第19章

“Itmakesonefeelashamedtohearsuchtalk，“saidVologonovwithasigh。Inresponsesheburstoutlaughing。 “Whatavirtuousman！“washercommentuponhisremark。 UntilnowAntipahadspokencautiously，andinanundertone，whereasthewomanhadrepliedinloudaccentsofchallenge。 “Willyoucomeinandhavesometea？“hesaidnextasheleantoutofthewindow。 “No，Ithankyou。Inpassing，whatathingIhaveheardaboutyou！“ “Donotshoutsoloud。Ofwhatareyouspeaking？“ “Oh，ofSUCHathing！“ “OfNOTHING，Iimagine。“ “Yes，ofEVERYTHING。“ “God，whocreatedallthings，aloneknowseverything。“ Whereafterthepairwhisperedtogetherawhile。ThenFelitzatadisappearedassuddenlyasshehadcome，leavingtheoldmansittingmotionless。Atlengthheheavedaprofoundsigh，andmutteredtohimself。 “IntothatEve’searsbetherepouredthepoisonoftheasp！……Yetpardonme，0hGod！Yea，pardonme！“ Thewordscontainednotaparticleofgenuinecontrition。 Rather，Ibelieve，heutteredthembecausehehadaweaknessnotforwordswhichsignifiedanything，butforwordswhich，beingoutoftheway，werenotusedbythecommonfolkofthesuburb。 SometimesVologonovknocksatthepartition-wallwithasuperannuatedarshinmeasurewhichhasonlyfifteenvershokiofitslengthremaining。Heknocks，andshouts: “Lodger，wouldyoucaretojoinmeinapotoftea？“ Duringtheearlydaysofouracquaintanceshipheregardedmewithmarkedandconstantsuspicion。Clearlyhedeemedmetobeapolicedetective。Butsubsequentlyhetooktoscanningmyfacewithcriticalcuriosity，untilatlengthhesaidwithanairofimpartinginstruction: “HaveyoueverreadParadiseLostandDestroyed？“ “No，“Ireplied。“OnlyParadiseRegained。“ Thisledhimtowaghisparti-colouredbeardintokenthat’bedisagreedwithmychoice’，andtoobserve: “ThereasonwhyAdamlostParadiseisthatheallowedEvetocorrupthim。AndneverdidtheLordpermithimtoregainit。ForwhoisworthytoreturntothegatesofParadise？Notasinglehumanbeing。“ And，indeed，Ifounditawasteoftimetodisputethematter，forhemerelylistenedtowhatIhadtosay，andthen，withoutanattemptatrefutation，repeatedinthesametoneasbefore，andexactlyinthesamewords，hisstatementthat“AdamlostParadiseforthereasonthatheallowedEvetocorrupthim。“ Similarlydidwomenconstituteourmostusualsubjectofconversation。 “Youareyoung，“oncehesaid，“andthereforeahumanbeingboundtofindforbiddenfruitblockingyourwayateverystep。 Thisbecausethehumanraceisaslavetoitsloveofsin，or，inotherwords，toloveoftheSerpent。Yes，womanconstitutestheprimeimpedimenttoeverythinginlife，ashistoryhasmanytimesaffirmed。Andfirstandforemostisshethesourceofrestlessness。’Chargedwithpoison，theSerpentshallplungeintheeherfangs。’WhichSerpentis，ofcourse，ourdesireoftheflesh，theSerpentatwhoseinstigationtheGreeksrazedtownstotheground，andravagedTroyandCarthagenaandEgypt，andtheSerpentwhichcausedanamorouspassionforthesisterofAlexanderPavlovitch[TheEmperorAlexanderI]tobringaboutNapoleon’sinvasionofRussia。Ontheotherhand，boththeMohammedannationsandtheJewshavefromearliesttimesgraspedthematteraright，andkepttheirwomenshutupintheirbackpremises；whereasWEpermitthefoulestofprofligacytoexist，andwalkhandinhandwithourwomen，andallowthemtograduateasfemaledoctorsandtopullteeth，andalltherestofit。 Thetruthisthattheyoughtnottobeallowedtoadvancebeyondmidwife，sinceitiswoman’sbusinesseithertoserveasabreedinganimaloropprobriouslytobecalledneiskusobrachnaianeviesta[Maidwhohastnevertastedofmarriage。]Yes，woman’sbusinessshouldendthere。“ Nearthestovethereticksandclicksonthegrimywallthatispaperedwith“rulesandregulations“andsheetsofyellowmanuscriptthependulumofasmallclock，with，hangingtooneofitsweights，ahammerandahorseshoe，and，totheother，acopperpestle。Also，inacorneroftheroomanumberofikonsmakeaglitteringshowwiththeirsilverappliqueandthegildedhaloswhichsurmounttheirfigures’blackvisages，whileastovewithaponderousgrateglowersoutofthewindowatthegreeneryinZhitnaiaStreetandbeyondtheravine(beyondtheravineeverythinglooksbrightandbeautiful)，andthedusty，dimlylightedstoreroomacrossthepassageemitsaperennialodourofdriedmushroom，tobaccoleaves，andhempoil。 Vologonovstirshisstrong，stewedteawithabatteredoldteaspoon，andsayswithasighashesipsalittle: “AllmylifeIhavebeenengagedingainingexperiencesothatnowIknowmostthings，andoughttobelistenedtowithattention。Usuallyfolkdosolistentome，butthoughhereandthereonemayfindalivingsoul，oftherestitmaybesaid:’IntheHouseofDavidshallterriblethingscometopass，andfireshallconsumethespiritoflechery。’“ Thewordsresemblebricksinthattheyseem，ifpossible，toincreasetheheightofthewallsofstrangeandextraneousevents，andevenstrangerdramas，whichloomforeveraround，me。 “Forexample，“continuestheoldman，“whyisMitriErmolaevPolukonov，ourex-mayor，lyingdeadbeforehistime？Becauseheconceivedanumberofarrogantprojects。Forexample，hesenthiseldestsontostudyatKazan——withtheresultthatduringtheson’ssecondyearattheUniversityhe，theson，broughthomewithhimacurly-headedJewess，andsaidtohisfather: ’WithoutthiswomanIcannotlive——inherareboundupmywholesoulandstrength。’Yes，apassindeed！AndfromthatdayforthnothingbutmisfortunebefellinthatYashkatooktodrink，theJewessgavewaytorepining，andMitrihadtogoperambulatingthetownwithpiteousinvitationsto’comeandsee，mybrethren，towhatdepthsIhavesunk！’Andthough，eventually，theJewessdiedofabloodyflux，ofamiscarriage，thepastwasbeyondmending，and，whilethesonwenttothebad，andtooktodrinkforgoodandall，thefather’fellavictimbynighttountimelydeath。’Yes，thelivesoftwofolkwerethusundoneby’thethorn-bearingcompanyofJudaea。’Likeourselves，theHebrewhasadestinyofhisown。Anddestinycannotbedrivenoutwithastick。Ofeachofusthedestinyisunhasting。Itmovesslowlyandquietly，andcanneverbeavoided。’Wait，’itsays。’Seeknottopressonward。’“ Ashediscourses，Vologonov’seyesceaselesslychangecolour——nowturningtoadullgrey，andwearingatiredexpression，andnowbecomingblue，andassumingamournfulair，andnow(andmostfrequentlyofall)beginningtoemitgreenflashesofanimpartialmalevolence。 “Similarly，theKapustins，onceapowerfulfamily，cameatlengthtodust-becameasnothing。Itwasafamilythemembersofwhichwereeverinfavourofchange，anddevotedtoanythingthatwasnew。Infact，theywentandsetupapiano！Well，ofthemonlyValentineisstillonhislegs，andhe(heisadoctoroflessthanfortyyearsofage)isahopelessdrunkard，andsaturatedwithdropsy，andfallenapreytoasthma，sothathiscancerouseyesprotrudehorribly。Yes，theKapustins，likethePolukonovs，maybe’writtendownasdead。’“ Throughout，Vologonovspeaksinatoneofunassailableconviction，inatoneimplyingthatnevercouldthingshappen，nevercouldthingshavehappened，otherwisethanashehasstated。Infact，inhishandseventhemostinexplicable，themostgrievous，phenomenaoflifebecomesuchasalawhasinevitablydecreed。 “AndthesamethingwillbefalltheOsmukhins，“henextremarks。“LetthembeawarningtoyounevertomakefriendswithGermans，andnevertoengageinbusinesswiththem。InRussiaanyhousewifemaybrewbeer；yetourpeoplewillnotdrinkit——theyaremoreusedtospirits。Also，RussianfolkliketoattaintheirobjectindrinkingATONCE；andashkalikofvodkawilldomoretosapwitthanfivekruzhkiofbeer。Onceourpeoplelikeduniformsimplicity；butnowtheyarebecomelikeamanwhowasbornblind，andhassuddenlyacquiredsight。Achangeindeed！Forthirty-threeyearsdidIlyaofMurom[IlyaMurometz，thelegendaryfiguremostfrequentlymetwithInRussianbilini(folksongs)，andprobablyidenticalwithElijahtheProphet，thoughcreditedwithmanyoftheattributesproper，rather，tothepagangodPeruntheThunderer。]sitwaitingforhisendbeforeitcame；andallwhocannotbidepatientlyinastateofhumility……“ Meanwhilecloudsshapedlikesnow-whiteswansaretraversingtheroseateheavensanddisappearingintospace，whilebelowthem，onearth，theravinecanbeseenspreadoutlikethepeltofabearwhichthebroadshouldersofsomefabulousgianthavesloughedbeforetakingrefugeinthemarshesandforest。Infactthelandscaperemindsmeofsundryancienttalesofmarvels，asalsodoesAntipaVologonov，themanwhoissostrangelyconversantwiththeshortcomingsofhumanlife，andsopassionatelyaddictedtodiscussingthem。 Foramomentortwoheremainssilentassibilantlyhepurseshislipsanddrinkssomesaffron-colouredteafromthesaucerwhichthesplayedfingersofhisrighthandarebalancingontheirtips。Whereafter，whenhiswetmoustachehasbeendried，hislevelvoiceresumesitsspeechintonesasmeasuredasthoseofonereadingaloudfromthePsalter。 “HaveyounoticedashopinZhitnaiaStreetkeptbyanoldmannamedAsiev？Oncethatmanhadtensons。Sixofthem，however，diedininfancy。Oftheremaindertheeldest，afinesinger，wasatonceextravagantandabookworm；wherefore，whilstanofficer’sservantatTashkend，hecutthethroatsofhismasterandmistress，andfordoingsowasexecutedbyshooting。Asamatteroffact，thetalehasitthathehadbeenmakinglovetohismistress，andthenbeenthrownoverinfavourofhismasteroncemore。Andanotherson，Grigori，afterbeinggivenahighschooleducationatSt。Petersburg，becamealunatic。Andanother，Alexei，enteredthearmyasacavalryman，butisnowactingasacircusrider，andprobablyhasalsobecomeadrunkard。Andtheyoungestsonofall，Nikolai，ranawayasaboy，and，eventuallyarrivinginNorwaywithapreciousschemeforcatchingfishintheArcticOcean，metwithfailurethroughthefactthathehadoverlookedthecircumstancethatweRussianshavefishofourownandtospare，andhadtohavehisinterestassignedbyhisfathertoalocalmonastery。SomuchforfishoftheArcticSeas！YetifNikolaihadonlywaited，ifhehadonlybeenmorepatient，he——“