Read Works of Ivan Turgenev (Illustrated) Online
Authors: IVAN TURGENEV
Stratilat [entering and announcing]: Petr Ilich Vilitski and Mr. von — [stammering] — fon — F - fo - ok - i - nn.
Moshkin [in an undertone, to Stratilat]: Who? Did he tell you to announce him that way?
Stratilat [also in a whisper]: He did.
Moshkin [still in an undertone]: Uh - uh. [Aloud.] Ask them in.
[Stratilat goes out.] [Fonk and Vilitski, wearing dress - coats, enter. Vilitski is pale and looks somewhat agitated. Fonk appears quite dignified.]
Vilitski [to Moshkin]: Mikhail Ivanych! Permit me to introduce to you my friend, Eodion Karlych von Fonk. [Fonk bows affectedly.]
Moshkin [somewhat confused]: I am very pleased — I have heard so much about your excellent qualities — I am extremely much obliged to Petr Ilich
Fonk: I am also very glad to meet you. [Bows.]
Moshkin: Pardon me — [A short pause.] Please be seated. [All sit down. Silence again. Fonk looks around the room. Moshkin coughs a little.] What a beautiful day it is! It’s a little cold, but it is very agreeable.
Fonk: Yes, it is a little cold to - day.
Moshkin: So, so. [To Vilitski, in a low voice.] Why didn’t you come in to - day, Petrusha? Are you well?
Vilitski: I am well, thank God. How is Maria Vasil - evna?
Moshkin: Masha is well. Hm! [To Fonk.] Have you been for a walk to - day?
Fonk: Yes, I walked up and down the Nevski Prospect.
Moshkin: That’s quite an agreeable walk. Nice people, and there is sand on the sidewalks. The stores, — all these things are quite well arranged. [After a moment’s silence.] St. Petersburg may be called the first capital of the world.
Fonk: St. Petersburg is a nice city.
Moshkin [timidly]: There is nothing like it abroad, is there?
Fonk: I don’t think there is.
Moshkin: Especially, when the St. Isaac Cathedral is finished. Then it will surely have considerable prominence.
Fonk: The St. Isaac Cathedral is a most splendid building in every way.
Moshkin: I fully agree with you in that. May I know, Your Excellency, how your health it?
Fonk: Thank God!
Moshkin: Well, thank God. [A moment’s silence.] Hm! [Smiles.] Rodion . . . Rodion Karlych, I hope you will honor us — in two weeks from now, at his marriage . . . [Pointing to Vilitski] . . . with your presence.
Fonk: I shall be very pleased
Moshkin: The pleasure will be ours, on the contrary. [After a moment’s silence.] You won’t believe me, Rodion Karlych, — how happy I am when I look at them both. . . . [Pointing to Vilitski and the door on the left.] For an old man, a bachelor, you cannot imagine what unexpected happiness that is!
Fonk: Yes, a marriage, based upon mutual affection and upon reason, is one of the greatest happinesses of a man’s life.
Moshkin [listening to Fonk reverently]: Yes, sir; yes, sir.
Fonk: And therefore I, on my part, fully approve of the intentions of those young people, who thoughtfully fulfill that . . . that holy debt.
Moshkin [listening even more reverently]: Yes, sir; yes, sir. I positively and fully agree with you.
Fonk: For what can be more agreeable than family life? But reason is absolutely necessary, — in fact, essential, — to the selection of a wife.
Moshkin: You are right, sir; you are right, sir. All that you have said, Rodion Karlych, is so sensible and so just. I confess, — you will pardon me, — that Petrusha ought to consider himself fortunate in having deserved your counsel and good - will.
Fonk [with a deprecatory gesture]: Not at all.
Moshkin: No, I assure you that — I
Vilitski [interrupting him hurriedly’]: Tell me, Mikhail Ivanych, — I want to see Maria Vasilevna. I want to say a few words to her
Moshkin: She is in her room. Must be getting dressed. However, you can knock.
Vilitski: I’ll be back presently. [To Fonk.] With your permission.
Fonk: Surely, suit yourself.
[Vilitski goes out the door on the left.] Moshkin [looking after him; moves up to Fonk and takes his hand]: Eodion Karlych! Pardon me. I am a plain man; what I have in my heart, comes out on my tongue — Let me, once more, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your
Fonk [with cold civility]: For what, if you please? Moshkin: First of all, for your call; secondly ... I see that you love Petrusha. I have had no children, Eodion Karlych, but I do not think that any one could love his own son more than I love him. And that’s just “what touches me; it simply touches me, affects me, in a way that I cannot even tell. [Tears comes to his eyes.] Pardon me. [As though talking to himself.] What’s the matter with me? Shame! [Laughs; reaches for his pocket handkerchief; blows his nose first, and then wipes his eyes.]
Fonk: Believe me, I like to see such feelings. . . . Moshkin [having fixed himself up]: Pardon the frankness of an old man, but I have heard so much about you. Petrusha speaks of you with so much respect. He thinks so much of your opinion. You’ll see Masha, Rodion Karlych. You’ll see her. I confess to you, as to the Lord, that she will make him happy. She is a real good girl.
Fonk: I don’t doubt that for a minute. The very fact that my friend, Petr Ilich, is in love with her says a whole lot in her favor.
Moshkin [reverently]: Yes, sir; yes, sir.
Fonk: I, for my part, wish Petr Ilich all the good in the world. [After a moment’s silence.] I think you are the chairman of the first department, are you not?
Moshkin: Yes, sir.
Fonk: In whose section, may I ask?
Mosiikin: In Kufnagel’s; in Adam Andreich’s.
Fonk [respectfully]: Oh, he is an excellent official. I know him. He is a most excellent official.
Moshkin: Surely, surely, he is. [After a moment’s silence.] May I be so curious — You have known my Petrusha for the last six months or so, haven’t you?
Fonk: Yes, about six months.
[Priazhkina comes in through the side door. She is dressed to kill, with a long yellow ribbon on her bonnet. She moves up to the two men slowly, sits down in back of them, and starts to play with the strings of her reticule.]
Fonk: What I like most about your friend is, so to say, the fact that he is a young man with rules. [Moshkin listens attentively.] Such young men are rare nowadays. He isn’t volatile — [makes a motion with his fingers in the air; Moshkin imitates him, and nods his head in approval.] That’s very important. I am a young man myself. [Moshkin nods consent.] I am no weathercock.
Priazhkina [coughing modestly but loudly]: Kh - Khem! [Fonk stops and looks at her. Also Moshkin. Priazhkina sits down comfortably.]
Moshkin [somewhat vexed]: What do you want, Ekater - ina Savishna?
[Fonk rises slowly and Moshkin follows suit.]
Priazhkina [confusedly]: I — I — I have come to you
[Fonk bows. She settles herself more comfortably.] Moshkin: Ah — Permit me, Rodion Karlych, to introduce to you Priazhkina, Ekaterina Savishna. She is Maria Vasil - evna’s aunt. [Priazhkina gets up.]
Fonk [bowing coldly]: I am very glad
[Priazhkina sits down again.] Moshkin [to Priazhkina]: Do you want something? Priazhkina: Yes. Maria Vasilevna asked me, — that is, she didn’t ask me, only she thought if you could come in for a minute
Moshkin [reproachfully]: What’s the matter, there?
How can I do that now? [Looks at Fonk.] Oh
Fonk: Please, don’t stand on any ceremony. If you are wanted
Moshkin: You are very kind — Truly, I don’t know why they want me there. However, I’ll return in just a minute. Fonk [lifting his hand]: Of course, go right along. Moshkin: I’ll be back right away; I’ll be back right away. [4s he goes out with Priazhkina, he murmurs his displeasure to her.] Fonk [alone, looks after htm, and having shrugged his shoulders, he begins to pace the room. Goes up to the looking - glass and fixes himself up a little; then he picks up the hairbrush and examines it; then he looks at the screen and wonders]: What’s all this? Why have they brought me here? What a funny woman! And the old man chatters, cries, — what a peculiar old man, — and he gets so familiar! And what a queer, dirty boy. In fact, nothing is clean he - e. Here is the bed, right in the room. What does it all mean? The dinner, I dare say, will be the worst I have ever eaten, and the champagne will be no better, but I’ll have to drink it. [Stratilat enters and hangs burning lamps on the wall. Fonk looks at him, with his arms crossed over his chest. Stratilat looks at him timidly, and goes out.] What on earth does all this mean? I positively can’t understand it. Well, I hope I’ll see the bride. [Vilitski enters through the side door.] Ah, Vilitski!
Vilitski: Mikhail Ivanych told me that you were here alone. Pardon me, the old man is so worried.
Fonk: That’s nothing.
Vilitski [pressing his hand]: You are very kind and indulgent. I told you — Mikhail Ivanych is a very good man. . . . I can really call him my benefactor. ... He is quite a simple man. . . . [Vilitski is waiting for Fonk to interrupt him, but Fonk keeps quiet.] Isn’t he? . . .
Fonk: Why, no, I think Mr. Moshkin is quite a nice man. Of course, as far as I have seen him, he hasn’t had a very good education, but thafs of secondary consideration. By the way, I saw a lady here. ... Is she the aunt of your bride?
Vilitski [blushing slightly, and smiling forcedly]: She . . . she isn’t a rich woman. However, she is very kind and
Fonk: I don’t doubt that. [After a moment’s silence.] Have you been acquainted with Mr. Moshkin long?
Vilitski: Three years.
Fonk: Has he been working long in St. Petersburg?
Vilitski: Yes, a long time.
Fonk: How old is Mr. Moshkin?
Vilitski: About fifty, i think.
Fonk: Will he remain chairman much longer? — How soon may I have the pleasure of seeing your bride?
Vilitski: She will be in presently.
Fonk: Mr. Moshkin spoke very highly of her.
Vilitski: That isn’t at all surprising. Mikhail Ivanych thinks the world of her. And really, Masha is a very amiable, very kind girl. To be sure, she grew up in poverty, in seclusion; she saw hardly anybody. Well, on account of that, of course, she is a little timid; even a little unconventional. She hasn’t that dash, you know, and — but don’t judge her severely from the first meeting.