Chapter 8 six

Bazarov returned to the loggia, and as soon as he sat down, he was busy drinking tea.The brothers were silent and just looked at him.And Arkady quietly glanced now and then at his father and now at his uncle. "Have you gone far?" said Nikolai Petrovitch at last. "I came to a swamp near the aspens, and there I startled five woodcocks. Arkady, if you come across them, you will be able to kill them." "You don't know how to hunt?" "Won't." "You yourself study physics?" Pavel Petrovich asked from the sidelines. "Physics. I like the natural sciences in general."

"I heard that the Germans have made great achievements in this field recently?" "Yes, the Germans are our mentors in this respect," Bazarov replied casually. Pavel Petrovich replaced the word "Germans" with "Germans" as a sarcasm, but no one noticed. "So you have great admiration for the Germans?" said Pavel Petrovich in a tone of extraordinary elegance.His inner anger was just about to break out, and his aristocratic temperament could not bear Bazarov's casual appearance: the doctor's son not only did not have any respect for the elders, but even answered weakly, absent-mindedly, arrogantly and rudely. .

"The scholars there are practical people." "Yes, then you are less flattering to Russian scholars?" "Probably so." "That's commendable humility," Pavel straightened up, throwing his head back. "But how do you explain Arkady Nikolayevich's statement just now that you don't recognize any authority? Is it because he can't be trusted?" "Why should I admit it? Why do I have to believe it? If there is something to be said, I should agree, it's very simple." "And the Germans have something to say?" Pavel Petrovich asked, with an expression of irrelevance and detachment on his face, as if he himself were remote from the world.

"Not all Germans," Bazarov said, yawning shortly, obviously not wanting to argue. Pavel Petrovitch looked at Arkady as if to say: "Your friend is very polite!" "As for me," he said, trying to look detached, "I don't admire the Germans. I don't even like the Germans in Germany, not to mention the Germans in Russia, you know what they are like. What can I say, at that time they had Schib... and Goethe...my brother admired it very much...but now they only produce some chemists and materialists..." "A good chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet," Bazarov snapped at him.

"Oh, that's it," Pavel Petrovich muttered sleepily, raising his eyebrows a little. "So you don't recognize art?" "Art is either making money, or moaning, nothing else!" Bazarov said with a contemptuous sneer. "Oh, sir, you are very funny. In short, do you deny everything? Do you believe only in unique science?" "I've been told that I don't believe in anything. What science do you mean? General science? Science, like crafts, has specific categories, and general science does not exist." "Excellent opinion, sir. Then other aspects, such as the norms that everyone follows, of course you also have a negative attitude towards it?"

"What, is this an interrogation?" Pavel Petrovich turned pale... Nikolai Petrovich thought it necessary to mediate in time. "Let's talk about it later, my dear Yevgeny Vasilyitch, and we will listen to your opinion and state ours at the same time. From my point of view, it is a pleasure to learn that you are engaged in natural sciences. , I have heard that Liebich ① has made great discoveries in agricultural fertilizers, please help me a lot in farming and put forward some useful suggestions." -------- ①Libig Eustus (J·F·vonLiebig, 1803-1873), a German chemist, wrote a series of works on agricultural theory and practice.

"At your service, Nikolai Petrovich, but we are still far from Liebich! Before reading his books, we must learn the basics, and we don't know even the simplest things." "Well, I think you're a real nihilist!" thought Nikolai Petrovich to himself. "But in any case, please allow me to ask you for advice when I have a problem," he said. "Now, brother, it is time for us to talk to the steward about business." Pavel Petrovich stood up. "Yes," he said without looking at anyone, "you've lived in the countryside for five years, and you're almost mediocre without those talented people! You try not to forget what you learned in the past, but people say you learned A bunch of rubbish, fashionable people don't deal with such nonsense a long time ago, you are just a stubborn old man who is out of date. What can you do! It seems that young people are much smarter than us."

Pavel Petrovich turned slowly and walked away, followed by Nikolai Petrovich. "Why, is he always like this with you?" Bazarov asked Arkady coldly, as soon as the door had closed after the brothers had left. "I say, Yevgeny, you have been too unkind to him," answered Arkady, "and offended him." "Am I going to flatter these county nobles? Arrogant, arrogant, bluffing! In that case, he should stay in the circle of Petersburg society... Come, God bless him. I caught a rare one today. Do you recognize the aquatic beetle, Dytiscus marginalus? I'll show you later."

"I promised to tell you his history," said Arkady. "History of the beetle?" "Don't talk nonsense, Yevgeny, it's about my uncle's history. You'll see he's not what you think he is, and he shouldn't be ridiculed. He should be sympathized with." "I don't want to argue, but why does he interest you in this way?" "Be fair to people and things, Yevgeny." "What conclusion do you want to draw from this?" "No, just listen to me..." Arkady then told the history of his uncle.Readers can read from the next chapter.