interrupted him at his first words.
‘Ah, general!’ she cried, ‘I was forgetting! If I had only
foreseen this unpleasantness! I won’t insist on keeping you
against your will, although I should have liked you to be
beside me now. In any case, I am most grateful to you for
your visit, and flattering attention … but if you are afraid
…’
‘Excuse me, Nastasia Philipovna,’ interrupted the
general, with chivalric generosity. ‘To whom are you
speaking? I have remained until now simply because of my The Idiot
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devotion to you, and as for danger, I am only afraid that
the carpets may be ruined, and the furniture smashed! …
You should shut the door on the lot, in my opinion. But I
confess that I am extremely curious to see how it ends.’
‘Rogojin!’ announced Ferdishenko.
‘What do you think about it?’ said the general in a low
voice to Totski. ‘Is she mad? I mean mad in the medical
sense of the word .… eh?’
‘I’ve always said she was predisposed to it,’ whispered
Afanasy Ivanovitch slyly. ‘Perhaps it is a fever!’
Since their visit to Gania’s home, Rogojin’s followers
had been increased by two new recruits—a dissolute old
man, the hero of some ancient scandal, and a retired sub-
lieutenant. A laughable story was told of the former. He
possessed, it was said, a set of false teeth, and one day
when he wanted money for a drinking orgy, he pawned
them, and was never able to reclaim them! The officer
appeared to be a rival of the gentleman who was so proud
of his fists. He was known to none of Rogojin’s followers,
but as they passed by the Nevsky, where he stood begging,
he had joined their ranks. His claim for the charity he
desired seemed based on the fact that in the days of his
prosperity he had given away as much as fifteen roubles at
a time. The rivals seemed more than a little jealous of one The Idiot
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another. The athlete appeared injured at the admission of
the ‘beggar’ into the company. By nature taciturn, he now
merely growled occasionally like a bear, and glared
contemptuously upon the ‘beggar,’ who, being somewhat
of a man of the world, and a diplomatist, tried to insinuate
himself into the bear’s good graces. He was a much smaller
man than the athlete, and doubtless was conscious that he
must tread warily. Gently and without argument he
alluded to the advantages of the English style in boxing,
and showed himself a firm believer in Western institutions.
The athlete’s lips curled disdainfully, and without
honouring his adversary with a formal denial, he
exhibited, as if by accident, that peculiarly Russian
object—an enormous fist, clenched, muscular, and
covered with red hairs! The sight of this pre-eminently
national attribute was enough to convince anybody,
without words, that it was a serious matter for those who
should happen to come into contact with it.
None of the band were very drunk, for the leader had
kept his intended visit to Nastasia in view all day, and had
done his best to prevent his followers from drinking too
much. He was sober himself, but the excitement of this
chaotic day—the strangest day of his life—had affected The Idiot
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him so that he was in a dazed, wild condition, which
almost resembled drunkenness.
He had kept but one idea before him all day, and for
that he had worked in an agony of anxiety and a fever of
suspense. His lieutenants had worked so hard from five
o’clock until eleven, that they actually had collected a
hundred thousand roubles for him, but at such terrific
expense, that the rate of interest was only mentioned
among them in whispers and with bated breath.
As before, Rogojin walked in advance of his troop,
who followed him with mingled self-assertion and
timidity. They were specially frightened of Nastasia
Philipovna herself, for some reason.
Many of them expected to be thrown downstairs at
once, without further ceremony, the elegant arid
irresistible Zaleshoff among them. But the party led by the
athlete, without openly showing their hostile intentions,
silently nursed contempt and even hatred for Nastasia
Philipovna, and marched into her house as they would
have marched into an enemy’s fortress. Arrived there, the
luxury of the rooms seemed to inspire them with a kind of
respect, not unmixed with alarm. So many things were
entirely new to their experience—the choice furniture,
the pictures, the great statue of Venus. They followed The Idiot
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their chief into the salon, however, with a kind of
impudent curiosity. There, the sight of General Epanchin
among the guests, caused many of them to beat a hasty
retreat into the adjoining room, the ‘boxer’ and ‘beggar’
being among the first to go. A few only, of whom
Lebedeff made one, stood their ground; he had contrived
to walk side by side with Rogojin, for he quite understood
the importance of a man who had a fortune of a million
odd roubles, and who at this moment carried a hundred
thousand in his hand. It may be added that the whole
company, not excepting Lebedeff, had the vaguest idea of
the extent of their powers, and of how far they could
safely go. At some moments Lebedeff was sure that right
was on their side; at others he tried uneasily to remember
various cheering and reassuring articles of the Civil Code.
Rogojin, when he stepped into the room, and his eyes
fell upon Nastasia, stopped short, grew white as a sheet,
and stood staring; it was clear that his heart was beating
painfully. So he stood, gazing intently, but timidly, for a
few seconds. Suddenly, as though bereft of his senses, he
moved forward, staggering helplessly, towards the table.
On his way he collided against Ptitsin’s chair, and put his
dirty foot on the lace skirt of the silent lady’s dress; but he
neither apologized for this, nor even noticed it. The Idiot
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On reaching the table, he placed upon it a strange-
looking object, which he had carried with him into the
drawing-room. This was a paper packet, some six or seven
inches thick, and eight or nine in length, wrapped in an
old newspaper, and tied round three or four times with
string.
Having placed this before her, he stood with drooped
arms and head, as though awaiting his sentence.
His costume was the same as it had been in the
morning, except for a new silk handkerchief round his
neck, bright green and red, fastened with a huge diamond
pin, and an enormous diamond ring on his dirty
forefinger.
Lebedeff stood two or three paces behind his chief; and
the rest of the band waited about near the door.
The two maid-servants were both peeping in,
frightened and amazed at this unusual and disorderly scene.
‘What is that?’ asked Nastasia Philipovna, gazing
intently at Rogojin, and indicating the paper packet.
‘A hundred thousand,’ replied the latter, almost in a
whisper.
‘Oh! so he kept his word—there’s a man for you! Well,
sit down, please—take that chair. I shall have something to
say to you presently. Who are all these with you? The The Idiot
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same party? Let them come in and sit down. There’s room
on that sofa, there are some chairs and there’s another sofa!
Well, why don’t they sit down?’
Sure enough, some of the brave fellows entirely lost
their heads at this point, and retreated into the next room.
Others, however, took the hint and sat down, as far as
they could from the table, however; feeling braver in
proportion to their distance from Nastasia.
Rogojin took the chair offered him, but he did not sit
long; he soon stood up again, and did not reseat himself.
Little by little he began to look around him and discern
the other guests. Seeing Gania, he smiled venomously and
muttered to himself, ‘Look at that!’
He gazed at Totski and the general with no apparent
confusion, and with very little curiosity. But when he
observed that the prince was seated beside Nastasia
Philipovna, he could not take his eyes off him for a long
while, and was clearly amazed. He could not account for
the prince’s presence there. It was not in the least
surprising that Rogojin should be, at this time, in a more
or less delirious condition; for not to speak of the
excitements of the day, he had spent the night before in
the train, and had not slept more than a wink for forty-
eight hours. The Idiot
292 of 1149
‘This, gentlemen, is a hundred thousand roubles,’ said
Nastasia Philipovna, addressing the company in general,
‘here, in this dirty parcel. This afternoon Rogojin yelled,
like a madman, that he would bring me a hundred
thousand in the evening, and I have been waiting for him
all the while. He was bargaining for me, you know; first
he offered me eighteen thousand; then he rose to forty,
and then to a hundred thousand. And he has kept his
word, see! My goodness, how white he is! All this
happened this afternoon, at Gania’s. I had gone to pay his
mother a visit—my future family, you know! And his
sister said to my very face, surely somebody will turn this
shameless creature out. After which she spat in her brother
Gania’s face—a girl of character, that!’
‘Nastasia Philipovna!’ began the general, reproachfully.
He was beginning to put his own interpretation on the
affair.
‘Well, what, general? Not quite good form, eh? Oh,
nonsense! Here have I been sitting in my box at the
French theatre for the last five years like a statue of
inaccessible virtue, and kept out of the way of all admirers,
like a silly little idiot! Now, there’s this man, who comes
and pays down his hundred thousand on the table, before
you all, in spite of my five years of innocence and proud The Idiot
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virtue, and I dare be sworn he has his sledge outside
waiting to carry me off. He values me at a hundred
thousand! I see you are still angry with me, Gania! Why,
surely you never really wished to take ME into your
family? ME, Rogojin’s mistress! What did the prince say
just now?’
‘I never said you were Rogojin’s mistress—you are
NOT!’ said the prince, in trembling accents.
‘Nastasia Philipovna, dear soul!’ cried the actress,
impatiently, ‘do be calm, dear! If it annoys you so—all
this—do go away and rest! Of course you would never go
with this wretched fellow, in spite of his hundred
thousand roubles! Take his money and kick him out of the
house; that’s the way to treat him and the likes of him!
Upon my word, if it were my business, I’d soon clear
them all out!’
The actress was a kind-hearted woman, and highly
impressionable. She was very angry now.
‘Don’t be cross, Daria Alexeyevna!’ laughed Nastasia. ‘I
was not angry when I spoke; I wasn’t reproaching Gania. I
don’t know how it was that I ever could have indulged
the whim of entering an honest family like his. I saw his
mother—and kissed her hand, too. I came and stirred up
all that fuss, Gania, this afternoon, on purpose to see how The Idiot
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much you could swallow—you surprised me, my friend—
you did, indeed. Surely you could not marry a woman
who accepts pearls like those you knew the general was
going to give me, on the very eve of her marriage? And
Rogojin! Why, in your own house and before your own
brother and sister, he bargained with me! Yet you could
come here and expect to be betrothed to me before you
left the house! You almost brought your sister, too. Surely
what Rogojin said about you is not really true: that you
would crawl all the way to the other end of the town, on
hands and knees, for three roubles?’
‘Yes, he would!’ said Rogojin, quietly, but with an air
of absolute conviction.
‘H’m! and he receives a good salary, I’m told. Well,
what should you get but disgrace and misery if you took a
wife you hated into your family (for I know very well that
you do hate me)? No, no! I believe now that a man like
you would murder anyone for money— sharpen a razor
and come up behind his best friend and cut his throat like
a sheep—I’ve read of such people. Everyone seems
money-mad nowadays. No, no! I may be shameless, but
you are far worse. I don’t say a word about that other—‘
‘Nastasia Philipovna, is this really you? You, once so
refined and delicate of speech. Oh, what a tongue! What The Idiot
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dreadful things you are saying,’ cried the general, wringing
his hands in real grief.
‘I am intoxicated, general. I am having a day out, you
know—it’s my birthday! I have long looked forward to
this happy occasion. Daria Alexeyevna, you see that
nosegay-man, that Monsieur aux Camelias, sitting there
laughing at us?’
‘I am not laughing, Nastasia Philipovna; I am only
listening with all my attention,’ said Totski, with dignity.
‘Well, why have I worried him, for five years, and
never let him go free? Is he worth it? He is only just what
he ought to be— nothing particular. He thinks I am to
blame, too. He gave me my education, kept me like a
countess. Money—my word! What a lot of money he
spent over me! And he tried to find me an honest husband
first, and then this Gania, here. And what do you think?
All these five years I did not live with him, and yet I took
his money, and considered I was quite justified.
‘You say, take the hundred thousand and kick that man
out. It is true, it is an abominable business, as you say. I
might have married long ago, not Gania—Oh, no!—but
that would have been abominable too.
‘Would you believe it, I had some thoughts of
marrying Totski, four years ago! I meant mischief, I The Idiot
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confess—but I could have had him, I give you my word;
he asked me himself. But I thought, no! it’s not
worthwhile to take such advantage of him. No! I had
better go on to the streets, or accept Rogojin, or become
a washerwoman or something—for I have nothing of my
