The Idiot
by
Dostoyevsky
PART I
PART IPART II
PART III
PART IV
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[2] PART I
[3]
[4] I.
[5]
[6] Towards the end of November, during a thaw, at nine o'clock one
[7] morning, a train on the Warsaw and Petersburg railway was
[8] approaching the latter city at full speed. The morning was so
[9] damp and misty that it was only with great difficulty that the
[10] day succeeded in breaking; and it was impossible to distinguish
[11] anything more than a few yards away from the carriage windows.
[12]
[13] Some of the passengers by this particular train were returning
[14] from abroad; but the third-class carriages were the best filled,
[15] chiefly with insignificant persons of various occupations and
[16] degrees, picked up at the different stations nearer town. All of
[17] them seemed weary, and most of them had sleepy eyes and a
[18] shivering expression, while their complexions generally appeared
[19] to have taken on the colour of the fog outside.
[20]
[21] When day dawned, two passengers in one of the third-class
[22] carriages found themselves opposite each other. Both were young
[23] fellows, both were rather poorly dressed, both had remarkable
[24] faces, and both were evidently anxious to start a conversation.
[25] If they had but known why, at this particular moment, they were
[26] both remarkable persons, they would undoubtedly have wondered at
[27] the strange chance which had set them down opposite to one
[28] another in a third-class carriage of the Warsaw Railway Company.
[29]
[30] One of them was a young fellow of about twenty-seven, not tall,
[31] with black curling hair, and small, grey, fiery eyes. His nose
[32] was broad and flat, and he had high cheek bones; his thin lips
[33] were constantly compressed into an impudent, ironical--it might
[34] almost be called a malicious--smile; but his forehead was high
[35] and well formed, and atoned for a good deal of the ugliness of
[36] the lower part of his face. A special feature of this physiognomy
[37] was its death-like pallor, which gave to the whole man an
[38] indescribably emaciated appearance in spite of his hard look, and
[39] at the same time a sort of passionate and suffering expression
[40] which did not harmonize with his impudent, sarcastic smile and
[41] keen, self-satisfied bearing. He wore a large fur--or rather
[42] astrachan--overcoat, which had kept him warm all night, while his
[43] neighbour had been obliged to bear the full severity of a Russian
[44] November night entirely unprepared. His wide sleeveless mantle
[45] with a large cape to it--the sort of cloak one sees upon
[46] travellers during the winter months in Switzerland or North
[47] Italy--was by no means adapted to the long cold journey through
[48] Russia, from Eydkuhnen to St. Petersburg.
[49]
[50] The wearer of this cloak was a young fellow, also of about
[51] twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age, slightly above the
[52] middle height, very fair, with a thin, pointed and very light
[53] coloured beard; his eyes were large and blue, and had an intent
[54] look about them, yet that heavy expression which some people
[55] affirm to be a peculiarity. as well as evidence, of an epileptic
[56] subject. His face was decidedly a pleasant one for all that;
[57] refined, but quite colourless, except for the circumstance that
[58] at this moment it was blue with cold. He held a bundle made up of
[59] an old faded silk handkerchief that apparently contained all his
[60] travelling wardrobe, and wore thick shoes and gaiters, his whole
[61] appearance being very un-Russian.
[62]
[63] His black-haired neighbour inspected these peculiarities, having
[64] nothing better to do, and at length remarked, with that rude
[65] enjoyment of the discomforts of others which the common classes
[66] so often show:
[67]
[68] "Cold?"
[69]
[70] "Very," said his neighbour, readily. "and this is a thaw, too.
[71] Fancy if it had been a hard frost! I never thought it would be so
[72] cold in the old country. I've grown quite out of the way of it."
[73]
[74] "What, been abroad, I suppose?"
[75]
[76] "Yes, straight from Switzerland."
[77]
[78] "Wheugh! my goodness!" The black-haired young fellow whistled,
[79] and then laughed.
[80]
[81] The conversation proceeded. The readiness of the fair-haired
[82] young man in the cloak to answer all his opposite neighbour's
[83] questions was surprising. He seemed to have no suspicion of any
[84] impertinence or inappropriateness in the fact of such questions
[85] being put to him. Replying to them, he made known to the inquirer
[86] that he certainly had been long absent from Russia, more than
[87] four years; that he had been sent abroad for his health; that he
[88] had suffered from some strange nervous malady--a kind of
[89] epilepsy, with convulsive spasms. His interlocutor burst out
[90] laughing several times at his answers; and more than ever, when
[91] to the question, " whether he had been cured?" the patient
[92] replied:
[93]
[94] "No, they did not cure me."
[95]
[96] "Hey! that's it! You stumped up your money for nothing, and we
[97] believe in those fellows, here!" remarked the black-haired
[98] individual, sarcastically.
[99]
[100] "Gospel truth, sir, Gospel truth!" exclaimed another passenger, a
[101] shabbily dressed man of about forty, who looked like a clerk, and
[102] possessed a red nose and a very blotchy face. "Gospel truth! All
[103] they do is to get hold of our good Russian money free, gratis,
[104] and for nothing. "
[105]
[106] "Oh, but you're quite wrong in my particular instance," said the
[107] Swiss patient, quietly. "Of course I can't argue the matter,
[108] because I know only my own case; but my doctor gave me money--and
[109] he had very little--to pay my journey back, besides having kept
[110] me at his own expense, while there, for nearly two years."
[111]
[112] "Why? Was there no one else to pay for you?" asked the black-
[113] haired one.
[114]
[115] "No--Mr. Pavlicheff, who had been supporting me there, died a
[116] couple of years ago. I wrote to Mrs. General Epanchin at the time
[117] (she is a distant relative of mine), but she did not answer my
[118] letter. And so eventually I came back."
[119]
[120] "And where have you come to?"
[121]
[122] "That is--where am I going to stay? I--I really don't quite know
[123] yet, I--"
[124]
[125] Both the listeners laughed again.
[126]
[127] "I suppose your whole set-up is in that bundle, then?" asked the
[128] first.
[129]
[130] "I bet anything it is!" exclaimed the red-nosed passenger, with
[131] extreme satisfaction, "and that he has precious little in the
[132] luggage van!--though of course poverty is no crime--we must
[133] remember that!"
[134]
[135] It appeared that it was indeed as they had surmised. The young
[136] fellow hastened to admit the fact with wonderful readiness.
[137]
[138] "Your bundle has some importance, however," continued the clerk,
[139] when they had laughed their fill (it was observable that the
[140] subject of their mirth joined in the laughter when he saw them
[141] laughing); "for though I dare say it is not stuffed full of
[142] friedrichs d'or and louis d'or--judge from your costume and
[143] gaiters--still--if you can add to your possessions such a
[144] valuable property as a relation like Mrs. General Epanchin, then
[145] your bundle becomes a significant object at once. That is, of
[146] course, if you really are a relative of Mrs. Epanchin's, and have
[147] not made a little error through--well, absence of mind, which is
[148] very common to human beings; or, say--through a too luxuriant
[149] fancy?"
[150]
[151] "Oh, you are right again," said the fair-haired traveller, "for I
[152] really am ALMOST wrong when I say she and I are related. She is
[153] hardly a relation at all; so little, in fact, that I was not in
[154] the least surprised to have no answer to my letter. I expected as
[155] much."
[156]
[157] "H'm! you spent your postage for nothing, then. H'm! you are
[158] candid, however--and that is commendable. H'm! Mrs. Epanchin--oh
[159] yes! a most eminent person. I know her. As for Mr. Pavlicheff,
[160] who supported you in Switzerland, I know him too--at least, if it
[161] was Nicolai Andreevitch of that name? A fine fellow he was--and
[162] had a property of four thousand souls in his day."
[163]
[164] "Yes, Nicolai Andreevitch--that was his name," and the young
[165] fellow looked earnestly and with curiosity at the all-knowing
[166] gentleman with the red nose.
[167]
[168] This sort of character is met with pretty frequently in a certain
[169] class. They are people who know everyone--that is, they know
[170] where a man is employed, what his salary is, whom he knows, whom
[171] he married, what money his wife had, who are his cousins, and
[172] second cousins, etc., etc. These men generally have about a
[173] hundred pounds a year to live on, and they spend their whole time
[174] and talents in the amassing of this style of knowledge, which
[175] they reduce--or raise--to the standard of a science.
[176]
[177] During the latter part of the conversation the black-haired young
[178] man had become very impatient. He stared out of the window, and
[179] fidgeted, and evidently longed for the end of the journey. He was
[180] very absent; he would appear to listen-and heard nothing; and he
[181] would laugh of a sudden, evidently with no idea of what he was
[182] laughing about.
[183]
[184] "Excuse me," said the red-nosed man to the young fellow with the
[185] bundle, rather suddenly; "whom have I the honour to be talking
[186] to?"
[187]
[188] "Prince Lef Nicolaievitch Muishkin," replied the latter, with
[189] perfect readiness.
[190]
[191] "Prince Muishkin? Lef Nicolaievitch? H'm! I don't know, I'm sure!
[192] I may say I have never heard of such a person," said the clerk,
[193] thoughtfully. "At least, the name, I admit, is historical.
[194] Karamsin must mention the family name, of course, in his history-
[195] -but as an individual--one never hears of any Prince Muishkin
[196] nowadays."
[197]
[198] "Of course not," replied the prince; "there are none, except
[199] myself. I believe I am the last and only one. As to my
[200] forefathers, they have always been a poor lot; my own father was
[201] a sublieutenant in the army. I don't know how Mrs. Epanchin comes
[202] into the Muishkin family, but she is descended from the Princess
[203] Muishkin, and she, too, is the last of her line."
[204]
[205] "And did you learn science and all that, with your professor over
[206] there?" asked the black-haired passenger.
[207]
[208] "Oh yes--I did learn a little, but--"
[209]
[210] "I've never learned anything whatever," said the other.
[211]
[212] "Oh, but I learned very little, you know!" added the prince, as
[213] though excusing himself. "They could not teach me very much on
[214] account of my illness. "
[215]
[216] "Do you know the Rogojins?" asked his questioner, abruptly.
[217]
[218] "No, I don't--not at all! I hardly know anyone in Russia. Why, is
[219] that your name?"
[220]
[221] "Yes, I am Rogojin, Parfen Rogojin."
[222]
[223] "Parfen Rogojin? dear me--then don't you belong to those very
[224] Rogojins, perhaps--" began the clerk, with a very perceptible
[225] increase of civility in his tone.
[226]
[227] "Yes--those very ones," interrupted Rogojin, impatiently, and
[228] with scant courtesy. I may remark that he had not once taken any
[229] notice of the blotchy-faced passenger, and had hitherto addressed
[230] all his remarks direct to the prince.
[231]
[232] "Dear me--is it possible?" observed the clerk, while his face
[233] assumed an expression of great deference and servility--if not of
[234] absolute alarm: "what, a son of that very Semen Rogojin--
[235] hereditary honourable citizen--who died a month or so ago and
[236] left two million and a half of roubles?"
[237]
[238] "And how do YOU know that he left two million and a half of
[239] roubles?" asked Rogojin, disdainfully, and no deigning so much as
[240] to look at the other. "However, it's true enough that my father
[241] died a month ago, and that here am I returning from Pskoff, a
[242] month after, with hardly a boot to my foot. They've treated me like
[243] a dog! I've been ill of fever at Pskoff the whole time, and not a
[244] line, nor farthing of money, have I received from my mother or my
[245] confounded brother!"
[246]
[247] "And now you'll have a million roubles, at least--goodness
[248] gracious me!" exclaimed the clerk, rubbing his hands.
[249]
[250] "Five weeks since, I was just like yourself," continued Rogojin,
[251] addressing the prince, "with nothing but a bundle and the clothes
[252] I wore. I ran away from my father and came to Pskoff to my aunt's
[253] house, where I caved in at once with fever, and he went and died
[254] while I was away. All honour to my respected father's memory--but
[255] he uncommonly nearly killed me, all the same. Give you my word,
[256] prince, if I hadn't cut and run then, when I did, he'd have
[257] murdered me like a dog."
[258]
[259] "I suppose you angered him somehow?" asked the prince, looking at
[260] the millionaire with considerable curiosity But though there may
[261] have been something remarkable in the fact that this man was heir
[262] to millions of roubles there was something about him which
[263] surprised and interested the prince more than that. Rogojin, too,
[264] seemed to have taken up the conversation with unusual alacrity it
[265] appeared that he was still in a considerable state of excitement,
[266] if not absolutely feverish, and was in real need of someone to
[267] talk to for the mere sake of talking, as safety-valve to his
[268] agitation.
[269]
[270] As for his red-nosed neighbour, the latter--since the information
[271] as to the identity of Rogojin--hung over him, seemed to be living
[272] on the honey of his words and in the breath of his nostrils,
[273] catching at every syllable as though it were a pearl of great
[274] price.
[275]
[276] "Oh, yes; I angered him--I certainly did anger him," replied
[277] Rogojin. "But what puts me out so is my brother. Of course my
[278] mother couldn't do anything--she's too old--and whatever brother
[279] Senka says is law for her! But why couldn't he let me know? He
[280] sent a telegram, they say. What's the good of a telegram? It
[281] frightened my aunt so that she sent it back to the office
[282] unopened, and there it's been ever since! It's only thanks to
[283] Konief that I heard at all; he wrote me all about it. He says my
[284] brother cut off the gold tassels from my father's coffin, at
[285] night because they're worth a lot of money!' says he. Why, I can
[286] get him sent off to Siberia for that alone, if I like; it's
[287] sacrilege. Here, you--scarecrow!" he added, addressing the clerk
[288] at his side, "is it sacrilege or not, by law?'
[289]
[290] "Sacrilege, certainly--certainly sacrilege," said the latter.
[291]
[292] "And it's Siberia for sacrilege, isn't it?"
[293]
[294] "Undoubtedly so; Siberia, of course!"
[295]
[296] "They will think that I'm still ill," continued Rogojin to the
[297] prince, "but I sloped off quietly, seedy as I was, took the train
[298] and came away. Aha, brother Senka, you'll have to open your gates
[299] and let me in, my boy! I know he told tales about me to my
[300] father--I know that well enough but I certainly did rile my
[301] father about Nastasia Philipovna that's very sure, and that was
[302] my own doing."
[303]
[304] "Nastasia Philipovna?" said the clerk, as though trying to think
[305] out something.
[306]
[307] "Come, you know nothing about HER," said Rogojin, impatiently.
[308]
[309] "And supposing I do know something?" observed the other,
[310] triumphantly.
[311]
[312] "Bosh! there are plenty of Nastasia Philipovnas. And what an
[313] impertinent beast you are!" he added angrily. "I thought some
[314] creature like you would hang on to me as soon as I got hold of my
[315] money. "
[316]
[317] "Oh, but I do know, as it happens," said the clerk in an
[318] aggravating manner. "Lebedeff knows all about her. You are
[319] pleased to reproach me, your excellency, but what if I prove that
[320] I am right after all? Nastasia Phillpovna's family name is
[321] Barashkoff--I know, you see-and she is a very well known lady,
[322] indeed, and comes of a good family, too. She is connected with
[323] one Totski, Afanasy Ivanovitch, a man of considerable property, a
[324] director of companies, and so on, and a great friend of General
[325] Epanchin, who is interested in the same matters as he is."
[326]
[327] "My eyes!" said Rogojin, really surprised at last. "The devil
[328] take the fellow, how does he know that?"
[329]
[330] "Why, he knows everything--Lebedeff knows everything! I was a
[331] month or two with Lihachof after his father died, your
[332] excellency, and while he was knocking about--he's in the debtor's
[333] prison now--I was with him, and he couldn't do a thing without
[334] Lebedeff; and I got to know Nastasia Philipovna and several
[335] people at that time."
[336]
[337] "Nastasia Philipovna? Why, you don't mean to say that she and
[338] Lihachof--" cried Rogojin, turning quite pale.
[339]
[340] "No, no, no, no, no! Nothing of the sort, I assure you!" said
[341] Lebedeff, hastily. "Oh dear no, not for the world! Totski's the
[342] only man with any chance there. Oh, no! He takes her to his box
[343] at the opera at the French theatre of an evening, and the
[344] officers and people all look at her and say, 'By Jove, there's
[345] the famous Nastasia Philipovna!' but no one ever gets any further
[346] than that, for there is nothing more to say."
[347]
[348] "Yes, it's quite true," said Rogojin, frowning gloomily; "so
[349] Zaleshoff told me. I was walking about the Nefsky one fine day,
[350] prince, in my father's old coat, when she suddenly came out of a
[351] shop and stepped into her carriage. I swear I was all of a blaze
[352] at once. Then I met Zaleshoff--looking like a hair-dresser's
[353] assistant, got up as fine as I don't know who, while I looked
[354] like a tinker. 'Don't flatter yourself, my boy,' said he; 'she's
[355] not for such as you; she's a princess, she is, and her name is
[356] Nastasia Philipovna Barashkoff, and she lives with Totski, who
[357] wishes to get rid of her because he's growing rather old--fifty-
[358] five or so--and wants to marry a certain beauty, the loveliest
[359] woman in all Petersburg.' And then he told me that I could see
[360] Nastasia Philipovna at the opera-house that evening, if I liked,
[361] and described which was her box. Well, I'd like to see my father
[362] allowing any of us to go to the theatre; he'd sooner have killed
[363] us, any day. However, I went for an hour or so and saw Nastasia
[364] Philipovna, and I never slept a wink all night after. Next
[365] morning my father happened to give me two government loan bonds
[366] to sell, worth nearly five thousand roubles each. 'Sell them,'
[367] said he, 'and then take seven thousand five hundred roubles to
[368] the office, give them to the cashier, and bring me back the rest
[369] of the ten thousand, without looking in anywhere on the way; look
[370] sharp, I shall be waiting for you.' Well, I sold the bonds, but I
[371] didn't take the seven thousand roubles to the office; I went
[372] straight to the English shop and chose a pair of earrings, with a
[373] diamond the size of a nut in each. They cost four hundred roubles
[374] more than I had, so I gave my name, and they trusted me. With the
[375] earrings I went at once to Zaleshoff's. 'Come on!' I said, 'come
[376] on to Nastasia Philipovna's,' and off we went without more ado. I
[377] tell you I hadn't a notion of what was about me or before me or
[378] below my feet all the way; I saw nothing whatever. We went
[379] straight into her drawing-room, and then she came out to us.
[380]
[381] "I didn't say right out who I was, but Zaleshoff said: 'From
[382] Parfen Rogojin, in memory of his first meeting with you
[383] yesterday; be so kind as to accept these!'
[384]
[385] "She opened the parcel, looked at the earrings, and laughed.
[386]
[387] "'Thank your friend Mr. Rogojin for his kind attention,' says
[388] she, and bowed and went off. Why didn't I die there on the spot?
[389] The worst of it all was, though, that the beast Zaleshoff got all
[390] the credit of it! I was short and abominably dressed, and stood
[391] and stared in her face and never said a word, because I was shy,
[392] like an ass! And there was he all in the fashion, pomaded and
[393] dressed out, with a smart tie on, bowing and scraping; and I bet
[394] anything she took him for me all the while!
[395]
[396] "'Look here now,' I said, when we came out, 'none of your
[397] interference here after this-do you understand?' He laughed: 'And
[398] how are you going to settle up with your father?' says he. I
[399] thought I might as well jump into the Neva at once without going
[400] home first; but it struck me that I wouldn't, after all, and I
[401] went home feeling like one of the damned."
[402]
[403] "My goodness!" shivered the clerk. "And his father," he added,
[404] for the prince's instruction, "and his father would have given a
[405] man a ticket to the other world for ten roubles any day--not to
[406] speak of ten thousand!"
[407]
[408] The prince observed Rogojin with great curiosity; he seemed paler
[409] than ever at this moment.
[410]
[411] "What do you know about it?" cried the latter. "Well, my father
[412] learned the whole story at once, and Zaleshoff blabbed it all
[413] over the town besides. So he took me upstairs and locked me up,
[414] and swore at me for an hour. 'This is only a foretaste,' says he;
[415] 'wait a bit till night comes, and I'll come back and talk to you
[416] again.'
[417]
[418] "Well, what do you think? The old fellow went straight off to
[419] Nastasia Philipovna, touched the floor with his forehead, and
[420] began blubbering and beseeching her on his knees to give him back
[421] the diamonds. So after awhile she brought the box and flew out at
[422] him. 'There,' she says, 'take your earrings, you wretched old
[423] miser; although they are ten times dearer than their value to me
[424] now that I know what it must have cost Parfen to get them! Give
[425] Parfen my compliments,' she says, 'and thank him very much!'
[426] Well, I meanwhile had borrowed twenty-five roubles from a friend,
[427] and off I went to Pskoff to my aunt's. The old woman there
[428] lectured me so that I left the house and went on a drinking tour
[429] round the public-houses of the place. I was in a high fever when
[430] I got to Pskoff, and by nightfall I was lying delirious in the
[431] streets somewhere or other!"
[432]
[433] "Oho! we'll make Nastasia Philipovna sing another song now!"
[434] giggled Lebedeff, rubbing his hands with glee. "Hey, my boy,
[435] we'll get her some proper earrings now! We'll get her such
[436] earrings that--"
[437]
[438] "Look here," cried Rogojin, seizing him fiercely by the arm,
[439] "look here, if you so much as name Nastasia Philipovna again,
[440] I'll tan your hide as sure as you sit there!"
[441]
[442] "Aha! do--by all means! if you tan my hide you won't turn me away
[443] from your society. You'll bind me to you, with your lash, for
[444] ever. Ha, ha! here we are at the station, though."
[445]
[446] Sure enough, the train was just steaming in as he spoke.
[447]
[448] Though Rogojin had declared that he left Pskoff secretly, a large
[449] collection of friends had assembled to greet him, and did so with
[450] profuse waving of hats and shouting.
[451]
[452] "Why, there's Zaleshoff here, too!" he muttered, gazing at the
[453] scene with a sort of triumphant but unpleasant smile. Then he
[454] suddenly turned to the prince: "Prince, I don't know why I have
[455] taken a fancy to you; perhaps because I met you just when I did.
[456] But no, it can't be that, for I met this fellow " (nodding at
[457] Lebedeff) "too, and I have not taken a fancy to him by any means.
[458] Come to see me, prince; we'll take off those gaiters of yours and
[459] dress you up in a smart fur coat, the best we can buy. You shall
[460] have a dress coat, best quality, white waistcoat, anything you
[461] like, and your pocket shall be full of money. Come, and you shall
[462] go with me to Nastasia Philipovna's. Now then will you come or
[463] no?"
[464]
[465] "Accept, accept, Prince Lef Nicolaievitch" said Lebedef solemnly;
[466] "don't let it slip! Accept, quick!"
[467]
[468] Prince Muishkin rose and stretched out his hand courteously,
[469] while he replied with some cordiality:
[470]
[471] "I will come with the greatest pleasure, and thank you very much
[472] for taking a fancy to me. I dare say I may even come today if I
[473] have time, for I tell you frankly that I like you very much too.
[474] I liked you especially when you told us about the diamond
[475] earrings; but I liked you before that as well, though you have
[476] such a dark-clouded sort of face. Thanks very much for the offer
[477] of clothes and a fur coat; I certainly shall require both clothes
[478] and coat very soon. As for money, I have hardly a copeck about me
[479] at this moment."
[480]
[481] "You shall have lots of money; by the evening I shall have
[482] plenty; so come along!"
[483]
[484] "That's true enough, he'll have lots before evening!" put in
[485] Lebedeff.
[486]
[487] "But, look here, are you a great hand with the ladies? Let's know
[488] that first?" asked Rogojin.
[489]
[490] "Oh no, oh no! said the prince; "I couldn't, you know--my
[491] illness--I hardly ever saw a soul."
[492]
[493] "H'm! well--here, you fellow-you can come along with me now if
[494] you like!" cried Rogojin to Lebedeff, and so they all left the
[495] carriage.
[496]
[497] Lebedeff had his desire. He went off with the noisy group of
[498] Rogojin's friends towards the Voznesensky, while the prince's
[499] route lay towards the Litaynaya. It was damp and wet. The prince
[500] asked his way of passers-by, and finding that he was a couple of
[501] miles or so from his destination, he determined to take a
[502] droshky.
[503]
[504] II.
[505]
[506] General Epanchin lived in his own house near the Litaynaya.
[507] Besides this large residence--five-sixths of which was let in
[508] flats and lodgings-the general was owner of another enormous
[509] house in the Sadovaya bringing in even more rent than the first.
[510] Besides these houses he had a delightful little estate just out
[511] of town, and some sort of factory in another part of the city.
[512] General Epanchin, as everyone knew, had a good deal to do with
[513] certain government monopolies; he was also a voice, and an
[514] important one, in many rich public companies of various
[515] descriptions; in fact, he enjoyed the reputation of being a well-
[516] to-do man of busy habits, many ties, and affluent means. He had
[517] made himself indispensable in several quarters, amongst others in
[518] his department of the government; and yet it was a known fact
[519] that Fedor Ivanovitch Epanchin was a man of no education
[520] whatever, and had absolutely risen from the ranks.
[521]
[522] This last fact could, of course, reflect nothing but credit upon
[523] the general; and yet, though unquestionably a sagacious man, he
[524] had his own little weaknesses-very excusable ones,--one of which
[525] was a dislike to any allusion to the above circumstance. He was
[526] undoubtedly clever. For instance, he made a point of never
[527] asserting himself when he would gain more by keeping in the
[528] background; and in consequence many exalted personages valued him
[529] principally for his humility and simplicity, and because "he knew
[530] his place." And yet if these good people could only have had a
[531] peep into the mind of this excellent fellow who "knew his place"
[532] so well! The fact is that, in spite of his knowledge of the world
[533] and his really remarkable abilities, he always liked to appear to
[534] be carrying out other people's ideas rather than his own. And
[535] also, his luck seldom failed him, even at cards, for which he had
[536] a passion that he did not attempt to conceal. He played for high
[537] stakes, and moved, altogether, in very varied society.
[538]
[539] As to age, General Epanchin was in the very prime of life; that
[540] is, about fifty-five years of age,--the flowering time of
[541] existence, when real enjoyment of life begins. His healthy
[542] appearance, good colour, sound, though discoloured teeth, sturdy
[543] figure, preoccupied air during business hours, and jolly good
[544] humour during his game at cards in the evening, all bore witness
[545] to his success in life, and combined to make existence a bed of
[546] roses to his excellency. The general was lord of a flourishing
[547] family, consisting of his wife and three grown-up daughters. He
[548] had married young, while still a lieutenant, his wife being a
[549] girl of about his own age, who possessed neither beauty nor
[550] education, and who brought him no more than fifty souls of landed
[551] property, which little estate served, however, as a nest-egg for
[552] far more important accumulations. The general never regretted his
[553] early marriage, or regarded it as a foolish youthful escapade;
[554] and he so respected and feared his wife that he was very near
[555] loving her. Mrs. Epanchin came of the princely stock of Muishkin,
[556] which if not a brilliant, was, at all events, a decidedly ancient
[557] family; and she was extremely proud of her descent.
[558]
[559] With a few exceptions, the worthy couple had lived through their
[560] long union very happily. While still young the wife had been able
[561] to make important friends among the aristocracy, partly by virtue
[562] of her family descent, and partly by her own exertions; while, in
[563] after life, thanks to their wealth and to the position of her
[564] husband in the service, she took her place among the higher
[565] circles as by right.
[566]
[567] During these last few years all three of the general's daughters-
[568] Alexandra, Adelaida, and Aglaya--had grown up and matured. Of
[569] course they were only Epanchins, but their mother's family was
[570] noble; they might expect considerable fortunes; their father had
[571] hopes of attaining to very high rank indeed in his country's
[572] service-all of which was satisfactory. All three of the girls
[573] were decidedly pretty, even the eldest, Alexandra, who was just
[574] twenty-five years old. The middle daughter was now twenty-three,
[575] while the youngest, Aglaya, was twenty. This youngest girl was
[576] absolutely a beauty, and had begun of late to attract
[577] considerable attention in society. But this was not all, for every
[578] one of the three was clever, well educated,