现实百态 》 白痴 The Idiot 》
译本前言：被贱害的和被毁灭的美 The Idiot I.
陀思妥耶夫斯基 Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
The Idiot I.
本书系19世纪俄国大文豪陀思妥耶夫斯基的重要作品之一。小说描写19世纪60年代出身贵族家庭的绝色女子娜斯塔霞常年受地主托茨基蹂躏，后托茨基愿出一大笔钱要把她嫁给卑鄙无耻的加尼亚。就在女主人公的生日晚会上，被人们视为白痴的年轻公爵梅诗金突然出现，愿无条件娶娜斯塔霞为妻，这使她深受感动。在与公爵即将举行婚礼的那天，她尽管深爱着公爵，但还是跟花花公子罗果仁跑了。最后遭罗果仁杀害。小说对农奴制改革后俄国上层社会作了广泛的描绘，涉及复杂的心理和道德问题。善良、宽容的梅什金公爵无力对周围的人施加影响，也不能为他们造福，这个堂吉诃德式的人物的努力是徒劳的，表明作者企图以信仰和爱来拯救世界的幻想的破灭。
译本前言：被贱害的和被毁灭的美
石国雄
十九世纪六十年代，处于一个大转折、大变化的时期。１８６１年实行农奴制改革以后，的社会经济经历着一个重要的过程。从上看，贵族统治阶级进行了有利于自己的农奴制改革；保住了自己的统治地位，统治阻遏了形势的发展，而在经济上，资本主义迅速发展，如列宁指出的，“１８６１年以后，资本主义的发展是这样的迅速，只用数十年的工夫就完成了欧洲某些国家整整几个世纪才能完成的转变。”＊国内外企业主追求利润，表现出疯狂的积极性。金钱的势力越来越大，强烈地影响着社会的传统道德和生活方式。社会矛盾也更加尖锐。这是一个由“资产阶级的（资本主义的）生产方式代替农奴制度的（或封建制度的）生产方式的”＊＊过渡时期。究竟应走上什么样的发展之路，是当时普遍关心的问题，也是社会思想斗争的中心问题。文学界也在寻求社会发展道路的回答，他们通过塑造正面人物来回答这个问题。１８６４年主义者车尔尼雪夫斯基就写了小说《怎么办？》，塑造了拉赫梅托夫等新人的形象。同一时期巴任写了《斯捷潘·鲁列夫》、布拉戈维申斯基写了《黎明之前》、斯列普佐夫写了《困难时刻》等，他们所描写的主人公，有的走向民间，唤起群众迎接风暴和战斗；有的为新思想所鼓舞，与富裕的家庭、与庸俗的环境决裂；有的忠于主义理想，揭露贵族自由主义。他们都与现存社会格格不入，但并不忍耐和宽容，而是积极行动，探求新的道路。
＊《列宁全集》，人民出版社， １９５９年，第１７卷，第１０４页。
＊＊同上，第９２页。
陀思妥耶夫斯基（１８２１－１８８１）从彼得堡工学院毕业后就献身文学事业。他受到别林斯基、涅克拉索夫的进步影响，继承了果戈里派批判现实主义传统，在《穷人》等早期创作中描绘了城市小人物，表现了他们的内心美，揭露了社会对他们的压迫和摧残。四十年代未他参加了空想社会主义性质的彼特拉谢夫斯基派小组，受到沙皇政府的，体验过面临死刑的恐惧，后又改判苦役。四年监狱生活使他在精神上、思想上经历了深重的磨难。接着又是服兵役和充军。等他再度恢复自由的时候，原先那种通过斗争改造社会的追求，已随着那苦难的岁月一起逝去了，代替青年时代理想的是顺从和忍受那似乎不可抗拒的制度的力量。但是，陀思妥耶夫斯基始终关心着社会问题，注视着社会的变化，忠于现实主义的创作原则，仍然深刻地反映了社会现实，塑造了鲜明的人物性格，写下了《被欺凌的和被侮辱的》、《死屋手记》、《赌徒》、《罪与罚》等，对资本主义世界作了悲愤的揭露，对底层的穷人们倾注了深厚的同情。１８６７年秋，他开始了长篇小说《白痴》的创作，１８６８年完成。
在这部新作中，陀思妥耶夫斯基继续了自己创作的主题，塑造了被侮辱和被损害的形象，揭发了农奴制改革后贵族资产阶级过去是，现在依然是摧残人间美好事物的罪魁祸首，也暴露了资本主义社会中金钱腐蚀、毒害、毁灭人的罪恶。而作为美的体现，作为这个丑恶社会的牺牲品，作为被毁灭的美的化身，便是女主人公纳斯塔西娅·费利帕夫娜。
纳斯塔西娅是美的。小说在她未出场前已经通过罗戈任之口让读者知道，这是个令罗戈任神魂颠倒的美人，以致他甘愿违抗父命去见她并赠送钻石耳环。接着又通过梅什金公爵见到的照片，为读者勾勒出一个美貌出众的女人肖像，甚至连叶潘钦家的小姐见了照片也不由得发出“一个人有这样的美，就可以推翻整个世界”的赞叹。她的美留给梅什金公爵深刻的印象，乃至在蓦地见到她本人时便被她的风姿惊愕得笨手笨脚，不知所措。但是，就是在这种惊人的美貌中，梅什金也发现了其中蕴含着悲哀、骄傲、轻蔑、甚至仇恨，因而又引起了一种怜悯；让人受不了这种美，让人感到这是奇怪的美。作者已经一开始就为我们揭示了纳斯塔西娅身上的美的不和谐、不协调。
事实也正是这样。纳斯塔西娅自幼失去双亲，由贵族托茨基收留，寄养在总管家里。过了五年，托茨基去领他，无意中发现已是十二岁的小姑娘聪明美丽。犹如鉴别物品优劣的行家一样，托茨基看出纳斯塔西娅有着可塑的价值，便不惜在她身上花费，为她请家庭教师，使她受到良好的教育。四年以后，又专门给她一幢房子，配备了书、画、乐器，还让一位女地主来陪伴和照料，纳斯塔西娅俨然成了贵族庄园里的千金小姐。可是，也就在这时，托茨基占有了她，这里成了他逍遥作乐的别墅。事情不仅于此，过了四五年，托茨基想跟出身富贵的叶潘钦将军小姐缔结婚姻，便欲尽快将纳斯塔西娅甩掉。他甚至愿以七万五千卢布的代价将她嫁给叶潘钦将军的秘书加尼亚，而叶潘钦将军也怀着不可告人的阴暗目的，竭力促成这一婚事；纳斯塔西娅不过是托茨基、叶潘钦之流的玩物和商品，她的美一开始就伴随着深深的悲剧。
虽然纳斯塔西娅的美遭到了亵读和玷污，但是她的内心是高傲纯洁的。她虽享受着托茨基为她提供的舒适环境，可是她生活得十分俭朴，对金钱毫不动心，在彼得堡度过的五年洁身生活中竟没有丝毫积蓄；她也没有被托茨基为她巧妙安排的那些公爵、骠骑兵之流所，保持她那孤傲高洁的品性；她远离上流社会，并不涉足纸醉金迷的花花世界，而是闭门读书，爱好音乐，至多也只是结交一些平常人……更主要的是，在这个温文娴静、知识丰富的柔弱女子身上，有一颗刚强的心，一副铮铮铁骨。对于托茨基的卑鄙无耻，她怀着深深的蔑视和憎恨，这甚至使托茨基都感到害怕、担扰，并不得不以另一种眼光来看待受到他侮辱的这个女人。这便是纳斯塔西娅的美中含着的悲哀、骄傲、轻蔑及仇恨的由来。陀思妥夫斯基一方面把美已受到摧残、另一分面又竭力要维护自己纯洁的美的纳斯塔西娅呈现给读者。如果说在托茨基之前纳斯塔西娅不知道捍卫自己的话，那么在经历了这一切以后，当她意识到要把握自己命运的时候，她这种捍卫自己美的努力又会是怎样一种遭遇呢？
纳斯塔西娅自然不想依附于托茨基，也不想做公子哥儿的花瓶，她崇尚过一种独立、清白的生活。她之所以和加尼亚结交，是因为看重他能吃苦耐劳地工作，独自维持着全家的生计。但是，当她发现加尼亚明知这是托茨基和叶潘钦别有用心的安排，只是为了金钱才和她结婚，她的心颤栗了，失望了，并进而迸发出愤怒的火花。她当着大家的面，把罗戈任用来买她的１０万卢布付之一炬。连视金钱如命的加尼亚（用罗戈任的话说，只要掏出３个卢布，他就可以趴在地上，一直爬到瓦西利耶夫斯基岛）也不得不在这充满铜臭的火光面前畏而却步，更令出大价买她的罗戈任震惊目呆。纳斯塔西娅的举动无疑是对托茨基、叶潘钦之流的抗拒，在她看来，与其是成为背地里买卖勾当的牺牲品，不如将这种肮脏的拍卖公开化，这是对虚伪的社会的挑战；这一举动也是对加尼亚，罗戈任之流的反击，是对金钱势力的示威，表面上似乎纳斯塔西娅出卖了自己，实际上焚烧１０万卢布正是她高傲人性的胜利，是她对金钱买卖的胜利，是她对托茨基，叶潘钦，加尼亚、罗戈任的胜利。焚烧１０万卢布的火光照亮了纳斯塔西娅高洁不污的灵魂，也照出了要用金线买卖她的美的那一伙人污浊丑恶的嘴脸。
纳斯塔西诬蔑视金钱、鄙视托茨基，过了五年洁身自好的生活，准备不带一点东西地离开托茨基，表现出她心高气傲的品格；另一方面，托茨基对她的玷污又深深地伤害了她，使她十分自卑，摆脱不了自觉低贱的阴影，认为“最好还是到街头去，那是我应该去的地方”。因此，虽然她遇见梅什金公爵后第一次看到这是真正理解和尊重她的人，但是她不愿意因为自已的低贱而毁了公爵，她宁肯牺牲自己，要使公爵获得幸福。因此她竭力要促成公爵和阿格拉娅的婚姻。然而，纳斯塔西娅只是自认卑贱，只是自己觉得配不上公爵。她不容许别人对她的人格有丝毫贬低和鄙视，一旦别人侮辱了她的人格，她便奋而抗起，坚决捍卫自己的尊严和权利，这也就使她最后在怀有偏见的阿格拉娅面前又要夺回梅什金公爵。她生活的环境造成了她这种又自卑又自尊的矛盾性格，我们看到了她的心地善良和纯洁，也看到了她那被扭曲和损害的心灵。最终这又使她在与梅什金公爵举行婚礼的最后时刻抛下公爵而随罗戈任而去。
罗戈任是一个富家子弟，继承了父亲的大笔遗产。他对于纳斯塔西但的爱是狂热的，但这种爱只是对美色的爱；是一种占有欲的爱，是与其父亲对金钱的占有一样的一种私有的欲望；他粗俗、骄横、狭隘、嫉妒，虽然买下了纳斯塔西娅，纳斯塔西娅却绝不爱他。她几次随他而去，可是罗戈任始终未能得到她。他知道她爱梅什金公爵，因而跟踪公爵，甚至想要谋害这个曾被他称为兄弟的情敌。最后，终于在可望不可及、我得不到你也别想得到的极端私有心理的支配下，杀害了纳斯塔西娅。
纳斯塔西娅的悲剧命运、鲜明地揭示了她所生存的世界扼杀了她的美这一罪恶的本质。她的美不仅没有能推翻世界，相反被它毁灭了。陀思妥耶夫斯基作为伟大的艺术家正是无情地把这一种美，把这纯洁、苦难、高傲、反抗的美毁灭给人们看，他那深刻的笔触所及的女主人公那时而娴静时而悲愤、时而理智时而疯狂、时而自卑对而傲慢、时而通达时而偏执的种种场景，无不令人震撼、令人叹惜。作家塑造的纳斯塔西娅的形象成为文学，也是世界文学中最鲜明生动、光彩照人的妇女形象之一。
纳斯塔西娅的毁灭是《白痴》所描写的美的毁灭的一个方面。作为美被毁灭的另一个方面，那就是作者所钟爱的男主人公梅什金公爵的悲剧。在写作这部小说的时候，作者曾经这样说：“长篇小说的主要思想是描绘一个绝对美好的人物。世界上再没有比这件事更难的了。特别是现在。所有的作家，不仅是的甚至是欧洲的作家，如果谁想描绘绝对的美，总是感到无能为力，因为这是一个无比困难的任务。美是理想，而理想，无论是我们还是文明的欧洲，都还未形成。世界上只有一个绝对美好的人物——，因此这位无可比拟、无限美好的人物的出现当然也是永恒的奇迹……”
这段话清楚地表明了作者意欲创造一个类似那样的美好人物，可是社会本身又不可能让这样的美好人物存在。作者实际上在塑造其心爱的主人公时就已经给他注定了悲剧的命运。
梅什金公爵虽然是个贵族的后裔，可是实际上池已沦落为一个贫民，靠富商帕夫列谢夫的接济而在遥远的端士治疗他那可怜的白痴病。当他一开始出现在驶往彼得堡的列车上时，他已是个几乎治愈了疾病的正常人。如同一般，他自遥远的异乡来到祖国，处身于一个他全然生疏，不了解的陌生社会之中。他一开始就表现出由于长期远离尘世而形成的单纯和天真，而这正是陀思妥耶夫斯基赋予梅什金公爵的主要性格特征。在他的笔记里这样写着：“怎样才能使主人公这个人物获得读者的好感？如果堂吉柯德和匹克威克作为善良的人物而引起读者的好感并获得了成功，那么这是因为他们可笑。长篇小说的主人公公爵，如果不是可笑，那么他具有另一个可爱的特征，他天真！＊＊比如他一下子就对纨绔子弟罗戈任产生好感；他以为能在同族的亲戚叶潘钦将军那里得到关怀和帮助；他一见到纳斯塔西娅的照片，便毫不掩饰地表现出对她的爱恋和同情；……但是，梅什金公爵面临的社会却是个充满铜臭、等级观念的尔虞我诈的虚伪世界，在这个世界里却容不得一点真诚、坦率和单纯，因而毫无社交经验的梅什金公爵在这个世界中因为自己的善良、坦诚、正直、同情而常常被人们看做是不正常，被他们称为“白痴”。例如，他刚到叶潘钦将军家，就顺口在将军夫人面前提到了纳斯塔西娅，殊不知纳斯塔西娅牵动着这个家庭的诸多神经，以至加尼亚骂他“真是个白痴！”；当他了解到纳斯塔西娅面临的抉择，在竞相买卖的托茨基、加尼亚、罗戈任之流面前虽然表明，他把纳斯塔西娅看做是纯洁的女人，钦佩她从地狱出来还一尘不染，不会因她曾是托茨基的情妇而害臊，永远不会责怪她，把娶她看作是一种光荣，一种体面，而且要一辈子尊敬她。可是托茨基却在心里骂他是“白痴”。
＊《陀思妥耶夫斯基论艺术》，漓江出版社，１９８８年，第３２６页。
＊＊《陀思妥那大斯基论艺术》，漓江出版社，１９８８年，第３８０页。
梅什金公爵的单纯天真，也许还不只是表现在他的纯朴率直，没有低卑自私的动机和打算，他的单纯天真更主要的表现是，在这个充满欺骗、嫉妒、敌意、仇恨的世界里他宽容忍耐一切，并且企图以自己的同情和怜悯来维护和解救受到蹂躏的美。他对世界的看法：他宽恕一切，处处看到原因，看不到不可宽怒的罪恶并原谅一切。……如果说在瑞士乡间他尚能用他的同情怜悯在同样单纯天真的孩子们中间唤起共鸣而使一个受到摧残的女子得到一丝心灵的慰籍（但终究改变不了她那毁灭的命运）的话，那么在弱肉强食、光怪陆离的彼得堡，他的同情和怜悯，他的宽容和忍耐却只能给人给己带来痛苦的毁灭。
梅什金公爵总是用他那温顺的忍辱负重的精神来对待他所遇到的一切。加尼亚是个心胸狭隘、精于盘算、富有野心、气躁性浮的人，他利用梅什金公爵为他传递书信给阿格拉娅，却还日日声声责骂公爵是白痴，梅什金明明感到受了侮辱，还是原谅了他，住到了他家里，更有甚者，梅什金阻挡了加尼亚欲打因对纳斯塔西娅出言不逊的瓦里娅，却反而被加尼亚打了耳光，可是他仅仅发出“您将来会对这种举动感到多么羞愧吗”的无力感叹，而且很快他就原谅了加尼亚，甚至表示从今以后永远不会把您当做卑鄙的人了”；罗戈任粗鲁、野蛮，没有教养也没有道德，公爵亲眼目睹他如何出钱买下纳斯塔西娅，也明明知道他只能加深纳斯塔西娅的痛苦，而且公爵也总能发现他那冷酷阴森的目光，他始终像幽灵似的出现在公爵周围，甚至企图举刀谋害被他视作情敌的公爵。纵然在他们之间有着这一切，梅什金公爵始终把罗戈任看作是朋友甚或是兄弟，仍然对他推心置腹以换取谅解，仍然不念旧恶以重修和好，直至最后当罗戈任杀害了纳斯塔西娅，他还能与他情同手足般地一起躺在死者身旁平心静气地谈论发生的一切。梅什金公爵的精神简直到了莫名其妙、令人惊讶的地步。然而他这种宽容却并不能感化加尼亚、罗戈任之流。加尼亚在忏悔一通之后，依旧怀着要得到金钱而娶纳斯塔西娅的目的去参加她将作出抉择的晚会；罗戈任也始终把他看作情敌、始终把纳斯塔西娅看作己物而最后杀死她泄愤。梅什金公爵的宽容、忍耐，在生活中的恶面前，在社会中的丑面前显得何等苍白无力！
＊陀思妥那夭斯基语，引自留里科夫《陀思妥那大斯基关于美好人物的小说》，见《白痴》，苏联文学出版社，１９６０年，第５页。
那么他的同情和怜悯是否又能拯救别人呢？他对纳斯塔西娅的爱，是出于同情和怜悯的爱。他赞叹她的美貌，但是他更为她深深掩藏的悲哀所动心。他固然称赞她的纯洁、钦佩她的出污泥而不染，但他的表示要娶纳斯塔西娅是出于不忍心看着她跳出托茨基的虎口又落入罗戈任之狼爪。纳斯塔西娅是个心高气傲的女性，她确实第一次遇见一个纯洁和高尚的人，但是她不愿意因自已的过去而毁了公爵这样的“孩子”，她不愿接受公爵那种出自同情和怜悯的爱，因此她心里爱着公爵可又竭力要回避他，她几次三番或从罗戈任那里逃走，或离开梅什金公爵，都是这种心理矛盾的表现。及至最后纳斯塔西娅要梅什金在阿格拉娅面前表态时，公爵也仍然是带着哀怜和责备的口吻对阿格拉娅说：“……她是那样不幸的人吗！”他在这种心态下迫不得已接受了纳斯塔西娅，实际上不过是纳斯塔西娅愿意这样，他才这样做。他坦白地对人说，当时不过是受不住纳斯塔西娅的脸：“在他对她的爱情里的确包含着一种好像对于一个可怜的、生病的婴儿的柔情。”而纳斯塔西娅也完全明白，她并不能使梅什金公爵得到安慰，而是不安，她觉察到他的忧愁，她知道阿格拉娅对他有什么意义，乃至结婚前夕她痛哭流涕地向公爵表示“我做的是什么事！我把你弄成这个样子！”梅什金公爵的同情和怜悯并没有解救纳斯塔西娅，而只是增加她的痛苦，使她最终绝望，直至举行婚礼后她终于又一次投向罗戈任而落得毁灭的悲惨结局。在纳斯塔西娅的悲剧中，梅什金公爵难道没有过错？正如小说中叶夫盖尼·帕夫洛维奇向梅什金公爵指出的那样，他对纳斯塔西娅“从一开始的时候起就是虚伪的，既以虚伪开始，也就应该以虚伪告终；这是自然的法则。……所以会发生这一切事情，首先是由于您天生不通世故（……），其次是由于您的过分纯朴；再其次，是由于您不知分寸（……），最后，是由于您的头脑里有一大堆信念，而您的性格又特别诚实……”
梅什金公爵的软弱，也毁了阿格拉娅的幸福。阿格拉娅不满于过平庸的生活，不愿受到家庭的庇护，她希望逃出家庭，渴望行动，做点有益于社会的事情，她要变更自己的社会地位，去从事教育工作。她选择梅什金公爵，企望从他那里得到帮助。但是梅什金公爵的优柔寡断，对纳斯塔西娅的怜悯的爱同时却伤害了阿格拉娅的爱，使阿格拉娅绝望，最后皈依天主教，嫁给了一个波兰者。
梅什金公爵因他那同情和怜悯同时毁了两个女性，也毁了自己。他既失去了怜悯的爱，也失去了真情的爱，这双重的打击终于使他的白痴病再次复发。这次已经是很难治愈了，他又成了真正的白痴。
宽容，忍耐，同情、怜悯这些本来属于一个美好人物的美好品质，在这个无情，冷酪、争斗，残忍的社会里却变成使别人更加痛苦不幸也找害自己的有害的慢性药物，陀思妥耶夫斯基本意要塑造一个美好的人物，想用美来拯救世养，可是结果恰恰是，非但这个式的美好人物未能拯救世界的苦难，反而连同其美德一起被这可恶的世界毁灭了。梅什金公爵是陀思妥耶夫斯基的理想人物，看起来虽然不切实际，甚至近似荒诞，可是同时他又正如作者自己说的：“白痴是更为现实的人”，“我的理想主义比他们的现实主义更为现实。”＊＊“我对现实（艺术中的）有自己独特的看法，而且被大多数人称之为几乎是荒诞的和特殊的事物，对于我来说，有时构成了现实的本质。事物的平凡性和对它的陈腐看法，依我看来，还不能算现实主义，甚至恰好相反，难道我的荒诞的‘白痴’不是现实，而且是最平凡的现实！正是现在才必然在我们脱离了根基的社会阶层中产生出这样的人物，这类社会阶层才真正变得荒诞。……”＊＊＊陀思妥耶夫斯基揭示了他那理想人物无法在那个社会里生存的本质，这也正是其现实主义的力量！
说到作品的艺术成就，笔者不想在这里多作赘述。读过小说，谁也忘不了纳斯塔西娅怒焚十万卢布的惊心动魄的场面，也忘不了纳斯塔西娅被害后梅什金公爵和罗戈任共同守灵那凄楚可悲的情景……读过小说，谁不会为美丽的高洁的纳斯塔西娅的身世感到悲愤，谁不会为纯朴天真的梅什金公爵的被毁感到痛惜……这一切都归功于陀思妥耶夫斯基的不朽的笔力。卢那察尔斯基对于艺术家陀思妥耶夫斯基有过非常精辟的分析：“陀思妥耶夫斯是抒情艺术家，他所有的中篇和长篇小说都是一道倾泄他的亲身感受的火热的河流。这是他的灵魂奥秘的连续的自白，这是披肝沥胆的热烈的渴望。这便是他创作的第一个因素，基本因素。第二个因素是当他向读者表白他的信念的时候，总是渴望感染他们，说服和打动他们。……陀思妥耶夫斯基不用直截了当的形式而用虚构叙事的形式表达他的感受、自白。他把他的自白、他的灵魂的热烈呼吁包括在事件的铺叙之中。……凌驾于他那直抒情怀、披肝沥胆的渴望之上，还有第三个基本动机 宏大的，无穷的，强烈的生活的渴望。正是这种热烈的不可抑制的生的渴望，使陀思妥耶夫斯基首先变成了艺术家，他创造了伟大的和卑劣的人物，创造了众神和生灵。……陀思妥耶夫斯基同他所有的主角紧密相联。他的血在他们的血管中奔流。他的心在他所创造的一切形象里面跳动，陀思妥耶夫斯基在痛苦中生育他的形象，他的心急剧地跳动着，他吃力地喘息着……他竭力使读者去接近他的主角的思想感情的激流、思想感情的万花筒，因此，陀思妥耶夫斯基被称为心理学作者。”＊这对于《白痴》也是完全适用的。
＊《陀思妥耶夫斯基论艺术》，漓江出版社， １９８８年，第３８０页。
＊＊同上，第３２７页。
＊＊＊同上，第３２９页。
最后，借此机会向漓江出版社表示衷心的感谢，承蒙他们对我的信任，把重译世界名著《白痴》的任务交付给我。鉴于本人语言文学修养的不足，译文有不当之处，敬请专家、读者指正。
＊卢那察尔斯基《论文学》，人民文学出版社，１９７８年，第２１４－２１５页。
The Idiot (Russian: Идиот, Idiot) is a novel written by 19th century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published serially in Russky Vestnik between 1868 and 1869. The Idiot is ranked beside some of Dostoevsky's other works as one of the most brilliant literary achievements of the Russian "Golden Age" of Literature. It was not published in English until the 20th century.
Plot
27-year-old Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to Russia after spending several years at a Swiss sanatorium. Scorned by the society of St. Petersburgh for his Idiocy as being too generous and innocent, he finds himself at the center of a struggle between a rich, kept woman and a gorgeous, virtuous girl who both wish to win his affection. Unfortunately, Myshkin's very goodness seems to bring disaster to all he meets, leading to a climax that tragically reveals how, in a world obsessed with money, power, and sexual conquest, a sanatorium is the only place for a saint.
Major themes
An imperfectly perfect man, for although physically flawed and as gullible as a babe, Dostoevsky's Myshkin possesses all of the qualities which affirm Man's greatness, and the ultimate assurance of doom when placed in a frivolous, and unjust environment; a transcending Christ.
—T. Reid
Dostoyevsky's motives for writing The Idiot stem from his desire to depict the "positively good man". This man is naturally likened to Christ in many ways. Dostoyevsky uses Myshkin's introduction to the Petersburg society as a way to contrast the nature of Russian society at the time and the isolation and innocence of this good man. This is highlighted by his conflicts and relationship with Rogozhin. Indeed, Myshkin and Rogozhin are contrasted from the outset. Myshkin is associated with light, Rogozhin with dark. For example, in their initial descriptions on the train, Myshkin is described as having light hair and blue eyes, while Rogozhin has "dark features". Rogozhin's house is submerged in darkness, with iron bars on the windows. He is not only an embodiment of darkness, but surrounded by it. The two characters are clearly antithetical. If Myshkin should be seen as Christ, Rogozhin could easily be seen as the Devil. "Rog", in Russian, means horn, adding credence to such an assertion, although the primary association of his name is with rogozha ("bast"), possibly hinting at his humble origins.
Despite their difference, they are both after Nastasya Filippovna—good and bad (and mediocre, in the image of Ganya) strive for the same thing. Love itself is shown in various manifestations, spurred by various motives. While vain Ganya wishes to marry Nastasya in order that he might, through acquisition of a large dowry, spark some of the individuality which he senses he lacks, Rogozhin loves Nastasya with a deep passion. Myshkin, however, loves her out of pity, out of Christian love. This love for her supersedes even the romantic love he has for Aglaia. It is important to note that Aglaia developed a great appreciation for Myshkin's purity of heart and capacity for empathic love, even that he felt for Nastasya. Aglaia and her sisters came to identify Myshkin with the protagonist of a famous Russian poem by Pushkin, "The Poor Knight", because of the Prince's quixotic, tragic quest to defend the honor of Nastasya in the face of the ridicule, and at times contempt, he faced from all his acquaintances. And she grew to love him not in spite of this, but even more so because of it. At a gathering at the Prince's home that included her family and several of the Prince's friends, Aglaia flushes hotly when Kolya enigmatically and ironically declares "There's nothing better than the Poor Knight!" Though the comment is partially mocking him, in the depths of Aglaia's heart she agrees with this fully. In the end, though, Aglaia cannot completely eradicate her jealousy of Nastasya, and cannot measure up to the heights of the Prince's sympathetic love when he apparently scorns her in a final effort to save Nastasya.
There is a parallel between Rogozhin and the Russian upper-class society. The materialistic society which praises the values Myshkin represents and professes itself to be "good", cannot accommodate Prince Myshkin; Rogozhin, though he truly loves Nastasya, commits murder in the end. Nastasya herself has been corrupted by a depraved society. Her beauty and initial innocence have led Totsky (perhaps the most repugnant of characters in the novel) to keep her as a concubine and she falls into a quasi-madness.
Adaptations and tributes
* Several filmmakers have produced adaptations of the novel, among them L'idiot (Georges Lampin 1946), a 1951 version by Akira Kurosawa, a 1958 version by Russian director Ivan Pyryev, and Mani Kaul's 1992 Hindi version
* In 2001, Down House, a tongue-in-cheek modern adaptation/parody of the novel, was filmed by Russian director Roman Kachanov, using the late 1990s Moscow underworld of mafia and drug addicts as the setting; it featured Fyodor Bondarchuk as the Prince and the co-writer of the script, Ivan Okhlobystin as Rogozhin.
* Christian Bale's character in The Machinist is seen reading The Idiot in the opening minutes of the film
* In 2003 Russian State Television produced an 10-part, 8-hour mini-series of the work, which is available with English subtitles.
* In 1999 Czech director Saša Gedeon produced a modern cinematic reinterpretation of The Idiot entitled The Return of the Idiot (Návrat idiota).
* The Polish director Andrzej Wajda adapted the last chapter of The Idiot as the feature film Nastasja in 1994.
* The Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky planned an opera on The Idiot during World War I, but did not complete it.
* The Harlan Ellison short story Prince Myshkin and Hold the Relish features a friendly debate on Dostoevsky and The Idiot between the narrator and a vendor at Pink's Hot Dogs in Los Angeles.
* In 2008, the theatre director Katie Mitchell premiered "...some trace of her", a multimedia exploration of the novel's central themes.
* The famous Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky planned an adaptation after The Idiot, but had died before it was realized.
* The German novelist Hermann Hesse wrote in 1919 a short piece about the book called Thoughts on The Idiot of Dostoevsky, later released in a compilation of essays called My Belief: Essays on Life and Art.
* In Act 1, Scene 2 of Mel Brooks' musical The Producers, Max Bialystock jokingly addresses Leo Bloom as "Prince Miskin." This also occurs in the original film.
* In the 1998 pilot episode of T.V. show "Seven Days," Frank Parker (played by Jonathan LaPaglia) has a copy of The Idiot on his desk inside the insane asylum.
* In 2009 Lithuanian theatre director Eimuntas Nekrošius directed "Idiotas", performance in 4 parts.
* In 1985, Polish director Andrzej Zulawski directed the feature film "L'Amour Braque" (Limpet Love), as an homage to Dostoevsky's "The Idiot". Its end credits state that "The film is inspired by Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" and intended as a homage to the great writer". It stars Sophie Marceau as what most likely is the part of Nastasja Philipovna.
* BBC Radio 7 broadcast a 4-episode adaptation of "The Idiot" entitled "Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot," in June 2010. It starred Paul Rhys as Prince Myshkin.
Translations to English
Since The Idiot was first published in Russian, there have been a number of translations to English over the years, including those by:
* Frederick Whishaw (1887)
* Constance Garnett (1913)
o Revised by Anna Brailovsky (2003)
* Eva Martin (1915)
* David Magarshack (1955)
* Henry and Olga Carlisle (1980)
* Alan Myers (1992)
* Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (2002)
* David McDuff (2004)
* John W. Strahan (1965)
The Constance Garnett translation has for many years been accepted as the definitive English translation, but more recently it has come under criticism for being dated. The Garnett translation, however, still remains widely available because it is now in the public domain. Some writers, such as Anna Brailouvsky, have based their translations on Garnett's. Since the 1990s new English translations have appeared that have made the novel more accessible to English readers. The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation (2000) states that the Alan Myers version is the best currently available, though since then, new translations by David McDuff and Pevear & Volokhonsky have also been well received.
The Idiot I.
Towards the end of November, during a thaw, at nine o'clock 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, ironical--it might almost be called a malicious--smile; 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 death-like 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 fur--or rather astrachan--overcoat, 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 it--the sort of cloak one sees upon travellers during the winter months in Switzerland or North Italy--was 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:
"Cold?"
"Very," said his neighbour, readily. "and 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. I've grown quite out of the way of it."
"What, been abroad, I suppose?"
"Yes, straight from Switzerland."
"Wheugh! my goodness!" 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 neighbour's 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 malady--a kind of epilepsy, with convulsive spasms. His interlocutor burst out laughing several times at his answers; and more than ever, when to the question, " whether he had been cured?" the patient replied:
"No, they did not cure me."
"Hey! that's it! You stumped up your money for nothing, and we believe in those fellows, here!" remarked the black-haired individual, sarcastically.
"Gospel truth, sir, Gospel truth!" 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. "Gospel truth! All they do is to get hold of our good Russian money free, gratis, and for nothing. "
"Oh, but you're quite wrong in my particular instance," said the Swiss patient, quietly. "Of course I can't argue the matter, because I know only my own case; but my doctor gave me money--and he had very little--to pay my journey back, besides having kept me at his own expense, while there, for nearly two years."
"Why? Was there no one else to pay for you?" asked the black- haired one.
"No--Mr. 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."
"And where have you come to?"
"That is--where am I going to stay? I--I really don't quite know yet, I--"
Both the listeners laughed again.
"I suppose your whole set-up is in that bundle, then?" asked the first.
"I bet anything it is!" exclaimed the red-nosed passenger, with extreme satisfaction, "and that he has precious little in the luggage van!--though of course poverty is no crime--we must remember that!"
It appeared that it was indeed as they had surmised. The young fellow hastened to admit the fact with wonderful readiness.
"Your bundle has some importance, however," 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); "for though I dare say it is not stuffed full of friedrichs d'or and louis d'or--judge from your costume and gaiters--still--if 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. Epanchin's, and have not made a little error through--well, absence of mind, which is very common to human beings; or, say--through a too luxuriant fancy?"
"Oh, you are right again," said the fair-haired traveller, "for 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."
"H'm! you spent your postage for nothing, then. H'm! you are candid, however--and that is commendable. H'm! Mrs. Epanchin--oh yes! a most eminent person. I know her. As for Mr. Pavlicheff, who supported you in Switzerland, I know him too--at least, if it was Nicolai Andreevitch of that name? A fine fellow he was--and had a property of four thousand souls in his day."
"Yes, Nicolai Andreevitch--that was his name," 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 everyone--that 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 reduce--or raise--to 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 listen-and heard nothing; and he would laugh of a sudden, evidently with no idea of what he was laughing about.
"Excuse me," said the red-nosed man to the young fellow with the bundle, rather suddenly; "whom have I the honour to be talking to?"
"Prince Lef Nicolaievitch Muishkin," replied the latter, with perfect readiness.
"Prince Muishkin? Lef Nicolaievitch? H'm! I don't know, I'm sure! I may say I have never heard of such a person," said the clerk, thoughtfully. "At least, the name, I admit, is historical. Karamsin must mention the family name, of course, in his history- -but as an individual--one never hears of any Prince Muishkin nowadays."
"Of course not," replied the prince; "there 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 don't 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."
"And did you learn science and all that, with your professor over there?" asked the black-haired passenger.
"Oh yes--I did learn a little, but--"
"I've never learned anything whatever," said the other.
"Oh, but I learned very little, you know!" added the prince, as though excusing himself. "They could not teach me very much on account of my illness. "
"Do you know the Rogojins?" asked his questioner, abruptly.
"No, I don't--not at all! I hardly know anyone in Russia. Why, is that your name?"
"Yes, I am Rogojin, Parfen Rogojin."
"Parfen Rogojin? dear me--then don't you belong to those very Rogojins, perhaps--" began the clerk, with a very perceptible increase of civility in his tone.
"Yes--those very ones," 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.
"Dear me--is it possible?" observed the clerk, while his face assumed an expression of great deference and servility--if not of absolute alarm: "what, a son of that very Semen Rogojin-- hereditary honourable citizen--who died a month or so ago and left two million and a half of roubles?"
"And how do YOU know that he left two million and a half of roubles?" asked Rogojin, disdainfully, and no deigning so much as to look at the other. "However, it's 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. They've treated me like a dog! I've 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!"
"And now you'll have a million roubles, at least--goodness gracious me!" exclaimed the clerk, rubbing his hands.
"Five weeks since, I was just like yourself," continued Rogojin, addressing the prince, "with nothing but a bundle and the clothes I wore. I ran away from my father and came to Pskoff to my aunt's house, where I caved in at once with fever, and he went and died while I was away. All honour to my respected father's memory--but he uncommonly nearly killed me, all the same. Give you my word, prince, if I hadn't cut and run then, when I did, he'd have murdered me like a dog."
"I suppose you angered him somehow?" 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 latter--since the information as to the identity of Rogojin--hung 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.
"Oh, yes; I angered him--I certainly did anger him," replied Rogojin. "But what puts me out so is my brother. Of course my mother couldn't do anything--she's too old--and whatever brother Senka says is law for her! But why couldn't he let me know? He sent a telegram, they say. What's the good of a telegram? It frightened my aunt so that she sent it back to the office unopened, and there it's been ever since! It's 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 father's coffin, at night because they're worth a lot of money!' says he. Why, I can get him sent off to Siberia for that alone, if I like; it's sacrilege. Here, you--scarecrow!" he added, addressing the clerk at his side, "is it sacrilege or not, by law?'
"Sacrilege, certainly--certainly sacrilege," said the latter.
"And it's Siberia for sacrilege, isn't it?"
"Undoubtedly so; Siberia, of course!"
"They will think that I'm still ill," continued Rogojin to the prince, "but I sloped off quietly, seedy as I was, took the train and came away. Aha, brother Senka, you'll have to open your gates and let me in, my boy! I know he told tales about me to my father--I know that well enough but I certainly did rile my father about Nastasia Philipovna that's very sure, and that was my own doing."
"Nastasia Philipovna?" said the clerk, as though trying to think out something.
"Come, you know nothing about HER," said Rogojin, impatiently.
"And supposing I do know something?" observed the other, triumphantly.
"Bosh! there are plenty of Nastasia Philipovnas. And what an impertinent beast you are!" he added angrily. "I thought some creature like you would hang on to me as soon as I got hold of my money. "
"Oh, but I do know, as it happens," said the clerk in an aggravating manner. "Lebedeff knows all about her. You are pleased to reproach me, your excellency, but what if I prove that I am right after all? Nastasia Phillpovna's family name is Barashkoff--I know, you see-and 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."
"My eyes!" said Rogojin, really surprised at last. "The devil take the fellow, how does he know that?"
"Why, he knows everything--Lebedeff knows everything! I was a month or two with Lihachof after his father died, your excellency, and while he was knocking about--he's in the debtor's prison now--I was with him, and he couldn't do a thing without Lebedeff; and I got to know Nastasia Philipovna and several people at that time."
"Nastasia Philipovna? Why, you don't mean to say that she and Lihachof--" cried Rogojin, turning quite pale.
"No, no, no, no, no! Nothing of the sort, I assure you!" said Lebedeff, hastily. "Oh dear no, not for the world! Totski's 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, 'By Jove, there's the famous Nastasia Philipovna!' but no one ever gets any further than that, for there is nothing more to say."
"Yes, it's quite true," said Rogojin, frowning gloomily; "so Zaleshoff told me. I was walking about the Nefsky one fine day, prince, in my father's 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 Zaleshoff--looking like a hair-dresser's assistant, got up as fine as I don't know who, while I looked like a tinker. 'Don't flatter yourself, my boy,' said he; 'she's not for such as you; she's a princess, she is, and her name is Nastasia Philipovna Barashkoff, and she lives with Totski, who wishes to get rid of her because he's growing rather old--fifty- five or so--and wants to marry a certain beauty, the loveliest woman in all Petersburg.' 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, I'd like to see my father allowing any of us to go to the theatre; he'd 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 five thousand roubles each. 'Sell them,' said he, 'and then take seven thousand five hundred roubles to the office, give them to the cashier, and bring me back the rest of the ten thousand, without looking in anywhere on the way; look sharp, I shall be waiting for you.' Well, I sold the bonds, but I didn't take the seven thousand 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 four hundred roubles more than I had, so I gave my name, and they trusted me. With the earrings I went at once to Zaleshoff's. 'Come on!' I said, 'come on to Nastasia Philipovna's,' and off we went without more ado. I tell you I hadn't 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.
"I didn't say right out who I was, but Zaleshoff said: 'From Parfen Rogojin, in memory of his first meeting with you yesterday; be so kind as to accept these!'
"She opened the parcel, looked at the earrings, and laughed.
"'Thank your friend Mr. Rogojin for his kind attention,' says she, and bowed and went off. Why didn't 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!
"'Look here now,' I said, when we came out, 'none of your interference here after this-do you understand?' He laughed: 'And how are you going to settle up with your father?' says he. I thought I might as well jump into the Neva at once without going home first; but it struck me that I wouldn't, after all, and I went home feeling like one of the damned."
"My goodness!" shivered the clerk. "And his father," he added, for the prince's instruction, "and his father would have given a man a ticket to the other world for ten roubles any day--not to speak of ten thousand!"
The prince observed Rogojin with great curiosity; he seemed paler than ever at this moment.
"What do you know about it?" cried the latter. "Well, 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. 'This is only a foretaste,' says he; 'wait a bit till night comes, and I'll come back and talk to you again.'
"Well, 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. 'There,' she says, 'take 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,' she says, 'and thank him very much!' Well, I meanwhile had borrowed twenty-five roubles from a friend, and off I went to Pskoff to my aunt's. 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!"
"Oho! we'll make Nastasia Philipovna sing another song now!" giggled Lebedeff, rubbing his hands with glee. "Hey, my boy, we'll get her some proper earrings now! We'll get her such earrings that--"
"Look here," cried Rogojin, seizing him fiercely by the arm, "look here, if you so much as name Nastasia Philipovna again, I'll tan your hide as sure as you sit there!"
"Aha! do--by all means! if you tan my hide you won't turn me away from your society. You'll bind me to you, with your lash, for ever. Ha, ha! here we are at the station, though."
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.
"Why, there's Zaleshoff here, too!" he muttered, gazing at the scene with a sort of triumphant but unpleasant smile. Then he suddenly turned to the prince: "Prince, I don't know why I have taken a fancy to you; perhaps because I met you just when I did. But no, it can't be that, for I met this fellow " (nodding at Lebedeff) "too, and I have not taken a fancy to him by any means. Come to see me, prince; we'll 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 Philipovna's. Now then will you come or no?"
"Accept, accept, Prince Lef Nicolaievitch" said Lebedef solemnly; "don't let it slip! Accept, quick!"
Prince Muishkin rose and stretched out his hand courteously, while he replied with some cordiality:
"I 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."
"You shall have lots of money; by the evening I shall have plenty; so come along!"
"That's true enough, he'll have lots before evening!" put in Lebedeff.
"But, look here, are you a great hand with the ladies? Let's know that first?" asked Rogojin.
"Oh no, oh no! said the prince; "I couldn't, you know--my illness--I hardly ever saw a soul."
"H'm! well--here, you fellow-you can come along with me now if you like!" cried Rogojin to Lebedeff, and so they all left the carriage.
Lebedeff had his desire. He went off with the noisy group of Rogojin's friends towards the Voznesensky, while the prince's route lay towards the Litaynaya. It was damp and wet. The prince asked his way of passers-by, and finding that he was a couple of miles or so from his destination, he determined to take a droshky.
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