Dostoyevsky, The Man Behind: Memoirs, Letters & Autobiographical Works. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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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.
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