the moscow census-第18章
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〃Why not? Why is it a stupid business to help thousands; at any rate
hundreds; of unfortunate beings? Is it a bad thing; according to the
Gospel; to clothe the naked; and feed the hungry?〃
〃I know; I know; but that is not what you are doing。 Is it necessary
to render assistance in that way? You are walking along; and a man
asks you for twenty kopeks。 You give them to him。 Is that alms? Do
you give spiritual alms;teach him。 But what is it that you have
given? It was only for the sake of getting rid of him。〃
〃No; and; besides; that is not what we are talking about。 We want to
know about this need; and then to help by both money and deeds; and
to find work。〃
〃You can do nothing with those people in that way。〃
〃So they are to be allowed to die of hunger and cold?〃
〃Why should they die? Are there many of them there?〃
〃What; many of them?〃 said I; thinking that he looked at the matter
so lightly because he was not aware how vast was the number of these
people。
〃Why; do you know;〃 said I; 〃I believe that there are twenty thousand
of these cold and hungry people in Moscow。 And how about Petersburg
and the other cities?〃
He smiled。
〃Twenty thousand! And how many households are there in Russia alone;
do you think? Are there a million?〃
〃Well; what then?〃
〃What then?〃 and his eyes flashed; and he grew animated。 〃Come; let
us divide them among ourselves。 I am not rich; I will take two
persons on the spot。 There is the lad whom you took into your
kitchen; I invited him to come to my house; and he did not come。
Were there ten times as many; let us divide them among us。 Do you
take some; and I will take some。 We will work together。 He will see
how I work; and he will learn。 He will see how I live; and we will
sit down at the same table together; and he will hear my words and
yours。 This charity society of yours is nonsense。〃
These simple words impressed me。 I could not but admit their
justice; but it seemed to me at that time; that; in spite of their
truth; still that which I had planned might possibly prove of
service。 But the further I carried this business; the more I
associated with the poor; the more frequently did this remark recur
to my mind; and the greater was the significance which it acquired
for me。
I arrive in a costly fur coat; or with my horses; or the man who
lacks shoes sees my two…thousand…ruble apartments。 He sees how; a
little while ago; I gave five rubles without begrudging them; merely
because I took a whim to do so。 He surely knows that if I give away
rubles in that manner; it is only because I have hoarded up so many
of them; that I have a great many superfluous ones; which I not only
have not given away; but which I have easily taken from other people。
'What else could he see in me but one of those persons who have got
possession of what belongs to him? And what other feeling can he
cherish towards me; than a desire to obtain from me as many of those
rubles; which have been stolen from him and from others; as possible?
I wish to get close to him; and I complain that he is not frank; and
here I am; afraid to sit down on his bed for fear of getting lice; or
catching something infectious; and I am afraid to admit him to my
room; and he; coming to me naked; waits; generally in the vestibule;
or; if very fortunate; in the ante…chamber。 And yet I declare that
he is to blame because I cannot enter into intimate relations with
him; and because me is not frank。
Let the sternest man try the experiment of eating a dinner of five
courses in the midst of people who have had very little or nothing
but black bread to eat。 Not a man will have the spirit to eat; and
to watch how the hungry lick their chops around him。 Hence; then; in
order to eat daintily amid the famishing; the first indispensable
requisite is to hide from them; in order that they may not see it。
This is the very thing; and the first thing; that we do。
And I took a simpler view of our life; and perceived that an approach
to the poor is not difficult to us through accidental causes; but
that we deliberately arrange our lives in such a fashion so that this
approach may be rendered difficult。
Not only this; but; on taking a survey of our life; of the life of
the wealthy; I saw that every thing which is considered desirable in
that life consists in; or is inseparably bound up with; the idea of
getting as far away from the poor as possible。 In fact; all the
efforts of our well…endowed life; beginning with our food; dress;
houses; our cleanliness; and even down to our education;every thing
has for its chief object; the separation of ourselves from the poor。
In procuring this seclusion of ourselves by impassable barriers; we
spend; to put it mildly; nine…tenths of our wealth。 The first thing
that a man who was grown wealthy does is to stop eating out of one
bowl; and he sets up crockery; and fits himself out with a kitchen
and servants。 And he feeds his servants high; too; so that their
mouths may not water over his dainty viands; and he eats alone; and
as eating in solitude is wearisome; he plans how he may improve his
food and deck his table; and the very manner of taking his food
(dinner) becomes a matter for pride and vain glory with him; and his
manner of taking his food becomes for him a means of sequestering
himself from other men。 A rich man cannot think of such a thing as
inviting a poor man to his table。 A man must know how to conduct
ladies to table; how to bow; to sit down; to eat; to rinse out the
mouth; and only rich people know all these things。 The same thing
occurs in the matter of clothing。 If a rich man were to wear
ordinary clothing; simply for the purpose of protecting his body from
the cold;a short jacket; a coat; felt and leather boots; an under…
jacket; trousers; shirt;he would require but very little; and he
would not be unable; when he had two coats; to give one of them to a
man who had none。 But the rich man begins by procuring for himself
clothing which consists entirely of separate pieces; and which is fit
only for separate occasions; and which is; therefore; unsuited to the
poor man。 He has frock…coats; vests; pea…jackets; lacquered boots;
cloaks; shoes with French heels; garments that are chopped up into
bits to conform with the fashion; hunting…coats; travelling…coats;
and so on; which can only be used under conditions of existence far
removed from poverty。 And his clothing also furnishes him with a
means of keeping at a distance from the poor。 The same is the case;
and even more clearly; with his dwelling。 In order that one may live
alone in ten rooms; it is indispensable that those who live ten in
one room should not see it。 The richer a man is; the more difficult
is he of access; the more porters there are between him and people
who are not rich; the more impossible is it to conduct a poor man
over rugs; and seat him in a satin chair。
The case is the same with the means of locomotion。 The peasant
driving in a cart; or a sledge; must be a very ill…tempered man when
he will not give a pedestrian a lift; and there is both room for this
and a possibility of doing it。 But the richer the equipage; the
farther is a man from all possibility of giving a seat to any person
whatsoever。 It is even said plainly; that the most stylish equipages
are those meant to hold only one person。
It is precisely the same thing with the manner of life which is
expressed by the word cleanliness。
Cleanliness! Who is there that does not know people; especially
women; who reckon this cleanliness in themselves as a great virtue?
and who is not acquainted with the devices of this cleanliness; which
know no bounds; when it can command the labor of others? Which of
the people who have become rich has not experienced in his own case;
with what difficulty he carefully trained himself to this
cleanliness; which only confirms the proverb; 〃Little white hands
love other people's work〃?
To…day cleanliness consists in changing your shirt once a day; to…
morrow; in changing it twice a day。 To…day it means washing the
face; and neck; and hands daily; to…morrow; the feet; an