Page 291 - the-idiot

‘I both believe it and explain it. I am but a poor creature,
a beggar, an atom in the scale of humanity. Who has the
least respect for Lebedeff? He is a target for all the world,
the butt of any fool who chooses to kick him. But in in-
terpreting revelation I am the equal of anyone, great as he
may be! Such is the power of the mind and the spirit. I have
made a lordly personage tremble, as he sat in his armchair …
only by talking to him of things concerning the spirit. Two
years ago, on Easter Eve, His Excellency Nil Alexeyovitch,
whose subordinate I was then, wished to hear what I had
to say, and sent a message by Peter Zakkaritch to ask me
to go to his private room. ‘They tell me you expound the
prophecies relating to Antichrist,’ said he, when we were
alone. ‘Is that so?’ ‘ Yes,’ I answered unhesitatingly, and I
began to give some comments on the Apostle’s allegorical
vision. At first he smiled, but when we reached the numeri-
cal computations and correspondences, he trembled, and
turned pale. Then he begged me to close the book, and sent
me away, promising to put my name on the reward list. That
took place as I said on the eve of Easter, and eight days later
his soul returned to God.’
‘What?’
‘It is the truth. One evening after dinner he stumbled as
he stepped out of his carriage. He fell, and struck his head
on the curb, and died immediately. He was seventy-three
years of age, and had a red face, and white hair; he deluged
himself with scent, and was always smiling like a child. Pe-
ter Zakkaritch recalled my interview with him, and said,
‘YOU FORETOLD HIS DEATH.’’

0 The Idiot