“But you did not care to profit by it， prince，” said Speransky， showing with a smile that he wished to conclude with civility an argument embarrassing for his companion. “If you will do me the honour to call on Wednesday， then I shall have seen Magnitsky， and shall have something to tell you that may interest you， and besides I shall have the pleasure of more conversation with you.” Closing his eyes， he bowed， and trying to escape unnoticed， he went out of the drawing-room without saying good-bye， à la fran？aise.
Chpater 6
DURING THE FIRST PART of his stay in Petersburg， Prince Andrey found all the habits of thought he had formed in his solitary life completely obscured by the trifling cares which engrossed him in Petersburg.
In the evening on returning home he noted down in his memorandum-book four or five unavoidable visits or appointments for fixed hours. The mechanism of life， the arrangement of his day， so as to be in time everywhere， absorbed the greater part of his vital energy. He did nothing， thought of nothing even， and had no time to think， but only talked， and talked successfully， of what he had had time to think about in the past in the country.
He sometimes noticed with dissatisfaction that it happened to him to repeat the same remarks on the same day to different audiences. But he was so busy for whole days together that he had no time to reflect that he was thinking of nothing. Just as at their first meeting at Kotchubey’s， Speransky had a long and confidential talk with Prince Andrey on Wednesday at his own home， where he received Bolkonsky alone and made a great impression on him.
Prince Andrey regarded the immense mass of men as contemptible and worthless creatures， and he had such a longing to find in some other man the living pattern of that perfection after which he strove himself， that he was ready to believe that in Speransky he had found this ideal of a perfectly rational and virtuous man. Had Speransky belonged to the same world as Prince Andrey， had he been of the same breeding and moral traditions， Bolkonsky would soon have detected the weak， human， unheroic sides of his character； but this logical turn of mind was strange to him and inspired him with the more respect from his not fully understanding it. Besides this， Speransky， either because he appreciated Prince Andrey’s abilities or because he thought it as well to secure his adherence， showed off his calm， impartial sagacity before Prince Andrey， and flattered him with that delicate flattery that goes hand in hand with conceit， and consists in a tacit assumption that one’s companion and oneself are the only people capable of understanding all the folly of the rest of the world and the sagacity and profundity of their own ideas.
In the course of their long conversation on Wednesday evening Speransky said more than once： “Among us everything that is out of the common rut of tradition is looked at，” … or with a smile： “But we want the wolves to be well fed and the sheep to be unhurt.” … or： “They can’t grasp that” … and always with an expression that said. “We， you and I， we understand what they are and who we are.”
