The Autobiographical Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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       XI I

      DOSTOYEVSKY AS HEAD OF HIS FAMILY

       Table of Contents

       About the time of the publication of my father's famous novel, Crime and Punishment, my uncle Miha'iTs affairs began to be much involved. The publication of the newspaper Vremya was prohibited on account of a political article which had been misunderstood by the Censorship. A few months later, Mihail Dostoyevsky obtained permission to bring out a new journal under the name Epoha, but, as often happens in Russia, the second venture was not so successful as the first, though my uncle secured the collaboration of the same writers. Epoha appeared for a few months, and finally became extinct for want of readers. It was a terrible blow for Mihail Dostoyevsky. His health, already undermined by alcoholism, gave way, and he died after a short illness. Like most of his compatriots, my uncle had hved lavishly, and had saved nothing, hoping to leave his children a newspaper which would bring in a handsome income. His sons were still very young, and had not finished their education. They could not therefore help their mother. My uncle left large debts. According to Russian law, these debts were cancelled by his death; his family, having inherited nothing, were not obhged to pay them. Every one was therefore greatly astonished when my father informed Mihail Dos-toyevsky's creditors that he considered himself responsible for all his brother's habilities, and that he was going henceforth to work hard in order to pay them off as soon as possible. He further promised his sister-in-law to support her and her four children until her sons could earn their living. My father's friends were very much alarmed when they heard of his resolve; they did their best to dissuade him from paying his brother's debts, for which he was not legally responsible. Dostoyevsky thought they were urging him to commit an infamous action. They failed to understand each other. My father's literary comrades argued as Russians, Dostoyevsky thought as a Lithuanian. Much as he had learnt to admire Russia, he continued to live after the Lithuanian tradition. Reverence for the family was one of the ideas derived by his forefathers from the Teutonic Knights. In their more chivalrous age the family was a larger conception than with us. All who bore the same name were considered as members, and were responsible one for the other. The honour of the family was their supreme ideal; men and women lived entirely for this-On the death of the father the eldest son became the head of the family and ruled it. In the event of his premature death, the second son took his place and inherited all his obligations. Not for nothing did Dostoyevsky admire the Gothic beauty of Cologne Cathedral; his own soul was Gothic ! He thought it quite a matter of course that he should sacrifice himself for his brother's family, and assume responsibility for all his debts. On their side, my father's friends naturally looked upon such conduct as fantastic, for in the Byzantine civilisation of Russia the idea of the family is almost nonexistent. People exert themselves more or less on behalf of their children, but they are generally indifferent to the fate of their brothers and sisters. " I did not incur these debts, why should I pay them ? " every Russian would have said in my father's place, and every Russian would have considered his determination romantic to the verge of absurdity. Far from thinking himself in any way ridiculous, my father took his duties as head of the family very seriously. If he sacrificed his life to the memory of his brother Mihail, he expected that his nephews and nieces, for their part, should look up to him as their guide and protector and follow his advice. This attitude exasperated my uncle's children. They were quite ready to hve at their uncle's expense, but were by no means inclined to obey him. They laughed at Dostoyevsky behind his back, and deceived him. One of his nieces, his favourite, had a student lover, a somewhat insignificant young man, who hated Dostoyevsky, "because he had insulted the Russian student in the person of Raskolnikov." One day when discussing political questions, he spoke most disrespectfully to my father. Dostoyevsky was very angry, and desired his sister-in-law not to receive the impertinent youth at her house in future. They pretended to obey, but they entertained the young man secretly. As soon as he had finished his studies at the University and obtained a post in one of the Ministries, he hastened to marry my cousin. The ungrateful girl took a delight in getting married clandestinely, without inviting my father to the wedding, at a time when Dostoyevsky was working like a slave to support her family. When she met him later at her mother's house, the bride laughed in his face, and treated him as an old imbecile. My father was cut to the heart by this ingratitude. He loved his niece Marie as if she had been his own daughter, caressing and amusing her when she was little, and later showing great pride in her musical talent 56 and in her girlish triumphs. Marie's husband soon realised the mistake he had made in quarrelling with the distinguished writer. Six or seven years later, when my parents came back from abroad, he tried to re-estabUsh friendly relations, and to interest my father in his numerous children. Dostoyevsky consented to receive his niece, but he could not give her back his affection, which was dead.

      56 My cousin was one of Anton Rubinstein's best pupils. Very often wlien my father was invited to read at a literary and musical party, he begged to be allowed to bring her with him, and took more pleasure in her success th^n ji) bis own.

      The second girl of the family grieved Dostoyevsky still more deeply. She fell in love with a scientist of some repute, who had been forsaken by his wife. This woman, although she loved another man, would never agree to a divorce, which would have released her injured husband.57 My cousin braved public opinion and became the mistress, or, in the language of the day, " the civil wife " of the savant, who could not marry her. She lived with him till his death, over twenty years, and was looked upon by all his friends as his actual wife. In spite of the serious character of this connection, my father could never forgive it. It took place a few years after the СКАЧАТЬ