Anyone who now saw him for the first time since he left
Petersburg would judge that he had improved vastly so far
as his exterior was concerned. His clothes certainly were
very different; they were more fashionable, perhaps even
too much so, and anyone inclined to mockery might have
found something to smile at in his appearance. But what is
there that people will not smile at?
The prince took a cab and drove to a street near the
Nativity, where he soon discovered the house he was
seeking. It was a small wooden villa, and he was struck by
its attractive and clean appearance; it stood in a pleasant
little garden, full of flowers. The windows looking on the
street were open, and the sound of a voice, reading aloud
or making a speech, came through them. It rose at times The Idiot
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to a shout, and was interrupted occasionally by bursts of
laughter.
Prince Muishkin entered the court-yard, and ascended
the steps. A cook with her sleeves turned up to the elbows
opened the door. The visitor asked if Mr. Lebedeff were at
home.
‘He is in there,’ said she, pointing to the salon.
The room had a blue wall-paper, and was well, almost
pretentiously, furnished, with its round table, its divan,
and its bronze clock under a glass shade. There was a
narrow pier- glass against the wall, and a chandelier
adorned with lustres hung by a bronze chain from the
ceiling.
When the prince entered, Lebedeff was standing in the
middle of the room, his back to the door. He was in his
shirt-sleeves, on account of the extreme heat, and he
seemed to have just reached the peroration of his speech,
and was impressively beating his breast.
His audience consisted of a youth of about fifteen years
of age with a clever face, who had a book in his hand,
though he was not reading; a young lady of twenty, in
deep mourning, stood near him with an infant in her arms;
another girl of thirteen, also in black, was laughing loudly,
her mouth wide open; and on the sofa lay a handsome The Idiot
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young man, with black hair and eyes, and a suspicion of
beard and whiskers. He frequently interrupted the speaker
and argued with him, to the great delight of the others.
‘Lukian Timofeyovitch! Lukian Timofeyovitch! Here’s
someone to see you! Look here! … a gentleman to speak
to you! … Well, it’s not my fault!’ and the cook turned
and went away red with anger.
Lebedeff started, and at sight of the prince stood like a
statue for a moment. Then he moved up to him with an
ingratiating smile, but stopped short again.
‘Prince! ex-ex-excellency!’ he stammered. Then
suddenly he ran towards the girl with the infant, a
movement so unexpected by her that she staggered and
fell back, but next moment he was threatening the other
child, who was standing, still laughing, in the doorway.
She screamed, and ran towards the kitchen. Lebedeff
stamped his foot angrily; then, seeing the prince regarding
him with amazement, he murmured apologetically—
‘Pardon to show respect! … he-he!’
’ You are quite wrong …’ began the prince.
‘At once … at once … in one moment!’
He rushed like a whirlwind from the room, and
Muishkin looked inquiringly at the others. The Idiot
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They were all laughing, and the guest joined in the
chorus.
‘He has gone to get his coat,’ said the boy.
‘How annoying!’ exclaimed the prince. ‘I thought …
Tell me, is he …’
‘You think he is drunk?’ cried the young man on the
sofa. ‘ Not in the least. He’s only had three or four small
glasses, perhaps five; but what is that? The usual thing!’
As the prince opened his mouth to answer, he was
interrupted by the girl, whose sweet face wore an
expression of absolute frankness.
‘He never drinks much in the morning; if you have
come to talk business with him, do it now. It is the best
time. He sometimes comes back drunk in the evening; but
just now he passes the greater part of the evening in tears,
and reads passages of Holy Scripture aloud, because our
mother died five weeks ago.’
‘No doubt he ran off because he did not know what to
say to you,’ said the youth on the divan. ‘I bet he is trying
to cheat you, and is thinking how best to do it.’
Just then Lebedeff returned, having put on his coat.
‘Five weeks!’ said he, wiping his eyes. ‘Only five
weeks! Poor orphans!’ The Idiot
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‘But why wear a coat in holes,’ asked the girl, ‘when
your new one is hanging behind the door? Did you not
see it?’
‘Hold your tongue, dragon-fly!’ he scolded. ‘What a
plague you are!’ He stamped his foot irritably, but she only
laughed, and answered:
‘Are you trying to frighten me? I am not Tania, you
know, and I don’t intend to run away. Look, you are
waking Lubotchka, and she will have convulsions again.
Why do you shout like that?’
‘Well, well! I won’t again,’ said the master of the house
his anxiety getting the better of his temper. He went up to
his daughter, and looked at the child in her arms,
anxiously making the sign of the cross over her three
times. ‘God bless her! God bless her!’ he cried with
emotion. ‘This little creature is my daughter Luboff,’
addressing the prince. ‘My wife, Helena, died— at her
birth; and this is my big daughter Vera, in mourning, as
you see; and this, this, oh, this pointing to the young man
on the divan …
‘Well, go on! never mind me!’ mocked the other.
‘Don’t be afraid!’ The Idiot
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‘Excellency! Have you read that account of the murder
of the Zemarin family, in the newspaper?’ cried Lebedeff,
all of a sudden.
‘Yes,’ said Muishkin, with some surprise.
‘Well, that is the murderer! It is he—in fact—‘
‘What do you mean?’ asked the visitor.
‘I am speaking allegorically, of course; but he will be
the murderer of a Zemarin family in the future. He is
getting ready . .. .’
They all laughed, and the thought crossed the prince’s
mind that perhaps Lebedeff was really trifling in this way
because he foresaw inconvenient questions, and wanted to
gain time.
‘He is a traitor! a conspirator!’ shouted Lebedeff, who
seemed to have lost all control over himself. ‘ A monster! a
slanderer! Ought I to treat him as a nephew, the son of my
sister Anisia?’
‘Oh! do be quiet! You must be drunk! He has taken it
into his head to play the lawyer, prince, and he practices
speechifying, and is always repeating his eloquent
pleadings to his children. And who do you think was his
last client? An old woman who had been robbed of five
hundred roubles, her all, by some rogue of a usurer,
besought him to take up her case, instead of which he The Idiot
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defended the usurer himself, a Jew named Zeidler, because
this Jew promised to give him fifty roubles….’
‘It was to be fifty if I won the case, only five if I lost,’
interrupted Lebedeff, speaking in a low tone, a great
contrast to his earlier manner.
‘Well! naturally he came to grief: the law is not
administered as it used to be, and he only got laughed at
for his pains. But he was much pleased with himself in
spite of that. ‘Most learned judge!’ said he, ‘picture this
unhappy man, crippled by age and infirmities, who gains
his living by honourable toil—picture him, I repeat,
robbed of his all, of his last mouthful; remember, I entreat
you, the words of that learned legislator, ‘Let mercy and
justice alike rule the courts of law.‘‘ Now, would you
believe it, excellency, every morning he recites this speech
to us from beginning to end, exactly as he spoke it before
the magistrate. To-day we have heard it for the fifth time.
He was just starting again when you arrived, so much does
he admire it. He is now preparing to undertake another
case. I think, by the way, that you are Prince Muishkin?
Colia tells me you are the cleverest man he has ever
known….’
‘The cleverest in the world,’ interrupted his uncle
hastily. The Idiot
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‘I do not pay much attention to that opinion,’
continued the young man calmly. ‘Colia is very fond of
you, but he,’ pointing to Lebedeff, ‘is flattering you. I can
assure you I have no intention of flattering you, or anyone
else, but at least you have some common-sense. Well, will
you judge between us? Shall we ask the prince to act as
arbitrator?’ he went on, addressing his uncle.
‘I am so glad you chanced to come here, prince.’
‘I agree,’ said Lebedeff, firmly, looking round
involuntarily at his daughter, who had come nearer, and
was listening attentively to the conversation.
‘What is it all about?’ asked the prince, frowning. His
head ached, and he felt sure that Lebedeff was trying to
cheat him in some way, and only talking to put off the
explanation that he had come for.
‘I will tell you all the story. I am his nephew; he did
speak the truth there, although he is generally telling lies. I
am at the University, and have not yet finished my course.
I mean to do so, and I shall, for I have a determined
character. I must, however, find something to do for the
present, and therefore I have got employment on the
railway at twenty-four roubles a month. I admit that my
uncle has helped me once or twice before. Well, I had
twenty roubles in my pocket, and I gambled them away. The Idiot
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Can you believe that I should be so low, so base, as to lose
money in that way?’
‘And the man who won it is a rogue, a rogue whom
you ought not to have paid!’ cried Lebedeff.
‘Yes, he is a rogue, but I was obliged to pay him,’ said
the young man. ‘As to his being a rogue, he is assuredly
that, and I am not saying it because he beat you. He is an
ex-lieutenant, prince, dismissed from the service, a teacher
of boxing, and one of Rogojin’s followers. They are all
lounging about the pavements now that Rogojin has
turned them off. Of course, the worst of it is that,
knowing he was a rascal, and a card-sharper, I none the
less played palki with him, and risked my last rouble. To
tell the truth, I thought to myself, ‘If I lose, I will go to
my uncle, and I am sure he will not refuse to help me.’
Now that was base-cowardly and base!’
‘That is so,’ observed Lebedeff quietly; ‘cowardly and
base.’
‘Well, wait a bit, before you begin to triumph,’ said the
nephew viciously; for the words seemed to irritate him.
‘He is delighted! I came to him here and told him
everything: I acted honourably, for I did not excuse
myself. I spoke most severely of my conduct, as everyone
here can witness. But I must smarten myself up before I The Idiot
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take up my new post, for I am really like a tramp. Just
look at my boots! I cannot possibly appear like this, and if
I am not at the bureau at the time appointed, the job will
be given to someone else; and I shall have to try for
another. Now I only beg for fifteen roubles, and I give my
word that I will never ask him for anything again. I am
also ready to promise to repay my debt in three months’
time, and I will keep my word, even if I have to live on
bread and water. My salary will amount to seventy-five
roubles in three months. The sum I now ask, added to
what I have borrowed already, will make a total of about
thirty-five roubles, so you see I shall have enough to pay
him and confound him! if he wants interest, he shall have
that, too! Haven’t I always paid back the money he lent
me before? Why should he be so mean now? He grudges
my having paid that lieutenant; there can be no other
reason! That’s the kind he is— a dog in the manger!’
‘And he won’t go away!’ cried Lebedeff. ‘He has
installed himself here, and here he remains!’
‘I have told you already, that I will not go away until I
have got what I ask. Why are you smiling, prince? You
look as if you disapproved of me.’
‘I am not smiling, but I really think you are in the
wrong, somewhat,’ replied Muishkin, reluctantly. The Idiot
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‘Don’t shuffle! Say plainly that you think that I am
quite wrong, without any ‘somewhat’! Why ‘somewhat’?’
‘I will say you are quite wrong, if you wish.’
‘If I wish! That’s good, I must say! Do you think I am
deceived as to the flagrant impropriety of my conduct? I
am quite aware that his money is his own, and that my
action -As much like an attempt at extortion. But you-you
don’t know what life is! If people don’t learn by
experience, they never understand. They must be taught.
My intentions are perfectly honest; on my conscience he
will lose nothing, and I will pay back the money with
interest. Added to which he has had the moral satisfaction
of seeing me disgraced. What does he want more? and
what is he good for if he never helps anyone? Look what
he does himself! just ask him about his dealings with
others, how he deceives people! How did he manage to
buy this house? You may cut off my head if he has not let
you in for something-and if he is not trying to cheat you
again. You are smiling. You don’t believe me?’
‘It seems to me that all this has nothing to do with your
affairs,’ remarked the prince.
‘I have lain here now for three days,’ cried the young
man without noticing, ‘and I have seen a lot! Fancy! he
suspects his daughter, that angel, that orphan, my cousin—The Idiot
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he suspects her, and every evening he searches her room,
to see if she has a lover hidden in it! He comes here too
on tiptoe, creeping softly—oh, so softly—and looks under
the sofa—my bed, you know. He is mad with suspicion,
and sees a thief in every corner. He runs about all night
long; he was up at least seven times last night, to satisfy
himself that the windows and doors were barred, and to
peep into the oven. That man who appears in court for
scoundrels, rushes in here in the night and prays, lying
prostrate, banging his head on the ground by the half-
