Page 434 - the-idiot

so doing.
‘My dear,’ said the general, ‘it seems to me that a sick-
nurse would be of more use here than an excitable person
like you. Perhaps it would be as well to get some sober, re-
liable man for the night. In any case we must consult the
prince, and leave the patient to rest at once. Tomorrow we
can see what can be done for him.’
‘It is nearly midnight; we are going. Will he come with
us, or is he to stay here?’ Doktorenko asked crossly of the
prince.
‘You can stay with him if you like,’ said Muishkin.
‘There is plenty of room here.’
Suddenly, to the astonishment of all, Keller went quickly
up to the general.
‘Excellency,’ he said, impulsively, ‘if you want a reliable
man for the night, I am ready to sacrifice myself for my
friend—such a soul as he has! I have long thought him a
great man, excellency! My article showed my lack of educa-
tion, but when he criticizes he scatters pearls!’
Ivan Fedorovitch turned from the boxer with a gesture
of despair.
‘I shall be delighted if he will stay; it would certainly be
difficult for him to get back to Petersburg,’ said the prince,
in answer to the eager questions of Lizabetha Prokofievna.
‘But you are half asleep, are you not? If you don’t want
him, I will take him back to my house! Why, good gracious!
He can hardly stand up himself! What is it? Are you ill?’
Not finding the prince on his death-bed, Lizabetha Pro-
kofievna had been misled by his appearance to think him