partners in several financial enterprises, it so happened that
the former now put in a friendly request to the general for
counsel with regard to the important step he meditated.
Might he suggest, for instance, such a thing as a marriage
between himself and one of the general’s daughters?
Evidently the quiet, pleasant current of the family life
of the Epanchins was about to undergo a change.
The undoubted beauty of the family, par excellence,
was the youngest, Aglaya, as aforesaid. But Totski himself,
though an egotist of the extremest type, realized that he
had no chance there; Aglaya was clearly not for such as he.
Perhaps the sisterly love and friendship of the three girls
had more or less exaggerated Aglaya’s chances of
happiness. In their opinion, the latter’s destiny was not
merely to be very happy; she was to live in a heaven on
earth. Aglaya’s husband was to be a compendium of all the
virtues, and of all success, not to speak of fabulous wealth.
The two elder sisters had agreed that all was to be
sacrificed by them, if need be, for Aglaya’s sake; her dowry
was to be colossal and unprecedented. The Idiot
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The general and his wife were aware of this agreement,
and, therefore, when Totski suggested himself for one of
the sisters, the parents made no doubt that one of the two
elder girls would probably accept the offer, since Totski
would certainly make no difficulty as to dowry. The
general valued the proposal very highly. He knew life, and
realized what such an offer was worth.
The answer of the sisters to the communication was, if
not conclusive, at least consoling and hopeful. It made
known that the eldest, Alexandra, would very likely be
disposed to listen to a proposal.
Alexandra was a good-natured girl, though she had a
will of her own. She was intelligent and kind-hearted,
and, if she were to marry Totski, she would make him a
good wife. She did not care for a brilliant marriage; she
was eminently a woman calculated to soothe and sweeten
the life of any man; decidedly pretty, if not absolutely
handsome. What better could Totski wish?
So the matter crept slowly forward. The general and
Totski had agreed to avoid any hasty and irrevocable step.
Alexandra’s parents had not even begun to talk to their
daughters freely upon the subject, when suddenly, as it
were, a dissonant chord was struck amid the harmony of
the proceedings. Mrs. Epanchin began to show signs of The Idiot
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discontent, and that was a serious matter. A certain
circumstance had crept in, a disagreeable and troublesome
factor, which threatened to overturn the whole business.
This circumstance had come into existence eighteen
years before. Close to an estate of Totski’s, in one of the
central provinces of Russia, there lived, at that time, a
poor gentleman whose estate was of the wretchedest
description. This gentleman was noted in the district for
his persistent ill-fortune; his name was Barashkoff, and, as
regards family and descent, he was vastly superior to
Totski, but his estate was mortgaged to the last acre. One
day, when he had ridden over to the town to see a
creditor, the chief peasant of his village followed him
shortly after, with the news that his house had been burnt
down, and that his wife had perished with it, but his
children were safe.
Even Barashkoff, inured to the storms of evil fortune as
he was, could not stand this last stroke. He went mad and
died shortly after in the town hospital. His estate was sold
for the creditors; and the little girls—two of them, of
seven and eight years of age respectively,—were adopted
by Totski, who undertook their maintenance and
education in the kindness of his heart. They were brought
up together with the children of his German bailiff. Very The Idiot
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soon, however, there was only one of them left- Nastasia
Philipovna—for the other little one died of whooping-
cough. Totski, who was living abroad at this time, very
soon forgot all about the child; but five years after,
returning to Russia, it struck him that he would like to
look over his estate and see how matters were going there,
and, arrived at his bailiff’s house, he was not long in
discovering that among the children of the latter there
now dwelt a most lovely little girl of twelve, sweet and
intelligent, and bright, and promising to develop beauty of
most unusual quality-as to which last Totski was an
undoubted authority.
He only stayed at his country scat a few days on this
occasion, but he had time to make his arrangements. Great
changes took place in the child’s education; a good
governess was engaged, a Swiss lady of experience and
culture. For four years this lady resided in the house with
little Nastia, and then the education was considered
complete. The governess took her departure, and another
lady came down to fetch Nastia, by Totski’s instructions.
The child was now transported to another of Totski’s
estates in a distant part of the country. Here she found a
delightful little house, just built, and prepared for her
reception with great care and taste; and here she took up The Idiot
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her abode together with the lady who had accompanied
her from her old home. In the house there were two
experienced maids, musical instruments of all sorts, a
charming ‘young lady’s library,’ pictures, paint-boxes, a
lap- dog, and everything to make life agreeable. Within a
fortnight Totski himself arrived, and from that time he
appeared to have taken a great fancy to this part of the
world and came down each summer, staying two and
three months at a time. So passed four years peacefully and
happily, in charming surroundings.
At the end of that time, and about four months after
Totski’s last visit (he had stayed but a fortnight on this
occasion), a report reached Nastasia Philipovna that he was
about to be married in St. Petersburg, to a rich, eminent,
and lovely woman. The report was only partially true, the
marriage project being only in an embryo condition; but a
great change now came over Nastasia Philipovna. She
suddenly displayed unusual decision of character; and
without wasting time in thought, she left her country
home and came up to St. Petersburg, straight to Totski’s
house, all alone.
The latter, amazed at her conduct, began to express his
displeasure; but he very soon became aware that he must
change his voice, style, and everything else, with this The Idiot
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young lady; the good old times were gone. An entirely
new and different woman sat before him, between whom
and the girl he had left in the country last July there
seemed nothing in common.
In the first place, this new woman understood a good
deal more than was usual for young people of her age; so
much indeed, that Totski could not help wondering
where she had picked up her knowledge. Surely not from
her ‘young lady’s library’? It even embraced legal matters,
and the ‘world’ in general, to a considerable extent.
Her character was absolutely changed. No more of the
girlish alternations of timidity and petulance, the adorable
naivete, the reveries, the tears, the playfulness... It was an
entirely new and hitherto unknown being who now sat
and laughed at him, and informed him to his face that she
had never had the faintest feeling for him of any kind,
except loathing and contempt— contempt which had
followed closely upon her sensations of surprise and
bewilderment after her first acquaintance with him.
This new woman gave him further to understand that
though it was absolutely the same to her whom he
married, yet she had decided to prevent this marriage—for
no particular reason, but that she chose to do so, and The Idiot
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because she wished to amuse herself at his expense for that
it was ‘quite her turn to laugh a little now!’
Such were her words—very likely she did not give her
real reason for this eccentric conduct; but, at all events,
that was all the explanation she deigned to offer.
Meanwhile, Totski thought the matter over as well as
his scattered ideas would permit. His meditations lasted a
fortnight, however, and at the end of that time his
resolution was taken. The fact was, Totski was at that time
a man of fifty years of age; his position was solid and
respectable; his place in society had long been firmly fixed
upon safe foundations; he loved himself, his personal
comforts, and his position better than all the world, as
every respectable gentleman should!
At the same time his grasp of things in general soon
showed Totski that he now had to deal with a being who
was outside the pale of the ordinary rules of traditional
behaviour, and who would not only threaten mischief but
would undoubtedly carry it out, and stop for no one.
There was evidently, he concluded, something at work
here; some storm of the mind, some paroxysm of romantic
anger, goodness knows against whom or what, some
insatiable contempt—in a word, something altogether
absurd and impossible, but at the same time most The Idiot
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dangerous to be met with by any respectable person with a
position in society to keep up.
For a man of Totski’s wealth and standing, it would, of
course, have been the simplest possible matter to take steps
which would rid him at once from all annoyance; while it
was obviously impossible for Nastasia Philipovna to harm
him in any way, either legally or by stirring up a scandal,
for, in case of the latter danger, he could so easily remove
her to a sphere of safety. However, these arguments would
only hold good in case of Nastasia acting as others might
in such an emergency. She was much more likely to
overstep the bounds of reasonable conduct by some
extraordinary eccentricity.
Here the sound judgment of Totski stood him in good
stead. He realized that Nastasia Philipovna must be well
aware that she could do nothing by legal means to injure
him, and that her flashing eyes betrayed some entirely
different intention.
Nastasia Philipovna was quite capable of ruining herself,
and even of perpetrating something which would send her
to Siberia, for the mere pleasure of injuring a man for
whom she had developed so inhuman a sense of loathing
and contempt. He had sufficient insight to understand that
she valued nothing in the world—herself least of all—and The Idiot
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he made no attempt to conceal the fact that he was a
coward in some respects. For instance, if he had been told
that he would be stabbed at the altar, or publicly insulted,
he would undoubtedly have been frightened; but not so
much at the idea of being murdered, or wounded, or
insulted, as at the thought that if such things were to
happen he would be made to look ridiculous in the eyes
of society.
He knew well that Nastasia thoroughly understood him
and where to wound him and how, and therefore, as the
marriage was still only in embryo, Totski decided to
conciliate her by giving it up. His decision was
strengthened by the fact that Nastasia Philipovna had
curiously altered of late. It would be difficult to conceive
how different she was physically, at the present time, to
the girl of a few years ago. She was pretty then … but
now! … Totski laughed angrily when he thought how
short-sighted he had been. In days gone by he
remembered how he had looked at her beautiful eyes,
how even then he had marvelled at their dark mysterious
depths, and at their wondering gaze which seemed to seek
an answer to some unknown riddle. Her complexion also
had altered. She was now exceedingly pale, but, curiously,
this change only made her more beautiful. Like most men The Idiot
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of the world, Totski had rather despised such a cheaply-
bought conquest, but of late years he had begun to think
differently about it. It had struck him as long ago as last
spring that he ought to be finding a good match for
Nastasia; for instance, some respectable and reasonable
young fellow serving in a government office in another
part of the country. How maliciously Nastasia laughed at
the idea of such a thing, now!
However, it appeared to Totski that he might make use
of her in another way; and he determined to establish her
in St. Petersburg, surrounding her with all the comforts
and luxuries that his wealth could command. In this way
he might gain glory in certain circles.
Five years of this Petersburg life went by, and, of
course, during that time a great deal happened. Totski’s
position was very uncomfortable; having ‘funked’ once, he
could not totally regain his ease. He was afraid, he did not
know why, but he was simply afraid of Nastasia
Philipovna. For the first two years or so he had suspected
that she wished to marry him herself, and that only her
vanity prevented her telling him so. He thought that she
wanted him to approach her with a humble proposal from
his own side, But to his great, and not entirely pleasurable
amazement, he discovered that this was by no means the The Idiot
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case, and that were he to offer himself he would be
refused. He could not understand such a state of things,
and was obliged to conclude that it was pride, the pride of
an injured and imaginative woman, which had gone to
such lengths that it preferred to sit and nurse its contempt
and hatred in solitude rather than mount to heights of
hitherto unattainable splendour. To make matters worse,
she was quite impervious to mercenary considerations, and
could not be bribed in any way.
Finally, Totski took cunning means to try to break his
chains and be free. He tried to tempt her in various ways
to lose her heart; he invited princes, hussars, secretaries of
