frivolous idea. Do you know who the devil is? Do you knowhis name? Although you don't know his name you make a mockery ofhis form, following the example of Voltaire. You sneer at hishoofs, at his tail, at his horns--all of them the produce of yourimagination! In reality the devil is a great and terrible spirit,with neither hoofs, nor tail, nor horns; it is you who haveendowed him with these attributes! But ... he is not thequestion just now!"