Page 684 - the-idiot

nia that he was no Jew, that he did nothing dishonest, that
he could not help the market price of money, that, thanks to
his accurate habits, he had already a good footing and was
respected, and that his business was flourishing.
‘I shan’t ever be a Rothschild, and there is no reason why
I should,’ he added, smiling; ‘but I shall have a house in the
Liteynaya, perhaps two, and that will be enough for me.’
‘Who knows but what I may have three!’ he concluded to
himself; but this dream, cherished inwardly, he never con-
fided to a soul.
Nature loves and favours such people. Ptitsin will cer-
tainly have his reward, not three houses, but four, precisely
because from childhood up he had realized that he would
never be a Rothschild. That will be the limit of Ptitsin’s for-
tune, and, come what may, he will never have more than
four houses.
Varvara Ardalionovna was not like her brother. She too,
had passionate desires, but they were persistent rather than
impetuous. Her plans were as wise as her methods of carry-
ing them out. No doubt she also belonged to the category of
ordinary people who dream of being original, but she soon
discovered that she had not a grain of true originality, and
she did not let it trouble her too much. Perhaps a certain
kind of pride came to her help. She made her first concession
to the demands of practical life with great resolution when
she consented to marry Ptitsin. However, when she mar-
ried she did not say to herself, ‘Never mind a mean action
if it leads to the end in view,’ as her brother would certainly
have said in such a case; it is quite probable that he may have