Читать книгу The Autobiographical Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Страница 34

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DOSTOYEVSKY Came back in the guise of a conqueror to Staraja Russa, where we were settled for the summer. " What a pity you were not at the Assembly ! " he said to my mother. " How I regret that you did not see my success ! " Faithful to her rule of economy, my mother had decided not to accompany my father to Moscow; she now urged him to go to Ems as soon as possible for his usual cure, but Dostoyevsky had no idea of doing so. He was busy writing the single number of The Writer's Journal which appeared in 1880; it had an immense success. Dostoyevsky wished to consolidate the theory he had just enunciated at the Pushkin festival and reply to his opponents, who, after the first intoxication was over, tried to smother the new-born idea. He hoped to go to Ems in September; then, exhausted by all the emotions of his triumph and his political struggle, he abandoned his foreign journey, thinking he should be able to do without Ems for once. Unhappily, he did not realise how worn out he was. His iron will, the ideal which was burning in his heart and filled him with enthusiasm deceived him concerning his physical strength, which was never great.

He proposed to start again with the publication of The Writer's Journal, for which the single nvunber of 1880 was to serve as programme. Now that The Brothers Karamazov was finished, he became a publicist again and threw himself once more into the political arena. The first, and, alas ! the only number of 1881, which appeared in January, contained a detailed programme. This testament of Dostoyevsky's proclaims truths which no one would believe in his Ufetime, but which are being realised by degrees, and will be completely reaUsed in the course of the twentieth century. This man of genius foresaw events from afar. " Do not despise the people," he said to the Russian intellectuals; " forget that they were once your slaves; respect their ideas, love what they love, admire what they admire; for if you persist in scorning their beliefs, and in trying to inoculate them with European institutions which they cannot understand and will never accept, the time will come when the people will repudiate you in their anger, will turn against you and seek other guides. You demand a European parliament, and you hope to sit in this and to pass laws without consulting the people. This parliament will be nothing but a debating society. You cannot direct Russia, for you do not understand it. The only possible parliament in our country is a popular assembly. Let the people meet and proclaim their will. As to you intellectuals, your task will be to listen respectfully to the humble words of the peasant delegates and try to understand them, in order to give juridical form to their plain pronouncements. If you direct Russia in accordance with the desires expressed by the people you will not blunder, and your country will prosper. But if you isolate yom-selves in your European debating society you will sit in darkness, knocking one against the other; instead of enlightening Russia, you will only be getting bruises on your foreheads. Increase the number of your elementary schools, extend the network of your railways, and, above all, try to have a good army, for Europe hates you and would fain seize your possessions. The Europeans know that the Russian people will always be hostile to their greedy capitalist dreams. They feel that Russia bears within her the new word of Christian fraternity which will put an end to their Philistine regime. Not with the Europeans but with the Asiatics should we work, for we Russians are as much Asiatics as Europeans. The mistake of our policy for the past two centuries has been to make the people of Europe believe that we are true Europeans. We have served Europe too well, we have taken too great a part in her domestic quarrels. At the first cry for help we have sent ovu- armies, and our poor soldiers have died for causes that meant nothing to them, and have been immediately forgotten by those they had served. We have bowed ourselves hke slaves before the Europeans and have only gained their hatred and contempt. It is time to turn away from ungrateful Europe. Our future is in Asia. True, Europe is our mother, but instead of mixing in her affairs we shall serve her better by working at our new orthodox idea, which will eventually bring happiness to the whole world. Meanwhile it will be better for us to seek alliances with the Asiatics. In Europe we have been merely intruders; in Asia we shall be masters. In Europe we have been Tatars; in Asia we shall be men of culture. Consciousness of our civilising mission will give us that dignity we lack as caricatures of Europeans. Let us go to Asia, to that ' land of holy miracles,' as one of our greatest Slavophils has called her, and let us try to make the name of the White Tsar greater and more venerated there than the name of the Queen of England, or the name of the Caliph." 103

103 The above is only a resumi of the last number of The Writer's Journal, which deserves careful study as a whole. It makes manifest Dostoyevsky's Norman spirit, eager to fly to imknown regions, and to carry civilisation to the wildest places. This spirit is the more remarkable in him, because it is found in no other great Russian writer. Tolstoy, Turgenev and Gont-sharov breathe nothing of this pioneer spirit. The civilisation of the Mongols does not interest them.

This, Dostoyevsky's last will and testament, was incomprehensible to his contemporaries. His far-seeing mind had outstripped theirs. Russian society was hypnotised by Europe and lived solely in the hope of becoming entirely European some day. This idea had been greatly strengthened by the adhesion of our rulers. Like all the Slavo-Normans, the Romanovs hated the Mongols and feared Asia. Our Tsars, who owned several palaces in Europe, had none in Siberia or Central Asia, which they rarely visited. When Oriental princes came to Petersburg they were received politely but coldly. Faithful to the traditions of Peter the Great, the Romanovs worked obstinately at the introduction of European institutions into Russia. All our Imperial Councils, Senate, Duma, Ministries and Chancellories were faithful copies of the European models. Our girls' schools were imitations of French convents, and our military schools reproduced those of Germany. The Russian spirit was banished from those establishments, and my young compatriots who were educated in them preferred to talk French to each other. If our sovereigns succeeded in europeanising our nobles, they were unable to carry out the process with the people. The Russian nobles and intellectuals were weak, but the people were strong and remained faithful to their historic mission. Deprived of their European government, they immediately began to apply their Russian poUcy. Barely two years after the abdication of Nicholas II, Colonel Semenov was proclaimed Grand Duke of Mongolia, the Russians began to negotiate with the Emirs of Afghanistan and Kurdistan, and the Hindus were sending deputations to Moscow. The fact is that the Slav blood is decreasing more and more in the veins of the Russians, whereas their Mongolian blood increases year by year. If the Slavs of the West do not send their nationals to help us to colonise Asia, in a century more the Russians will be completely mongolised. The idea of their Slav fraternity is already waning perceptibly. In 1877-8 all Russia fought to deliver the Serbs and Bulgarians, and in 1917 our soldiers threw down their arms, indifferent to the invasion of Serbia by the enemy. Forgetting the Slavs, oiu: people are transferring their sympathies to the Mongolians. Formerly they fought to deliver their Slav brothers from the Tm-kish and Austrian yoke; now they dream of delivering their new brothers, the Oriental peoples, from their Eiu-opean oppressors. The Asiatic tribes in their turn are attracted to the Russians by their Mongohan blood, which becomes ever more apparent in our people. Russia has but to hold out her hand, and it is eagerly grasped by innumerable brown paws ! The Asiatics have long been awaiting this gesture. They are weary of barbarism and yearn for civilisation; they aspire to play their part in the destinies of the world. The civilisation the English offer them is too lofty for them; they cannot assimilate it, all the less because it is offered to them with scorn. The English are ready to construct canals and railways in India, but they refuse to mix with the natives and leave them to rot in their pagan superstitions. Yet nothing is so wounding to the Oriental as contempt, for nowhere is the sense of dignity so highly developed as in the East. The Oriental peoples will always be attracted to the Russians, for the bear is reputed a kindly, modest and generous beast. It is well known in the East that he is ready to give a fraternal salute to all the muzzles that offer themselves, regardless of their colour. He will gladly mate with the Mongolian and will love his yellow cubs as tenderly as his white cubs. Russia will give Mongolia her European culture, which is as yet small, and therefore easy to assimilate. She will proclaim the Gospel to them and invite the Orientals to the banquet of the Lord. In former times, the days of the Moscovite Patriarchs and Tsars, the Christian mission was considered to be the sacred duty of Muscovy. When the Russians had vanquished some MongoUan tribe, they at once sent their missionaries into the conquered provinces. They built churches and convents, they attracted the young Oriental princes to Moscow, and dazzled them with the fetes of the Tsars, the splendour and the friendliness of the boyards. The young Mongohans, fascinated by the first civilisation they had encountered, embraced Orthodoxy, together with all their tribe. The majority of our aristocrats and hereditary nobles are descended from these Mongolian princes, and are distinguished by their ardent patriotism. By suppressing the Patriarchate, Peter the Great put an end to this excellent Moscovite policy. His successors followed his example, and instead of sending missionaries to Asia, patronised the mosques, adorning them with splendid carpets from the Russian palaces; they helped the Buddhists to construct their temples, to the great indignation of our clergy, who were always faithful to the Moscovite tradition. Future Russian patriarchs will renew their Christian effort in Asia. Europeans seek only mines of gold and of silver in the continent; we Russians will find in this " land of holy miracles" other mines, of greater value to humanity. We will discover treasures of faith, eloquent apostles, capable of combating the atheism of Europe, and of curing this mortal malady.

The Russian Revolution heralds the awakening of all Asia. The European phase of our history is at an end; its Oriental phase is about to begin. The Russians will gradually lose all interest in European affairs and will become absorbed in those of Asia. They will help the other Oriental nations to shake off the European yoke and will take them under their protection. Dostoy-evsky's dream will be realised ; the name of the White Tsar will be more venerated than that of the English king or that of the Caliph.

Strange to say, the Etiropeans are actually promoting our conquest of Asia, which will deprive them of their rich Oriental colonies. Taking advantage of the present disorders in Russia, they are working feverishly to detach Lithuania, Ukrainia, Georgia, Finland, Esthonia and Livonia from her. They think thus to weaken our country, and do not see that as a fact they will strengthen her. The Lithuanians, the Ukrainians, the Georgians and the natives of the Baltic Provinces have always hated and despised the Mongolian blood of the Russians, and have done all they could to tiu-n us away from Asia. More highly civilised than the Russians, they have had an immense influence on my compatriots, and have constituted the chief barrier to our fusion with the Asiatics. When there are no longer any Slavo-Norman and Georgian deputies in the Duma, the Russian deputies will agree better, and their Mongolian blood will draw them to the East. Europeans clamour for a democratic regime in Russia, and do not see that the more democratic Russia becomes, the more hostile will she be to Europe. Qur aristocrats and nobles talked French and Enghsh to each other and looked upon Europe as their second fatherland; our middle classes and peasants do not learn foreign languages, do not read European authors, do not travel in Europe, and dishke foreigners. They will bear their new Tsars towards Asia, and these rulers, freed from the European influence of Baltic barons, Poles and Georgians, will no longCT be able to oppose the will of the people. By creating a democratic regime in Russia, Europeans and Americans think they will prepare the way for the exploitation of our mineral and vegetable wealth. They are wrong, for our moujiks will be more tenacious guardians of the soil than our Europeanised nobles, who were ready to barter their possessions for the means to enjoy life on the terraces of Monte Carlo. The moujiks always initiate their strikes and insurrections by killing the European staff in mines and factories. The thought that foreigners are becoming millionaires by virtue of our national riches seems to them profoundly humihating. Deceived by our emigres, Europeans and Americans know nothing of the real character of our peasants, and generally take them for idiots who can be easily ruled. The Europeans hesitate to fight against Bolshevism, hoping that disorder will weaken Russia; and meanwhile the Russians are consolidating their new friendship with the Orientals, which, based as it is on mutual sympathy, may become very strong. While Europe is changing her attitude to our country daily, uncertain what policy to follow, Russia, the bird of fire, will take flight definitively to the East. The blindness of Eiu-ope and America in this connection is almost comic, yet it is in the order of things. When God is about to proclaim a new truth to the world, He begins by blinding those who cling to the old idea which has become meaningless and useless.

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While thus occupied with the poUtics of his country, Dostoyevsky did not neglect his children, and he continued to read the masterpieces of Russian literature to us in the evenings. During this last winter of his life he recited to us fragments of Griboiedov's celebrated play, The Misfortune of Being Too Clever. This Avitty comedy is full of phrases which have become proverbial among us. Dostoyevsky had a great admiration for this excellent satire on Moscow society, and liked to see it performed. He thought, however, that our actors misunderstood it, especially as to the part of Repetilov, in whom he saw the personification of the liberal party among the Occidentals. Repetilov does not appear until the end of the piece. He is invited to Famonsov's ball, but does not arrive till four o'clock in the morning, when all the other guests are leaving. He comes in rather drunk, supported by two footmen, and at once begins to declaim interminable speeches; the guests listen with smiles and gradually sUp away, leaving their places to others. Repetilov does not notice that his audience is shifting and changing, and he talks on. Our actors represent Repetilov as a buffoon, but Dostoy-evsky considered the type intensely tragic. He was right, for the incapacity of our intellectuals to understand Russia and find useful work for her, their Oriental indolence which manifests itself in interminable talk, is a disease. Dostoyevsky had so often declaimed and explained this comedy to us that at last he wished to play the part himself, in order to show his conception of it. He expressed this wish to some friends, who proposed that he should get up private theatricals at their house, and give the final act of Griboiedov's famous work. This interesting project was much discussed in Petersburg. My father would not appear in pubUc until he was well prepared, and rehearsed constantly to his children. As usual, he was fired by his new idea and acted seriously, walked in, stumbled, gesticulated and declaimed. We followed his impersonation admiringly. We had a little friend, Serge K , the only son of a rich widow, who spoiled him a good deal. In one of the rooms of her flat she had a small stage built with a curtain and a little scenery, and there we acted for our parents, representing Krilov's fables or the poems of our great Russian writers. In spite of his many occupations, Dostoyevsky never missed our performances, and would encourage the young actors by applause. We began to have a passion for the theatre, and our father's performance interested us greatly. I have always regretted that Dostoyevsky's death prevented him from appearing as an actor. He would have created an original and memorable type. This, indeed, was not the first time that the Ukrainian passion for the theatre had manifested itself in Dostoyevsky. When he first came out of prison he wrote a comedy, An Uncle's Dream, which he afterwards transformed into a novel. In one of his letters he says that he had laughed a good deal while writing this play. He declared that the hero, Prince K , was like himself, and indeed the naive and chivalrous character of the poor prince recalls that of my father. Later, when he returned to Petersburg, Dostoyevsky was fond of inventing speeches " in the manner of Prince K ," and he would declaim them to his friends, assuming the voice and gestures of the poor degenerate. This amused him very much, and he was able to give life to his hero. It is curious that my father twice represented himself as a prince—in The Idiot and An Uncle's Dream —and in each instance as a degenerate.