Page 211 - the-idiot

‘And why not? Why, the last time I simply told straight off
about how I stole three roubles.’
‘Perhaps so; but it is hardly possible that you told it so
that it seemed like truth, or so that you were believed. And,
as Gavrila Ardalionovitch has said, the least suggestion of
a falsehood takes all point out of the game. It seems to me
that sincerity, on the other hand, is only possible if com-
bined with a kind of bad taste that would be utterly out of
place here.’
‘How subtle you are, Afanasy Ivanovitch! You astonish
me,’ cried Ferdishenko. ‘You will remark, gentleman, that
in saying that I could not recount the story of my theft so as
to be believed, Afanasy Ivanovitch has very ingeniously im-
plied that I am not capable of thieving—(it would have been
bad taste to say so openly); and all the time he is probably
firmly convinced, in his own mind, that I am very well capa-
ble of it! But now, gentlemen, to business! Put in your slips,
ladies and gentlemen—is yours in, Mr. Totski? So—then we
are all ready; now prince, draw, please.’ The prince silently
put his hand into the hat, and drew the names. Ferdishenko
was first, then Ptitsin, then the general, Totski next, his own
fifth, then Gania, and so on; the ladies did not draw.
‘Oh, dear! oh, dear!’ cried Ferdishenko. ‘I did so hope
the prince would come out first, and then the general. Well,
gentlemen, I suppose I must set a good example! What vex-
es me much is that I am such an insignificant creature that
it matters nothing to anybody whether I have done bad ac-
tions or not! Besides, which am I to choose? It’s an embarras
de richesse. Shall I tell how I became a thief on one occasion

10 The Idiot