Page 80 - the-idiot

you liked Switzerland, what was your first impression, any-
thing. You’ll see, he’ll begin directly and tell us all about it
beautifully.’
‘The impression was forcible—‘ the prince began.
‘There, you see, girls,’ said the impatient lady, ‘he has be-
gun, you see.’
‘Well, then, LET him talk, mamma,’ said Alexandra.
‘This prince is a great humbug and by no means an idiot,’
she whispered to Aglaya.
‘Oh, I saw that at once,’ replied the latter. ‘I don’t think it
at all nice of him to play a part. What does he wish to gain
by it, I wonder?’
‘My first impression was a very strong one,’ repeated the
prince. ‘When they took me away from Russia, I remember
I passed through many German towns and looked out of
the windows, but did not trouble so much as to ask ques-
tions about them. This was after a long series of fits. I always
used to fall into a sort of torpid condition after such a series,
and lost my memory almost entirely; and though I was not
altogether without reason at such times, yet I had no logi-
cal power of thought. This would continue for three or four
days, and then I would recover myself again. I remember my
melancholy was intolerable; I felt inclined to cry; I sat and
wondered and wondered uncomfortably; the consciousness
that everything was strange weighed terribly upon me; I
could understand that it was all foreign and strange. I rec-
ollect I awoke from this state for the first time at Basle, one
evening; the bray of a donkey aroused me, a donkey in the
town market. I saw the donkey and was extremely pleased