Page 555 - the-idiot

layman! It is a terrible idea, but it is historic, it is statistic; it
is indeed one of those facts which enables an intelligent his-
torian to reconstruct the physiognomy of a special epoch,
for it brings out this further point with mathematical ac-
curacy, that the clergy were in those days sixty times richer
and more flourishing than the rest of humanity. and per-
haps sixty times fatter also...’
‘You are exaggerating, you are exaggerating, Lebedeff!’
cried his hearers, amid laughter.
‘I admit that it is an historic thought, but what is your
conclusion?’ asked the prince.
He spoke so seriously in addressing Lebedeff, that his
tone contrasted quite comically with that of the others.
They were very nearly laughing at him, too, but he did not
notice it.
‘Don’t you see he is a lunatic, prince?’ whispered Evgenie
Pavlovitch in his ear. ‘Someone told me just now that he is
a bit touched on the subject of lawyers, that he has a mania
for making speeches and intends to pass the examinations.
I am expecting a splendid burlesque now.’
‘My conclusion is vast,’ replied Lebedeff, in a voice like
thunder. ‘Let us examine first the psychological and legal
position of the criminal. We see that in spite of the diffi-
culty of finding other food, the accused, or, as we may say,
my client, has often during his peculiar life exhibited signs
of repentance, and of wishing to give up this clerical diet.
Incontrovertible facts prove this assertion. He has eaten
five or six children, a relatively insignificant number, no
doubt, but remarkable enough from another point of view.

The Idiot