Lebedeff had not returned, so towards evening Keller managed to penetrate into the prince’s apartments. He was not drunk, but in a confidential and talkative mood. He announced that he had come to tell the story of his life to Muishkin, and had only remained at Pavlofsk for that purpose. There was no means of turning him out; nothing short of an earthquake would have removed him.
In the manner of one with long hours before him, he be-gan his history; but after a few incoherent words he jumped to the conclusion, which was that ‘having ceased to believe in God Almighty, he had lost every vestige of morality, and had gone so far as to commit a theft.’ ‘Could you imagine such a thing?’ said he.
‘Listen to me, Keller,’ returned the prince. ‘If I were in your place, I should not acknowledge that unless it were absolutely necessary for some reason. But perhaps you are making yourself out to be worse than you are, purposely?’
‘I should tell it to no one but yourself, prince, and I only name it now as a help to my soul’s evolution. When I die, that secret will die with me! But, excellency, if you knew, if you only had the least idea, how dificult it is to get money nowadays! Where to find it is the question. Ask for a loan, the answer is always the same: ‘Give us gold, jewels, or dia-monds, and it will be quite easy.’ Exactly what one has not got! Can you picture that to yourself? I got angry at last, and said, ‘I suppose you would accept emeralds?’ ‘Certain-ly, we accept emeralds with pleasure. Yes!’ ‘Well, that’s all right,’ said I. ‘Go to the devil, you den of thieves!’ And with that I seized my hat, and walked out.’
‘Had you any emeralds?’ asked the prince.
‘What? I have emeralds? Oh, prince! with what simplicity, with what almost pastoral simplicity, you look upon life!’
Could not something be made of this man under good influences? asked the prince of himself, for he began to feel a kind of pity for his visitor. He thought little of the value of his own personal influence, not from a sense of humility, but from his peculiar way of looking at things in general. Imperceptibly the conversation grew more animated and more interesting, so that neither of the two felt anxious to bring it to a close. Keller confessed, with apparent sincerity, to having been guilty of many acts of such a nature that it astonished the prince that he could mention them, even to him. At every fresh avowal he professed the deepest repen-tance, and described himself as being ‘bathed in tears”; but this did not prevent him from putting on a boastful air at times, and some of his stories were so absurdly comical that
both he and the prince laughed like madmen.
‘One point in your favour is that you seem to have a child-like mind, and extreme truthfulness,’ said the prince at last.
‘Do you know that that atones for much?’
‘I am assuredly noble-minded, and chivalrous to a de-gree!’ said Keller, much softened. ‘But, do you know, this nobility of mind exists in a dream, if one may put it so? It never appears in practice or deed. Now, why is that? I can never understand.’
‘Do not despair. I think we may say without fear of de-ceiving ourselves, that you have now given a fairly exact account of your life. I, at least, think it would be impossible to add much to what you have just told me.’
‘Impossible?’ cried Keller, almost pityingly. ‘Oh prince, how little you really seem to understand human nature!’
‘Is there really much more to be added?’ asked the prince, with mild surprise. ‘Well, what is it you really want of me? Speak out; tell me why you came to make your confession to me?’
‘What did I want? Well, to begin with, it is good to meet a man like you. It is a pleasure to talk over my faults with you. I know you for one of the best of men … and then … then …’
He hesitated, and appeared so much embarrassed that the prince helped him out.
‘Then you wanted me to lend you money?’
The words were spoken in a grave tone, and even some-what shyly.
Keller started, gave an astonished look at the speaker, and thumped the table with his fist.
‘Well, prince, that’s enough to knock me down! It as-tounds me! Here you are, as simple and innocent as a knight of the golden age, and yet … yet … you read a man’s soul like a psychologist! Now, do explain it to me, prince, because I
… I really do not understand! … Of course, my aim was to borrow money all along, and you … you asked the question as if there was nothing blameable in it—as if you thought it quite natural.’
‘Yes … from you it is quite natural.’ ‘And you are not offended?’
‘Why should I be offended?’
‘Well, just listen, prince. I remained here last evening, partly because I have a great admiration for the French archbishop Bourdaloue. I enjoyed a discussion over him till three o’clock in the morning, with Lebedeff; and then
… then—I swear by all I hold sacred that I am telling you the truth—then I wished to develop my soul in this frank and heartfelt confession to you. This was my thought as I was sobbing myself to sleep at dawn. Just as I was losing consciousness, tears in my soul, tears on my face (I remem-ber how I lay there sobbing), an idea from hell struck me.
‘Why not, after confessing, borrow money from him?’ You see, this confession was a kind of masterstroke; I intended to use it as a means to your good grace and favour—and then—then I meant to walk off with a hundred and fifty roubles. Now, do you not call that base?’
‘It is hardly an exact statement of the case,’ said the prince in reply. ‘You have confused your motives and ideas, as I need scarcely say too often happens to myself. I can as-
sure you, Keller, I reproach myself bitterly for it sometimes. When you were talking just now I seemed to be listening to something about myself. At times I have imagined that all men were the same,’ he continued earnestly, for he ap-peared to be much interested in the conversation, ‘and that consoled me in a certain degree, for a DOUBLE motive is a thing most dificult to fight against. I have tried, and I know. God knows whence they arise, these ideas that you speak of as base. I fear these double motives more than ever just now, but I am not your judge, and in my opinion it is going too far to give the name of baseness to it—what do you think? You were going to employ your tears as a ruse in order to borrow money, but you also say—in fact, you have sworn to the fact— that independently of this your confession was made with an honourable motive. As for the money, you want it for drink, do you not? After your confession, that is weakness, of course; but, after all, how can anyone give up a bad habit at a moment’s notice? It is impossible. What can we do? It is best, I think, to leave the matter to your own conscience. How does it seem to you?’ As he concluded the prince looked curiously at Keller; evidently this problem of double motives had often been considered by him before.
‘Well, how anybody can call you an idiot after that, is more than I can understand!’ cried the boxer.
The prince reddened slightly.
‘Bourdaloue, the archbishop, would not have spared a man like me,’ Keller continued, ‘but you, you have judged me with humanity. To show how grateful I am, and as a punishment, I will not accept a hundred and fifty roubles.
Give me twenty-five—that will be enough; it is all I really need, for a fortnight at least. I will not ask you for more for a fortnight. I should like to have given Agatha a present, but she does not really deserve it. Oh, my dear prince, God bless you!’
At this moment Lebedeff appeared, having just arrived from Petersburg. He frowned when he saw the twenty-five rouble note in Keller’s hand, but the latter, having got the money, went away at once. Lebedeff began to abuse him.
‘You are unjust; I found him sincerely repentant,’ ob-served the prince, after listening for a time.
‘What is the good of repentance like that? It is the same exactly as mine yesterday, when I said, ‘I am base, I am base,’—words, and nothing more!’
‘Then they were only words on your part? I thought, on the contrary…’
‘Well, I don’t mind telling you the truth—you only! Be-cause you see through a man somehow. Words and actions, truth and falsehood, are all jumbled up together in me, and yet I am perfectly sincere. I feel the deepest repentance, be-lieve it or not,
