No More Learning

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. Should the memory of your past sins torment you, so that you wonder whether you have done harm to
anybody or anything, then go to a theatre, or perhaps join some jolly friends, or read something funny. If, however, you insist on my giving you a rule, here is, then, one : Be firm in your faith, not through fear of sins, but because it is a joyful thing for a
clever man to live with God ; without God a man is utterly wretched. Try to understand the word of God. If you read it carefully there is comfort and
happiness in every verse. Say your prayers with real uplifting of your soul once or twice every day.
You never by any chance forget to wash yourself? No? Well, a sincere prayer is better for a man's
soulthananyamountofsoapisforhisbody. Fast for the health of the stomach and your other organs.
Just now every doctor is prescribing this for people
? 62 SOLOVIEV
onthewrongsideofforty. Don'tworryaboutother people's business, and don't go in for organised
charity,ifyouhaveyourownoccupation. Butgive alms to the poor you meet, and never stay to count
the cost. Give without stint to churches and monas- teries. Do not reckon the amount; in Heaven's clearing-house they will count it all up themselves. And then, you will be healthy in body and soul, and as for those hypocrites who would poke their noses into everybody's soul, because they find their own so hollow with these you must never even
speak. "
Such talks as these had a very good effect on my
poor friend, but even they could not at the last raise
him from the mire of despondency; besides, lately
he seldom met Barsanophius.
POLITICIAN. Do you know that this pilgrim of
yours says in his way practically what I have been
saying ?
LADY. Somuchthebetter. Butwhatawonderful
"
moralist he is, indeed !
Sin, if you must, but above
allneverrepent. " Itappealstomemightily! GENERAL. I suppose he did not talk like this to
everyone? In dealing with a murderer or a scoundrel he must surely have adopted quite a different tone.
MR. Z. That should be obvious. But as soon as he observes a man overwhelmed with moral doubts he at once becomes a philosopher and even a fatalist. He once delighted a very clever and educated old
? PROGRESS 63
lady. Though she was Russian by faith, she was
educated abroad, and having heard a great deal
about our Barsanophius, she looked to him as to
"
un directeur de conscience" He, however, did not let her talk much about the worries of her soul.
"And why do you worry yourself about all this rubbish? Who wants to hear it? I am only a
common peasant, and yet it bores me to death.
How can you imagine, then, that God can take any interest in it ? And what is the good of talking about
it?
You are too old and too weak to begin improve-
ment now. " She afterwards herself told me this
conversation, laughing and weeping at the same
time. True, she tried to argue with him, but he
completely persuaded her by a story from the life of two ancient hermits Barsanophius narrated it
to me and N. very often. It is a very fine story, only it will perhaps take too long to tell it.
LADY. Tell us in brief.
MR. Z. Well, I will. Two hermits had gone out into the Nitrian desert to save their souls. Their caves were not far distant from each other, but they themselves never talked together, except that they
occasionally sang psalms, so that each could hear
the other. In this way they spent many years, and their fame began to spread in Egypt and the sur-
rounding countries. It came to pass that one day the Devil managed to put into their minds, both at the same time, one and the same desire, and without saying a word to each other they collected their
? 64 SOLOVIEV
work, baskets and mats made of palm leaves and branches, and went off to Alexandria. They sold their work there, and then for three days and three
nights they sought pleasure in the company of drunkards and libertines, after which they went
back to their desert.
And one of them cried out in bitterness and
agony of soul :
"
prayers and penance can atone for such madness,
The other man, however, was walking by his side
and singing psalms in a cheerful voice.
""
Brother," said the repentant one, have you
gone mad? "
"" Why do you ask that ?
"" But why aren't you afflicting yourself ?
"What is it that I should feel afflicted about? "
"
I am lost eternally !
Cursed am I !
For no
All my years of fasting and
such abominations !
prayer gone for nothing ! I am ruined, body and
" soul !
Have you forgotten Alex- "Well, what about Alexandria? Glory to God
"
But we, what did we do in Alexandria? " "You know well enough yourself; we sold our baskets, worshipped St. Mark, visited other churches, called on the pious governor of the city, conversed
with the good prioress Leonilla, who is always kind to monks.
Listen to him! andria? "
who preserves that famous and pious city !
"
? night in the patriarch's court. " "
PROGRESS 65
"
But didn't we spend the night in a house of ill fame? "
" God save us !
No!
We spent the evening and
He has lost his mind. .
Holy martyrs !
Where then did we treat ourselves to wine ?
:' We ofwineandfoodatthe partook
. .
patriarch's table on the occasion of the Presentation of the
Blessed Virgin. "
"
Poor, miserable creature !
And who was it
"
whom we kissed, not to mention worse things ?
" We were honoured with a holy kiss on departing by the Father of Fathers, the most blessed arch- bishop of the great city of Alexandria and the whole
of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis, and judge of the World, Cyrus-Timotheus, with all the fathers and brothers of his God-chosen clergy. "
" Are you making a fool of me?
Or is it that the
Devil himself has entered your soul as punishment
for the abominations of yesterday? They were
wretched libertines, you blackguard, that you
" kissed !
:'
entered :
Well, I don't know which of us the Devil has
whether he has entered me, who am
rejoicing in the gifts of God and in the benevolence
of the godly priests, and am praising my Maker, as
should every other living thing or whether he has entered you, who are now raving like a madman and calling the house of our blessed father and pastor a house of ill fame, all the time insulting
"
F
? 66 SOLOVIEV
him and his God-loved clergy by calling them libertines. "
"
Accursed mouth of Apollinarius that you are !
At this the hermit who had been bewailing his lapse from virtue fell upon his comrade and began beatinghimwithallhismight. Whentheoutburst was over, they walked silently to their caves. All
night long the repentant one was wearing himself out with grief, filling the desert with his groans and
cries, tearing his hair, throwing himself on the ground and dashing his head against it, whilst the
other was quietly and happily singing his psalms. Next morning the repentant hermit was struck by
"
Oh, heretic you are ! You offspring of Arian !
"
a sudden thought :
By my many years of self-
denial I had been granted a special blessing of the
Holy Spirit which had already begun to reveal itself
in miracles and apparitions. Now, if after this I
gave myself up to the abominations of the flesh, I
must have committed a sin against the Holy Spirit,
which, according to the word of God, is for all
eternity unpardonable. I cast a pearl, pure as heaven,beforetheswineofmyreason thosedevils
and they have crushed it to powder. Now they will most certainly turn on me and tear me to pieces. If, however, I am irrevocably doomed, what can I
" do here in the desert ?
And so he went to Alex-
andria and gave himself up to a wanton life. It so
happened that soon he badly wanted money, and, in company with other dissolute fellows like him-
? PROGRESS 67
self, he murdered and robbed a wealthy merchant. The crime was discovered ; he was tried by the city court and sentenced to death. He died an un-
repentant sinner.
At the same time his old friend, continuing his
life of devotion, attained to the highest degree of
and became famous for his miracles, so that by the virtue of his mere word, women who had had no children for many years gave birthtomen-children. Whenfinallythedayofhis death arrived, his decrepit and withered body sud-
denly became resplendent with the beauty of youth. A wondrous light surrounded it; from it proceeded
the perfume of sweet spices. After his death a
monastery was built up over his relics, and his name
passed from the Alexandrian Church to the Byzan-
tine, and so to the church calendars of Kiev and
"
It proves that I am telling the truth," Barsanophius used to say, in conclusion, "when I say that there is only one sin which does harm, and
that is despondency. " You see, every other crime the pilgrims both committed, but only one met his doom he who gave himself up to grief.
GENERAL. You see, even monks have to be cheerful; whereas nowadays some would like to see soldiers bemoan their sins.
MR. Z. After all, then, though we have departed
from the question of politeness, we have again
approached our main subject.
LADY. And just at the psychological moment.
saintliness,
great
Moscow.
F2
? 68 SOLOVIEV
For here comes the Prince at last. We have been
talking, Prince, in your absence, about politeness. PRINCE. Please pardon me ; I could not get here
earlier. A bundle of all sorts of papers from our people, and various parcels of books, have arrived. I'll show you them by and bye.
LADY. Very well. Later, too, I will tell you the legend of two monks with which we have been con- soling ourselves in your absence. At present our Secret Monte-Carlist holds the floor. Now let us hear from you what you have to say about war after our discussion of yesterday.
POLITICIAN. From the. discussion of yesterday I have retained in my memory Mr. Z. 's reference to Vladimir Monomach, and the war story told by the General. Let these be our starting points for further discussion of the question. It is impossible to argue against the fact that Vladimir Monomach acted well when he fought and overcame the Polovtziens, and that the General also acted well when he annihilated the bashi-bazouks.
LADY. Then you agree with them?
POLITICIAN. I agree with that which I have the honour of stating before you now, viz. , that both Monomach and the General acted in the way in which, in the given circumstances, they should have acted. But what follows from this to help us in judging the circumstances themselves, or for the justification and immortalisation of war and mili- tarism ?
? PROGRESS 69
PRINCE. This is just what I was about to say. LADY. Then you agree with the Prince now, don't
you?
POLITICIAN. If you will allow me to explain my
view of the subject, you will see yourself with whom andwithwhatIdoagree. Myviewisonlyalogical conclusion drawn from actual life and the facts of history. How can one argue against the historical importance of war when it is the main, if not the only, instrument by which the State has been created and gradually consolidated?