No More Learning

PRINCE (after a short interval of silence). Well,
when you buried your men in your happy frame of mind, tell me, didn't you think at all of the enemies whom you had killed in such great numbers ?
GENERAL. Thank God, we were able to move
of it.
? 42 SOLOVIEV
further before that carrion had time to remind us of itself.
LADY. Ah, now you have spoiled the whole im-
pression.
What a shame !
GENERAL (addressing the Prince). And what would you have me do? That I should give
Christian burial to those jackals, who were neither Christians nor Moslems, but the Devil knows what ? Imagine for a moment that I went out of my senses and ordered the service to be performed over them, together with the Cossacks. Would not you in that case charge me with intolerance ?
These poor dear fellows, when alive, worshipped the Devil and prayed to the fire, and now after their
death they are suddenly to be subjected to super- stitious and crude pseudo-Christian rites ! No, I
had something else then to worry about. I called all the officers and ordered them to tell the men that not one of them should dare to come within ten yards of the damned carrion. I could well see that my Cossacks' fingers itched to search the pockets of the killed, as was their habit. And who knows
what plague they might have spread as a result? Let the Devil take the lot of it.
PRINCE. Do I understand you correctly? You were afraid lest the Cossacks should begin robbing the dead bashi-bazouks and should carry from them some infectious disease to your force ?
GENERAL. That is exactly what I feared. I think the point is clear enough.
To think of it !
? WAR 43
PRINCE. What a Christ-loving band of warriors ! GENERAL. Who,theCossacks? Theyareveritable
brigands ! They were always like this.
PRINCE. But, really, what is all this? Are we
talking in dreams ?
GENERAL. It seems to me that there must be some-
thing wrong. I can't make out what it is that you really want to know.
POLITICIAN. The Prince is probably surprised that your ideal and all but canonised Cossacks all of a sudden prove, in your own words, to be utter brigands !
PRINCE. That's it.
And I ask you, how can war
be "something great, honourable, and holy," when you admit yourself that it is a struggle between one
group of brigands and another?
GENERAL. Now I see " A of your point. struggle
onegroupofbrigandswithanother. " Butdon'tyou seethattheothersareofquiteadifferentsort? Or do you really believe that to rob when occasion offers itself is the same as to roast little babies before the eyes of their mothers? Well, I'll tell you this much. So clear is my conscience in this matter that even now I sometimes regret with all my soul that I did not die after I had given the order to fire the last volley. I have not the slightest doubt that should I have died then, I should have gone before the Throne of God with all my thirty-seven slain Cossacks, and we would have taken our places in ParadisebythesideofthePenitentThief. Itwas
? 44 SOLOVIEV
not for nothing that the Bible placed him there, was it?
PRINCE. That is true. But you will certainly not find it written in the Bible that only people of our own country or of our own religion can be likened to the Penitent Thief, and not people of all nation- alities and creeds.
GENERAL. Upon my word, you could not place more misstatements to my credit if I were already
PRINCE. But you fail to remember the fact that
the aforesaid Devil's spawn are, after all, human
beings, that in every man you can find both good
and evil, and that every brigand, be he a Cossack or "
a bashi-bazouk roasting babies might well prove to be a penitent thief. And all because you fear to touch evil even with one finger ! To me the important point, however, is not that every man has within him the seeds of both good and evil, but as to which of the two good or evil has taken firmer root in him. It matters little that wine and vinegar are both made from the juice of the grape. What is of real im-
When have I made distinctions among
dead !
nations and creeds? Are Armenians my country- men and co-religionists ? Or have I referred to the faith and nationality of that Devil's spawn which I annihilated by shells?
a bashi-bazouk, might prove to be a
penitent thief. " GENERAL. How am I to take you? At one moment you say that an evil man is like an irre- sponsible beast, at another moment you state that
? WAR 45
portance is whether a certain bottle has wine or vinegar in it. Because, should it be vinegar and
I begin drinking it glass after glass, and treat others to it simply because it happens to be made from the
same material as wine, I am pretty certain that this exhibition of my cleverness will do nobody any good
Why
And suppose I happen to see my brother Cain flaying my brother Abel, and because all men are brothers
I deal out such a blow to my brother Cain as will teach him to give up for ever his bad habits, then you come out and blame me for forgetting that all threeofusarebrothers. Ofcourse,Idon'tforgetit. Why, it is only because I remember this brotherhood that I interfere at all. Otherwise I could pass by and take no notice.
PRINCE. But why those alternatives either pass-
ing by or dealing a blow?
GENERAL. No third issue can generally be found
in such cases. You have been suggesting praying to God that He should personally interfere and by the might of His own right hand bring every Devil's son to his senses. But you yourself cast this idea
aside, didn't you? I admit willingly that prayer is good in all circumstances, but it cannot be sub-
On the contrary, it may ruin good digestions !
at all.
Now,allmenarebrothers. Verygood. Iamglad to hear it. But how far will this take us ? There are different kinds of brothers, you know.
should I then not be inquisitive enough to find out which of my brothers is Cain and which is Abel?
? 46 SOLOVIEV
stitutedforactiononone'sownpart. Piouspeople, for instance, say prayers even before they have their
meals, but they have to do their chewing themselves, and with their own jaws. Nor did I give orders to
my horse artillery without saying my prayers ! PRINCE. Such prayers are blasphemy, of course.
It is not praying to God that is necessary, but acting according to God's will.
GENERAL. For example ?
PRINCE. A man who is imbued with the true Christian spirit will, in the hour of need, find within himself the power to influence a poor ignorant brother who is about to commit a murder or some other evil. By means of words and gestures, and even by his very looks, he will be able to make
such a startling impression upon the mind of the wrongdoer that he will instantly see his error and
will forsake the ways of evil.
GENERAL. Holy saints !
bazouks, who roasted babies, that you think I should
have performed all those touching gestures and said these moving words ?
MR. Z. Words, perhaps, would not have been
quite opportune owing to the distance intervening and to the fact that neither of you understood the
other's language. And as to gestures making a
startling impression say what you will, nothing could have been more fitting in the circumstances
than the rounds of shells fired.
LADY. Really, in what language and with the help
Is it before the bashi-
? WAR 47
of what instruments could the General make himself understood by the bashi-bazouks ?
PRINCE. I have never said that the General could have impressed the bashi-bazouks in the Christian way. What I did say was that a man full of the true Christian spirit would have found some means, in this case as in every other, to awaken in those dark souls the good which lies hidden in every
human being.
MR. Z. Do you really believe in this?
PRINCE. I have not the slightest doubt about it. MR. Z. Well,doyouthink,then,thatChristwas
sufficiently imbued with this spirit?
PRINCE. What a strange question to ask !
MR. Z. I ask it only to learn from you why it
was that Christ could not use the power of His
spirit to such effect as to awaken the good hidden
in the souls of Judas, Herod, the priests of the
Sanhedrim, and, lastly, of that impenitent thief, who
usually remains entirely forgotten when his penitent comrade is mentioned. There is no insuperable
difficulty here for positive Christian thought. But you are obliged to sacrifice one of the two things :
either your habit of quoting Christ and the Bible
as the highest authority, or your moral optimism. Because, the third resource, which has been rather toomuchhackneyed thatofdenyingtheveryfacts of the New Testament as a later invention or a
mere priestly commentary in the present case is entirelytakenfromyou. Howevermuchyoumuti-
? 48 SOLOVIEV
late and sub-edit the text of the four Gospels to suit
your object, what is the principal thing with us in
our argument will remain in it indisputably, namely, that Christ suffered cruel persecutions and the tor-
tures of crucifixion at the hands of malicious enemies. That personally He remained morally above all this spite, that He did not want to resist his enemies but forgavethem allthisisequallyeasytounderstand, both from my point of view and from yours. But why is it, then, that, forgiving His enemies, He
"" to use your own words did not save their souls
from the cloud of ignorance in which they were
enwrapped ? Why didn't He conquer their spite by
the power of His benignity? Why didn't He awaken the good that lay dormant in them, and give
enlightenment and new life to their souls ? In short,
why didn't He impress Judas, Herod, and the Sanhedrim in the same way in which He impressed the single penitent thief ? It follows that : either He could not, or did not wish to do so. In both
cases, however, according to your argument, Christ must have been insufficiently imbued with the true
Christian spirit ! On which conclusion I beg you
to accept my hearty congratulations.
PRINCE. Oh ! I refuse to fence with you in a duel
of words, just as I refused to engage in combat
"
with the General, using for weapons his loving" swords. . . .
Christ-
(Here the Prince stood up, evidently on the -point
of saying something strong enough to flatten his opponent at a blow, and without fencing at all; but
? WAR 49
the bells of a neighbouring church struck the hour
of seven. }
LADY. 'Tis time to have dinner. But a discus-
sionlikethisshouldnotbefinishedhurriedly. After dinner we play whist, but to-morrow this conversa- tionmustcertainlybecontinued. (Addressingthe
Politician^) Do you agree?
POLITICIAN. To the continuation of this discus-
sion? I am only too glad it has come to an end! Don't you think the argument has acquired much of
the unpleasant quality of religious controversy? That is, I must say, altogether beyond justification. Besides, my life is the most precious thing to me.
LADY. It is no good pretending. You must, you must take part in the rest of the discussion. You
ought to be ashamed of yourself a Mephistopheles
in secret, sprawling luxuriously on a sofa ! POLITICIAN. Verywell,then. Ihavenoobjection
to resuming the discussion to-morrow, but only on condition that religion is kept out of it as much as possible. I do not demand that it should be banished
altogether that seems to be impossible. But, for God's sake, let us have as little of it as we can.
LADY. Your "for God's sake" is very sweet in this connection.
MR. Z. (to the Politician). I think the best way to have as little religion as possible would be for you to monopolise the conversation !
POLITICIAN. I will, I promise you, although it is
always more pleasant to listen than to speak, par- ticularly in this "salubrious air. " But to save our
? 50 SOLOVIEV
little company from the contentious struggle which
may perniciously reflect upon the whist too, I am willing to sacrifice myself for two hours.
LADY. How delightful of you ! And on the day after to-morrow we will have the rest of our discus- sion on the Bible. The Prince will by that time
preparesomeabsolutelyirrefutableargument. But you must be ready too. After all, one should learn
at least a little of matters ecclesiastical ! POLITICIAN. The day after to-morrow too?
Oh, no ! my self-sacrifice does not go so far as that !
Besides, I have to go to Nice on that day.
LADY. To Nice? What a transparent pretext! It is useless, I assure you, for we saw through you
longago. Everybodyknowsthatwhenamansays,
"
I have an appointment in Nice," he really proposes
a bit of fun at Monte Carlo. Well, let it be so. After to-morrow we must manage somehow to do without you. Plunge yourself to the neck into
pleasure that is, if you are not afraid of becoming soonaghostyourself. GotoMonteCarlo.
Andmay Providence reward you according to your deserts.
POLITICIAN. My deserts do not concern Provi-
dence, but only the provision of certain necessary measures I have carried out for the benefit of
But I admit the influence of luck and the value of a little calculation in roulette as well as in
everything else.
LADY. To-morrow, however, we all must meet
here without fail.
society.
? II
SECOND DISCUSSION Audiatur et secunda pars
? THE SECOND DISCUSSION Audiatur et secunda pars
NEXT afternoon, at the appointed hour, we were having tea under the palm trees. Only the Prince was late ; we had to wait for him. As I did not play cards that evening, I was able to take down the whole of the second discussion from the beginning. This time the Politician said so much, drawling out his interminable and intricate sentences in such a manner that I found it impossible for me to write down his exact words. I quote verbatim a fair amount, however, of what he said, and make some attempt to preserve his characteristic utterance; but more often I shall be found to give only the substance of his speech in my own words.
POLITICIAN. For some time now I have been
observing one extraordinary fact : those men who
pretend to take a vast interest in certain of the
higher morals seem never able to exercise the
simplest, the most necessary, and, in my opinion, the one essential virtue politeness. All the more
reason, therefore, to thank God that we have com-
paratively few people obsessed with this notion of
"
highermorals. Isay notion,"becauseasamatter
of fact I have never come across it, and therefore 53
? 54 SOLOVIEV
have no reason to believe in the actual existence of
such a thing.
LADY. Thereisnothingnewinthat. Astopolite-
ness, there is some truth in what you say. Now before we approach the main subject of our discus-
sion, perhaps you will attempt a proof that polite- ness is the one essential virtue. A trial proof, let
us say, on which you may test your powers just as musicians test their instruments in the orchestra
before the overture.
POLITICIAN. When the orchestra is tuning up, we
hear only single disconnected sounds. I fear my proof would inflict on us a similar monotony; for
hardly anybody would urge the opposite opinion at least, not before the Prince comes in. Of course,
when he arrives it would not be polite at all to speak
of politeness.
LADY. Obviously. Butwhatareyourarguments? POLITICIAN. I think you will agree that it is quite
possible to live an enjoyable life in a society in which there was not a single person chaste, or dis-
interested,orunselfish. I,atanyrate,couldalways live in such society without feeling in the least uncomfortable.
LADY. In Monte Carlo, for instance ?
POLITICIAN. In Monte Carlo, or anywhere else. Nowhere is there any need for even a single
exponent of the higher morals. Now, you try to live in company where you cannot find a single
polite man.
? PROGRESS 55 GENERAL. I don't know what kind of company
1
you are talking about, but in the Khiva campaign or in the Turkish campaign we should have fared ill if we had had no other virtue save politeness.
POLITICIAN. You may just as well say that some-
thing besides politeness is necessary for a traveller
inCentralAfrica. Iamspeakingofaregularevery-
day life in a civilised human society. For this life
no higher virtues and no Christianity, so called, are
necessary. (ToMr. Z. ) Youshakeyourhead?
MR. Z. I have just recollected a sad incident, of
which I was informed the other day.
LADY. What is it ?
MR. Z. My friend N. died suddenly. GENERAL. Is he the well-known novelist? MR. Z. That's the man.
POLITICIAN. The notices about his death in the Press were rather obscure.
MR. Z. Obscure they were, indeed.
LADY. But what made you think of him just at this moment? Was he killed by somebody's im-
politeness ?
MR. Z. Not at all !
He died through his own
excessive politeness and through nothing else. GENERAL. Once more, it seems, it is impossible
for us to agree.
. LADY. Tell us the story, please, if you can.
MR. Z. There is nothing to conceal about it. My
1 A words in Russian the word for " " play upon ; company
stands also for "campaign. " (Translator. )
? 56 SOLOVIEV
friend believed that politeness, if not the only virtue, is at least the first inevitable stage of social morality.
He regarded it his duty to carry out all its prescrip- tions in the strictest possible manner. For instance,
amongst other things he held it to include the reading of all the letters he received, even though they were sent by strangers, and also of all the books and pamphletssenthimwithdemandsforreviews. He
scrupulously answered every letter and as scrupu- lously wrote all the reviews demanded by his corre-
spondents. Hecompliedwithalltherequestsand responded to all appeals made to him. As a result
he found himself busy all day long attending to other people's affairs, and for his own work had to be satisfied with the night time. More than this, he accepted every invitation and saw all the visitors whocaughthimathome. Solongasmyfriendwas young and could easily stand the effects of frequent
friendly potations, this galley-slave existence he had created for himself owing to his politeness
merely annoyed him, and did not lead to tragedy : wine brought joy to his heart and saved him from
despair. Whenhefelthewouldhanghimselfrather than stand it any longer, he would fetch out a bottle, from which he drew1 that which him 1
helped drag his chains more cheerfully. But he was by no means
a robust man, and at the age of forty-five had to
In his new state of sobriety he found his hard labour worse than
give up drinking strong liquors.
1 A words in Russian. play upon
(Translator. )
? PROGRESS 57
hell itself, and now I am told that he has committed suicide.
LADY. Do you mean to say that this was the result
solely of his politeness ? It was simply that he was out of his senses.
MR. Z. I have no doubt that the poor fellow had
losthisspiritualandmentalbalance. Buttheword ""
simply Ithinkishardlyapplicabletohiscase. GENERAL. I, too, have known similar cases of
madness. Theywoulddriveusmadtooifwecared to examine them carefully : there is precious little that is simple about them.
POLITICIAN. One thing is clear, however, and that
is, politeness has nothing to do with the case. Just
as the Spanish crown is not responsible for the mad-
1
ness of Councillor Popristchin, so the duty of
politeness is not answerable for the madness of your friend.
MR. Z. I quite agree. I am by no means opposed
to politeness, I merely object to making any kind of absolute rule.
POLITICIAN. Absolute rules, like everything else absolute, are only an invention of men who are
lacking in common sense and the feeling of reality. Therearenoabsoluterulesforme. Irecogniseonly
necessaryrules. Forinstance,Iknowperfectlywell that if I disregard the rules of cleanliness the result
will be unpleasant to myself and to everyone else.
1 The hero of Gogol's The Diary of a Madman. (Translator. )
? 58 SOLOVIEV
As I have no desire to experience any objectionable sensations myself or to make other people experience
them, I invariably observe the rule of washing myself daily, of changing my linen, and so forth, not because this is recognised by others, or by myself, or because it is something sacred which it is a sin to disregard, but simply because any disregard of this rule would be ipso facto materially inconvenient. The same
applies to politeness in general, which, properly speaking, includes cleanliness as a part of it. It is
much more convenient to me, as to everybody else, to observe rather than to break the rules of politeness. So I follow them. It suited your friend's fancy to
imagine that politeness required from him answers to all letters and requests without considering his
personal comforts and advantage. That sort of
thing is surely not politeness at all, but merely an absurd kind of self-denial.
MR. Z. An abnormally developed conscientious- ness gradually became with him a mania, which
eventually brought him to his ruin.
LADY. But it is awful that a man should have
died because of such a foolish idea. How is it that you could not bring him to his senses ?
MR. Z. I tried my best and had a powerful ally inapilgrimfromMountAthos. He,bytheway, was half a madman himself, but he had a remarkable personalityallthesame. Myfriendesteemedhim greatly and often asked his advice in spiritual
matters. Thepilgriminstantlyperceivedtherootof
? PROGRESS 59
all the trouble. I knew the man very well and I wassometimespresentattheirconversations. When my friend began telling him of his moral doubts and to ask whether he was right in this or wrong in that,
Barsanophius would immediately interrupt him with :
"
What, you are distressed about your sins ? Give
it up, my dear fellow, it is nothing. Let me tell you this : sin five hundred and thirty-nine times a day ifyoulike,but,forHeaven'ssakedon'trepent. To sin first and then to repent ? Why, anybody can do that. Sin, by all means and often! But repent? Never !
For, if sin be evil, then to remember evil
means to be vindictive, and nobody approves of that. And the worst vindictiveness of all is to remember your own sins. It is far better that you should re- membertheevildonetoyoubyothers therewould be some benefit in this, as you would be careful with such people in future. But as for your own sins forget them utterly. It is by far the better way. There is only one mortal sin despondency, because it gives birth to despair, and despair is not even a sin, it is the death of spirit itself. Now, what other sins are there? Drunkenness? But a clever man drinks only so much as he has room for. If he has nomoreroomleft,heleavesoffdrinking. Now,a foolwillgetdrunkevenwithspringwater. Soyou see the real cause lies not in the strength of wine, butintheweaknessofman. Somepeopleareabso-
lutely scorched up with vodka, and not only in- ternally, but externally as well. They go black all
? 60 SOLOVIEV
over and little flashes of blue flame flicker all over them; I have seen this with my own eyes. Now, how can you speak of the presence of sin when all the time hell itself is visibly coming out from you? And as to transgressions of the seventh command- ment, let me tell you candidly that it is as difficult to censure them as it is impossible to praise them.
But I can hardly recommend them ! There is ecstatic pleasure in it one cannot deny it but at the end it brings despondency and shortens one's life. If you don't believe me, see what a learned German doctor writes. " Here Barsanophius would take an old- fashioned book from a shelf and would begin turn-
'
ing over the leaves.
thing, my dear fellow," he would say. "The Microbiotica, by Giifeland ! Look here, page 1 76. " And he would slowly read passages in which the German author earnestly warns his readers against
'
You see now? Whyshouldthenaclevermansufferanyloss? While one is young and thoughtless all sorts of
things are pictured by the imagination. But later on no, it is too costly an amusement. And as for
recalling the past and grieving over it and sighing
'
innocence and spotted the purity of my soul and
extravagant waste of the vital forces.
The title alone is worth some-
Alas ! why have I damned myself ? I have lost my
' body !
Well, this, I can assure you, is mere foolish- ness. Itsimplymeansthatyoudeliveryourselfright into the hands of the Devil for his eternal amuse- ment. It flatters him, naturally, that your soul cannot
? PROGRESS 61
go forward and upward, but stays marking time in the same old filthy spot. But here is my advice
to you : as soon as he starts disturbing you by this
sort of repentance, you simply spit and rub it with '
your foot, saying, See now, all my grievous sins, here they are. Ah, what a lot they mean to me.
What rot !
'
I can assure you he will leave you
alone I speak from experience. . . . Well, what
other sins have you got ? Are you thinking of trying
stealing? And if you did steal there is no very
great harm in it : nowadays everybody steals. There- fore, you mustn't think anything of such a trifle at
all. The one thing to beware of is despondency.