Chapter 83: Regarding Love

Regarding the matter of love, people from different countries always have different understandings, and sometimes, the concept of love in certain places would likely seem inexplicable to people from another place.

Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera" serves as a relatively typical example; this book, simply distilled, is about a young wealthy Young Lady and a poor boy who failed to be together in their youth, then the wealthy Young Lady married a doctor, and many years later, the doctor died, and the wealthy Young Lady and the poor boy became an old man and an old woman.

Then, after years of struggle, the poor boy actually became rich, but in this process, he slept with countless people and kept numerous mistresses; after the doctor died, he appeared before the wealthy Young Lady again and declared his unchanging love to her.

In the end, they indeed were together, and the two had a shy love on a boat.

It does sound a bit abstract, but undoubtedly, it also reflects the unique concept of love in Latin America to a certain extent.

By the way, any classic work looks very abstract if one only reads the summary, simply because they often describe a unique or even extreme experience; it is precisely within this uniqueness and extremity that the more complex East and West deep within human nature can manifest.

And regarding the book "Love in the Time of Cholera," Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov still remembers its opening vividly:

"Inevitably, the smell of bitter almonds always reminds him of the fate following blocked love."

As for switching to Russia, to be honest, it often makes people feel even more abstract; it is mostly extreme emotional experiences under extreme environments; in short, in the works of many Russian writers, the matter of love is always swift and incurable.

Like the selfless love in Old Dostoevsky's "Poor Folk" and "White Nights," the female protagonist's unwavering loyalty to the male protagonist in "Crime and Punishment," or like in the letters from Pasternak to Tsvetaeva:

"You are my absolute; from head to toe, you are a fiery, concretized conception; just like me, you are an incredible reward to me, a reward for my birth and my wandering, my faith in God and my humiliation."

Saying so much is actually roughly Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov's speculation on the General's daughter's behavior; otherwise, if they had only met once and exchanged a few letters, how could she sponsor and actively help?

Of course, perhaps there are other reasons; although it is somewhat unexpected, since matters have come to this, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov, thinking of the two or three thousand rubles that might be saved, naturally agreed; however, since it is that kind of salon and gathering, he might as well bring along Turgenev and Old Dostoevsky, as they happen to like such occasions.

It's just that their purposes are far from as pure as Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov's; one of them is for bragging and befriending important figures, the other is for showing off and befriending important figures; these two guys...

Furthermore, the current Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov has also been gradually repaying debts; the money for Old Dostoevsky's clothes has already been repaid in another way, but that set of clothes with decent taste, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov naturally kept carefully, just waiting to wear them again at similar occasions.

So, after sending the reply letter, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov, having noted the time and place mentioned in the letter, also swiftly notified Old Turgenev and Old Dostoevsky.

Turgenev agreed very readily; normally speaking, he is relatively reliable, but this person is indeed careless many times; he can forget things emphasized repeatedly, so it is best to arrest him on the spot and watch him do things.

Belinsky has been doing exactly this recently; regarding the matter of launching a new magazine, Belinsky even said he cares much more than Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov and his group; on one hand, he is hurrying to handle the articles at hand, and on the other hand, he is urging his friends to submit new manuscripts.

This can be seen from the letter he sent to Herzen, who is in Moscow:

"The magazine 'The Contemporary' we are taking over is about to launch; Dostoevsky has promised to provide a novella, Turgenev will give a novella and a long poem... I hope to ask Maykov to write a poem. Now I have come to you: submit a novella, or I'll take your life!"

Due to extreme urgency, Turgenev has been nagged to the point of a splitting head these days, so he had no choice but to speed up his progress.

As for Dostoevsky, who is currently very popular, although he is very interested in gatherings and salons, before agreeing, he asked quite cautiously: "So, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov, there won't be a card-playing session, right? You know, I have never had much interest in such gambling games."

The reason for this is, of course, that Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov, to prevent Old Dostoevsky from showing off too much and being disliked by everyone, and also to help him quit gambling, has been dragging Old Dostoevsky to play for a while whenever there is a gathering these days.

As for the result...

It is roughly as Old Dostoevsky said in the letter:

"God! Why does Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov always play cards? And can anyone really beat him? In my opinion, even if the Devil came, it wouldn't work! He seems to remember all the cards; he knows the cards in your hand better than you do yourself!

The amounts we play are not large; we just treat it as a pastime, but as we played on, I found we became Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov's pastime!

Why does a saint-like person love playing cards so much? I never want to play with him again; brother, I'll tell you the truth, now when I see this kind of game, I get a headache; I will never play again...

No, I will never play with him again."

Of course, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov did not know of the existence of this letter; therefore, upon hearing that Old Dostoevsky could actually say such things, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov also smiled gratifiedly; good, good, good, my training—pfft! Desensitization plan! After all, it has yielded some results.

Amidst the joy, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov naturally shook his head and said:

"Rest assured, there will be no such session; our purpose for this trip is, of course, to exchange literature and art."

"Good."

After hearing such an answer, although the young Dostoevsky was somewhat skeptical, he finally agreed.

So, very soon, when the time came, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov and his group, each with their own destination in mind, walked towards a certain place.

And while Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov and his group were walking on the road, on the other side, just like last time, the young Miss Nadya, wearing clean clothes adorned with vine and moss patterns, was currently spraying a little fresh and elegant French-imported perfume on herself.

One of her female companions, Polina, was standing beside her, constantly speaking, repeatedly asking the same thing:

"Dear Nadya, will that poet really come today? I love his poetry very much; I wonder if I will have the chance to hear him recite it personally, so will he really come?"

Hearing her female companion ask over and over again, Nadya, who was somewhat nervous, also felt a rather subtle sensation in her heart.

To avoid unnecessary things happening, the salon she invited Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov to was, of course, just that kind of ordinary salon; under such circumstances, it is quite normal for the two to talk a little.

However, due to the circle issue, the salons she attended indeed had more noble young men inside; some people's identities were such that even her General father would have to change his usual sternness and kindly ask about their recent situation.

Originally, it was a salon held out of literary interest, but after others learned that she seemed able to invite that Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov, others' reactions suddenly became enthusiastic, asking her more than once:

"Will he really come? I seem to have never seen him at such a gathering."

"How moving his poetry is, and so are his novels; I have always felt deep sympathy for the characters in his pen."

"Is it really him? That noble poet who is unwilling to show his face easily?"

Because their thoughts were more or less close, Nadya's friends indeed had similar views on Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov's novels, and the more they paid attention, the stronger their curiosity about Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov became.

But until now, even in the salons of those famous figures in St. Petersburg, this gentleman seems to have hardly been there; yet now, is he willing to come to their salon at the invitation of their companion?

This more or less made the noble young men and Young Ladies in this salon feel a bit honored.

Consequently, they surrounded Nadya for a long time and asked many questions.

However, what they asked was mostly about Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov's poetry and novels and his upcoming creative plans; for Nadya, she was more willing to talk about Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov's character and the things he often did in daily life.

The former is the opportunity, but that is love for literature and should not be transferred to the person; the latter is the key factor for Nadya to correspond with the other party via letters and feel very happy.

Writers and poets who only talk about lofty ideals or some philosophy or art, Nadya has seen no small number of them.

And just as Nadya was dealing with her female companion's questions, a group of people had quietly appeared in this salon; when everyone reacted and looked, basically without them introducing themselves, everyone turned their gaze to that quiet young man with black eyes and subconsciously recited his name in their hearts.

"Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov."

Nadya called out, then, under everyone's gaze, hurried forward holding up her skirt; when she reached in front of Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov, she looked at him fixedly and greeted him: "Long time no see, are you well?"

"I am very well."

Feeling the frank and happy gaze of this young Miss, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov, as Xiao Chunan, almost couldn't hold it back and almost took a step back, but in the end, Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov still smiled and greeted:

"And you?"

"I am also very well; there are just some things worth talking about that I forgot to write in the letter."

Smiling brightly, this young Miss did not forget Old Turgenev and Old Dostoevsky beside her; after greeting them and introducing Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov to everyone, she found an opportunity to talk about something with Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov.

And watching such a scene, Turgenev, whose illness had not yet struck, sighed to Dostoevsky: "Alas! I was once like Mikhail too! But now it seems much the same."

Similarly, Dostoevsky, who currently held a very good impression of Turgenev, replied: "I encountered something similar recently, but nothing like dear Mikhail's composure. As Vissarion said, there are many things in Mikhail worth learning from."

(End of this chapter)