đ The Idiot (day 1)
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joi, 16 mai, 01:53 (acum 3 zile)
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The Idiot
I
Towards the end of November, during a thaw, at nine oâclock one morning, a train on the Warsaw and Petersburg railway was approaching the latter city at full speed. The morning was so damp and misty that it was only with great difficulty that the day succeeded in breaking; and it was impossible to distinguish anything more than a few yards away from the carriage windows.
Some of the passengers by this particular train were returning from abroad; but the third-class carriages were the best filled, chiefly with insignificant persons of various occupations and degrees, picked up at the different stations nearer town. All of them seemed weary, and most of them had sleepy eyes and a shivering expression, while their complexions generally appeared to have taken on the colour of the fog outside.
When day dawned, two passengers in one of the third-class carriages found themselves opposite each other. Both were young fellows, both were rather poorly dressed, both had remarkable faces, and both were evidently anxious to start a conversation. If they had but known why, at this particular moment, they were both remarkable persons, they would undoubtedly have wondered at the strange chance which had set them down opposite to one another in a third-class carriage of the Warsaw Railway Company.
One of them was a young fellow of about twenty-seven, not tall, with black curling hair, and small, grey, fiery eyes. His nose was broad and flat, and he had high cheek bones; his thin lips were constantly compressed into an impudent, ironicalâ âit might almost be called a maliciousâ âsmile; but his forehead was high and well formed, and atoned for a good deal of the ugliness of the lower part of his face. A special feature of this physiognomy was its deathlike pallor, which gave to the whole man an indescribably emaciated appearance in spite of his hard look, and at the same time a sort of passionate and suffering expression which did not harmonize with his impudent, sarcastic smile and keen, self-satisfied bearing. He wore a large furâ âor rather astrachanâ âovercoat, which had kept him warm all night, while his neighbour had been obliged to bear the full severity of a Russian November night entirely unprepared. His wide sleeveless mantle with a large cape to itâ âthe sort of cloak one sees upon travellers during the winter months in Switzerland or North Italyâ âwas by no means adapted to the long cold journey through Russia, from Eydkuhnen to St. Petersburg.
The wearer of this cloak was a young fellow, also of about twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age, slightly above the middle height, very fair, with a thin, pointed and very light coloured beard; his eyes were large and blue, and had an intent look about them, yet that heavy expression which some people affirm to be a peculiarity, as well as evidence, of an epileptic subject. His face was decidedly a pleasant one for all that; refined, but quite colourless, except for the circumstance that at this moment it was blue with cold. He held a bundle made up of an old faded silk handkerchief that apparently contained all his travelling wardrobe, and wore thick shoes and gaiters, his whole appearance being very un-Russian.
His black-haired neighbour inspected these peculiarities, having nothing better to do, and at length remarked, with that rude enjoyment of the discomforts of others which the common classes so often show:
âCold?â
âVery,â said his neighbour, readily, âand this is a thaw, too. Fancy if it had been a hard frost! I never thought it would be so cold in the old country. Iâve grown quite out of the way of it.â
âWhat, been abroad, I suppose?â
âYes, straight from Switzerland.â
âWheugh! my goodness!â The black-haired young fellow whistled, and then laughed.
The conversation proceeded. The readiness of the fair-haired young man in the cloak to answer all his opposite neighbourâs questions was surprising. He seemed to have no suspicion of any impertinence or inappropriateness in the fact of such questions being put to him. Replying to them, he made known to the inquirer that he certainly had been long absent from Russia, more than four years; that he had been sent abroad for his health; that he had suffered from some strange nervous maladyâ âa kind of epilepsy, with convulsive spasms. His interlocutor burst out laughing several times at his answers; and more than ever, when to the question, âwhether he had been cured?â the patient replied:
âNo, they did not cure me.â
âHey! thatâs it! You stumped up your money for nothing, and we believe in those fellows, here!â remarked the black-haired individual, sarcastically.
âGospel truth, sir, Gospel truth!â exclaimed another passenger, a shabbily dressed man of about forty, who looked like a clerk, and possessed a red nose and a very blotchy face. âGospel truth! All they do is to get hold of our good Russian money free, gratis, and for nothing.â
âOh, but youâre quite wrong in my particular instance,â said the Swiss patient, quietly. âOf course I canât argue the matter, because I know only my own case; but my doctor gave me moneyâ âand he had very littleâ âto pay my journey back, besides having kept me at his own expense, while there, for nearly two years.â
âWhy? Was there no one else to pay for you?â asked the black-haired one.
âNoâ âMr. Pavlicheff, who had been supporting me there, died a couple of years ago. I wrote to Mrs. General Epanchin at the time (she is a distant relative of mine), but she did not answer my letter. And so eventually I came back.â
âAnd where have you come to?â
âThat isâ âwhere am I going to stay? Iâ âI really donât quite know yet, Iâ ââ
Both the listeners laughed again.
âI suppose your whole setup is in that bundle, then?â asked the first.
âI bet anything it is!â exclaimed the red-nosed passenger, with extreme satisfaction, âand that he has precious little in the luggage van!â âthough of course poverty is no crimeâ âwe must remember that!â
It appeared that it was indeed as they had surmised. The young fellow hastened to admit the fact with wonderful readiness.
âYour bundle has some importance, however,â continued the clerk, when they had laughed their fill (it was observable that the subject of their mirth joined in the laughter when he saw them laughing); âfor though I dare say it is not stuffed full of friedrichs dâor and louis dâorâ âjudge from your costume and gaitersâ âstillâ âif you can add to your possessions such a valuable property as a relation like Mrs. General Epanchin, then your bundle becomes a significant object at once. That is, of course, if you really are a relative of Mrs. Epanchinâs, and have not made a little error throughâ âwell, absence of mind, which is very common to human beings; or, sayâ âthrough a too luxuriant fancy?â
âOh, you are right again,â said the fair-haired traveller, âfor I really am almost wrong when I say she and I are related. She is hardly a relation at all; so little, in fact, that I was not in the least surprised to have no answer to my letter. I expected as much.â
âHâm! you spent your postage for nothing, then. Hâm! you are candid, howeverâ âand that is commendable. Hâm! Mrs. Epanchinâ âoh yes! a most eminent person. I know her. As for Mr. Pavlicheff, who supported you in Switzerland, I know him tooâ âat least, if it was Nicolai Andreevitch of that name? A fine fellow he wasâ âand had a property of 4,000 souls in his day.â
âYes, Nicolai Andreevitchâ âthat was his name,â and the young fellow looked earnestly and with curiosity at the all-knowing gentleman with the red nose.
This sort of character is met with pretty frequently in a certain class. They are people who know everyoneâ âthat is, they know where a man is employed, what his salary is, whom he knows, whom he married, what money his wife had, who are his cousins, and second cousins, etc., etc. These men generally have about a hundred pounds a year to live on, and they spend their whole time and talents in the amassing of this style of knowledge, which they reduceâ âor raiseâ âto the standard of a science.
During the latter part of the conversation the black-haired young man had become very impatient. He stared out of the window, and fidgeted, and evidently longed for the end of the journey. He was very absent; he would appear to listenâ âand heard nothing; and he would laugh of a sudden, evidently with no idea of what he was laughing about.
âExcuse me,â said the red-nosed man to the young fellow with the bundle, rather suddenly; âwhom have I the honour to be talking to?â
âPrince Lef Nicolaievitch Muishkin,â replied the latter, with perfect readiness.
âPrince Muishkin? Lef Nicolaievitch? Hâm! I donât know, Iâm sure! I may say I have never heard of such a person,â said the clerk, thoughtfully. âAt least, the name, I admit, is historical. Karamsin must mention the family name, of course, in his historyâ âbut as an individualâ âone never hears of any Prince Muishkin nowadays.â
âOf course not,â replied the prince; âthere are none, except myself. I believe I am the last and only one. As to my forefathers, they have always been a poor lot; my own father was a sublieutenant in the army. I donât know how Mrs. Epanchin comes into the Muishkin family, but she is descended from the Princess Muishkin, and she, too, is the last of her line.â
âAnd did you learn science and all that, with your professor over there?â asked the black-haired passenger.
âOh yesâ âI did learn a little, butâ ââ
âIâve never learned anything whatever,â said the other.
âOh, but I learned very little, you know!â added the prince, as though excusing himself. âThey could not teach me very much on account of my illness.â
âDo you know the Rogojins?â asked his questioner, abruptly.
âNo, I donâtâ ânot at all! I hardly know anyone in Russia. Why, is that your name?â
âYes, I am Rogojin, Parfen Rogojin.â
âParfen Rogojin? dear meâ âthen donât you belong to those very Rogojins, perhapsâ ââ began the clerk, with a very perceptible increase of civility in his tone.
âYesâ âthose very ones,â interrupted Rogojin, impatiently, and with scant courtesy. I may remark that he had not once taken any notice of the blotchy-faced passenger, and had hitherto addressed all his remarks direct to the prince.
âDear meâ âis it possible?â observed the clerk, while his face assumed an expression of great deference and servilityâ âif not of absolute alarm: âwhat, a son of that very Semen Rogojinâ âhereditary honourable citizenâ âwho died a month or so ago and left two million and a half of roubles?â
âAnd how do you know that he left two million and a half of roubles?â asked Rogojin, disdainfully, and not deigning so much as to look at the other. âHowever, itâs true enough that my father died a month ago, and that here am I returning from Pskoff, a month after, with hardly a boot to my foot. Theyâve treated me like a dog! Iâve been ill of fever at Pskoff the whole time, and not a line, nor farthing of money, have I received from my mother or my confounded brother!â
âAnd now youâll have a million roubles, at leastâ âgoodness gracious me!â exclaimed the clerk, rubbing his hands.
âFive weeks since, I was just like yourself,â continued Rogojin, addressing the prince, âwith nothing but a bundle and the clothes I wore. I ran away from my father and came to Pskoff to my auntâs house, where I caved in at once with fever, and he went and died while I was away. All honour to my respected fatherâs memoryâ âbut he uncommonly nearly killed me, all the same. Give you my word, prince, if I hadnât cut and run then, when I did, heâd have murdered me like a dog.â
âI suppose you angered him somehow?â asked the prince, looking at the millionaire with considerable curiosity. But though there may have been something remarkable in the fact that this man was heir to millions of roubles there was something about him which surprised and interested the prince more than that. Rogojin, too, seemed to have taken up the conversation with unusual alacrity. It appeared that he was still in a considerable state of excitement, if not absolutely feverish, and was in real need of someone to talk to for the mere sake of talking, as safety-valve to his agitation.
As for his red-nosed neighbour, the latterâ âsince the information as to the identity of Rogojinâ âhung over him, seemed to be living on the honey of his words and in the breath of his nostrils, catching at every syllable as though it were a pearl of great price.
âOh, yes; I angered himâ âI certainly did anger him,â replied Rogojin. âBut what puts me out so is my brother. Of course my mother couldnât do anythingâ âsheâs too oldâ âand whatever brother Senka says is law for her! But why couldnât he let me know? He sent a telegram, they say. Whatâs the good of a telegram? It frightened my aunt so that she sent it back to the office unopened, and there itâs been ever since! Itâs only thanks to Konief that I heard at all; he wrote me all about it. He says my brother cut off the gold tassels from my fatherâs coffin, at night, âbecause theyâre worth a lot of money!â says he. Why, I can get him sent off to Siberia for that alone, if I like; itâs sacrilege. Here, youâ âscarecrow!â he added, addressing the clerk at his side, âis it sacrilege or not, by law?â
âSacrilege, certainlyâ âcertainly sacrilege,â said the latter.
âAnd itâs Siberia for sacrilege, isnât it?â
âUndoubtedly so; Siberia, of course!â
âThey will think that Iâm still ill,â continued Rogojin to the prince, âbut I sloped off quietly, seedy as I was, took the train and came away. Aha, brother Senka, youâll have to open your gates and let me in, my boy! I know he told tales about me to my fatherâ âI know that well enough but I certainly did rile my father about Nastasia Philipovna, thatâs very sure, and that was my own doing.â
âNastasia Philipovna?â said the clerk, as though trying to think out something.
âCome, you know nothing about her,â said Rogojin, impatiently.
âAnd supposing I do know something?â observed the other, triumphantly.
âBosh! there are plenty of Nastasia Philipovnas. And what an impertinent beast you are!â he added angrily. âI thought some creature like you would hang on to me as soon as I got hold of my money.â
âOh, but I do know, as it happens,â said the clerk in an aggravating manner. âLebedeff knows all about her. You are pleased to reproach me, your excellency, but what if I prove that I am right after all? Nastasia Philipovnaâs family name is Barashkoffâ âI know, you seeâ âand she is a very well known lady, indeed, and comes of a good family, too. She is connected with one Totski, Afanasy Ivanovitch, a man of considerable property, a director of companies, and so on, and a great friend of General Epanchin, who is interested in the same matters as he is.â
âMy eyes!â said Rogojin, really surprised at last. âThe devil take the fellow, how does he know that?â
âWhy, he knows everythingâ âLebedeff knows everything! I was a month or two with LihachĂłf after his father died, your excellency, and while he was knocking aboutâ âheâs in the debtorâs prison nowâ âI was with him, and he couldnât do a thing without Lebedeff; and I got to know Nastasia Philipovna and several people at that time.â
âNastasia Philipovna? Why, you donât mean to say that she and LihachĂłfâ ââ cried Rogojin, turning quite pale.
âNo, no, no, no, no! Nothing of the sort, I assure you!â said Lebedeff, hastily. âOh dear no, not for the world! Totskiâs the only man with any chance there. Oh, no! He takes her to his box at the opera at the French theatre of an evening, and the officers and people all look at her and say, âBy Jove, thereâs the famous Nastasia Philipovna!â but no one ever gets any further than that, for there is nothing more to say.â
âYes, itâs quite true,â said Rogojin, frowning gloomily; âso Zaleshoff told me. I was walking about the Nefsky one fine day, prince, in my fatherâs old coat, when she suddenly came out of a shop and stepped into her carriage. I swear I was all of a blaze at once. Then I met Zaleshoffâ âlooking like a hairdresserâs assistant, got up as fine as I donât know who, while I looked like a tinker. âDonât flatter yourself, my boy,â said he; âsheâs not for such as you; sheâs a princess, she is, and her name is Nastasia Philipovna Barashkoff, and she lives with Totski, who wishes to get rid of her because heâs growing rather oldâ âfifty-five or soâ âand wants to marry a certain beauty, the loveliest woman in all Petersburg.â And then he told me that I could see Nastasia Philipovna at the opera-house that evening, if I liked, and described which was her box. Well, Iâd like to see my father allowing any of us to go to the theatre; heâd sooner have killed us, any day. However, I went for an hour or so and saw Nastasia Philipovna, and I never slept a wink all night after. Next morning my father happened to give me two government loan bonds to sell, worth nearly 5,000 roubles each. âSell them,â said he, âand then take 7,500 roubles to the office, give them to the cashier, and bring me back the rest of the 10,000, without looking in anywhere on the way; look sharp, I shall be waiting for you.â Well, I sold the bonds, but I didnât take the 7,000 roubles to the office; I went straight to the English shop and chose a pair of earrings, with a diamond the size of a nut in each. They cost 400 roubles more than I had, so I gave my name, and they trusted me. With the earrings I went at once to Zaleshoffâs. âCome on!â I said, âcome on to Nastasia Philipovnaâs,â and off we went without more ado. I tell you I hadnât a notion of what was about me or before me or below my feet all the way; I saw nothing whatever. We went straight into her drawing-room, and then she came out to us.
âI didnât say right out who I was, but Zaleshoff said: âFrom Parfen Rogojin, in memory of his first meeting with you yesterday; be so kind as to accept these!â
âShe opened the parcel, looked at the earrings, and laughed.
âââThank your friend Mr. Rogojin for his kind attention,â says she, and bowed and went off. Why didnât I die there on the spot? The worst of it all was, though, that the beast Zaleshoff got all the credit of it! I was short and abominably dressed, and stood and stared in her face and never said a word, because I was shy, like an ass! And there was he all in the fashion, pomaded and dressed out, with a smart tie on, bowing and scraping; and I bet anything she took him for me all the while!
âââLook here now,â I said, when we came out, ânone of your interference here after thisâ âdo you understand?â He laughed: âAnd how are you going to settle up with your father?â says he. I thought I might as well jump into the Neva at once without going home first; but it struck me that I wouldnât, after all, and I went home feeling like one of the damned.â
âMy goodness!â shivered the clerk. âAnd his father,â he added, for the princeâs instruction, âand his father would have given a man a ticket to the other world for ten roubles any dayâ ânot to speak of ten thousand!â
The prince observed Rogojin with great curiosity; he seemed paler than ever at this moment.
âWhat do you know about it?â cried the latter. âWell, my father learned the whole story at once, and Zaleshoff blabbed it all over the town besides. So he took me upstairs and locked me up, and swore at me for an hour. âThis is only a foretaste,â says he; âwait a bit till night comes, and Iâll come back and talk to you again.â
âWell, what do you think? The old fellow went straight off to Nastasia Philipovna, touched the floor with his forehead, and began blubbering and beseeching her on his knees to give him back the diamonds. So after awhile she brought the box and flew out at him. âThere,â she says, âtake your earrings, you wretched old miser; although they are ten times dearer than their value to me now that I know what it must have cost Parfen to get them! Give Parfen my compliments,â she says, âand thank him very much!â Well, I meanwhile had borrowed twenty-five roubles from a friend, and off I went to Pskoff to my auntâs. The old woman there lectured me so that I left the house and went on a drinking tour round the public-houses of the place. I was in a high fever when I got to Pskoff, and by nightfall I was lying delirious in the streets somewhere or other!â
âOho! weâll make Nastasia Philipovna sing another song now!â giggled Lebedeff, rubbing his hands with glee. âHey, my boy, weâll get her some proper earrings now! Weâll get her such earrings thatâ ââ
âLook here,â cried Rogojin, seizing him fiercely by the arm, âlook here, if you so much as name Nastasia Philipovna again, Iâll tan your hide as sure as you sit there!â
âAha! doâ âby all means! if you tan my hide you wonât turn me away from your society. Youâll bind me to you, with your lash, forever. Ha, ha! here we are at the station, though.â
Sure enough, the train was just steaming in as he spoke.
Though Rogojin had declared that he left Pskoff secretly, a large collection of friends had assembled to greet him, and did so with profuse waving of hats and shouting.
âWhy, thereâs Zaleshoff here, too!â he muttered, gazing at the scene with a sort of triumphant but unpleasant smile. Then he suddenly turned to the prince: âPrince, I donât know why I have taken a fancy to you; perhaps because I met you just when I did. But no, it canât be that, for I met this fellowâ (nodding at Lebedeff) âtoo, and I have not taken a fancy to him by any means. Come to see me, prince; weâll take off those gaiters of yours and dress you up in a smart fur coat, the best we can buy. You shall have a dress coat, best quality, white waistcoat, anything you like, and your pocket shall be full of money. Come, and you shall go with me to Nastasia Philipovnaâs. Now then will you come or no?â
âAccept, accept, Prince Lef Nicolaievitch!â said Lebedef solemnly; âdonât let it slip! Accept, quick!â
Prince Muishkin rose and stretched out his hand courteously, while he replied with some cordiality:
âI will come with the greatest pleasure, and thank you very much for taking a fancy to me. I dare say I may even come today if I have time, for I tell you frankly that I like you very much too. I liked you especially when you told us about the diamond earrings; but I liked you before that as well, though you have such a dark-clouded sort of face. Thanks very much for the offer of clothes and a fur coat; I certainly shall require both clothes and coat very soon. As for money, I have hardly a copeck about me at this moment.â
âYou shall have lots of money; by the evening I shall have plenty; so come along!â
âThatâs true enough, heâll have lots before evening!â put in Lebedeff.
âBut, look here, are you a great hand with the ladies? Letâs know that first?â asked Rogojin.
âOh no, oh no!â said the prince; âI couldnât, you knowâ âmy illnessâ âI hardly ever saw a soul.â
âHâm! wellâ âhere, you fellowâ âyou can come along with me now if you like!â cried Rogojin to Lebedeff, and so they all left the carriage.
Lebedeff had his desire. He went off with the noisy group of Rogojinâs friends towards the Voznesensky, while the princeâs route lay towards the Litaynaya. It was damp and wet. The prince asked his way of passersby, and finding that he was a couple of miles or so from his destination, he determined to take a droshky.
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