Page 88 - the-idiot

‘Is that all?’ asked Aglaya.
‘All? Yes,’ said the prince, emerging from a momentary
reverie.
‘And why did you tell us this?’
‘Oh, I happened to recall it, that’s all! It fitted into the
conversation—‘
‘You probably wish to deduce, prince,’ said Alexandra,
‘that moments of time cannot be reckoned by money value,
and that sometimes five minutes are worth priceless trea-
sures. All this is very praiseworthy; but may I ask about
this friend of yours, who told you the terrible experience
of his life? He was reprieved, you say; in other words, they
did restore to him that ‘eternity of days.’ What did he do
with these riches of time? Did he keep careful account of
his minutes?’
‘Oh no, he didn’t! I asked him myself. He said that he had
not lived a bit as he had intended, and had wasted many,
and many a minute.’
‘Very well, then there’s an experiment, and the thing is
proved; one cannot live and count each moment; say what
you like, but one CANNOT.’
‘That is true,’ said the prince, ‘I have thought so myself.
And yet, why shouldn’t one do it?’
‘You think, then, that you could live more wisely than
other people?’ said Aglaya.
‘I have had that idea.’
‘And you have it still?’
‘Yes—I have it still,’ the prince replied.
He had contemplated Aglaya until now, with a pleasant