No More Learning

POLITICIAN. As for myself, I shall abstain from adefiniteanswerforatime. Myviewdoesnotgo deeply to the root of the matter, and that side of it which is clear to me I explained as best I could
yesterday.
But I am interested to know what other
people think of it. I can understand perfectly well
the Prince's mode of thought. In other words, I
understand that there is no real thought in his case
at all, but only a naked pretension qui ria ni rime ni
raison. The positive religious view, however, is
much more intelligent and more interesting. Only
up to the present all my acquaintance with it was
confined to its official form, which affords me very littlesatisfactionindeed. Ishouldbeverypleased
to hear, instead of the vapourings of mealy-mouthed parsons, the natural human word.
MR. Z. Of all the stars that rise on the mental horizon of a man who carefully reads our Sacred Books, I think there is none so clear, illuminating,
" andstartlingasthatshininginthewords, Thinkest
thou that I come to bring peace on Earth? I come not to bring peace, but a sword. " He came to bring truth to the earth, and truth, like good, before everything else divides.
LADY. This needs to be explained. If you are right, why is it that Christ is called the Prince of
? THE END OF HISTORY 133
Peace, and why did He say that peacemakers will be called the children of God?
MR. Z. And you are so kind that you wish me also to obtain that higher distinction by making
peace between contradictory texts? LADY. I do wish it.
MR. Z. Then, please note that the only way of
making peace between them is by distinguishing between the good or true peace and the bad or wrong
peace. Thisdistinctionwasclearlypointedoutby Him who brought to us the true peace and the good
"
enmity :
My peace I leave with you, My peace I
give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. " There is therefore the good peace the
peace of Christ, resting on the division which Christ came to bring to the world, namely, the division be- tween good and evil, between truth and untruth. Thereisalsothebadpeace thepeaceoftheworld which endeavours to blend or to unite together ex- ternally elements which internally are at war with one another.
LADY. But how can you show the difference be- tween the good and the bad peace ?
MR. Z. InverymuchthesamewayastheGeneral
did when, the other day, he remarked in a jocular
way that one may have a good peace like that, for instance, concluded by the treaties of Nistadt and
Kuchuk-Kainardji. Beneath this joke lies hidden aseriousandsignificantmeaning. Asinthepolitical struggle, so in the spiritual one; the good peace is
? 134 SOLOVIEV
that concluded when the object of the war is
accomplished.
LADY. And what is the object of the war between
good and evil ? I am not sure if it is even necessary
for them to wage a war with each other, or if such
a thing as an actual conflict is possible between
them corps a corps! In the ordinary war, when one side becomes the stronger, the opposing side
also looks for reinforcements, and the struggle has to be decided by pitched battles, with guns and bayonets. You will find nothing like this in the
struggle between good and evil. In this struggle, when the good side becomes stronger, the bad side
immediately weakens, and the struggle never leads on to a real battle. So that all this must be taken onlyinametaphoricalsense. Thusitisone'sduty tofosterthegrowthofgoodinman. Evilwillthen diminish as a matter of course.
MR. Z. In other words, you believe that it is
enough for kind people to grow still kinder, and that then wicked people would go on losing their malice until finally they become as kind as the others.
LADY. I believe that is so.
MR. Z. But do you know of any case when the kindness of a kind man made the wicked man also kind, or at least less wicked?
LADY. No, candidly I do not. Neither have I seen or heard of such cases. . . . But, pardon me, is not what you have said just now similar to what
? THE END OF HISTORY 135
you were discussing with the Prince the other day? That even Christ, however kind He was, could not convert the souls of Judas and the impenitent thief ? You will not forget that the Prince has still to answer this, will you?
MR. Z. Well, since I don't believe the Prince to be Anti-Christ, I have little faith in his coming, and still less in his theological presence of mind. How- ever, in order to relieve our discussion from the burden of this unsolved question, I will state the objection which the Prince should make from his
standpoint. "Why did not Christ regenerate the wicked souls of Judas and Co. by the power of His
goodness? " For the simple reason, the answer
would run, that it was a dark time, and only a few
choice souls reached that degree of moral develop-
ment which allows of an adequate response to the
inner power of truth. And Judas and Co. were too
""
backward for that. Furthermore, Jesus Himself
"
said to His disciples :
do also, and even more than this you will do" It follows that at a higher stage of moral progress in mankind, such as is reached at the present time, the true disciples of Christ are able by the power of their kindness, and by forcibly refusing to resist evil, to perform moral miracles surpassing even those which were possible eighteen centuries ago. . . .
GENERAL. Just a moment ! If they are able to perform miracles, why don't they ? Or have you seen
Deeds which I do, you will
? 136 SOLOVIEV
some of these new miracles? Even now, after "eighteen centuries of moral progress in Christian consciousness," our Prince is still unable to en- lighten my dark soul. Just as I was a barbarian before I met him, so I remain. I am just what I have always been. After God and Russia, what I love most is military work in general, and
the artillery in particular. And in my lifetime I have met not only our Prince, but other non-
resisters as well, and some perhaps even stronger than he.
MR. Z. Why assume such a personal attitude?
And why hold me responsible ? I only produced on behalf of your absent opponent a text from the
Gospels which he forgot.
LADY. Now I think I must defend our poor
Prince. Ifhewantedtobereallyclever,hewould "
say to the General
:
I and those whom have you
found to hold my views consider ourselves to be true
disciples of Christ, but only in the sense of a general
trend of thought and action, and not of having any
greater power of doing good. But we are certain
that there are, or will shortly be somewhere, Chris- tians-more perfect than we, and they will be able
to enlighten even your obscurity. "
MR. Z. This answer would, no doubt, be very
ingenious, as it would introduce an unknown quan- tity. But it can hardly be called serious. Suppose
" We can do
or should
than what Christ did, nothing even equal to it,
they say,
say :
nothing greater
? words of Christ
:
Alas !
THE END OF HISTORY 137
nothing even which falls little short of it"? What conclusion could be drawn from this according to the rules of sound logic?
GENERAL. Only one, it seems, namely, that the
" You will do what I did, and even more than this," were addressed not to these gentle- men, but to other persons who do not resemble them
in the least.
LADY. Yet it is possible to imagine that some man
will carry out Christ's commandment about loving his enemies and forgiving those who do wrong to him. And then he will, with the help of Christ Himself, acquire the power to convert wicked souls into good ones.
MR. Z. Not so long ago an experiment was tried in this direction, and not only did it not realise
its object, but it actually proved the very opposite towhatyouaresupposingnow. Therelive'daman
whose kindness knew no bounds. He not only
forgave every wrong done to him, but for every evil returned deeds of kindness. Now what do you
suppose happened? Do you think he stirred the soul of his enemy and regenerated him morally?
LADY. What case are you talking about? What manwashe? Whereandwhendidhelive?
MR. Z. Not so long ago, and in St. Petersburg. I fancy I knew him. His name is M. Delarue, a
court chamberlain.
he only exasperated the evil spirit of the villain, and died miserably by his hand.
? 138 SOLOVIEV
LADY. I have never heard of him, though I think
I can count on my fingers all the leading people of
the city.
POLITICIAN. Neither can I recollect him. But
what is the story about this chamberlain?
MR. Z. Ithasbeensplendidlytoldinanunpub-
lished poem by Count Alexis Tolstoy.
LADY. Unpublished? Then it is sure to be a
farce. What can it have to do with the serious
problems we are discussing?
MR. Z. I can assure you, madame, that, farcical
though it is in its form, it contains a very serious
story, and, what is more to the point, one true to
life. At any rate, the actual relationship between
kindness and wickedness in human life is portrayed
in these amusing verses with a much greater skill
thanIcouldevershowinmyseriousprose. More-
over, I have not the slightest doubt that when the
heroes of some world-wide popular novels, skilfully
and seriously tilling the psychological mould, have become a mere literary recollection for book-lovers,
this farce, which in an exaggerated and wildly cari- catured form plumbs the very depth of the moral problem, will retain all its artistic and philosophic truth.
LADY. I don't believe in your paradoxes. You are seized with the spirit of contradiction, and wil-
fully brave public opinion.
MR. Z. I should probably have "braved" it had
it really existed. Still, I am going to tell you the
? THE END OF HISTORY 139
story of court chamberlain Delarue, since you do not know it, and I happen to remember it by heart :
The impious assassin struck with a dagger The great Delarue
In the breast: the other bowed, uncov'ring politely,
And said
:
" How d'you do "
!
The villain plunged again more deeply the dagger, Far as he could :
Andsmilingstillthestabbedmanmurmured "Yourweapon's
:
Remarkably good. "
The villain next the right of the other attacking,
Him wounds in the chest ;
Delarue at him a finger shaking in fun says,
"How a " naughty jest !
And now in frenzy wild the villain all over With wounds ill to see
: Disfigurestheother'sbody. Delarue "Howtime'sflying
!
Delarue cries.
The villain lies at his feet repentant and grieving,
Confessing his wrong :
Delarue the prostrate man upraises with arms that
Are loving and strong.
I see you weep. For what ? No use in bewailing
A trifle, my dear sir !
I'll speak the Tsar on your behalf. He'll on you
A pension confer.
The ribbon of Stanislaus shall deck your bosom soon
Does that make you vain?
I can secure these things, as having the Tsar's ear,
His chief Chamberlain.
Or would you care to wed my daughter, my Mary ? If that is your desire
Ten thousand pounds in notes I will on you settle, A gift from her sire.
"
The villain knelt and sobbed and cried, asking pardon,
Will you stay to tea?
Disliking the scene. ""
"
For God's sake, man, get up from the floor ! "It isn't too clean. "
? 140 SOLOVIEV
And now, I pray, accept from me this portrait here, If you'll be so kind :
A token, showing love for you. It isn't framed I know you won't mind. "
The villain's face grew evil now and sarcastic:
"
Is this then my fate,
Toowemylife andall I havetoamanwho With love repays hate ? "
The lofty spirit thus the base aye discovers, Reveals its disgrace.
Assassins may forgive the gift of a portrait ; Not pension and place.
The fires of envy smoulder in his vile heart's depths,
Dark altars of shame ;
And while as yet the ribbon's new on his shoulder, They burst into flame.
New filled with malice devilish he sets his dagger In venom to steep ;
And from behind the back of Delarue he deals him A blow sure and deep.
His pains forbidding him to sit, on the floor low Poor Delarue lies.
The villain flies upstairs, and here poor Mary falls Despoiled as his prize.
The villain Tambov fled to as Governor there Is justly esteemed ;
And later, in Moscow, as Senator, worthy honour high, Is by all men deemed ;
And soon he attains to an honourable membership In Council of State;
Oh ! what a good lesson this story teaches us ! Oh! what a fate!
LADY. Oh, how sweet it is, how sweet !
I never
anticipated anything so delightful ! POLITICIAN. Veryfineindeed. Someexpressions
are real metrical feats.
? THE END OF HISTORY 141
MR. Z. But note how true to life all this is.
"" Delarue is not a specimen of that purified virtue
whichonenevermeetsinnature. Heisarealman with all the human weaknesses.
He is vain (" I am
a chamberlain," he says) and fond of money (he has
managed to save ten thousand pounds); whilst his
fantastic immunity from the stabs of the villain's
dagger is, of course, merely an obvious symbol of
his infinitely good humour, invincible, even insensi-
tive to all wrongs a trait also to be met with in
life, though comparatively seldom. Delarue is not
a personification of virtue, but a naturally kind- hearted man, in whom kindness overpowered all his
bad qualities, driving them to the surface of his soul and revealing them there in the form of inoffensive weaknesses. The "villain" also is not the conven- tional essence of vice, but the normal mixture of good and bad qualities. The evil of envy, however, rooted itself in the very depth of his soul and forced out all the good in him to the epidermis of the soul, so to speak, where the kindness became a sort of
very active but superficial sentimentality. When Delarue replies to a number of offensive actions with
polite words and with an invitation to tea, the
villain's sentimentality is greatly moved by these acts of gentleness, and he descends to a climax of
repentance.
But when later the chamberlain's
civility is changed into the sincere sympathy of a
deeply good-natured man, who retaliates upon his enemy for the evil done, not with the seeming kind-
? 142 SOLOVIEV
ness of nice words and gestures, but by the actual
goodofpracticalhelp when,Isay,Delarueshows interest in the life of his enemy, is willing to share with him his fortune, to secure for him an official
post, and even to provide him with family happi- ness, then this real kindness, penetrating into the deeper moral strata of the villain, reveals his inner moral emptiness, and when it reaches the very bottom of his soul it arouses the slumbering croco- dileofenvy. ItisnotthekindnessofDelaruethat excites the envy of the villain as you have seen,
he can also be kind, and when he cried, pitifully wringing his hands, he doubtless was conscious of this. What did excite his envy was the for him unattainable infinite vastness and simple seriousness of that kindness :
"Assassins may forgive the gift of a portrait; Not pension and place. "
Is it not realistic? Do we not see this in everyday life? One and the same moisture of vivifying rain
causes the development of healing powers in some herbs and of poison in others. In the same way, a
real act of kindness, after all, only helps to develop good in the good man and evil in the evil one. If so,howcanwe haveweeventherighttoletloose our kind sentiments without choice and distinction?
Can we praise the parents for zealously watering from the good can the poisonous flowers growing in
their garden, where their children play ? I ask you, why was Mary ruined?
? THE END OF HISTORY 143
GENERAL. With this I fully agree !
given a good drubbing to the villain and chucked him out afterwards, the fellow would not have had
time for fooling upstairs.
MR. Z. I am prepared to admit that he had the
righttosacrificehimselftohiskindness. Justasin the past there were martyrs of faith, so in our time Icanadmittheremustbemartyrsofkindness. But what, I ask you, should be done with Mary? You know, she is silly and young, and cannot, nor does she wish, to prove anything by her own example. Is it possible, then, not to pity her?
POLITICIAN. I suppose it is not. But I am even more sorry for the fact that Anti-Christ seems to have fled to Tambov with the villain.
MR. Z. Never mind, your Excellency, we'll catch
him right enough ! Yesterday you were pleased to
point out the meaning of history by reference to the fact that natural mankind, at first consisting of
a great number of more or less savage races, alien
to each other, partly ignorant of each other, partly actually engaged in mutual hostilities that this mankind gradually evolves from within itself its bestandmosteducatedpart thecivilisedorEuro- pean world, which ever grows and spreads until it embraces all other groups lagging behind in this historical development, and blends them into one peacefulandharmoniousinternationalwhole. Estab-
lishing a permanent international peace such is your formula is it not?
Had Delarue
? 144 SOLOV1EV
POLITICIAN. Yes, it is. And this formula, in its coming and not far distant realisation, will stand for a much greater achievement in the real progress ofculturethanitmayseemtodoatpresent. Merely reflect on what an amount of evil will die an inevit- able death, and what an amount of good will appear
andgrow,owingtotheverynatureofthings. What great powers will be released for productive work, what progress will be seen in science and art, industry and trade !
MR. Z. Anddoyouincludeinthecomingachieve- ments of culture a total extinction of diseases and death ?
POLITICIAN. Ofcourse . . . tosomeextent. Quite a good deal has already been done in the way of
sanitation, hygienics, antiseptics . . . organo-thera-
. . .
peutics
MR. Z. Don't you think that these undeniable
successes in the positive direction are fully counter- balanced by as little doubtful an increase of neuro-
pathic and psychopathic symptoms of the degenera- tion that accompanies the advance of culture ?
POLITICIAN. What criteria have we for estimating these ?
MR. Z. At any rate, it is absolutely certain that
though the plus may grow, the minus grows as well, and the result obtained is something very near to
nil. This is so far as diseases are concerned. And as to death, it seems nothing but nil has ever been obtained in the progress of culture.
? THE END OF HISTORY 145
POLITICIAN. But the progress of culture never sets before itself such an objective as the extinction of death.
MR. Z. Iknowitdoesnot. Andforthisreason
itcannotitselfberatedveryhigh. JustsupposeI know for certain that I myself and all that is dear to me are to disappear for ever. Would it not in such a case be quite immaterial to me whether some- where in the world certain races are righting with each other, or whether they live in peace; whether
they are civilised or savage, polite or impolite? POLITICIAN. Well, it would be, no doubt, from
the standpoint of pure egotism.
MR. Z. Why only of egotism? Pardon me, it
wouldbeimmaterialfromanypointofview. Death
equalises everything, and in face of it egotism and altruism are equally senseless.
POLITICIAN. Let it be so. But the senselessness
of egotism does not prevent us from being egotists. Similarly, altruism, so far as it is possible at all, can do quite well without any good reasons, and all your argument about death does not touch it in any way. I am aware that my children and grandchildren are destined to die, but this does not interfere with my efforts to ensure their well-being just as much as if it were to be permanent. I exert myself for their benefit because, in the first place, I love them, and
it gives me a moral satisfaction to devote my life
" daylight.
to them.
I find taste in it. " It is as clear as
? 146 SOLOVIEV
LADY. It is all right so long as everything goes right, though even then the thought of death some-
timescomestoyourhead. Butwhatsatisfactionand what taste can you get when all sorts of mishaps begin to happen to your children? It is just like waterflowers on a quagmire : you get hold of one and go to the bottom yourself.
MR. Z. Apart from this, you can and must think
of your children and grandchildren, quand meme,
for yourself, without solving or even attempting to solve the question whether your efforts can do them
a real and final good. You take trouble about them, not for the sake of any definite object, but becauseyoulovethemsodearly. Amankindwhich is not yet in existence cannot excite such love, and here the question put by our intellect as to the final meaning or the object of our cares acquires its full importance. If the answer to this question is death, if the final result of your progress and your culture is but the death of one and all, it is then clear that every kind of activity for the cause of progress and civilisation is for no purpose and has no sense.
(Here Mr. Z. interrupted his speech, and all those present turned their heads to the gate which clicked,
and for a few seconds they remained in attitudes of inquiry. TheretheysawthePrince,whohadentered the garden and was walking with uneven steps towards them. }
LADY. Oh ! And we have not even started the discussion about the Anti-Christ.
? see !
What will you say now ?
THE END OF HISTORY 147
PRINCE. It makes no difference. I have changed my mind, as I think I should not have shown an
ill-feeling to the errors of my neighbours before I had heard their plea.
LADY (in a triumphant voice to the General). You
GENERAL(sharply}. Nothing!
MR. Z. You have arrived just in time. We are
discussing the question whether it is worth while to trouble about progress if we know that the end of it
is always death for every man, be he a savage or thehighlyeducatedEuropeanofthefuture. What have your theories to say to this ?
PRINCE. The true Christian doctrine does not
even admit of stating the question in this fashion.
The solution of this problem as given in the Gospels
"
found its most striking and forceful expression in the parable of the Husbandmen. The husbandmen came to imagine that the garden, to which they had been sent to work for their lord, was their own
property; that everything that was in the garden was made for them; and that the only thing they
had to do was to enjoy their life in that garden, while
giving no thought to its lord, and killing everybody who dared to remind them of his existence and of
theirdutiestowardshim. Likethosehusbandmen, so nearly all people in our time live in the absurd belief that they themselves are the lords of their life and that it has been given them for their enjoyment. The absurdity of this is obvious. For if we have
L2
? 148 SOLOVIEV
been sent here, this was done at someone's behest
andforsomepurpose. Wehave,however,decided that we are like mushrooms : that we were born and now live only for our own pleasure; and it is clear thatit is asbadforusasit wouldbebadforthe workman who does not carry out his master's will. But the master's will found its expression in the
teaching of Christ. Let people only carry out this teaching, and the Kingdom of God will be estab- lished on earth and men will obtain the greatest
good that they are capable of securing. All is in that. Seek for the Kingdom of God, and His truth
and the rest will come to you of itself.
We seek for
therestanddonotfindit; andnotonlydowenot
establish the Kingdom of God, but we actually
1
destroy it" by o'ur various States, armies, courts,
universities, and factories.
GENERAL (aside). Now the machine has been
wound up.
POLITICIAN (to the Prince). Have you finished ? PRINCE. Yes, I have.
POLITICIAN. I must tell you that your solution of
the question seems to me absolutely incompre- hensible. You seemingly argue about something,
try to prove and to explain something, desire to convince us of something, and yet what you say is
all a series of arbitrary and mutually disconnected
" If we have 1 Quotation from Tolstoy. (Translator. )
statements. You
been sent here, this was done at someone's behest
say,
for instance
:
? THE END OF HISTORY 149
andforsomepurpose. " Thisseemstobeyourmain idea. But what is it? Where did you learn that we have been sent here for a definite purpose ? Who told you this? That we exist here on the earth this is an indisputable fact; but that our existence is some sort of ambassadorship this you have no groundwhateverforasserting. When,forexample, I was in my younger days an ambassador, I knew this for certain, as I also knew by whom and for whatIwassent firstly,becauseIhadincontestable documents stating it; secondly, because I had a personal audience of the late Emperor, Alexander II. , and received in person instructions from his
Imperial Majesty; and, thirdly, because every quarter I was paid ten thousand roubles in sterling
Now, if instead of all that some stranger had come up to me in the street and said that I was made an ambassador to be sent to some place, for somepurposeorother well,Ishouldatoncehave looked round to see if I could find a policeman who
would protect me from a maniac, capable, perhaps, even of committing an assault on my person. As
regards the present case, you will admit that you have no incontestable documents from your sup-
posed Lord, that you have had no personal audience with Him and that no salary is being paid to you. And you call yourself an ambassador ! Why, not
only yourself, but even everybody in existence you have declared to be either an ambassador or a hus-
bandman. Have you any right to make such state-
gold.
? 150 SOLOVIEV
ments? Oranyground? No,Irefusetounderstand it. It seems to me a kind of rhetorical improvisation ires mal inspiree d'ailleurs.
How bad of you ! You understand only too well that the Prince did not think of refuting your atheism, but
simply stated the commonly accepted Christian
opinion that we all depend on God and are obliged to serve Him.
POLITICIAN. No, I cannot understand a service without a salary. And if it proves that the salary hereisoneandthesameforeverybody death,well
then, I present my compliments. . . .
LADY. But you will die in any case, and nobody
LADY. Again pretending ignorance !
will ask for your consent.
POLITICIAN. It is precisely this very in any case
that proves that life is not service, and that if no consent of mine is required for my death, just as for my birth, then I prefer to see in death and life what there is actually in them, that is a natural necessity, and not some imaginary service to some unknown master. So my conclusion is this : live, while you live, and endeavour to live in the best and most intelligent manner; and the condition of good and intelligent life is peaceful culture. However, I am of the opinion that even on the basis of the Christian doctrine the sham solution of the problem, sug- gested by the Prince, will not stand the slightest criticism. But let the others, more competent than
myself, speak of this.
""
? THE END OF HISTORY 151
GENERAL. Of course, it is not a solution at all.
It is merely a verbal way of getting round the ques- tion. Just as if I took a map and, having sur- rounded with my pencilled battalions an enemy's
pencilled fortress, imagined then that I actually took the actual fortress. Things of this kind did
really happen, you know, as the popular soldiers' song tells :
Of this month scarce three days were spent When devil-driven forth we went
To occupy the hill-tops.
Came Princes, Counts, to see us chaps,
What time surveyors made great maps On sheets of fair white paper.
On paper, hills are smooth, no doubt, For all the ravines they'd left out! 'Twas these we had to walk on !
And the result of that is also known :
At last we to the summit got
And counted up our little lot;
Of all our regiments there were not A couple of battalions !
PRINCE. No, it is beyond me. And is this all you can answer to what I have been saying here ?
GENERAL. In what you have been saying here one
thing seemed to me particularly obscure your re- marks about mushrooms, that these live for their
own enjoyment. My impression has always been that they live for the enjoyment of those who like
to eat mushrooms with cream or in mushroom-pies. Now, if your Kingdom of God on earth leaves death
? 152 SOLOVIEV
as it is, it follows then that men, quite independently of their will, live, and will live, in your Kingdom of God just like mushrooms and not those jolly imaginary mushrooms, but the actual ones which are cookedinapan. Theendofmaninthisourearthly Kingdom of God will be also to be eaten up by death.
LADY.