explain them, we do not for a moment desire to justify
our hero’s conduct. On the contrary, we are quite
prepared to feel our share of the indignation which his
behaviour aroused in the hearts of his friends. Even Vera
Lebedeff was angry with him for a while; so was Colia; so
was Keller, until he was selected for best man; so was
Lebedeff himself,—who began to intrigue against him out
of pure irritation;—but of this anon. In fact we are in full
accord with certain forcible words spoken to the prince by
Evgenie Pavlovitch, quite unceremoniously, during the
course of a friendly conversation, six or seven days after
the events at Nastasia Philipovna’s house. The Idiot
1076 of 1149
We may remark here that not only the Epanchins
themselves, but all who had anything to do with them,
thought it right to break with the prince in consequence
of his conduct. Prince S. even went so far as to turn away
and cut him dead in the street. But Evgenie Pavlovitch
was not afraid to compromise himself by paying the prince
a visit, and did so, in spite of the fact that he had
recommenced to visit at the Epanchins’, where he was
received with redoubled hospitality and kindness after the
temporary estrangement.
Evgenie called upon the prince the day after that on
which the Epanchins left Pavlofsk. He knew of all the
current rumours,—in fact, he had probably contributed to
them himself. The prince was delighted to see him, and
immediately began to speak of the Epanchins;—which
simple and straightforward opening quite took Evgenie’s
fancy, so that he melted at once, and plunged in medias res
without ceremony.
The prince did not know, up to this, that the
Epanchins had left the place. He grew very pale on
hearing the news; but a moment later he nodded his head,
and said thoughtfully:
‘I knew it was bound to be so.’ Then he added quickly:
‘Where have they gone to?’ The Idiot
1077 of 1149
Evgenie meanwhile observed him attentively, and the
rapidity of the questions, their, simplicity, the prince’s
candour, and at the same time, his evident perplexity and
mental agitation, surprised him considerably. However, he
told Muishkin all he could, kindly and in detail. The
prince hardly knew anything, for this was the first
informant from the household whom he had met since the
estrangement.
Evgenie reported that Aglaya had been really ill, and
that for two nights she had not slept at all, owing to high
fever; that now she was better and out of serious danger,
but still in a nervous, hysterical state.
‘It’s a good thing that there is peace in the house, at all
events,’ he continued. ‘They never utter a hint about the
past, not only in Aglaya’s presence, but even among
themselves. The old people are talking of a trip abroad in
the autumn, immediately after Adelaida’s wedding; Aglaya
received the news in silence.’
Evgenie himself was very likely going abroad also; so
were Prince S. and his wife, if affairs allowed of it; the
general was to stay at home. They were all at their estate
of Colmina now, about twenty miles or so from St.
Petersburg. Princess Bielokonski had not returned to
Moscow yet, and was apparently staying on for reasons of The Idiot
1078 of 1149
her own. Lizabetha Prokofievna had insisted that it was
quite impossible to remain in Pavlofsk after what had
happened. Evgenie had told her of all the rumours current
in town about the affair; so that there could be no talk of
their going to their house on the Yelagin as yet.
‘And in point of fact, prince,’ added Evgenie
Pavlovitch, ‘you must allow that they could hardly have
stayed here, considering that they knew of all that went on
at your place, and in the face of your daily visits to their
house, visits which you insisted upon making in spite of
their refusal to see you.’
‘Yes—yes, quite so; you are quite right. I wished to see
Aglaya Ivanovna, you know!’ said the prince, nodding his
head.
‘Oh, my dear fellow,’ cried Evgenie, warmly, with real
sorrow in his voice, ‘how could you permit all that to
come about as it has? Of course, of course, I know it was
all so unexpected. I admit that you, only naturally, lost
your head, and—and could not stop the foolish girl; that
was not in your power. I quite see so much; but you really
should have understood how seriously she cared for you.
She could not bear to share you with another; and you
could bring yourself to throw away and shatter such a
treasure! Oh, prince, prince!’ The Idiot
1079 of 1149
‘Yes, yes, you are quite right again,’ said the poor
prince, in anguish of mind. ‘I was wrong, I know. But it
was only Aglaya who looked on Nastasia Philipovna so;
no one else did, you know.’
‘But that’s just the worst of it all, don’t you see, that
there was absolutely nothing serious about the matter in
reality!’ cried Evgenie, beside himself: ‘Excuse me, prince,
but I have thought over all this; I have thought a great
deal over it; I know all that had happened before; I know
all that took place six months since; and I know there was
NOTHING serious about the matter, it was but fancy,
smoke, fantasy, distorted by agitation, and only the
alarmed jealousy of an absolutely inexperienced girl could
possibly have mistaken it for serious reality.’
Here Evgenie Pavlovitch quite let himself go, and gave
the reins to his indignation.
Clearly and reasonably, and with great psychological
insight, he drew a picture of the prince’s past relations
with Nastasia Philipovna. Evgenie Pavlovitch always had a
ready tongue, but on this occasion his eloquence, surprised
himself. ‘From the very beginning,’ he said, ‘you began
with a lie; what began with a lie was bound to end with a
lie; such is the law of nature. I do not agree, in fact I am
angry, when I hear you called an idiot; you are far too The Idiot
1080 of 1149
intelligent to deserve such an epithet; but you are so far
STRANGE as to be unlike others; that you must allow,
yourself. Now, I have come to the conclusion that the
basis of all that has happened, has been first of all your
innate inexperience (remark the expression ‘innate,’
prince). Then follows your unheard-of simplicity of heart;
then comes your absolute want of sense of proportion (to
this want you have several times confessed); and lastly, a
mass, an accumulation, of intellectual convictions which
you, in your unexampled honesty of soul, accept
unquestionably as also innate and natural and true. Admit,
prince, that in your relations with Nastasia Philipovna
there has existed, from the very first, something
democratic, and the fascination, so to speak, of the
‘woman question’? I know all about that scandalous scene
at Nastasia Philipovna’s house when Rogojin brought the
money, six months ago. I’ll show you yourself as in a
looking-glass, if you like. I know exactly all that went on,
in every detail, and why things have turned out as they
have. You thirsted, while in Switzerland, for your home-
country, for Russia; you read, doubtless, many books
about Russia, excellent books, I dare say, but hurtful to
YOU; and you arrived here; as it were, on fire with the
longing to be of service. Then, on the very day of your The Idiot
1081 of 1149
arrival, they tell you a sad story of an ill- used woman;
they tell YOU, a knight, pure and without reproach, this
tale of a poor woman! The same day you actually SEE her;
you are attracted by her beauty, her fantastic, almost
demoniacal, beauty—(I admit her beauty, of course).
‘Add to all this your nervous nature, your epilepsy, and
your sudden arrival in a strange town—the day of
meetings and of exciting scenes, the day of unexpected
acquaintanceships, the day of sudden actions, the day of
meeting with the three lovely Epanchin girls, and among
them Aglaya—add your fatigue, your excitement; add
Nastasia’ s evening party, and the tone of that party, and—
what were you to expect of yourself at such a moment as
that?’
‘Yes, yes, yes!’ said the prince, once more, nodding his
head, and blushing slightly. ‘Yes, it was so, or nearly so—I
know it. And besides, you see, I had not slept the night
before, in the train, or the night before that, either, and I
was very tired.’
‘Of course, of course, quite so; that’s what I am driving
at!’ continued Evgenie, excitedly. ‘It is as clear as possible,
and most comprehensible, that you, in your enthusiasm,
should plunge headlong into the first chance that came of
publicly airing your great idea that you, a prince, and a The Idiot
1082 of 1149
pure-living man, did not consider a woman disgraced if
the sin were not her own, but that of a disgusting social
libertine! Oh, heavens! it’s comprehensible enough, my
dear prince, but that is not the question, unfortunately!
The question is, was there any reality and truth in your
feelings? Was it nature, or nothing but intellectual
enthusiasm? What do you think yourself? We are told, of
course, that a far worse woman was FORGIVEN, but we
don’t find that she was told that she had done well, or that
she was worthy of honour and respect! Did not your
common-sense show you what was the real state of the
case, a few months later? The question is now, not
whether she is an innocent woman (I do not insist one
way or the other—I do not wish to); but can her whole
career justify such intolerable pride, such insolent,
rapacious egotism as she has shown? Forgive me, I am too
violent, perhaps, but—‘
‘Yes—I dare say it is all as you say; I dare say you are
quite right,’ muttered the prince once more. ‘She is very
sensitive and easily put out, of course; but still, she...’
‘She is worthy of sympathy? Is that what you wished to
say, my good fellow? But then, for the mere sake of
vindicating her worthiness of sympathy, you should not
have insulted and offended a noble and generous girl in The Idiot
1083 of 1149
her presence! This is a terrible exaggeration of sympathy!
How can you love a girl, and yet so humiliate her as to
throw her over for the sake of another woman, before the
very eyes of that other woman, when you have already
made her a formal proposal of marriage? And you DID
propose to her, you know; you did so before her parents
and sisters. Can you be an honest man, prince, if you act
so? I ask you! And did you not deceive that beautiful girl
when you assured her of your love?’
‘Yes, you are quite right. Oh! I feel that I am very
guilty!’ said Muishkin, in deepest distress.
‘But as if that is enough!’ cried Evgenie, indignantly.
‘As if it is enough simply to say: ‘I know I am very guilty!’
You are to blame, and yet you persevere in evil-doing.
Where was your heart, I should like to know, your
CHRISTIAN HEART, all that time? Did she look as
though she were suffering less, at that moment? You saw
her face—was she suffering less than the other woman?
How could you see her suffering and allow it to continue?
How could you?’
‘But I did not allow it,’ murmured the wretched
prince.
‘How—what do you mean you didn’t allow?’ The Idiot
1084 of 1149
‘Upon my word, I didn’t! To this moment I don’t
know how it all happened. I—I ran after Aglaya Ivanovna,
but Nastasia Philipovna fell down in a faint; and since that
day they won’t let me see Aglaya—that’s all I know.’
‘It’s all the same; you ought to have run after Aglaya
though the other was fainting.’
‘Yes, yes, I ought—but I couldn’t! She would have
died—she would have killed herself. You don’t know her;
and I should have told Aglaya everything afterwards—but
I see, Evgenie Pavlovitch, you don’t know all. Tell me
now, why am I not allowed to see Aglaya? I should have
cleared it all up, you know. Neither of them kept to the
real point, you see. I could never explain what I mean to
you, but I think I could to Aglaya. Oh! my God, my God!
You spoke just now of Aglaya’s face at the moment when
she ran away. Oh, my God! I remember it! Come along,
come along— quick!’ He pulled at Evgenie’s coat-sleeve
nervously and excitedly, and rose from his chair.
‘Where to?’
‘Come to Aglaya—quick, quick!’
‘But I told you she is not at Pavlofsk. And what would
be the use if she were?’
‘Oh, she’ll understand, she’ll understand!’ cried the
prince, clasping his hands. ‘She would understand that all The Idiot
1085 of 1149
this is not the point—not a bit the real point—it is quite
foreign to the real question.’
‘How can it be foreign? You ARE going to be
married, are you not? Very well, then you are persisting in
your course. ARE you going to marry her or not?’
‘Yes, I shall marry her—yes.’
‘Then why is it ‘not the point’?’
‘Oh, no, it is not the point, not a bit. It makes no
difference, my marrying her—it means nothing.’
‘How ‘means nothing’? You are talking nonsense, my
friend. You are marrying the woman you love in order to
secure her happiness, and Aglaya sees and knows it. How
can you say that it’s ‘not the point’?’
‘Her happiness? Oh, no! I am only marrying her—well,
because she wished it. It means nothing—it’s all the same.
She would certainly have died. I see now that that
marriage with Rogojin was an insane idea. I understand all
now that I did not understand before; and, do you know,
when those two stood opposite to one another, I could
not bear Nastasia Philipovna’s face! You must know,
Evgenie Pavlovitch, I have never told anyone before—not
even Aglaya—that I cannot bear Nastasia Philipovna’s
face.’ (He lowered his voice mysteriously as he said this.)
You described that evening at Nastasia Philipovna’s (six The Idiot
1086 of 1149
months since) very accurately just now; but there is one
thing which you did not mention, and of which you took
no account, because you do not know. I mean her
