Shoot!’ etc., etc.
And it’s just this turkey-cock’s contempt for the fight for freedom by awakening humanity that shall never, never be forgiven us.”
The boat glided gently over the calm, open, mirroring surface of the river, which was garlanded round by the tall, dark green, motionless reeds.
The little vessel was, as it were, hidden from the whole world.
Over it hovered, now and then uttering a scream, the white gulls, occasionally so closely that, as they almost brushed Romashov with the tips of their wings, they made him feel the breeze arising from their strong, swift flights.
Nasanski lay on his back in the stern of the boat and kept staring, for a long time, at the bright sky, where a few golden clouds sailing gently by had already begun to change to rose colour.
Romashov said in a shy tone:
“Are you tired?
Oh, keep on talking.”
It seemed as if Nasanski continued to think and dream aloud when he once more picked up the threads of his monologue.
“Yes, a new, glorious, and wonderful time is at hand.
I venture to say this, for I myself have lived a good deal in the world, read, seen, experienced, and suffered much.
When I was a schoolboy, the old crows and jackdaws croaked into our ears:
‘Love your neighbour as yourself, and know that gentleness, obedience, and the fear of God are man’s fairest adornments.’
Then came certain strong, honest, fanatical men who said:
‘Come and join us, and we’ll throw ourselves into the abyss so that the coming race shall live in light and freedom.’
But I never understood a word of this.
Who do you suppose is going to show me, in a convincing way, in what manner I am linked to this ‘neighbour’ of mine—damn him! who, you know, may be a miserable slave, a Hottentot, a leper, or an idiot?
Of all the holy legends there is none which I hate and despise with my whole soul so much as that of John the Almoner.
The leper says:
‘I am shivering with cold; lie beside me in my bed and warm my body with thy limbs.
Lay thy lips close to my fetid mouth and breathe on me!’
Oh, how disgusting!
How I hate this victim of leprosy, and, for the matter of that, also all other similar choice examples of my ‘neighbour.’
Can any reasonable being tell me why I should crush my head so that the generation in the year 3200 may attain a higher standard of happiness? Be quiet!
I, too, once upon a time, sympathized with the silly, babyish cackle about ‘the world-soul,’ ‘man’s sacred duty,’ etc.
But even if these high-falutin phrases did find a place then in my brain, they never forced their way into my heart.
Do you follow me, Romashov?”
Romashov looked at Nasanski with a mixture of gratitude and shame.
“I understand you fully.
When I come to ‘send in my checks’ and die, then the universe dies with me.
That’s what you meant, eh?”
“Exactly, but listen further.
Love of humanity is burnt out and has vanished from the heart of man.
In its stead shall come a new creed, a new view of life that shall last to the world’s end; and this view of life consists in the individual’s love for himself, for his own powerful intelligence and the infinite riches of his feelings and perceptions.
Think, Romashov, just this way and in no other. Who is nearer and dearer to me than myself?
No one.
You, and none other, are the Tsar and autocrat of your own soul, its pride and ornament.
You are the god of all that lives.
To you alone belongs all that you see, hear, and feel.
Take what you want and do what you please.
Fear nobody and nothing, for there is no one in the whole universe above you or can even be your rival.
Ah, a time will come when the fixed belief in one’s own Ego will cast its blessed beams over mankind as did once the fiery tongues of the Holy Ghost over the Apostles’ heads. Then there will be no longer slaves and masters; no maimed or cripples; no malice, no vices, no pity, no hate.
Men will be gods.
How shall I dare to deceive, insult, or ill-treat another man, in whom I see and feel my fellow, who, like myself, is a god?
Then, and then only, shall life be rich and beautiful.
Over the whole habitable portion of our earth shall tall, airy, lovely buildings be raised. Nothing vulgar, common, low, and impure shall any longer torture the eye. Our daily life shall become a pleasurable toil, an enfranchised science, a wonderful music, an everlasting merry-making.
Love, free and sovereign, shall become the world’s religion. No longer shall it be forced in shame to hide its countenance; no longer shall it be coupled with sin, disgrace, and darkness.
And our own bodies shall glow with health, strength, and beauty, and go clad in bright, shimmering robes.
Just as certainly as I believe in an eternal sky above me,” shouted Nasanski, “so do I just as firmly believe in this paradisaical life to come.”