白痴 英文版 The Idiot
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot XI. Page 1
AN hour later he was in St. Petersburg, and by ten o'clock he hadrung the bell at Rogojin's.
He had gone to the front door, and was kept waiting a long whilebefore anyone came. At last the door of old Mrs. Rogojin's flatwas opened, and an aged servant appeared.
"Parfen Semionovitch is not at home," she announced from thedoorway. "Whom do you want?"
"Parfen Semionovitch."
"He is not in."
The old woman examined the prince from head to foot with greatcuriosity.
"At all events tell me whether he slept at home last night, andwhether he came alone?"
The old woman continued to stare at him, but said nothing.
"Was not Nastasia Philipovna here with him, yesterday evening?"
"And, pray, who are you yourself?"
"Prince Lef Nicolaievitch Muishkin; he knows me well."
"He is not at home."
The woman lowered her eyes.
"And Nastasia Philipovna?"
"I know nothing about it."
"Stop a minute! When will he come back?"
"I don't know that either."
The door was shut with these words, and the old womandisappeared. The prince decided to come back within anhour. Passing out of the house, he met the porter.
"Is Parfen Semionovitch at home?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Why did they tell me he was not at home, then?" "Where did theytell you so,--at his door?" "No, at his mother's flat; I rang atParfen Semionovitch's door and nobody came."
"Well, he may have gone out. I can't tell. Sometimes he takes thekeys with him, and leaves the rooms empty for two or three days."
"Do you know for certain that he was at home last night?"
"Yes, he was."
"Was Nastasia Philipovna with him?"
"I don't know; she doesn't come often. I think I should haveknown if she had come."
The prince went out deep in thought, and walked up and down thepavement for some time. The windows of all the rooms occupied byRogojin were closed, those of his mother's apartments were open.It was a hot, bright day. The prince crossed the road in order tohave a good look at the windows again; not only were Rogojin'sclosed, but the white blinds were all down as well.
He stood there for a minute and then, suddenly and strangelyenough, it seemed to him that a little corner of one of theblinds was lifted, and Rogojin's face appeared for an instant andthen vanished. He waited another minute, and decided to go andring the bell once more; however, he thought better of it againand put it off for an hour.
The chief object in his mind at this moment was to get as quicklyas he could to Nastasia Philipovna's lodging. He remembered that,not long since, when she had left Pavlofsk at his request, he hadbegged her to put up in town at the house of a respectable widow,who had well-furnished rooms to let, near the Ismailofskybarracks. Probably Nastasia had kept the rooms when she came downto Pavlofsk this last time; and most likely she would have spentthe night in them, Rogojin having taken her straight there fromthe station.
The prince took a droshky. It struck him as he drove on that heought to have begun by coming here, since it was most improbablethat Rogojin should have taken Nastasia to his own house lastnight. He remembered that the porter said she very rarely came atall, so that it was still less likely that she would have gonethere so late at night.
Vainly trying to comfort himself with these reflections, theprince reached the Ismailofsky barracks more dead than alive.
To his consternation the good people at the lodgings had not onlyheard nothing of Nastasia, but all came out to look at him as ifhe were a marvel of some sort. The whole family, of all ages,surrounded him, and he was begged to enter. He guessed at oncethat they knew perfectly well who he was, and that yesterdayought to have been his wedding-day; and further that they weredying to ask about the wedding, and especially about why heshould be here now, inquiring for the woman who in all reasonablehuman probability might have been expected to be with him inPavlofsk.
He satisfied their curiosity, in as few words as possible, withregard to the wedding, but their exclamations and sighs were sonumerous and sincere that he was obliged to tell the whole story--in a short form, of course. The advice of all these agitatedladies was that the prince should go at once and knock atRogojin's until he was let in: and when let in insist upon asubstantial explanation of everything. If Rogojin was really notat home, the prince was advised to go to a certain house, theaddress of which was given, where lived a German lady, a friendof Nastasia Philipovna's. It was possible that she might havespent the night there in her anxiety to conceal herself.
Yes."wasRogojin.Rogojin, slowly, after a slight pause.
The prince rose from his seat in a condition of mental collapse.The good ladies reported afterwards that "his pallor was terribleto see, and his legs seemed to give way underneath him." Withdifficulty he was made to understand that his new friends wouldbe glad of his address, in order to act with him if possible.After a moment's thought he gave the address of the small hotel,on the stairs of which he had had a fit some five weeks since. Hethen set off once more for Rogojin's.
This time they neither opened the door at Rogojin's flat nor atthe one opposite. The prince found the porter with difficulty,but when found, the man would hardly look at him or answer hisquestions, pretending to be busy. Eventually, however, he waspersuaded to reply so far as to state that Rogojin had left thehouse early in the morning and gone to Pavlofsk, and that hewould not return today at all.
"I shall wait; he may come back this evening."
"He may not be home for a week."
"Then, at all events, he DID sleep here, did he?"
"Well--he did sleep here, yes."
All this was suspicious and unsatisfactory. Very likely theporter had received new instructions during the interval of theprince's absence; his manner was so different now. He had beenobliging--now he was as obstinate and silent as a mule. However,the prince decided to call again in a couple of hours, and afterthat to watch the house, in case of need. His hope was that hemight yet find Nastasia at the address which he had justreceived. To that address he now set off at full speed.
But alas! at the German lady's house they did not even appear tounderstand what he wanted. After a while, by means of certainhints, he was able to gather that Nastasia must have had aquarrel with her friend two or three weeks ago, since which datethe latter had neither heard nor seen anything of her. He wasgiven to understand that the subject of Nastasia's presentwhereabouts was not of the slightest interest to her; and thatNastasia might marry all the princes in the world for all shecared! So Muishkin took his leave hurriedly. It struck him nowthat she might have gone away to Moscow just as she had done thelast time, and that Rogojin had perhaps gone after her, or evenWITH her. If only he could find some trace!
However, he must take his room at the hotel; and he started offin that direction. Having engaged his room, he was asked by thewaiter whether he would take dinner; replying mechanically in theaffirmative, he sat down and waited; but it was not long beforeit struck him that dining would delay him. Enraged at this idea,he started up, crossed the dark passage (which filled him withhorrible impressions and gloomy forebodings), and set out oncemore for Rogojin's. Rogojin had not returned, and no one came tothe door. He rang at the old lady's door opposite, and wasinformed that Parfen Semionovitch would not return for threedays. The curiosity with which the old servant stared at himagain impressed the prince disagreeably. He could not find theporter this time at all.
As before, he crossed the street and watched the windows from theother side, walking up and down in anguish of soul for half anhour or so in the stifling heat. Nothing stirred; the blinds weremotionless; indeed, the prince began to think that the apparitionof Rogojin's face could have been nothing but fancy. Soothed bythis thought, he drove off once more to his friends at theIsmailofsky barracks. He was expected there. The mother hadalready been to three or four places to look for Nastasia, buthad not found a trace of any kind.
The prince said nothing, but entered the room, sat down silently,and stared at them, one after the other, with the air of a manwho cannot understand what is being said to him. It was strange--one moment he seemed to be so observant, the next so absent; hisbehaviour struck all the family as most remarkable. At length herose from his seat, and begged to be shown Nastasia's rooms. Theladies reported afterwards how he had examined everything in theapartments. He observed an open book on the table, Madam Bovary,and requested the leave of the lady of the house to take it withhim. He had turned down the leaf at the open page, and pocketedit before they could explain that it was a library book. He hadthen seated himself by the open window, and seeing a card-table,he asked who played cards.
He was informed that Nastasia used to play with Rogojin everyevening, either at "preference" or "little fool," or "whist";that this had been their practice since her last return fromPavlofsk; that she had taken to this amusement because she didnot like to see Rogojin sitting silent and dull for wholeevenings at a time; that the day after Nastasia had made a remarkto this effect, Rogojin had whipped a pack of cards out of hispocket. Nastasia had laughed, but soon they began playing. Theprince asked where were the cards, but was told that Rogojin usedto bring a new pack every day, and always carried it away in hispocket.
The good ladies recommended the prince to try knocking atRogojin's once more--not at once, but in the evening Meanwhile,the mother would go to Pavlofsk to inquire at Dana Alexeyevna'swhether anything had been heard of Nastasia there. The prince wasto come back at ten o'clock and meet her, to hear her news andarrange plans for the morrow.
In spite of the kindly-meant consolations of his new friends, theprince walked to his hotel in inexpressible anguish of spirit,through the hot, dusty streets, aimlessly staring at the faces ofthose who passed him. Arrived at his destination, he determinedto rest awhile in his room before be started for Rogojin's oncemore. He sat down, rested his elbows on the table and his head onhis hands, and fell to thinking.
Heaven knows how long and upon what subjects he thought. Hethought of many things--of Vera Lebedeff, and of her father; ofHippolyte; of Rogojin himself, first at the funeral, then as hehad met him in the park, then, suddenly, as they had met in thisvery passage, outside, when Rogojin had watched in the darknessand awaited him with uplifted knife. The prince remembered hisenemy's eyes as they had glared at him in the darkness. Heshuddered, as a sudden idea struck him.
This idea was, that if Rogojin were in Petersburg, though hemight hide for a time, yet he was quite sure to come to him--theprince--before long, with either good or evil intentions, butprobably with the same intention as on that other occasion. Atall events, if Rogojin were to come at all he would be sure toseek the prince here--he had no other town address--perhaps in thissame corridor; he might well seek him here if he needed him. Andperhaps he did need him. This idea seemed quite natural to theprince, though he could not have explained why he should sosuddenly have become necessary to Rogojin. Rogojin would not comeif all were well with him, that was part of the thought; he wouldcome if all were not well; and certainly, undoubtedly, all wouldnot be well with him. The prince could not bear this new idea; hetook his hat and rushed out towards the street. It was almostdark in the passage.
"What if he were to come out of that corner as I go by and--andstop me?" thought the prince, as he approached the familiar spot.But no one came out.
He passed under the gateway and into the street. The crowds ofpeople walking about--as is always the case at sunset inPetersburg, during the summer--surprised him, but he walked on inthe direction of Rogojin's house.
About fifty yards from the hotel, at the first cross-road, as hepassed through the crowd of foot-passengers sauntering along,someone touched his shoulder, and said in a whisper into his ear:
"Lef Nicolaievitch, my friend, come along with me." It wasRogojin.
The prince immediately began to tell him, eagerly and joyfully,how he had but the moment before expected to see him in the darkpassage of the hotel.
"I was there," said Rogojin, unexpectedly. "Come along." Theprince was surprised at this answer; but his astonishmentincreased a couple of minutes afterwards, when he began toconsider it. Having thought it over, he glanced at Rogojin inalarm. The latter was striding along a yard or so ahead, lookingstraight in front of him, and mechanically making way for anyonehe met.
"Why did you not ask for me at my room if you were in the hotel?"asked the prince, suddenly.
Rogojin stopped and looked at him; then reflected, and replied asthough he had not heard the question:
"Look here, Lef Nicolaievitch, you go straight on to the house; Ishall walk on the other side. See that we keep together."
So saying, Rogojin crossed the road.
Arrived on the opposite pavement, he looked back to see whetherthe prince were moving, waved his hand in the direction of theGorohovaya, and strode on, looking across every moment to seewhether Muishkin understood his instructions. The prince supposedthat Rogojin desired to look out for someone whom he was afraidto miss; but if so, why had he not told HIM whom to look out for?So the two proceeded for half a mile or so. Suddenly the princebegan to tremble from some unknown cause. He could not bear it,and signalled to Rogojin across the road.
The latter came at once.
"Is Nastasia Philipovna at your house?"
"Yes."
"And was it you looked out of the window under the blind thismorning?"
"Yes."
while at the bedside. Theprince.
"Then why did--"
But the prince could not finish his question; he did not knowwhat to say. Besides this, his heart was beating so that he foundit difficult to speak at all. Rogojin was silent also and lookedat him as before, with an expression of deep thoughtfulness.
"Well, I'm going," he said, at last, preparing to recross theroad. "You go along here as before; we will keep to differentsides of the road; it's better so, you'll see."
When they reached the Gorohovaya, and came near the house, theprince's legs were trembling so that he could hardly walk. It wasabout ten o'clock. The old lady's windows were open, as before;Rogojin's were all shut, and in the darkness the white blindsshowed whiter than ever. Rogojin and the prince each approachedthe house on his respective side of the road; Rogojin, who was onthe near side, beckoned the prince across. He went over to thedoorway.
"Even the porter does not know that I have come home now. I toldhim, and told them at my mother's too, that I was off toPavlofsk," said Rogojin, with a cunning and almost satisfiedsmile. "We'll go in quietly and nobody will hear us."
He had the key in his hand. Mounting the staircase he turned andsignalled to the prince to go more softly; he opened the doorvery quietly, let the prince in, followed him, locked the doorbehind him, and put the key in his pocket.
"Come along," he whispered.
He had spoken in a whisper all the way. In spite of his apparentoutward composure, he was evidently in a state of great mentalagitation. Arrived in a large salon, next to the study, he wentto the window and cautiously beckoned the prince up to him.
"When you rang the bell this morning I thought it must be you. Iwent to the door on tip-toe and heard you talking to the servantopposite. I had told her before that if anyone came and rang--especially you, and I gave her your name--she was not to tellabout me. Then I thought, what if he goes and stands opposite andlooks up, or waits about to watch the house? So I came to thisvery window, looked out, and there you were staring straight atme. That's how it came about."
"Where is Nastasia Philipovna?" asked the prince, breathlessly.
"She's here," replied Rogojin, slowly, after a slight pause.
"Where?"
Rogojin raised his eyes and gazed intently at the prince.
"Come," he said.
He continued to speak in a whisper, very deliberately as before,and looked strangely thoughtful and dreamy. Even while he toldthe story of how he had peeped through the blind, he gave theimpression of wishing to say something else. They entered thestudy. In this room some changes had taken place since the princelast saw it. It was now divided into two equal parts by a heavygreen silk curtain stretched across it, separating the alcovebeyond, where stood Rogojin's bed, from the rest of the room.
The heavy curtain was drawn now, and it was very dark. The brightPetersburg summer nights were already beginning to close in, andbut for the full moon, it would have been difficult todistinguish anything in Rogojin's dismal room, with the drawnblinds. They could just see one anothers faces, however, thoughnot in detail. Rogojin's face was white, as usual. His glitteringeyes watched the prince with an intent stare.
"Had you not better light a candle?" said Muishkin.
"No, I needn't," replied Rogojin, and taking the other by thehand he drew him down to a chair. He himself took a chairopposite and drew it up so close that he almost pressed againstthe prince's knees. At their side was a little round table.
Sit down," said Rogojin; "let's rest a bit." There was silencefor a moment.
"I knew you would be at that hotel," he continued, just as mensometimes commence a serious conversation by discussing anyoutside subject before leading up to the main point. "As Ientered the passage it struck me that perhaps you were sittingand waiting for me, just as I was waiting for you. Have you beento the old lady at Ismailofsky barracks?"
"Yes," said the prince, squeezing the word out with difficultyowing to the dreadful beating of his heart.
"I thought you would. 'They'll talk about it,' I thought; so Idetermined to go and fetch you to spend the night here--'We willbe together,' I thought, 'for this one night--'"
"Rogojin, WHERE is Nastasia Philipovna?" said the prince,suddenly rising from his seat. He was quaking in all his limbs,and his words came in a scarcely audible whisper. Rogojin rosealso.
"There," he whispered, nodding his head towards the curtain.
"Asleep?" whispered the prince.
Rogojin looked intently at him again, as before.
"Let's go in--but you mustn't--well--let's go in."
He lifted the curtain, paused--and turned to the prince. "Go in,"he said, motioning him to pass behind the curtain. Muishkin wentin.
It's so dark," he said.
"You can see quite enough," muttered Rogojin.
"I can just see there's a bed--"
"Go nearer," suggested Rogojin, softly.
The prince took a step forward--then another--and paused. Hestood and stared for a minute or two.
Neither of the men spoke a word while at the bedside. Theprince's heart beat so loud that its knocking seemed to bedistinctly audible in the deathly silence.