Chapter 89 Part Two - Twenty Seven

The last thing that kept Nekhludoff in Petersburg was the settlement of the sectarian case.He was going to submit their case to the emperor through his old army colleague and court aide-de-camp Bogadilev.He drove to Bogadilev's house early in the morning, and found him still having breakfast, but was about to leave the house.Bogadilev was short and strong, with extraordinary physical strength, and he could bend a horseshoe with his bare hands, but he was kind, honest, straightforward, and even a little liberal.Despite these characteristics, he was close to the court and loved the emperor and the royal family.He also has an astonishing knack of living at the top of society and yet seeing only the good and not taking part in any bad or immoral activities.He never blamed anyone or criticized any measures.He was always either silent or boldly said what he had to say, laughing out loud at the same time.It was not an air of his talking and laughing so loudly, but out of his character.

"Oh, it's great you're here. Don't you want some breakfast? Or you sit down. Steak fry is good. I have to start and end a meal with something solid. Ha, ha, ha ! Then, have some wine," he said loudly, pointing to a bottle of red wine. "I've been thinking of you. I'll deliver the certificate. It's not a problem to present it to the emperor. But I think you'd better go to Toporov first." Nekhludoff frowned when he mentioned Toporov. "It's all up to him. Ask him anyway. Maybe he'll do what you want on the spot." "Since you say so, I'll go."

"That's great. Well, how does Petersburg make your impression?" exclaimed Bogadilev. "Tell me, will you?" "I feel as though I've been hypnotized," said Nekhludoff. "Hypnotized?" repeated Bogadylev, laughing. "If you don't want to eat, that's fine." He wiped his mustache with a napkin. "Would you go to him, then? Eh? If he won't, then you'll give me the certificate, and I'll hand it in to-morrow," he cried again, rising from the table, and making a great sign of the cross, Apparently as nonchalantly as he wiped his mouth, he put on his saber. "Goodbye, then, I must go."

"I'm going too," said Nekhludoff, happily shaking Bogadilev's large, strong hand, and, as he always does when he sees something healthy, simple, and alive, he keeps Pleasantly impressed, parted from Bogadilev at the gate. Nekhludoff took Bogadilev's advice and drove to see Toporov, the man who could influence the sectarian's case, although he expected that the visit would be fruitless. The office held by Toporov was inherently contradictory in terms of its responsibilities, and only a dull mind and a moral failure (which were exactly the two faults in Toporov) could not see it.This contradiction lies in its duty to maintain and defend the church by all means—including violence—and according to doctrine, the church was established by God, and it will never be shaken by the gates of hell or any manpower.This divine institution, which was created by God and will never be shaken by any force, has to be maintained and defended by a human institution run by bureaucrats like Toporov.Toporov did not see this contradiction, perhaps he did not want to see it, so he was extremely vigilant lest any Catholic priest, Jesuit priest, or sectarian destroy the Church that the gates of hell could not conquer.Toporov, like all people who lack basic religious feelings and ideas of equality and fraternity, is convinced that the common people are a completely different creature from him, and that there is one thing that the common people must have, and it doesn't matter if he doesn't have it.He himself has no faith in his soul, and finds it very comfortable to be free in spirit, but fears that the common people are free as well, and it is his sacred duty, as he himself says, to rescue them from this state of mind.

Just as a cookbook says that lobsters have a natural tendency to be boiled alive, he is fully convinced that common people have a natural tendency to be superstitious.However, the cookbook uses tropes, but his words have the original meaning. -------- ①The original intention is that the lobster tastes delicious when it is boiled alive. He treats the religion he upholds like a poultry breeder treats the carrion he feeds his chickens: carrion is disgusting, but chickens love it, so they have to be fed carrion. Needless to say, those Madonnas of Iberia, Kazan, and Smolensk are all ignorant idolatry, but since the common people like and believe in these things, they must uphold this superstition.That's what Toporov thought.He did not consider at all that the reason why the common people are easy to accept superstition is that since ancient times there have always been such cruel people as him, Toporov.These people have knowledge and see the light, but they don't use this knowledge where it should be used to help the common people overcome their ignorance and get out of the darkness. Instead, they strengthen their ignorance and keep them in darkness forever.

Toporov was in his office talking with the abbot when Nekhludoff entered Toporov's anteroom.The abbot was an active aristocratic woman who spread Orthodoxy and maintained its power among the incorporationists who were forced to convert to Orthodoxy in western Russia. -------- ① At the end of the sixteenth century, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church merged in some parts of Poland.After Poland was partitioned in the 19th century, church amalgamation was abolished in the lands of Ukraine and Belarus acquired by Russia, the Orthodox Church was re-established, and the amalgamation believers were forced to convert to the Orthodox Church.

In the anteroom the officer on duty asked Nekhludoff what he wanted.When Nekhludoff told him that he intended to present a petition to the Emperor on behalf of the followers of the sect, the officer on duty asked if he could first have a look.Nekhludoff handed him the certificate, which he took and went into his office.The abbess wore a monastic hat and a veil on her face, and she came out with a long black skirt behind her.She was holding a string of tea crystal rosary beads, her snow-white hands were clasped in front of her chest, her fingernails were clean, and she walked towards the exit.But Nekhludoff had not yet been invited to the office.Toporov read the case inside, shaking his head while reading.He was surprised and displeased when he read this clear and powerful petition.

"If this certificate falls into the hands of the emperor, it may cause trouble and misunderstanding," he thought after reading the certificate.He put the certificate on the table, rang the bell, and ordered Nekhludoff to come in. He thought of the cases of followers of these sects, of which he had received complaints long ago.It turned out that these Christians who broke away from the Orthodox Church were first admonished, and then sent to the court for trial, but the court acquitted them.So the bishop and the provincial governor forcibly separated the husband, wife and children and exiled them to different places on the grounds that their marriage was illegal.Those husbands and wives plead not to separate them.Toporov remembered when the case fell into his hands.He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should stop this kind of thing.But he knew that it would do no harm to ratify the original decision to disperse these peasant families; if they were to remain where they were, it would affect the rest of the population and drive them also to secede from the Orthodox Church.Besides, the bishop was so keen on the matter that he let the case go as it had been.

But now, suddenly, Nekhludoff, a well-connected defender in Petersburg, appeared, and the case might be brought before the emperor as an outrage, or published in foreign newspapers, so he made an unexpected decision. decision. "Good morning," he said, pretending to be very busy, and getting up to meet Nekhludoff, he went straight to the point of the case. "I know about the case. As soon as I see the names of those people, I think of this unfortunate case," he said, waving the certificate to Nekhludoff. "I am very grateful that you reminded me of this. The provincial authorities have gone too far..." Nekhludoff said nothing, looking with disgust at the bloodless, expressionless mask-like face. "I am hereby ordering to revoke the decision and send them back to their country of origin."

"Then I don't have to hand in the certificate?" asked Nekhludoff. "Not at all. I promise you that," he said, emphasizing the "I" very loudly, evidently fully convinced of his honesty, whose word was the best guarantee. "I'd better write an order now. Please sit down." He went to the desk and sat down to write.Nekhludoff did not sit down, but looked down at his long, narrow, bald head, at his veiny hand waving the pen swiftly, and wondered how such an idle man could do such a thing at this moment. thing, and do it so hard.What is the reason?

... "Here, now," said Toporov, sealing the letter, "you go and tell your parties," he added, pursing his lips in a sort of smile. "Then why are these people suffering?" asked Nekhludoff, taking the envelope. Toporov looked up and smiled, as if he found Nekhludoff's question amusing. "I cannot tell you that. All I can say is that the interests of the people we stand for are too important to be overly zealous about religious issues, which is in no way more harmful and terrible than the indifference to such matters which prevails at present. " "But how can you use the name of religion to destroy the most basic requirements of goodness, and make people's wives and children disperse?..." Toporov, still smiling so generously, evidently found Nekhludoff's words amused.No matter what Nekhludoff said, Toporov looked at the issue from the perspective of the country and always found his words very extreme and very funny. "From a personal point of view, it may be so," he said, "but from a national point of view, it's different. I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Toporov said, bowing his head and holding out a hand . Nekhludoff shook the hand, and hurried out without a word, regretting shaking hands with him. "The interests of the people," he said, imitating Toporov. "Your interest is nothing more than your interest," he thought as he came out of the Toporov mansion. Nekhludoff went over in his mind one by one the people who had been dealt with by these institutions of justice, religion and education.He thought of the peasant woman sentenced for bootlegging, the boy for theft, the bum for vagrancy, the arsonist for arson, the banker for embezzlement, and The unfortunate Lida, who was imprisoned simply for trying to get the necessary information from her, the sectarian who was sentenced for being anti-Orthodox, and Gurkiewicz who was punished for demanding a constitution.Nekhludoff thought about it and came to a clear conclusion: all these people were arrested, imprisoned or exiled, absolutely not because they committed any injustice or committed a crime, but only because they hindered the bureaucracy and the rich. Men own the wealth they have looted from the people. Among the bootleg peasant women, city thieves, Leda hiding leaflets, superstitious sectarians, and Gurkiewicz demanding a constitution stood in the way of their exploitation.Nekhludoff therefore felt perfectly clear that all the bureaucrats, from his uncle, the privy councillor, and Toporov, down to the petty and well-dressed gentlemen sitting at their desks in the ministries, had a great deal of respect for them. Innocent people suffer, and they are completely indifferent. They only want to eliminate all kinds of dangerous elements. Therefore, instead of adhering to the maxim that it is better to forgive ten guilty than to wrong one innocent, on the contrary, they prefer to punish ten innocent people in order to get rid of a real dangerous person, just as in order to dig The rotten skin and flesh were removed, and the good flesh and flesh were also dug up. Nekhludoff felt that it could not be more simple and clear to explain the current phenomena in this way, but because it was too simple and clear, Nekhludoff hesitated instead, not sure about such an explanation.Such a complex phenomenon cannot be explained by such a simple and terrible reason.All that talk about justice, goodness, law, faith, God, etc., must not be mere empty phrases to cover the most savage greed and atrocities.