A week later Pan Stanislav took his wife to Svirski's on Via Margutta.
Svirski they saw almost daily. They had grown accustomed to the artist
and liked him; now he was to paint Marynia's portrait. At the studio
they found the Osnovskis, with whom acquaintance was made the more
easily since the ladies had met some years before at a party, and Pan
Stanislav had been presented on a time to Pani Osnovski, at Ostend;
he needed merely to remember her now. Pan Stanislav, it is true, did
not recollect whether at that epoch, when, after looking at every
young and presentable woman, he asked himself, "Is it this one?" he
had asked this touching the present Pani Osnovski; he might have done
so, however, for she had the reputation then of being a comely, though
rather flighty young person. Now she was a woman of six or seven and
twenty, very tall, a fresh, though dark brunette, with cherry lips,
dishevelled forelock, and somewhat oblique violet eyes, which gave her
face a resemblance to Chinese faces, and at the same time a certain
expression of malice and wit. She had a strange way of bearing herself,
which consisted in thrusting back her shoulders and pushing forward her
body; in consequence of this, Bukatski said of her that she carried her
bust _en offrande_.
Almost immediately she told Marynia that, as they were sitting in the
same studio, they ought to consider each other as colleagues; and told
Pan Stanislav that she remembered him, from the ball at Ostend, as a
good dancer and _causeur_, and therefore that she would not delay in
taking advantage of that knowledge now. To both she said that it was
very agreeable to her, that she was delighted with Rome, that she was
reading "Cosmopolis," that she was in love with the Villa Doria, with
the view from the Pincian, that she hoped to see the catacombs in
company with them, and that she knew the works of Rossi, in Allard's
translations. Then, pressing Svirski's hand, and smiling coquettishly
at Pan Stanislav, she went out, declaring that she gave way to one
worthier than herself, and left the impression of a whirlwind, a
Chinese woman, and a flower. Pan Osnovski, a very young man, with a
light blond face without significance, but kindly, followed her, and
hardly had he been able to put in a word.
Svirski drew a deep breath.
"Oh, she is a storm!" said he; "I have a thousand difficulties in
keeping her at rest two minutes."
"But what an interesting face!" said Marynia. "Is it permitted to look
at the portrait?"
"It lacks little of being finished; you may look at it."
Marynia and Pan Stanislav approached the portrait, and could express
admiration without excess of politeness. That head, painted in
water-colors, had the strength and warmth of an oil painting, and at
the same time the whole spiritual essence of Pani Osnovski was in
it. Svirski listened to the praises calmly; it was clear that he was
pleased with his work. He covered the picture, and carried it to a
dark corner of the studio, seated Marynia in an armchair already in
position, and began to study her.
His persistent gaze confused her somewhat,--her cheeks began to flush;
but he smiled with pleasure, muttering,--
"Yes; this is another type,--earth and heaven!"
At moments he closed one eye, which confused Marynia still more; at
moments he approached the cardboard, and again drew back, and again
studied her; and again he said, as if to himself,--
"In the other case, one had to bring out the devil, but here
womanliness."
"As you have seen that immediately, I feel sure of a masterpiece," said
Pan Stanislav.
All at once Svirski stopped looking at the paper and at Marynia, and,
turning to Pan Stanislav, smiled joyously, showing his sound teeth.
"Yes, womanliness! and her own womanliness, that is the main
characteristic of the face."
"And seize it, as you seized the devil in the other one."
"Stas!" exclaimed Marynia.
"It is not I who invented that, but Pan Svirski."
"If you wish, we will say imp, not devil,--a comely imp, but a
dangerous one. While painting, I observe various things. That is a
curious type,--Pani Osnovski."
"Why?"
"Have you observed her husband?"
"Somehow I was so occupied with her that I had no time."
"There it is: she hides him in such a degree that he is hardly visible;
and, what is worse, she herself does not see him. At the same time
he is one of the most worthy men in the world, uncommonly well-bred,
considerate to others in an unheard-of degree, very rich, and not at
all stupid. Moreover, he loves her to distraction."
Here Svirski began to paint, and repeated, as if in forgetfulness,--
"Lo-ves her to dis-trac-tion. Be pleased to arrange your hair a little
about the ear. If your husband is a talker, he will be in despair, for
Bukatski declares that when I begin work my lips never close, and that
I let no one have a word. She, do you see, may be thus far as pure
as a tear, but she is a coquette. She has an icy heart with a fiery
head. A dangerous species,--oh, dangerous! She devours books by whole
dozens,--naturally French books. She learns psychology in them, learns
of feminine temperaments, of the enigma of woman, seeks enigmas in
herself, which do not exist at all in her, discovers aspirations of
which yesterday she knew nothing. She is depraving herself mentally;
this mental depravation she considers wisdom, and makes no account of
her husband."
"But you are a terrible man," remarked Marynia.
"My wife will hide to-morrow from fear, when the hour for sitting
comes," said Pan Stanislav.
"Let her not hide; hers is a different type. Osnovski is not at all
dull; but people, and especially, with your permission, women, are so
unwise, that if a man's cleverness does not hit them on the head, if a
man lacks confidence in himself, if he does not scratch like a cat and
cut like a knife, they do not value him. As God lives, I have seen this
in life a hundred times."
After a while he closed one eye again, gazed at Marynia, and
continued,--
"In general, how foolish human society is! More than once have I put to
myself this question: Why is honesty of character, heart, and such a
thing as kindness, less valued than what is called mind? Why, in social
life, are two categories pre-eminent, wise and foolish? It is not the
custom, for example, to say, virtuous and unvirtuous; to such a degree
is it not the custom, that the very expressions would seem ridiculous."
"Because," said Pan Stanislav, "mind is the lantern with which virtue
and kindness and heart must light the way for themselves, otherwise
they might break their noses, or, what is worse, break the noses of
other people."
Marynia did not utter, it is true, a single word; but in her face it
was possible to read distinctly, "How wise this Stas is--terribly wise!"
"Wise Stas" added meanwhile,--
"I am not speaking of Osnovski now, for I do not know him."
"Osnovski," said Svirski, "loves his wife as his wife, as his child,
and as his happiness; but she has her head turned, God knows with what,
and does not repay him in kind. Women interest me, as an unmarried
man, immensely; more than once have I talked whole days about women,
especially with Bukatski, when they interested him more than they do
now. Bukatski divides women into plebeian souls, by which he means poor
and low spirits, and into patrician souls,--that is, natures ennobled,
full of the higher aspirations, and resting on principles, not phrases.
There is a certain justice in this, but I prefer my division, which is
simply into grateful and ungrateful hearts."
Here he withdrew from the sketch for a moment, half closed his eyes,
then, taking a small mirror, placed it toward the picture, and began to
look at the reflection.
"You ask what I mean by grateful and ungrateful hearts," said he,
turning to Marynia, though she had not asked about anything. "A
grateful heart is one which feels when it is loved, and is moved by
love; and in return for the loving, loves more and more, yields itself
more and more, prizes the loving, and honors it. The ungrateful heart
gets all it can from the love given; and the more certain it feels of
this love, the less it esteems it, the more it disregards and tramples
it. It is enough to love a woman with an ungrateful heart, to make her
cease loving. The fisherman is not concerned for the fish in the net;
therefore Pani Osnovski does not care for Pan Osnovski. In the essence
of the argument this is the rudest form of egotism in existence,--it
is simply African; and therefore God guard Osnovski, and may the Evil
One take her, with her Chinese eyes of violet color, and her frizzled
forelock! To paint such a woman is pleasant, but to marry--we are not
such fools. Will you believe it, I am in so much dread of an ungrateful
heart that I have not married so far, though my fortieth year has
sounded distinctly?"
"But it is so easy to recognize such a heart," said Marynia.
"May the Evil One take what is bad!" answered Svirski. "Not so easy,
especially when a man has lost sense and reason."
Bending his athletic form, he looked at the sketch some time, and
said,--
"Well, enough for to-day. As it is, I have talked so continuously
that flies must have dropped from the walls. To-morrow, if you hear
too much, just clap your hands. I do not talk so with Pani Osnovski,
because she herself likes to talk. But how many titles of books have
I heard? Enough of this! I wanted to say something more, but have
forgotten. Ah! this is it,--you have a grateful heart."
Pan Stanislav laughed, and invited Svirski to dinner, promising him the
society of Bukatski and Vaskovski.
"With great delight," answered Svirski; "I am as much alone here as a
wild beast. As the weather is clear and the moon full, we will go later
to see the Colosseum by moonlight."
The dinner took place, however, without Bukatski's mental hobbies, for
he felt out of health, and wrote that he could not come. But Svirski
and Vaskovski suited each other excellently, and became friends right
away. Only while he was working did Svirski let no one have a word;
in general, he liked to hear others, knew how to listen, and, though
the professor and his views seemed to him comical sometimes, so much
sincerity and kindness was evident in the old man that it would have
been difficult for him not to win people. His mystic face and the
expression of his eyes struck the artist. He sketched him a little
in his mind; and, while listening to his talk about the Aryans, he
thought how that head would look if all that was in it were brought out
distinctly.
Toward the end of the dinner the professor asked Marynia if she would
like to see the Pope. He said that in three days a Belgian pilgrimage
was to arrive, and that she might join it. Svirski, who knew all Rome
and all the monsignores, guaranteed to effect this with ease. When he
heard this, the professor looked at him, and inquired,--
"Then you are almost a Roman?"
"Of sixteen years' standing."
"Is it possible!"
Here the professor was somewhat confused, fearing lest he had committed
some indiscretion, but still wishing to know what to think of a man so
sympathetic, he overcame his timidity, and inquired,--
"But of the Quirinal, or the Vatican?"
"From Pognembin," answered Svirski, frowning slightly.
The end of the dinner interrupted further explanations and converse.
Marynia could scarcely sit still at the thought that she would see the
Capitol, the Forum, and the Colosseum by moonlight. In fact, somewhat
later they were driving toward the ruins along the Corso, which was
lighted by electricity.
The night was calm and warm. Around the Forum and Colosseum the
place was completely deserted; as, for that matter, it is in the day
sometimes. Near the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice some person in an
open window was playing on a flute, and one could hear every note in
the stillness. On the front of the Forum a deep shadow fell from the
height of the Capitol and its edifices; but farther on it was flooded
with clear, greenish light, as was also the Colosseum, which seemed
silver. When the carriage halted at the arches of the gigantic circus,
Pan Stanislav, Svirski, and Vaskovski entered the interior, and pushed
toward the centre of the arena, avoiding the fragments of columns,
friezes, piles of bricks, stones, and bases of columns standing here
and there, and fragments piled up near the arches. Under the influence
of silence and loneliness, words did not rise to their lips. Through
the arched entrances came to the interior sheaves of moonlight, which
seemed to rest quietly on the floor of the arena, on the opposite
walls, on the indentations, on openings in the walls, on breaks, on the
silvered mosses and ivy, covering the ruin here and there. Other parts
of the building, sunk in impenetrable darkness, produced the impression
of black and mysterious gulleys. From the low-placed cunicula came the
stern breath of desolation. Reality was lost amidst that labyrinth and
confusion of walls, arches, bright spots, bright stripes, and deep
shadows. The colossal ruin seemed to lose its real existence, and
to become a dream vision, or rather, a kind of wonderful impression
composed of silence, night, the moon, sadness, and the remembrance of a
past, mighty, but full of blood and suffering.
Svirski began to speak first, and in a subdued voice,--
"What pain, what tears, were here! what a measureless tragedy! Let
people say what they please, there is something beyond human in
Christianity; and that thought cannot be avoided."
Here he turned to Marynia, and continued,--
"Imagine that might: a whole world, millions of people, iron laws,
power unequalled before or since, an organization such as has never
been elsewhere, greatness, glory, hundreds of legions, a gigantic city,
possessing the world,--and that Palatine hill over there, possessing
the city; it would seem that no earthly power could overturn it.
Meanwhile two Jews come,--Peter and Paul, not with arms, but a word;
and see, here is a ruin, on the Palatine a ruin, in the Forum a ruin,
and above the city crosses, crosses, crosses and crosses."
Again there was silence; but from the direction of Santa Maria
Liberatrice the sound of the flute came continually.
After a while Vaskovski said, pointing to the arena,--
"There was a cross here, too, but they have borne it away."
Pan Stanislav was thinking, however, of Svirski's words; for him
they had a more vital interest than they could have for a man who
had finished the spiritual struggle with himself. At last he said,
following his own course of thought,--
"Yes, there is something beyond human in this; some truth shines into
the eyes here, like that moon."
They were going slowly toward the entrance, when a carriage rattled
outside. Then in the dark passage leading to the centre of the circus,
steps were heard; two tall, figures issued from the shade into the
light. One of these, dressed in gray stuff, which gleamed like steel in
the moonlight, approached a number of steps to distinguish the visitors
better, and said all at once,--
"Good-evening! The night is so beautiful that we, too, came to the
Colosseum. What a night!"
Pan Stanislav recognized the voice of Pani Osnovski.
Giving her hand, she spoke with a voice as soft as the sound of that
flute which came from the direction of the church,--
"I shall begin to believe in presentiments, for really something told
me that here I should find acquaintances. How beautiful the night is!"