Page 193 - the-idiot

with your IOU’s, you cunning, unscrupulous rogue? An-
swer, devourer I answer, heart of stone! How shall I feed
my orphans? with what shall I nourish them? And now he
has come, he is drunk! He can scarcely stand. How, oh how,
have I offended the Almighty, that He should bring this
curse upon me! Answer, you worthless villain, answer!’
But this was too much for the general.
‘Here are twenty-five roubles, Marfa Borisovna ... it is all
that I can give ... and I owe even these to the prince’s gener-
osity—my noble friend. I have been cruelly deceived. Such
is ... life ... Now ... Excuse me, I am very weak,’ he continued,
standing in the centre of the room, and bowing to all sides.
‘I am faint; excuse me! Lenotchka ... a cushion ... my dear!’
Lenotchka, a little girl of eight, ran to fetch the cushion
at once, and placed it on the rickety old sofa. The gener-
al meant to have said much more, but as soon as he had
stretched himself out, he turned his face to the wall, and
slept the sleep of the just.
With a grave and ceremonious air, Marfa Borisovna mo-
tioned the prince to a chair at one of the card-tables. She
seated herself opposite, leaned her right cheek on her hand,
and sat in silence, her eyes fixed on Muishkin, now and
again sighing deeply. The three children, two little girls and
a boy, Lenotchka being the eldest, came and leant on the ta-
ble and also stared steadily at him. Presently Colia appeared
from the adjoining room.
‘I am very glad indeed to have met you here, Colia,’ said
the prince. ‘Can you do something for me? I must see Nas-
tasia Philipovna, and I asked Ardalion Alexandrovitch just

1 The Idiot