The Idiot (25 page)

‘What is all what?’ Rogozhin began to laugh. ‘Come and join us, old man, you’re going to get drunk!’

‘That’s just vile!’ cried Kolya, in tears now, from shame and vexation.

‘Is there really not one among you who will take this shameless creature out of here!’ Varya exclaimed suddenly, trembling all over with anger.

‘They call me shameless!’ Nastasya Filippovna parried with cheerful disdain. ‘And I, like a fool, came to invite them to my soiree! Look how your sister treats me, Gavrila Ardalionovich!’

Ganya stood for a while in the wake of his sister’s behaviour as if struck by lightning; but observing that this time Nastasya Filippovna really was leaving, he threw himself upon Varya like a frenetic, seizing her arm in rabid fury.

‘What have you done?’ he cried, staring at her as though he wanted to reduce her to ashes on the spot. He had decidedly reached the end of his tether, and was scarcely conscious of what was happening.

‘What have you done? What are you getting me into? You want me to apologize to her for having insulted your mother and having come here to cover your house in shame, you base man?’ Varya shouted again, exultant, and staring at her brother in defiance.

For a few moments they stood like this, one against the other, face to face. Ganya was still holding her arm. Varya tugged once, twice, with all her strength, but could not control herself, and suddenly, beside herself, spat at her brother in the face.

‘That’s the way, girl!’ shouted Nastasya Filippovna. ‘Bravo, Ptitsyn, I congratulate you!’

Ganya’s head spun, and, in complete oblivion, he lashed out at his sister with all his might. The blow would certainly have struck her in the face. But suddenly, another arm stopped Ganya’s arm in flight.

Between Ganya and his sister stood the prince.

‘That will do, enough!’ he said insistently, but also trembling all over, as from an extremely violent shock.

‘Are you forever going to block my path?’ roared Ganya, letting go of Varya’s arm, and with his free hand, in the last degree of rabid fury, dealt the prince a slap in the face with all his might.

‘Oh!’ Kolya lifted his hands. ‘Oh, my God!’

There were exclamations on all sides. The prince turned pale. With a strange and reproachful gaze he looked Ganya straight in the eye; his lips were trembling and trying to say something; they were twisted into a strange and completely inappropriate smile.

‘Well, you may do it to me ... but I won’t let you do it to her! ...’ he said quietly, at last; but suddenly lost his nerve, abandoned Ganya, covered his face with his hands, went off into a corner, stood with his face to the wall, and said in a faltering voice:

‘Oh, how ashamed you will be for what you have done!’

Indeed, Ganya stood like a man who had been annihilated. Kolya rushed to embrace and kiss the prince; behind him jostled Rogozhin, Varya, Ptitsyn, Nina Alexandrovna, all of them, even the old man Ardalion Alexandrovich.

‘I’m all right, I’m all right!’ the prince muttered in all directions, with the same inappropriate smile.

‘And he’ll be sorry!’ shouted Rogozhin. ‘You’ll be ashamed, Ganya, for having insulted such a ... sheep! (He could not find another word.) Prince, my dear fellow, leave them be; spit on them, let’s go! You’ll find out what Rogozhin’s love is like!’

Nastasya Filippovna was also very shocked, both by Ganya’s action and by the prince’s response. Her usually pale and reflective face, which had all the time been out of harmony with her earlier apparently affected laughter, was now evidently agitated by a new emotion; and yet she none the less seemed unwilling to display it, and it was as if the mocking smile were struggling to remain on her features.

‘It’s true, I have seen his face somewhere before!’ she said suddenly in an earnest voice, abruptly recalling her earlier question.

‘And aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You’re not like that, not like the person you pretended to be just now, are you? Is it really possible?’ the prince suddenly exclaimed with a deep, heartfelt reproach.

Nastasya Filippovna was surprised; she smiled, but, as though she were hiding something under the smile, somewhat embarrassed, gave Ganya a look, and went out of the drawing room. Before she reached the hallway, however, she suddenly turned back, quickly went over to Nina Alexandrovna, took her hand, and brought it to her lips.

‘Indeed I am not like that, he has guessed,’ she whispered quickly, hotly, suddenly flaring and blushing all over, and, turning away, this time went out so quickly that no one had time to work out why she had come back again. All they saw was her whispering something to Nina Alexandrovna and apparently kissing her hand. But Varya saw and heard it all and followed her with a surprised gaze.

Ganya pulled himself together, and rushed to say goodbye to Nastasya Filippovna, but she had already left. He caught up with her on the staircase.

‘You don’t need to see me to the door!’ she shouted to him.
‘Au revoir,
till this evening! Without fail, do you hear!’

He returned confused, reflective; a heavy enigma had descended on his soul, even heavier than before. The prince was in it, too ... So wrapped in oblivion was he that he hardly noticed Rogozhin’s entire crowd flocking past him and even jostling him in the doorway, as they hurriedly made their way out of the apartment in Rogozhin’s footsteps. They were all loudly, at the top of their voices, discussing something. Rogozhin himself walked with Ptitsyn, insistently repeating some important and apparently urgent remark.

‘You lost, Ganka!’ he shouted, as they walked past.

Anxiously, Ganya watched them go.

The prince left the drawing room and shut himself up in his own room. Kolya at once ran in to console him. The poor boy, it seemed, was now unable to leave him alone.

‘You did well to leave,’ he said. ‘There’ll be an even worse row than before, it’s like that every day with us, and the trouble all started because of that Nastasya Filippovna.’

‘Many different kinds of unhappiness have accumulated here in your home, Kolya,’ observed the prince.

‘Yes, that’s true. But it’s our own fault. We ourselves are to blame for it all. But I have a great friend, and he’s even more unfortunate. Would you like me to introduce him to you?’

‘I’d like that very much. Is he a friend of yours?’

‘Yes, almost like a friend. I’ll explain it all to you later ... I say, Nastasya Filippovna is pretty, don’t you think? I had never seen her before now, though I’d tried terribly to. Simply dazzling. I would forgive Ganka everything if he were doing it out of love; but why is he taking the money, that’s the bad thing!’

‘Yes, I don’t like your brother very much.’

‘Well, of course you don’t! Especially after ... You know, it’s all these different opinions I can’t stand. Some madman, or fool, or evildoer in a state of madness gives a man a slap in the face and then the man is dishonoured for the rest of his life, and can’t wash the dishonour away except with blood, or has to beg for forgiveness on his knees. In my view it’s absurd, despotism. Lermontov’s drama
Masquerade
is based on it, and it’s stupid, in my view. What I mean is, it’s unnatural. But after all, he wrote it when he was little more than a child.’
¹

‘I liked your sister very much.’

‘How she spat in Ganka’s mug! Bold Varka! But you didn’t do that, and I’m sure it was not from lack of boldness. Why, here she is now, talk of the devil. I knew she would come: she is noble, though she has her faults.’

‘And you have no business here,’ Varya pounced on Kolya first of all. ‘Go and see your father. Is he being a nuisance, prince?’

‘Not at all, on the contrary.’

‘Oh, big sister, there she goes again! Now that’s the really nasty thing about her. Actually, I thought father would be sure to leave with Rogozhin. I expect he regrets not going now. I’d better go and see how he is,’ Kolya added, as he went out.

‘Thank goodness, I got mother away and put her to bed, and there’s been no more trouble. Ganya is embarrassed, and very pensive. And he has reason to be. Quite a lesson for him! ... I came to thank
you again and to ask you, Prince: you didn’t know Nastasya Filippovna before you came here, did you?’

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Then what made you tell her straight to her face that she was “not like that”? And, it seems, guessed correctly? It turned out that perhaps she really isn’t like that. Though as a matter of fact, I can’t make her out! Of course her aim was to insult, that’s clear. I’ve also heard many strange things about her before. But if she came to invite us, how could she treat mother like that? Ptitsyn knows her well, he says he could not fathom her just now. And with Rogozhin? One may not talk like that, if one has any self-respect, in the house of one’s ... Mother’s also very worried about you.’

‘I’m all right!’ said the prince, with a wave of his hand.

‘And the way she obeyed you ...’

‘How do you mean, obeyed?’

‘You told her she ought to be ashamed, and she suddenly changed completely. You have an influence on her, Prince,’ Varya added, with the merest of smiles.

The door opened, and quite unexpectedly Ganya walked in.

He did not even hesitate when he saw Varya; he stood in the doorway for a moment and then suddenly, with determination, approached the prince.

‘Prince, I behaved basely, forgive me, my dear man,’ he said suddenly with intense emotion. The features of his face expressed intense pain. The prince looked in wonder, and did not reply immediately. ‘Well, forgive me, please forgive me!’ Ganya impatiently insisted. ‘If you like, I will kiss your hand!’

The prince was extremely moved, and silently, with both arms, embraced Ganya. They kissed each other sincerely.

‘I never, never thought you were like that,’ the prince said at last, taking breath with difficulty. ‘I didn’t think you ... were capable.’

‘Of admitting my guilt? ... And where I did get the notion earlier that you’re an idiot? You notice things that others would never notice. One could talk to you, but ... better not to talk!’

‘Here’s someone else to whom you should admit your guilt,’ said the prince, pointing to Varya.

‘No, these are all my enemies. You may be assured, Prince, many attempts have been made; there is no sincere forgiveness here!’ Ganya exclaimed heatedly, and he turned away from Varya to the side.

‘No, I forgive you!’ Varya said suddenly.

‘And will you go to Nastasya Filippovna’s this evening?’

‘I will go if you tell me to, but you had better judge for yourself: is there even the slightest possibility for me to go now?’

‘Look, she’s not like that. You see the sort of riddles she poses! Caprices!’ and Ganya began to laugh spitefully.

‘I know that she’s not like that, and has caprices, but what kind of caprices are they? And moreover, watch out, Ganya: what do you thi
nk she takes you for? Very well, so she kissed mother’s hand. Very well, so these were some kind of caprices, but all the same, I mean to say, she was laughing at you! That’s not worth seventy-five thousand, brother, I swear to God it isn’t! You’re still capable of noble feelings, that’s why I’m talking to you. Oh, don’t you go there, either! Beware! It will all end badly, you mark my words!’

Having said this, the utterly agitated Varya quickly went out o
f the room ...

‘That’s what they all say!’ said Ganya, with an ironic smile. ‘And do they really think I don’t know it myself? Why, I know far more than they do.’

Having said this, Ganya seated himself on the sofa, evidently wishing to prolong the visit.

‘If you already know it,’ asked the prince, rather timidly, ‘why have you chosen such torment, when you know that it’s not really worth seventy-five thousand?’

‘I’m not talking about that,’ muttered Ganya, ‘and by the way, tell me, what do you think, I particularly want to hear your opinion: is this “torment” worth seventy-five thousand or isn’t it?’

‘In my view, it isn’t.’

‘Well, now I know. And is it shameful to marry like this?’

‘Very shameful.’

‘Well, then let me tell you that I’m going to marry her, and it’s certain now. Even earlier today I hesitated, but now I don’t! Don’t say anything! I know what you are going to say ...’

‘I wasn’t going to say what you think I was, but I am very astonished at your extreme certainty ...’

‘About what? What certainty?’

‘That Nastasya Filippovna will be bound to marry you and that it’s all settled now, and secondly, that even if she does marry you, the seventy-five thousand will go straight into your pocket. Of course, there are many aspects of the matter that I don’t know ...’

Ganya moved violently towards the prince.

‘That’s right, you don’t know everything,’ he said, ‘and why would I take on a burden like that?’

‘I think it happens quite a lot: people marry for money, and the wife keeps the money.’

‘N-no, that’s not how it will be with us ... there are ... there are circumstances ...’ Ganya muttered, anxiously brooding. ‘And as for her answer, there’s no doubt about it now,’ he added quickly. ‘What makes you think she’ll refuse me?’

‘I know nothing except what I’ve seen; and Varvara Ardalionovna was saying just now ...’

‘Eh! That’s just what they’re like, they don’t really know what to say ... But as for Rogozhin, she was laughing at him, rest ass
ured. I saw it. It was obvious. I was a little afraid earlier, but now I’ve seen it. Or perhaps it’s because of the way she behaved with mother, father and Varya?’

‘And you.’

‘Maybe; but it’s just the age-old female revenge, and nothing more. She’s a fearfully petulant, suspicious and touchy woman. Like a civil servant passed over for promotion! She felt like showing herself off, and all her disdain for him ... well, and also for me; that’s true, I don’t deny it ... And yet she’ll marry me. You have no inkling of the caprices human vanity is capable of: you see, she thinks I’m a scoundrel because I’m taking her, another man’s mistress, so openly for her money, and doesn’t realize that another man would swindle her even more basely: he’d attach himself to her and start showering her with liberal-progressive ideas and wheeling out various aspects of the woman question, so she’d be like putty in his hands. He would assure the silly vain woman (and so easily!) that he was taking her solely for “the nobility of her heart, and for her misfortune”, but he’d be marrying for money all the same. I’m found wanting here because I don’t want to prevaricate; but I ought to. But what does she do? Isn’t it the same thing? So why then does she despise me and invent these games? Because I don’t give in, and show some pride. Well, we shall see!’