Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
RECOLLECTIONS OF CHILDHOOD 137
that nothing so enraged hirn as disrespect toward
Pushkin.
Dostoévsky, beside himself with wrath, sometimes
snatched up his hat and departed, solemnly declaring
that it was useless to argue with a little nihilist, and
that he would never set foot in our house again. But
he came again the next day, of course, just as if
nothing had happened.
In proportion as Dostoévsky’s relations with my
sister became strained, my friendship for him increased.
I was more enthusiastic over him every day, and
completely subject to his influence. Naturally he noticed
my boundless adoration of him, and it pleased him. He
was always holding me up to my sister as an example.
It woidd happen that Dostoévsky related some
profound or talented paradox, in contravention of
accepted morality, and my sister would suddenly take
it into her head to pretend that she did not
understand. My eyes were beaming with rapture, but she,
with the express purpose of angering him, would
reply with some stale, threadbare truth.
" You have a worthless, insignificant little soul!"
Feödor Mikhåilovitch would then cry hotly. " It’s
quite another matter with your sister! She is still
a child, but she understands me, because she has a
sensitive soul!"
I blushed all over with pleasure, and, had it been
necessary, I would have allowed myself to be cut in
pieces, to prove to him that I understood him. In the
depths of my soul I was very content that Dostoévsky
110 longer exhibited for my sister such enthusiasm as
in the beginning of their friendship. I was greatly
ashamed of this feeling. I reproached myself for it,
regarding it somewhat in the light of treason toward
my sister; and entering into an unconscious compro-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
