Chapter 128 Part Three - Twenty Four

Although Nekhludoff had run into a wall in prison, he excitedly rode to the governor's office to check whether Maslova's commutation letter had arrived.The official document had not yet arrived, so Nekhludoff, as soon as he got back to the hotel, wrote to Selenin and the lawyer about it without delay.After he finished writing the letter, he looked at his watch. It was time to go to the general's house for a banquet. On the way, he wondered what Katyusha would think about her commutation of sentence.Where will she be required to live?How would he live with her?What will Simonson do?What was her attitude towards him?Nekhludoff recalled the change in her mind, and at the same time remembered her past.

"That must be forgotten, written off," he thought, hastily banishing the thought of her from his mind. "We'll see when the time comes," he said to himself, and then considered what he should say to the general. The banquet at the general's house was very luxurious, showing the pomp and circumstance of life of the rich and dignitary.Nekhludoff was accustomed to such ostentations, but he had long since lost luxuries and even the smallest comforts, and such parties made him all the more delighted. The hostess was an old-fashioned noble lady from Petersburg who had served as an officer in Nicholas' court. She spoke French fluently, but Russian was a bit awkward.She always stood up straight, and no matter what she did with her hands, her elbows were always close to her waist.She respected her husband, and was quiet and somewhat melancholy; she treated her guests with an unusual kindness, but the degree varied from person to person.She regarded Nekhludoff as one of her own, treated him with special affability, flattered him so that no one would notice it.This made Nekhludoff re-aware of his own dignity, and felt elated.She made him feel that the trip to Siberia was eccentric but noble, and that he was different.The subtle flattery of the general's wife and the luxurious life in the general's house made Nekhludoff intoxicated by the beautiful furnishings, delicious food, and pleasant company with well-educated people, as if life during this period were a game. The dream, now he woke up from the dream, and he came back to reality.

At the banquet, in addition to the general's daughter, her husband, and the general's adjutant and other family members, there was also an Englishman, a gold mining businessman, and a governor from a border town in Siberia.These people seemed to Nekhludoff amiable. The Englishman was a strong, ruddy man, who spoke French badly, but English as beautifully as an orator.He had seen a lot and talked about America, India, Japan, and Siberia, and everyone thought he was an interesting person. A young gold mining businessman who was originally the son of a farmer now wears a tuxedo tailored in London with diamond buttons on the sleeves. Nekhludoff made a pleasant impression.He is a good example of European culture inoculated into healthy farmers through education.

The governor of the border town turned out to be the head of a certain bureau that Nekhludoff had caused so much trouble in Petersburg.This man is chubby, with thin curly hair and a pair of gentle light blue eyes, his lower body is particularly fat, his two well-maintained white hands are covered with rings, and he has a pleasant smile on his face.The host particularly admired the prefect, because he was the only one among a large number of officials accustomed to accepting bribes who did not accept bribes.The hostess loves music and plays the piano well.The reason why she valued the prefect was that he was also an excellent musician, and he often played four hands with her.Nekhludoff was in a particularly cheerful mood today, and even this person did not offend him.

-------- ① See Chapter 21 of Part Two of this book. The adjutant was full of energy and in a good mood, with a blue-shaven chin.He is always at the service of others, and his gracious attitude is very endearing. But Nekhludoff's favorite was the young couple of the General's daughter and her husband.The general's daughter was not beautiful, but she was honest by nature, and she devoted all her body and mind to her first two children.She married her husband through free love, for which she had a long quarrel with her parents.Her husband was a libertarian, a Ph.D. degree at Moscow State University, talented and humble, and worked in government statistics.He was particularly interested in the question of non-Russians, loved them, and tried to save them from extinction.

Everyone was very kind and hospitable to Nekhludoff, and it was a pleasure to have such an interesting new companion as him.The general, in uniform and with a white cross around his neck, came out to preside over the banquet.He greeted Nekhludoff as an old friend, and immediately invited the guests to cold cuts and vodka.The general asked Nekhludoff what he had done since he left his house, and Nekhludoff said that he had been to the post office and knew that the sentence of the man whom he spoke of in the morning had been commuted, and he again asked the general to allow him to visit the prison.

The general was obviously dissatisfied with discussing official business during the meal, he frowned and said nothing. "Would you like some vodka?" He turned to the approaching Englishman in French.The Englishman drank a glass of vodka and said that he had visited the cathedral and a factory today, and hoped to see a large prison for prisoners. "That's right," said the general to Nekhludoff, "you can go together. You give them a pass," he said to the adjutant. "When would you like to go?" Nekhludoff asked the Englishman. "I would like to visit the prison at night," said the Englishman. "All the people are in the prison, no preparation is made, and everything remains as it is."

"Oh, does he want to see what's in it? Let him read it. I've written papers, but they won't listen to me. Let them learn it in foreign papers, then." As the general spoke, he walked to the dining table, and the hostess entertained the guests. Nekhludoff sat between the hostess and the Englishman.Opposite him sat the general's daughter and the former director of a bureau. The conversation at the dinner was intermittent, now about India, which the British first talked about, now about the French expedition to Tokyo, which the general condemned severely, now about the widespread fraud and fraud in Siberia. bribery.

None of these conversations interested Nekhludoff. However, after dinner everyone went to drink coffee in the drawing room, and Nekhludoff talked about Gladstone with the Englishman and the hostess with great interest.He felt that he had made many brilliant observations which interested them.Nekhludoff had eaten a good meal and drank some good wine, and now, sitting on the soft sofa, drinking coffee and talking with amiable and well-bred people, he grew happier.And when the hostess played Beethoven's Fifth Symphony with the former director at the request of the British, Nekhludoff had a feeling of narcissism that he hadn't experienced for a long time, as if Only now realize what a nice, nice guy he was.

-------- ① Refers to the colonial war in which France invaded northern Vietnam from 1882 to 1898.Northern Vietnam used to be called "Tokyo". ②Gladstone (1809-1898)——British politician, who served as prime minister, implemented the colonial policy, and sent troops to occupy Egypt in 1882. The grand piano sounded beautiful, and the symphony was played very well.At least Nekhludoff, who likes and is familiar with this symphony, feels this way.Listening to the beautiful Andante, he felt his nose sore, and was very moved by his various noble deeds. Nekhludoff thanked the hostess for her hospitality, saying that he had not enjoyed such pleasure for a long time.He was about to leave when the hostess' daughter came up to him with a determined look, blushed and said:

"You just asked about my two children, would you like to go and see them?" "She always thinks that people want to see her children," said the mother with a smile when she saw her daughter's innocence. "The duke is not interested." "No, on the contrary, I'm very interested, very interested," said Nekhludoff, moved by this overflowing maternal love. "Please, please take me to see." "Showed the duke to see her baby," cried the general, laughing, from the other side of the card table, as he was playing cards with his son-in-law, the gold mine owner, and his adjutant. "Go and do your duty." The young woman, visibly agitated at the prospect of the visitor's imminent judgment on her child, led Nekhludoff quickly into the inner room.They came to the third room.The room was tall, with white wallpaper, and a small lamp with a dark shade on it.There were two small beds side by side in the room, and between them sat a high-cheeked, honest-looking nurse in a white shawl who looked like a Siberian.The nurse stood up and bowed to them.The mother bent over the first cot, on which a little girl of two years old was sleeping peacefully, her mouth open, her long curly hair hanging on the pillow. "Here, here is Katya," said the mother, stretching the blue-striped rug to cover a little white foot sticking out from under it. "Is it pretty? She's only two years old." "So beautiful!" "It's Washok, named after his grandfather. He's something else entirely. He's a Siberian. Isn't he?" "A very sweet boy," said Nekhludoff, looking at the fat baby sleeping on its back. "Really?" said the mother with a triumphant smile. Nekhludoff thought of shackles, hamstrings, beatings, fornication, of Kryltzov dying, of Katyusha and her whole history.He was very envious in his heart, and really wished to enjoy the elegant happiness here more. He praised the two children several times, somewhat satisfying the mother who listened to the praise greedily, and then followed her back to the living room.The Englishman was already waiting for him in the living room, ready to ride together to the prison.Nekhludoff said good-bye to the whole family, and went with the Englishman to the gate of the general's palace. The weather has changed.The goose feathers were flying all over the sky, covering the roads, covering the roofs, covering the trees in the garden, covering the steps in front of the door, covering the carriages, and covering the backs of the horses.The Englishman himself had a buggy, and Nekhludoff ordered the Englishman's coachman to drive it to the prison.He himself got into the carriage, feeling heavy with the burden of an unpleasant obligation.In this way, he sat in the soft carriage, followed the British, bumped violently on the snow, and drove to the prison.