第21章

Yettheirfearofhimwasinnowayreciprocated，nor，forthatmatter，didtheyeverassaulthim，despitethefactthatoccasionallytheywouldthrowanoldbootorachipofwoodinhisdirection-throwitaimlessly，andwithoutreallydesiringtohitthemarkaimedat。

Also，anythingcircular——forexample，aplateorthewheelofatoy，engagedNilushka’sattentionandledhimtocaressitaseagerlyashedidglobesandballs。Evidentlytherotundityoftheobjectwasthepointthatexcitedhisinterest。Andasheturnedtheobjectoverandover，andfelttheflatpartofit，hewouldmutter:

“Butwhatabouttheotherone？“

What“theotherone“meantIcouldneverdivine。NorcouldAntipa。Once，drawingtheidiottohim，hesaid:

“Whydoyoualwayssay’Whatabouttheotherone’？“

Troubledandnervous，Nilushkamerelymutteredsomeunintelligiblereplyashisfingersturnedandturnedaboutthecircularobjectwhichhewasholding。

“Nothing，“atlengthhereplied。

“Nothingofwhat？

“Nothinghere。“

“Ah，heistoofoolishtounderstand，“saidVologonovwithasighashiseyesdarkenedinmeditativefashion。

“Yes，thoughitmayseemfoolishtosayso，“headded，“somepeoplewouldenvyhim。“

“Whyshouldthey？“

“Formorethanonereason。Tobeginwith，helivesalifefreefromcare——heiskeptcomfortably，andevenheldinrespect。

Sincenoonecanproperlyunderstandhim，andeveryonefearshim，throughabeliefthatfolkwithoutwit，the’blessedonesofGod，’aremoreespeciallytheAlmighty’sfavouritesthanpersonspossessedofunderstanding。Onlyaverywisemancoulddealwithsuchamatter，andthelesssointhatitmustberememberedthatmorethanone’blessedone’hasbecomeaSaint，whilesomeofthosepossessedofunderstandinghavegone——well，havegonewhither？Yes，indeed！“

And，thoughtfullycontractingthebushyeyebrowswhichlookedasthoughtheyhadbeentakenfromthefaceofanotherman，Vologonovthrusthishandsuphissleeves，andstoodeyeingNilushkashrewdlywithhisintangiblegaze。

NeverdidFelitzatasayforcertainwhotheboy’sfatherhadbeen，butatleastitwasknowntomethatinvaguetermsshehaddesignatedtwomenassuch——theoneayoung“surveystudent，“andtheotheramerchantbynameViporotkov，amannotorioustothewholetownasamostturbulentrakeandbully。

ButoncewhensheandAntipaandIwereseatedgossipingattheentrance-gates，andIinquiredofherwhetherNilushka’sfatherwerestillsurviving，sherepliedinacarelessway:

“Heisso，damnhim！“

“Thenwhoishe？“

Felitzata，asusual，lickedherfaded，butstillcomely，lipswiththetipofhertonguebeforeshere

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