Terms

Holy fool In Russian, юродивый (yurodivy), "holy fool" (our translation), is the name the Orthodox tradition gives to the fool for Christ: the beggar of disordered behavior who lives on the margins and whose apparent foolishness the people take as a sign of... Idiot In Russian, идиот has two uses in the book that intersect. One is diagnostic: Dr. Schneider treats idiocy and madness in a sanatorium in the Valais, and the prince himself says that his fits made him, as a child, almost an idiot. The other is an insult: Ganya... Prince In Russian, князь (knyaz) is the hereditary title of the old Russian nobility, which translates as "prince," and it is the word with which almost everyone addresses Myshkin. The title comes with nothing else: he belongs to an old princely family... Epilepsy In Russian, падучая (paduchaya), from падать, "to fall," is the popular name for epilepsy. It is the word the narrator uses for what some guess in Myshkin's gaze, and the prince, describing his nervous illness to his carriage neighbors, says it is... Beauty will save the world In the novel the phrase is мир спасёт красота (mir spasyot krasota), "the world will be saved by beauty" (our translation); the proverbial form, красота спасёт мир, is also in the book, in Hippolyte's exclamation right after. The prince never says... Pity In Russian, жалость (zhalost), "pity" (our translation), comes from жалеть, to feel pity for someone, and is related to жаль, "it is a pity." It is the word with which the prince tells Rogozhin how he loves Nastasya, with pity and not with... Compassion In Russian, сострадание (sostradanie), "compassion" (our translation), joins со-, "with," and страдание, "suffering": to suffer together. The book uses the word when it speaks in general or when someone refuses it: the portrait... Ground In Russian, почва (pochva) is the soil, the ground in which something grows. In the prince's speech against Catholicism, the word appears in the maxim that whoever has no ground beneath them has no God. In the Russian text he says the maxim is not his own,... Self-love In Russian, самолюбие (samolyubie), "self-love" (our translation), joins "oneself" and "love": the pride of one who does not accept being humbled, which can be vanity or dignity. Ganya cites it as the thing in a man most capable... The Star Wormwood In Russian, звезда Полынь (zvezda Polyn), "the Star Wormwood" (our translation), comes from Revelation (8:10-11): a great star falls on the rivers and the springs of water, and many die of the waters made bitter. In the book, Lebedev, who has been... Haggling In Russian, торги (torgi) are haggling, or the auction in which a price is disputed, and торговать is to haggle or to sell. In the album, the line Aglaya dictates to the prince is that she does not enter into haggling; at the party, Nastasya tells everyone...