The Brothers Karamazov (98 page)

“Do you really sincerely believe that?” Kolya said, looking very intensely at Alyosha. “You have quite an idea there, I believe, and when I get home, I’ll have to think it over. I admit, I suspected there might be quite a few things I could learn from you. Yes, I’ve come to learn from you, Karamazov,” Kolya concluded in a confidential tone.

“Thanks, and I’ve come to learn from you,” Alyosha said with a shy smile, shaking Kolya by the hand.

Kolya was absolutely delighted with Alyosha. What pleased him most of all was that Alyosha treated him like an equal and talked to him as if he were “a real adult.”

“I’ll show you a trick now, Karamazov, a kind of theatrical performance,” Kolya said with a nervous laugh.

“Wait, let’s first go in there, to the left, to the landlord’s place. That’s where all the boys leave their coats; otherwise it gets too cluttered in the room. It’s so hot and crowded as it is.”

“Oh, but I don’t expect to stay long. I’ll just pop in for a second and I can simply keep my coat on. Perezvon can stay in the passage and die for a while. Here, Perezvon, lie down! Die! See, he’s dead now. I’ll go in first, get an idea of the layout, and then, when the time comes, I’ll whistle for Perezvon and you’ll see him come flying in like a bullet. As long as Smurov doesn’t forget to open the door for a second just then. But I’ll see to it that it comes off right, don’t you worry!”

Chapter 5: At Ilyusha’s Bedside

THE ROOM, which we already know, where the family of Captain Snegirev lived was at this moment very stuffy and very crowded. Several boys from Ilyusha’s class were visiting him and every one of them, like Smurov, would have angrily denied that it was Alyosha who had made peace between him and Ilyusha and that, if he was there now, it was because of Alyosha. This, however, was the truth. Alyosha’s great merit in this matter lay precisely in the way he had succeeded in tactfully reconciling each boy in turn with Ilyusha, as though by chance, and without any “slobbery sentimentality.” And this reconciliation brought Ilyusha great relief in his suffering. He was very touched to see the almost tender concern all these recent enemies now showed for him.

Only Kolya Krasotkin’s absence lay like a heavy stone on his heart. His stabbing his only true friend and his protector with a penknife was the bitterest of all the bitter memories of school that teemed in Ilyusha’s head. And Smurov, who was an intelligent little boy, realized that; he had been the first to make up with Ilyusha and to visit him. But when Smurov had vaguely told Krasotkin that Alyosha was planning to come and see him on “very important business,” Kolya had told him to go and tell “that Karamazov fellow” that Krasotkin knew what to do himself, that he needed no advice, and that if he decided to go and see Ilyusha, he would go in his own good time, and that he had his own reasons for acting the way he was acting. That was about two weeks before this Sunday. And that was why Alyosha had not gone to see Kolya as he had planned. However, although he had waited for Kolya to act of his own accord, he had sent Smurov to him a couple more times to ask whether he would not talk to Alyosha after all. To that Kolya had answered with an open threat that if Alyosha ever came to his house he would never go to see Ilyusha whatever happened, and he asked Smurov to tell Alyosha that Kolya did not wish to be pestered by him anymore. And even Smurov only knew of Kolya’s plans the day before Kolya had finally decided to come. He had told Smurov the previous evening, just as they were parting, that he would go. Kolya had suddenly told him to be home in the morning and to wait for him to come by, for he wanted them to go together to see Ilyusha. But he had warned Smurov not to say a word to anyone on the subject, for Kolya wanted it to appear as if he had just popped in by chance as he was passing by. Smurov complied. As to the idea that Kolya would appear with Juchka, that had been Smurov’s own idea and it had been based on Kolya’s statement that “they would be a real bunch of idiots, all of them, if they couldn’t find the dog, if the animal was alive.” But when, after a long and discreet wait, Smurov finally hinted that he suspected the real identity of Kolya’s dog, Kolya flew into a rage and shouted:

“What do you think I am, an idiot like all of them, to waste my time looking all over town for other people’s dogs when I have my own Perezvon? And who on earth supposes that a dog who has swallowed a pin can live? That’s all just slobbery old sentimental stuff, and I won’t have any part of it!”

Ilyusha had not left his bed in the corner under the icon for nearly two weeks. He had not been back to school since the day he had bitten Alyosha’s finger. Actually it was on that day that he became seriously ill, although for the first month or so he had still been able to get out of bed and walk around the room and the passage. After that he grew too weak to move at all without his father’s help. His father worried about him constantly; he even stopped drinking almost entirely. The thought that the boy might die drove him nearly insane. Often, particularly after he had walked around the room with Ilyusha, supporting him by the arm, and then put him back to bed, the father would rush out into the passage, hide himself in some dark corner, put his forehead against the cold wall, and weep, shaken by violent sobs, which he tried desperately to stifle so that the boy should not hear them. Returning to the room, he would try to distract his Ilyusha by telling him stories and funny anecdotes, and making ridiculous imitations of people or of animal cries and howls. But Ilyusha did not like to see his father clowning and trying to make him laugh. And, although he tried not to show his father how unpleasant it was for him, it made him painfully aware of Snegirev’s humiliating position in town and always brought back to him “that terrible day” and then the shouts of “back-scrubber.” Nina, Ilyusha’s gentle, crippled sister, also disliked it when their father played the fool (the other sister, Barbara, had left for Petersburg to resume her studies), but the half-witted Mrs. Snegirev was always tremendously amused whenever her husband made funny faces or ridiculous gesticulations. Indeed, it was the only thing that made her happy; the rest of the time she whimpered continuously and complained that everyone had forgotten her, that no one showed her any respect, that she was being neglected, etc., etc. In the past few days, however, a sudden change had come over her. More and more often she glanced into Ilyusha’s corner and seemed to be thinking hard about something. She stopped complaining, grew very quiet, and even when she whimpered or cried, she tried to do so quietly so that the others would not hear her. Snegirev noticed this change with misgiving. At first, she had not liked the boys’ visits. They only irritated her. Later, however, the cheerful din of their voices and the stories they told began to distract her, and eventually she came to enjoy their presence so much that she would really have missed them had they suddenly stopped coming. When the children played at something or told their stories, she would laugh and clap her hands. Now and then she would call a boy over to her and kiss him. And her special favorite was Smurov. As to Captain Snegirev himself, he was immensely grateful that the boys now came to the house to keep Ilyusha company; it filled him with tremendous joy and he even hoped that their presence would put an end to Ilyusha’s depression and hasten his recovery. For until the very last moment, he never doubted that his son would recover, despite his continuous anxiety over Ilyusha’s illness. He met his young visitors with enthusiastic gratitude, fussed over them, tried to anticipate their wishes; indeed, he would gladly have let them ride on his back, and he actually did so once or twice, until he realized that Ilyusha disliked such horseplay and it was abandoned. But Snegirev did buy the boys candy, nuts, and gingerbread, and he made tea and sandwiches for them.

It must be noted that he never lacked money during all this time. Just as Alyosha had predicted, Snegirev had accepted Katerina’s two hundred rubles when they were offered to him a second time. Then, when she learned more about their circumstances and about Ilyusha’s sickness, Katerina had gone to the house herself, met the whole family, and even managed to charm the half-witted Mrs. Snegirev. And since that time Katerina’s generosity had never failed them, and Snegirev himself was much too worried about his son to be bothered about pride and humbly accepted her gifts. During all this time, Dr. Herzenstube visited Ilyusha regularly every other day, on Katerina’s instructions, stuffing him with all sorts of drugs, which, however, did not seem to do the boy any good. But on this Sunday Ilyusha was to be examined by a new doctor, a Moscow celebrity, whom Katerina had invited to come at considerable expense, although not actually for Ilyusha but for another purpose, of which more will be said later. But since he was in town, she had asked him to examine Ilyusha as well and had notified Snegirev in advance.

But Snegirev had no idea that Kolya Krasotkin was also planning to come that day, although he had long been anxious that the boy whom his son seemed to miss so badly should come. Now, as Krasotkin opened the door and stepped into the room, Snegirev and all the young visitors were gathered around Ilyusha’s bed examining the tiny mastiff puppy that Snegirev had brought his son in the hope of taking his mind off Juchka, who was probably dead. Snegirev had ordered it a week ago, but the pup had only been born the day before. Ilyusha, however, who had been told three days ago that he was about to receive a puppy, and not just an ordinary puppy but a real mastiff—which, of course, was extremely important—seemed to be only tactfully pretending that he was delighted with the present. His father and the boys could see clearly that the puppy only brought back more strongly the memory of poor Juchka, whom he had killed. And while the puppy wriggled restlessly next to him and he stroked it with his pale, emaciated hand, it was obvious that, although he found the little animal sweet, it could not replace Juchka for him. Ah, if only Juchka could be there too, as well as the puppy, then he would be really happy!

Suddenly one of the boys caught sight of Kolya.

“Krasotkin!”

There was a considerable commotion. The boys spontaneously stepped aside so that Kolya had a full view of Ilyusha. Snegirev hurried over to Kolya.

“Please, do come in, do come in. I’m so glad you’ve come . . .” he prattled. “Look, Ilyusha, Mr. Krasotkin has come to see you . . .”

But Krasotkin, having hurriedly shaken Snegirev’s hand, proceeded to display his perfect command of the social graces. First he had to present his respects to Mrs. Snegirev, so he walked over to the chair where she had been sitting and grumbling because her husband and the boys were screening Ilyusha’s bed from her, so that she could not even see the puppy. Kolya greeted her with the utmost courtesy, clicking his heels. Then he turned to Nina and greeted her too with the deference to which a lady was entitled. This display of good manners made a great impression upon Mrs. Snegirev.

“One can tell a well-bred young man at once,” she said loudly, spreading out her arms in an appreciative gesture. “It’s not like the others, who just rush in, practically on top of one another . . .”

“That’s right—on top of one another,” Snegirev said to her gently, although he was a little worried about what she might come out with next.

“Yes, that’s just what they do. Outside, in the passage, one climbs on another’s back and in they ride. Is that the way for guests to behave?”

“But who does that, dear? Who comes riding in here?”

“Why, that boy, see? Well, he came in riding piggyback on top of that one over there . . .”

But Kolya was already standing by Ilyusha’s bed. Ilyusha turned even paler. He sat up slightly, looking intently at Krasotkin. Kolya had not seen his young friend for two months and he was shocked. He had not expected the boy’s face to have grown so thin and yellow, or his eyes to look so huge and to burn so feverishly, or his hands to seem so brittle. Kolya also noticed sadly how difficult it was for Ilyusha to breathe and how dry his lips were.

Krasotkin took a step forward and, feeling almost at a loss, said:

“Well, old man, how are you getting along?”

But his voice faltered, the casual air he had assumed dissolved, his face twitched, and he felt his lips beginning to quiver. Ilyusha looked at him with a pained smile. He still could not utter a word. Kolya suddenly stretched out his hand and ran it over Ilyusha’s hair.

“Well, never mind,” Kolya muttered in a whisper, apparently trying to cheer him up, but with no idea why he had uttered those words.

“What’s this new puppy you have?” Kolya said after a moment’s pause, now sounding completely detached.

“Ye-yes . . .” Ilyusha whispered, gasping for breath.

“Black nose—him! That means he’ll be ferocious and you’ll have to keep him chained,” Kolya commented expertly, as if he had come especially to examine the pup and its black nose, although in fact he was still trying to overcome the alarming feeling inside him that he might suddenly begin to cry like one of “those little boys.” “He’ll be a great watchdog, but he’ll have to be chained, believe me. I know what I’m talking about.”

“And he’ll be enormous!” one of the boys exclaimed.

“Sure, mastiffs are enormous. Everyone knows that. It’ll be about the size of a calf—like that!” another boy put in.

“Yes, yes, just like a calf,” Snegirev said quickly. “And I purposely asked for the fiercest one; you know his parents are terribly fierce and they come up to here . . . But please, Mr. Krasotkin, sit down on Ilyusha’s bed, or on this stool if you prefer. Ah, we’re all so glad you’re here . . . You came with Mr. Karamazov, did you?”

Kolya sat down on the bed at Ilyusha’s feet. Although on the way he had prepared things to talk about quite casually with Ilyusha, now he did not know how to start.

“N-no,” he said, “I didn’t come with Karamazov . . . I came with Perezvon. I have a dog now. His name is Perezvon. It’s a good old Slav name. He’s waiting for me in the passage. If I whistle, he’ll come tearing in. So you see, old man, I have a dog too,” he said, turning to lyusha, and then all of a sudden he asked him: “Do you remember Juchka?”