PART II
5. CHAPTER V.
(continued)
Yes, all this must be put straight and above-board, there must be
no more passionate renouncements, such as Rogojin's. It must all
be clear as day. Cannot Rogojin's soul bear the light? He said he
did not love her with sympathy and pity; true, he added that
"your pity is greater than my love," but he was not quite fair on
himself there. Kin! Rogojin reading a book--wasn't that sympathy
beginning? Did it not show that he comprehended his relations
with her? And his story of waiting day and night for her
forgiveness? That didn't look quite like passion alone.
And as to her face, could it inspire nothing but passion? Could
her face inspire passion at all now? Oh, it inspired suffering,
grief, overwhelming grief of the soul! A poignant, agonizing
memory swept over the prince's heart.
Yes, agonizing. He remembered how he had suffered that first day
when he thought he observed in her the symptoms of madness. He
had almost fallen into despair. How could he have lost his hold
upon her when she ran away from him to Rogojin? He ought to have
run after her himself, rather than wait for news as he had done.
Can Rogojin have failed to observe, up to now, that she is mad?
Rogojin attributes her strangeness to other causes, to passion!
What insane jealousy! What was it he had hinted at in that
suggestion of his? The prince suddenly blushed, and shuddered to
his very heart.
But why recall all this? There was insanity on both sides. For
him, the prince, to love this woman with passion, was
unthinkable. It would be cruel and inhuman. Yes. Rogojin is not
fair to himself; he has a large heart; he has aptitude for
sympathy. When he learns the truth, and finds what a pitiable
being is this injured, broken, half-insane creature, he will
forgive her all the torment she has caused him. He will become
her slave, her brother, her friend. Compassion will teach even
Rogojin, it will show him how to reason. Compassion is the chief
law of human existence. Oh, how guilty he felt towards Rogojin!
And, for a few warm, hasty words spoken in Moscow, Parfen had
called him "brother," while he--but no, this was delirium! It
would all come right! That gloomy Parfen had implied that his
faith was waning; he must suffer dreadfully. He said he liked to
look at that picture; it was not that he liked it, but he felt
the need of looking at it. Rogojin was not merely a passionate
soul; he was a fighter. He was fighting for the restoration of
his dying faith. He must have something to hold on to and
believe, and someone to believe in. What a strange picture that
of Holbein's is! Why, this is the street, and here's the house,
No. 16.
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