The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (grave mercy TXT) đ
- Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Performer: 014044792X
Book online «The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (grave mercy TXT) đ». Author Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The conversation had been on the subject of land, and the present disorders, and there must have been something amusing said, for the old man had begun to laugh at his companionâs heated expressions.
The latter was describing in eloquent words how, in consequence of recent legislation, he was obliged to sell a beautiful estate in the N. province, not because he wanted ready moneyâin fact, he was obliged to sell it at half its value. âTo avoid another lawsuit about the Pavlicheff estate, I ran away,â he said. âWith a few more inheritances of that kind I should soon be ruined!â
At this point General Epanchin, noticing how interested Muishkin had become in the conversation, said to him, in a low tone:
âThat gentlemanâIvan Petrovitchâis a relation of your late friend, Mr. Pavlicheff. You wanted to find some of his relations, did you not?â
The general, who had been talking to his chief up to this moment, had observed the princeâs solitude and silence, and was anxious to draw him into the conversation, and so introduce him again to the notice of some of the important personages.
âLef Nicolaievitch was a ward of Nicolai Andreevitch Pavlicheff, after the death of his own parents,â he remarked, meeting Ivan Petrovitchâs eye.
âVery happy to meet him, Iâm sure,â remarked the latter. âI remember Lef Nicolaievitch well. When General Epanchin introduced us just now, I recognized you at once, prince. You are very little changed, though I saw you last as a child of some ten or eleven years old. There was something in your features, I suppose, thatââ
âYou saw me as a child!â exclaimed the prince, with surprise.
âOh! yes, long ago,â continued Ivan Petrovitch, âwhile you were living with my cousin at Zlatoverhoff. You donât remember me? No, I dare say you donât; you had some malady at the time, I remember. It was so serious that I was surprisedââ
âNo; I remember nothing!â said the prince. A few more words of explanation followed, words which were spoken without the smallest excitement by his companion, but which evoked the greatest agitation in the prince; and it was discovered that two old ladies to whose care the prince had been left by Pavlicheff, and who lived at Zlatoverhoff, were also relations of Ivan Petrovitch.
The latter had no idea and could give no information as to why Pavlicheff had taken so great an interest in the little prince, his ward.
âIn point of fact I donât think I thought much about it,â said the old fellow. He seemed to have a wonderfully good memory, however, for he told the prince all about the two old ladies, Pavlicheffâs cousins, who had taken care of him, and whom, he declared, he had taken to task for being too severe with the prince as a small sickly boyâthe elder sister, at least; the younger had been kind, he recollected. They both now lived in another province, on a small estate left to them by Pavlicheff. The prince listened to all this with eyes sparkling with emotion and delight.
He declared with unusual warmth that he would never forgive himself for having travelled about in the central provinces during these last six months without having hunted up his two old friends.
He declared, further, that he had intended to go every day, but had always been prevented by circumstances; but that now he would promise himself the pleasureâhowever far it was, he would find them out. And so Ivan Petrovitch REALLY knew Natalia Nikitishna!- -what a saintly nature was hers!âand Martha Nikitishna! Ivan Petrovitch must excuse him, but really he was not quite fair on dear old Martha. She was severe, perhaps; but then what else could she be with such a little idiot as he was then? (Ha, ha.) He really was an idiot then, Ivan Petrovitch must know, though he might not believe it. (Ha, ha.) So he had really seen him there! Good heavens! And was he really and truly and actually a cousin of Pavlicheffâs?
âI assure you of it,â laughed Ivan Petrovitch, gazing amusedly at the prince.
âOh! I didnât say it because I DOUBT the fact, you know. (Ha, ha.) How could I doubt such a thing? (Ha, ha, ha.) I made the remark becauseâbecause Nicolai Andreevitch Pavlicheff was such a splendid man, donât you see! Such a high-souled man, he really was, I assure you.â
The prince did not exactly pant for breath, but he âseemed almost to CHOKE out of pure simplicity and goodness of heart,â as Adelaida expressed it, on talking the party over with her fiance, the Prince S., next morning.
âBut, my goodness me,â laughed Ivan Petrovitch, âwhy canât I be cousin to even a splendid man?â
âOh, dear!â cried the prince, confused, trying to hurry his words out, and growing more and more eager every moment: âIâve gone and said another stupid thing. I donât know what to say. IâI didnât mean that, you knowâIâIâhe really was such a splendid man, wasnât he?â
The prince trembled all over. Why was he so agitated? Why had he flown into such transports of delight without any apparent reason? He had far outshot the measure of joy and emotion consistent with the occasion. Why this was it would be difficult to say.
He seemed to feel warmly and deeply grateful to someone for something or otherâperhaps to Ivan Petrovitch; but likely enough to all the guests, individually, and collectively. He was much too happy.
Ivan Petrovitch began to stare at him with some surprise; the dignitary, too, looked at him with considerable attention; Princess Bielokonski glared at him angrily, and compressed her lips. Prince N., Evgenie, Prince S., and the girls, all broke off their own conversations and listened. Aglaya seemed a little startled; as for Lizabetha Prokofievna, her heart sank within her.
This was odd of Lizabetha Prokofievna and her daughters. They had themselves decided that it would be better if the prince did not talk all the evening. Yet seeing him sitting silent and alone, but perfectly happy, they had been on the point of exerting themselves to draw him into one of the groups of talkers around the room. Now that he was in the midst of a talk they became more than ever anxious and perturbed.
âThat he was a splendid man is perfectly true; you are quite right,â repeated Ivan Petrovitch, but seriously this time. âHe was a fine and a worthy fellowâworthy, one may say, of the highest respect,â he added, more and more seriously at each pause; â and it is agreeable to see, on your part, suchââ
âWasnât it this same Pavlicheff about whom there was a strange story in connection with some abbot? I donât remember who the abbot was, but I remember at one time everybody was talking about it,â remarked the old dignitary.
âYesâAbbot Gurot, a Jesuit,â said Ivan Petrovitch. âYes, thatâs the sort of thing our best men are apt to do. A man of rank, too, and richâa man who, if he had continued to serve, might have done anything; and then to throw up the service and everything else in order to go over to Roman Catholicism and turn Jesuitâ openly, tooâalmost triumphantly. By Jove! it was positively a mercy that he died when he didâit was indeedâeveryone said so at the time.â
The prince was beside himself.
âPavlicheff?âPavlicheff turned Roman Catholic? Impossible!â he cried, in horror.
âHâm! impossible is rather a strong word,â said Ivan Petrovitch. âYou must allow, my dear prince⊠However, of course you value the memory of the deceased so very highly; and he certainly was the kindest of men; to which fact, by the way, I ascribe, more than to anything else, the success of the abbot in influencing his religious convictions. But you may ask me, if you please, how much trouble and worry I, personally, had over that business, and especially with this same Gurot! Would you believe it,â he continued, addressing the dignitary, âthey actually tried to put in a claim under the deceasedâs will, and I had to resort to the very strongest measures in order to bring them to their senses? I assure you they knew their cue, did these gentlemenâ wonderful! Thank goodness all this was in Moscow, and I got the Court, you know, to help me, and we soon brought them to their senses.
âYou wouldnât believe how you have pained and astonished me,â cried the prince.
âVery sorry; but in point of fact, you know, it was all nonsense and would have ended in smoke, as usualâIâm sure of that. Last year,ââhe turned to the old man again,ââCountess K. joined some Roman Convent abroad. Our people never seem to be able to offer any resistance so soon as they get into the hands of theseâ intriguersâespecially abroad.â
âThat is all thanks to our lassitude, I think,â replied the old man, with authority. âAnd then their way of preaching; they have a skilful manner of doing it! And they know how to startle one, too. I got quite a fright myself in â32, in Vienna, I assure you; but I didnât cave in to them, I ran away instead, ha, ha!â
âCome, come, Iâve always heard that you ran away with the beautiful Countess Levitsky that timeâthrowing up everything in order to do itâand not from the Jesuits at all,â said Princess Bielokonski, suddenly.
âWell, yesâbut we call it from the Jesuits, you know; it comes to the same thing,â laughed the old fellow, delighted with the pleasant recollection.
âYou seem to be very religious,â he continued, kindly, addressing the prince,â which is a thing one meets so seldom nowadays among young people.â
The prince was listening open-mouthed, and still in a condition of excited agitation. The old man was evidently interested in him, and anxious to study him more closely.
âPavlicheff was a man of bright intellect and a good Christian, a sincere Christian,â said the prince, suddenly. âHow could he possibly embrace a faith which is unchristian? Roman Catholicism is, so to speak, simply the same thing as unchristianity,â he added with flashing eyes, which seemed to take in everybody in the room.
âCome, thatâs a little TOO strong, isnât it?â murmured the old man, glancing at General Epanchin in surprise.
âHow do you make out that the Roman Catholic religion is UNCHRISTIAN? What is it, then?â asked Ivan Petrovitch, turning to the prince.
âIt is not a Christian religion, in the first place,â said the latter, in extreme agitation, quite out of proportion to the necessity of the moment. âAnd in the second place, Roman Catholicism is, in my opinion, worse than Atheism itself. Yesâ that is my opinion. Atheism only preaches a negation, but Romanism goes further; it preaches a disfigured, distorted Christâit preaches Anti-ChristâI assure you, I swear it! This is my own personal conviction, and it has long distressed me. The Roman Catholic believes that the Church on earth cannot stand without universal temporal Power. He cries ânon possumus!â In my opinion the Roman Catholic religion is not a faith at all, but simply a continuation of the Roman Empire, and everything is subordinated to this ideaâbeginning with faith. The Pope has seized territories and an earthly throne, and has held them with the sword. And so the thing has gone on, only that to the sword they have added lying, intrigue, deceit, fanaticism, superstition, swindling;âthey have played fast and loose with the most sacred and sincere feelings of men;âthey have exchanged everythingâeverything for money, for base earthly POWER! And is this not the teaching of Anti-Christ? How could the upshot of all this be other than Atheism?
Comments (0)