The Idiot

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

the footman informed thevisitors that the family were all away.

  “What a pity! What a pity! It’s just my luck!” repeated ArdalionAlexandrovitch over and over again, in regretful tones. “When yourmaster and mistress return, my man, tell them that General Ivolginand Prince Muishkin desired to present themselves, and that they wereextremely sorry, excessively grieved...”

  Just then another person belonging to the household was seen at theback of the hall. It was a woman of some forty years, dressed in sombrecolours, probably a housekeeper or a governess. Hearing the names shecame forward with a look of suspicion on her face.

  “Marie Alexandrovna is not at home,” said she, staring hard at thegeneral. “She has gone to her mother’s, with Alexandra Michailovna.”

  “Alexandra Michailovna out, too! How disappointing! Would you believeit, I am always so unfortunate! May I most respectfully ask you topresent my compliments to Alexandra Michailovna, and remind her... tellher, that with my whole heart I wish for her what she wished for herselfon Thursday evening, while she was listening to Chopin’s Ballade. Shewill remember. I wish it with all sincerity. General Ivolgin and PrinceMuishkin!”

  The woman’s face changed; she lost her suspicious expression.

  “I will not fail to deliver your message,” she replied, and bowed themout.

  As they went downstairs the general regretted repeatedly that he hadfailed to introduce the prince to his friends.

  “You know I am a bit of a poet,” said he. “Have you noticed it? Thepoetic soul, you know.” Then he added suddenly--“But after all...after all I believe we made a mistake this time! I remember that theSokolovitch’s live in another house, and what is more, they are justnow in Moscow. Yes, I certainly was at fault. However, it is of noconsequence.”

  “Just tell me,” said the prince in reply, “may I count still on yourassistance? Or shall I go on alone to see Nastasia Philipovna?”

  “Count on my assistance? Go alone? How can you ask me that question,when it is a matter on which the fate of my family so largely depends?You don’t know Ivolgin, my friend. To trust Ivolgin is to trust a rock;that’s how the first squadron I commanded spoke of me. ‘Depend uponIvolgin,’ said they all, ‘he is as steady as a rock.’ But, excuse me,I must just call at a house on our way, a house where I have foundconsolation and help in all my trials for years.”

  “You are going home?”

  “No... I wish... to visit Madame Terentieff, the widow of CaptainTerentieff, my old subordinate and friend. She helps me to keep up mycourage, and to bear the trials of my domestic life, and as I have anextra burden on my mind today...”

  “It seems to me,” interrupted the prince, “that I was foolish to troubleyou just now. However, at present you... Good-bye!”

  “Indeed, you must not go away like that, young man, you must not!” criedthe general. “My friend here is a widow, the mother of a family; herwords come straight from her heart, and find an echo in mine. A visitto her is merely an affair of a few minutes; I am quite at home in herhouse. I will have a wash, and dress, and then we can drive to the GrandTheatre. Make up your mind to spend the evening with me.... We arejust there--that’s the house... Why, Colia! you here! Well, is MarfaBorisovna at home or have you only just come?”

  “Oh no! I have been here a long while,” replied Colia, who was at thefront door when the general met him. “I am keeping Hippolyte company.He is worse, and has been in bed all day. I came down to buy some cards.Marfa Borisovna expects you. But what a state you are in, father!” addedthe boy, noticing his father’s unsteady gait. “Well, let us go in.”

  On meeting Colia the prince determined to accompany the general, thoughhe made up his mind to stay as short a time as possible. He wantedColia, but firmly resolved to leave the general behind. He could notforgive himself for being so simple as to imagine that Ivolgin would beof any use. The three climbed up the long staircase until they reachedthe fourth floor where Madame Terentieff lived.

  “You intend to introduce the prince?” asked Colia, as they went up.

  “Yes, my boy. I wish to present him: General Ivolgin and PrinceMuishkin! But what’s the matter?... what?... How is Marfa Borisovna?”

  “You know, father, you would have done much better not to come at all!She is ready to eat you up! You have not shown yourself since the daybefore yesterday and she is expecting the money. Why did you promise herany? You are always the same! Well, now you will have to get out of itas best you can.”

  They stopped before a somewhat low doorway on the fourth floor. ArdalionAlexandrovitch, evidently much out of countenance, pushed Muishkin infront.

  “I will wait here,” he stammered. “I should like to surprise her. ....”

  Colia entered first, and as the door stood open, the mistress of thehouse peeped out. The surprise of the general’s imagination fell veryflat, for she at once began to address him in terms of reproach.

  Marfa Borisovna was about forty years of age. She wore adressing-jacket, her feet were in slippers, her face painted, and herhair was in dozens of small plaits. No sooner did she catch sight ofArdalion Alexandrovitch than she screamed:

  “There he is, that wicked, mean wretch! I knew it was he! My heartmisgave me!”

  The old man tried to put a good face on the affair.

  “Come, let us go in--it’s all right,” he whispered in the prince’s ear.

  But it was more serious than he wished to think. As soon as the visitorshad crossed the low dark hall, and entered the narrow reception-room,furnished with half a dozen cane chairs, and two small card-tables,Madame Terentieff, in the shrill tones habitual to her, continued herstream of invectives.

  “Are you not ashamed? Are you not ashamed? You barbarian! You tyrant!You have robbed me of all I possessed--you have sucked my bones to themarrow. How long shall I be your victim? Shameless, dishonourable man!”

  “Marfa Borisovna! Marfa Borisovna! Here is... the Prince Muishkin!General Ivolgin and Prince Muishkin,” stammered the disconcerted oldman.

  “Would you believe,” said the mistress of the house, suddenly addressingthe prince, “would you believe that that man has not even spared myorphan children? He has stolen everything I possessed, sold everything,pawned everything; he has left me nothing--nothing! What am I to do withyour IOU’s, you cunning, unscrupulous rogue? Answer, devourer! answer,heart of stone! How shall I feed my orphans? with what shall I nourishthem? And now he has come, he is drunk! He can scarcely stand. How, ohhow, have I offended the Almighty, that He should bring this curse uponme! Answer, you worthless villain, answer!”

  But this was too much for the general.

  “Here are twenty-five roubles, Marfa Borisovna... it is all that Ican give... and I owe even these to the prince’s generosity--my noblefriend. I have been cruelly deceived. Such is... life... Now... Excuseme, I am very weak,” he continued, standing in the centre of theroom, and bowing to all sides. “I am faint; excuse me! Lenotchka... acushion... my dear!”

  Lenotchka, a little girl of eight, ran to fetch the cushion at once, andplaced it on the rickety old sofa. The general meant to have said muchmore, but as soon as he had stretched himself out, he turned his face tothe wall, and slept the sleep of the just.

  With a grave and ceremonious air, Marfa Borisovna motioned the prince toa chair at one of the card-tables. She seated herself opposite, leanedher right cheek on her hand, and sat in silence, her eyes fixed onMuishkin, now and again sighing deeply. The three children, two littlegirls and a boy, Lenotchka being the eldest, came and leant on thetable and also stared steadily at him. Presently Colia appeared from theadjoining room.

  “I am very glad indeed to have met you here, Colia,” said the prince.“Can you do something for me? I must see Nastasia Philipovna, and Iasked Ardalion Alexandrovitch just now to take me to her house, but hehas gone to sleep, as you see. Will you show me the way, for I do notknow the street? I have the address, though; it is close to the GrandTheatre.”

  “Nastasia Philipovna? She does
not live there, and to tell you the truthmy father has never been to her house! It is strange that you shouldhave depended on him! She lives near Wladimir Street, at the FiveCorners, and it is quite close by. Will you go directly? It is justhalf-past nine. I will show you the way with pleasure.”

  Colia and the prince went off together. Alas! the latter had no money topay for a cab, so they were obliged to walk.

  “I should have liked to have taken you to see Hippolyte,” said Colia.“He is the eldest son of the lady you met just now, and was in the nextroom. He is ill, and has been in bed all day. But he is rather strange,and extremely sensitive, and I thought he might be upset consideringthe circumstances in which you came... Somehow it touches me less, asit concerns my father, while it is _his_ mother. That, of course, makesa great difference. What is a terrible disgrace to a woman, does notdisgrace a man, at least not in the same way. Perhaps public opinionis wrong in condemning one sex, and excusing the other. Hippolyte isan extremely clever boy, but so prejudiced. He is really a slave to hisopinions.”

  “Do you say he is consumptive?”

  “Yes. It really would be happier for him to die young. If I were in hisplace I should certainly long for death. He is unhappy about his brotherand sisters, the children you saw. If it were possible, if we only had alittle money, we should leave our respective families, and live togetherin a little apartment of our own. It is our dream. But, do you know,when I was talking over your affair with him, he was angry, and saidthat anyone who did not call out a man who had given him a blow was acoward. He is very irritable to-day, and I left off arguing the matterwith him. So Nastasia Philipovna has invited you to go and see her?”

  “To tell the truth, she has not.”

  “Then how do you come to be going there?” cried Colia, so muchastonished that he stopped short in the middle of the pavement. “And...and are you going to her ‘At Home’ in that costume?”

  “I don’t know, really, whether I shall be allowed in at all. If she willreceive me, so much the better. If not, the matter is ended. As to myclothes--what can I do?”

  “Are you going there for some particular reason, or only as a way ofgetting into her society, and that of her friends?”

  “No, I have really an object in going... That is, I am going on businessit is difficult to explain, but...”

  “Well, whether you go on business or not is your affair, I do not wantto know. The only important thing, in my eyes, is that you should notbe going there simply for the pleasure of spending your evening in suchcompany--cocottes, generals, usurers! If that were the case I shoulddespise and laugh at you. There are terribly few honest people here,and hardly any whom one can respect, although people put on airs--Variaespecially! Have you noticed, prince, how many adventurers there arenowadays? Especially here, in our dear Russia. How it has happened Inever can understand. There used to be a certain amount of solidity inall things, but now what happens? Everything is exposed to the publicgaze, veils are thrown back, every wound is probed by careless fingers.We are for ever present at an orgy of scandalous revelations. Parentsblush when they remember their old-fashioned morality. At Moscow latelya father was heard urging his son to stop at nothing--at nothing, mindyou!--to get money! The press seized upon the story, of course, and nowit is public property. Look at my father, the general! See what he is,and yet, I assure you, he is an honest man! Only... he drinks too much,and his morals are not all we could desire. Yes, that’s true! I pityhim, to tell the truth, but I dare not say so, because everybody wouldlaugh at me--but I do pity him! And who are the really clever men, afterall? Money-grubbers, every one of them, from the first to the last.Hippolyte finds excuses for money-lending, and says it is a necessity.He talks about the economic movement, and the ebb and flow of capital;the devil knows what he means. It makes me angry to hear him talk so,but he is soured by his troubles. Just imagine--the general keeps hismother--but she lends him money! She lends it for a week or ten daysat very high interest! Isn’t it disgusting? And then, you would hardlybelieve it, but my mother--Nina Alexandrovna--helps Hippolyte in allsorts of ways, sends him money and clothes. She even goes as far ashelping the children, through Hippolyte, because their mother caresnothing about them, and Varia does the same.”

  “Well, just now you said there were no honest nor good people about,that there were only money-grubbers--and here they are quite close athand, these honest and good people, your mother and Varia! I thinkthere is a good deal of moral strength in helping people in suchcircumstances.”

  “Varia does it from pride, and likes showing off, and giving herselfairs. As to my mother, I really do admire her--yes, and honour her.Hippolyte, hardened as he is, feels it. He laughed at first, and thoughtit vulgar of her--but now, he is sometimes quite touched and overcome byher kindness. H’m! You call that being strong and good? I will rememberthat! Gania knows nothing about it. He would say that it was encouragingvice.”

  “Ah, Gania knows nothing about it? It seems there are many things thatGania does not know,” exclaimed the prince, as he considered Colia’slast words.

  “Do you know, I like you very much indeed, prince? I shall never forgetabout this afternoon.”

  “I like you too, Colia.”

  “Listen to me! You are going to live here, are you not?” said Colia.“I mean to get something to do directly, and earn money. Then shall wethree live together? You, and I, and Hippolyte? We will hire a flat, andlet the general come and visit us. What do you say?”

  “It would be very pleasant,” returned the prince. “But we must see. I amreally rather worried just now. What! are we there already? Is that thehouse? What a long flight of steps! And there’s a porter! Well, Colia Idon’t know what will come of it all.”

  The prince seemed quite distracted for the moment.

  “You must tell me all about it tomorrow! Don’t be afraid. I wish yousuccess; we agree so entirely that I can do so, although I do notunderstand why you are here. Good-bye!” cried Colia excitedly. “Now Iwill rush back and tell Hippolyte all about our plans and proposals! Butas to your getting in--don’t be in the least afraid. You will see her.She is so original about everything. It’s the first floor. The porterwill show you.”

  XIII.

  The prince was very nervous as he reached the outer door; but he did hisbest to encourage himself with the reflection that the worst thing thatcould happen to him would be that he would not be received, or, perhaps,received, then laughed at for coming.

  But there was another question, which terrified him considerably,and that was: what was he going to do when he _did_ get in? And to thisquestion he could fashion no satisfactory reply.

  If only he could find an opportunity of coming close up to NastasiaPhilipovna and saying to her: “Don’t ruin yourself by marrying this man.He does not love you, he only loves your money. He told me so himself,and so did Aglaya Ivanovna, and I have come on purpose to warn you”--buteven that did not seem quite a legitimate or practicable thing to do.Then, again, there was another delicate question, to which he could notfind an answer; dared not, in fact, think of it; but at the very ideaof which he trembled and blushed. However, in spite of all his fears andheart-quakings he went in, and asked for Nastasia Philipovna.

  Nastasia occupied a medium-sized, but distinctly tasteful, flat,beautifully furnished and arranged. At one period of these five yearsof Petersburg life, Totski had certainly not spared his expenditure uponher. He had calculated upon her eventual love, and tried to tempt herwith a lavish outlay upon comforts and luxuries, knowing too well howeasily the heart accustoms itself to comforts, and how difficult it isto tear one’s self away from luxuries which have become habitual and,little by little, indispensable.

  Nastasia did not reject all this, she even loved her comforts andluxuries, but, strangely enough, never became, in the least degree,dependent upon them, and always gave the impression that she could dojust as well without them. In fact, she went so far as to inform Totskion several occasions that such was the case, whic
h the latter gentlemanconsidered a very unpleasant communication indeed.

  But, of late, Totski had observed many strange and original featuresand characteristics in Nastasia, which he had neither known nor reckonedupon in former times, and some of these fascinated him, even now, inspite of the fact that all his old calculations with regard to her werelong ago cast to the winds.

  A maid opened the door for the prince (Nastasia’s servants were allfemales) and, to his surprise, received his request to announce him toher mistress without any astonishment. Neither his dirty boots, nor hiswide-brimmed hat, nor his sleeveless cloak, nor his evident confusion ofmanner, produced the least impression upon her. She helped him off withhis cloak, and begged him to wait a moment in the ante-room while sheannounced him.

  The company assembled at Nastasia Philipovna’s consisted of none but hermost intimate friends, and formed a very small party in comparison withher usual gatherings on this anniversary.

  In the first place there were present Totski, and General Epanchin.They were both highly amiable, but both appeared to be labouring undera half-hidden feeling of anxiety as to the result of Nastasia’sdeliberations with regard to Gania, which result was to be made publicthis evening.

  Then, of course, there was Gania who was by no means so amiable ashis elders, but stood apart, gloomy, and miserable, and silent. He haddetermined not to bring Varia with him; but Nastasia had not even askedafter her, though no sooner had he arrived than she had reminded him ofthe episode between himself and the prince. The general, who had heardnothing of it before, began to listen with some interest, while Gania,drily, but with perfect candour, went through the whole history,including the fact of his apology to the prince. He finished bydeclaring that the prince was a most extraordinary man, and goodnessknows why he had been considered an idiot hitherto, for he was very farfrom being one.

  Nastasia listened to all this with great interest; but the conversationsoon turned to Rogojin and his visit, and this theme proved of thegreatest attraction to both Totski and the general.

  Ptitsin was able to afford some particulars as to Rogojin’s conductsince the afternoon. He