第21章

Yettheirfearofhimwasinnowayreciprocated，nor，forthatmatter，didtheyeverassaulthim，despitethefactthatoccasionallytheywouldthrowanoldbootorachipofwoodinhisdirection-throwitaimlessly，andwithoutreallydesiringtohitthemarkaimedat。 Also，anythingcircular——forexample，aplateorthewheelofatoy，engagedNilushka’sattentionandledhimtocaressitaseagerlyashedidglobesandballs。Evidentlytherotundityoftheobjectwasthepointthatexcitedhisinterest。Andasheturnedtheobjectoverandover，andfelttheflatpartofit，hewouldmutter: “Butwhatabouttheotherone？“ What“theotherone“meantIcouldneverdivine。NorcouldAntipa。Once，drawingtheidiottohim，hesaid: “Whydoyoualwayssay’Whatabouttheotherone’？“ Troubledandnervous，Nilushkamerelymutteredsomeunintelligiblereplyashisfingersturnedandturnedaboutthecircularobjectwhichhewasholding。 “Nothing，“atlengthhereplied。 “Nothingofwhat？ “Nothinghere。“ “Ah，heistoofoolishtounderstand，“saidVologonovwithasighashiseyesdarkenedinmeditativefashion。 “Yes，thoughitmayseemfoolishtosayso，“headded，“somepeoplewouldenvyhim。“ “Whyshouldthey？“ “Formorethanonereason。Tobeginwith，helivesalifefreefromcare——heiskeptcomfortably，andevenheldinrespect。 Sincenoonecanproperlyunderstandhim，andeveryonefearshim，throughabeliefthatfolkwithoutwit，the’blessedonesofGod，’aremoreespeciallytheAlmighty’sfavouritesthanpersonspossessedofunderstanding。Onlyaverywisemancoulddealwithsuchamatter，andthelesssointhatitmustberememberedthatmorethanone’blessedone’hasbecomeaSaint，whilesomeofthosepossessedofunderstandinghavegone——well，havegonewhither？Yes，indeed！“ And，thoughtfullycontractingthebushyeyebrowswhichlookedasthoughtheyhadbeentakenfromthefaceofanotherman，Vologonovthrusthishandsuphissleeves，andstoodeyeingNilushkashrewdlywithhisintangiblegaze。 NeverdidFelitzatasayforcertainwhotheboy’sfatherhadbeen，butatleastitwasknowntomethatinvaguetermsshehaddesignatedtwomenassuch——theoneayoung“surveystudent，“andtheotheramerchantbynameViporotkov，amannotorioustothewholetownasamostturbulentrakeandbully。 ButoncewhensheandAntipaandIwereseatedgossipingattheentrance-gates，andIinquiredofherwhetherNilushka’sfatherwerestillsurviving，sherepliedinacarelessway: “Heisso，damnhim！“ “Thenwhoishe？“ Felitzata，asusual，lickedherfaded，butstillcomely，lipswiththetipofhertonguebeforeshereplied: “Amonk。“ “Ah！“Vologonovexclaimedwithunexpectedanimation。“That，then，explainsthings。Atallevents，wehaveinitanintelligibleTHEORYofthings。“ Whereafter，heexpoundedtousatlength，andwithnosparingofdetails，thereasonwhyamonkshouldhavebeenNilushka’sfatherratherthaneitherthemerchantortheyoung“surveystudent。“AndasVologonovproceededhegrewunwontedlyenthusiastic，andwentsofarastoclenchhisfistsuntilpresentlyheheavedasigh，asthoughmentallyhurt，andsaidfrowninglyandreproachfullytothewoman: “Whydidyounevertellusthisbefore？Itwasexceedinglynegligentofyou。“ Felitzatalookedattheoldmanwithsarcasmandsaucinessgleaminginherbrowneyes。Suddenly，however，shecontractedherbrows，counterfeitedasigh，andwhined: “Ah，Iwasgood-lookingthen，anddesiredofall。InthosedaysIhadbothagoodheartandahappynature。“ “Butthemonkmayprovetohavebeenanimportantfactorinthequestion，“wasAntipa’sthoughtfulremark。 “Yes，andmanyanothermanthanhehasrunaftermeforhispleasure，“continuedFelitzatainatoneofreminiscence。ThisledVologonovtocough，risetohisfeet，layhishanduponthewoman’sclaret-colouredsleeveofsatin，andsaysternly: “Doyoucomeintomyroom，forIhavebusinesstotransactwithyou。“ Asshecompliedshesmiledandwinkedatme。Andsothepairdeparted——heshufflingcarefullywithhisbandylegs，andshewatchingherstepsasthoughatanymomentshemightcollapseontoherleftside。 Thenceforth，FelitzatavisitedVologonovalmostdaily；andonceduringthetimeoftwohoursorsothatthepairwereoccupiedindrinkingteaIheard，throughthepartition-wall，theoldmansayinvigorous，level，didacticaltones: “Thesetalesandrumoursoughtnottobedismissedsavewithcaution。Atleastoughttheytobegiventhebenefitofthedoubt。For，thoughallthathesaysmaySEEMtousunintelligible，theremayyetbeenshrinedthereinameaning，suchas——“ “Yousayameaning？“ “Yes，ameaningwhich，eventually，willbevouchsafedtoyouinavision。Forexample，youmayonedayseeissuefromadenseforestamanofGod，andhearhimcryaloud:Felitzata，OhservantofGod，Ohsinnermostdarkofsoul——“ “Whatacroaking，tobesure！“ “Besilent！Nononsense！Doyoublameyourselfratherthansingyourownpraises。AndinthatvisionyoumayhearthemanofGodcry:’Felitzata，goyouforthanddothatwhichonewhoshallmeetyoumayrequestyoutoperform！’And，havinggoneforth，youmayfindthemanofGodtobethemonkwhomwehavespokenof。“ “A-a-ah！“thewomandrawledwithanairofbeingabouttosaysomethingmore。 “Come，fool！“ “Yousee——“ “HaveI，thistime，abusedyou？“ “No，but——“ “IhaveanideathatthemanofGodwillbeholdingacrook。“ “Ofcourse，“assentedFelitzata。 Similarly，onanotheroccasion，didIhearAntipamutterconfidentiallytohiscompanion: “Thefactthatallhissayingsaresosimpleisnotafavourablesign。For，yousee，theydonotharmonisewiththeaffairinitsentirety——insuchaconnectionwordsshouldbemysterious，andso，abletobeinterpretedinmorethanoneway，seeingthatthemoremeaningswordspossess，themorearethosewordsrespectedandheededbymankind。“ “Whyso？“queriedFelitzata。 “Whyso？“re-echoedVologonovirritably。“Arewenot，then，torespectANYONEorANYTHING？Onlyheisworthyofrespectwhodoesnotharmhisfellows；andofthosewhodonotharmtheirfellowstherearebutfew。Tothispointyoumustpayattention——youmustteachhimwordsofvariableimport，wordsmoreabstract，aswellasmoresonorous。“ “ButIknownosuchwords。“ “Iwillrepeattoyouafew，andeverynight，whenhegoestobed，youshallrepeatthemtoHIM。Forexample:’Adomispolneni，pokaites’[Doyepeoplewhoarefilledwithvenomrepent]。AndmarkthattheexactwordsoftheChurchbeadheredto。Forinstance，’Dushenbitzi，pozhaleiteBoga，okayannie，’[Murderersofthesoul，accursedones，repentyebeforeGod。]mustbesaidratherthan’Dushenbitzi，pozhaleiteBoga，okayanni，’sincethelatter，thoughtheshorterform，isalsonotthecorrectone。 ButperhapsIhadbetterinstructtheladmyself。“ “Certainlythatwouldbethebetterplan。“ SofromthattimeonwardsVologonovfelltostoppingNilushkainthestreet，andrepeatingtohimsomethingoranotherinhiskindlyfashion。Onceheeventookhimbythehand，and，leadinghimtohisroom，andgivinghimsomethingtocat，saidpersuasively: “Saythisafterme。’Donothasten，Ohyepeople。’Tryifyoucansaythat。“ “’Alantern，’“beganNilushkacivilly。 “’Alantern？’Yes。Well，goon，andsay，’Iamalanternuntothee——“ “Iwanttosing，it。“ “Thereisnoneedforthat，thoughpresentlyyoushallsingit。 Forthemomentyourtaskistolearnthecorrectspeakingofthings。Sosayafterme——“ “0Lo-ord，havemercy！“cameinaquiet，thoughtfulchantfromtheidiot。Whereafterheaddedinthecoaxingtoneofachild: “Weshallallofushavetodie。“ “Yes，butcome，come！“expostulatedVologonov。“WhatareyoublurtingoutNOW？ThatmuchIknowwithoutyourtellingme——alwayshaveIknown，littlefriend，thateachofusishasteningtowardshisdeath。Yetyourwantofunderstandingexceedswhatshouldbe。“