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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:40,667 --> 00:00:45,875 A SCREEN ADAPTATION OF A TEXT BY VLADIMIR SOLOVYOV 2 00:01:35,833 --> 00:01:37,792 Zoyichka! 3 00:01:37,875 --> 00:01:41,000 Zoya! Come inside! 4 00:01:47,083 --> 00:01:50,000 Careful, or you'll slip and fall. 5 00:04:39,208 --> 00:04:43,708 Be that as it may, but now let's take a different path, dear Nikolai. 6 00:04:43,792 --> 00:04:46,042 Are you ready to follow me? 7 00:04:46,125 --> 00:04:47,708 Yes, I am. 8 00:04:47,792 --> 00:04:51,500 Let's return to the story of the two monks. 9 00:04:51,917 --> 00:04:54,792 Well then, back to Alexandria. 10 00:04:54,875 --> 00:04:57,125 But that's not what interests me. 11 00:04:57,208 --> 00:04:59,958 We follow the same path, 12 00:05:00,042 --> 00:05:04,375 the same conclusions, but we remove the essence, 13 00:05:04,458 --> 00:05:07,375 that is, the existence of God and the Devil. 14 00:05:07,458 --> 00:05:12,542 We proceed from the next postulate: Neither God nor the devil exists. 15 00:05:12,625 --> 00:05:14,708 What interests me here 16 00:05:15,250 --> 00:05:19,833 is that if we believe that evil comes from within, 17 00:05:20,917 --> 00:05:22,250 then, 18 00:05:22,750 --> 00:05:26,958 which of the two men would have taken this path, 19 00:05:27,042 --> 00:05:30,958 the three days of debauchery in Alexandria, in your opinion? 20 00:05:34,667 --> 00:05:36,458 Which indeed? 21 00:05:36,792 --> 00:05:39,333 I don't know, it's just a hypothesis. 22 00:05:39,417 --> 00:05:44,250 It would be interesting to assume that probably 23 00:05:44,375 --> 00:05:46,792 the initiative would be taken by him 24 00:05:46,875 --> 00:05:51,292 who feels no regret, does not repent, 25 00:05:52,875 --> 00:05:55,833 does not fall prey to despair. 26 00:05:55,917 --> 00:05:57,500 Do you remember the story? 27 00:05:57,583 --> 00:06:02,000 Sure, the story goes like this: after spending three days in Alexandria… 28 00:06:02,083 --> 00:06:03,292 They return to the desert. 29 00:06:03,375 --> 00:06:05,208 - Together. - Both of them. 30 00:06:05,292 --> 00:06:08,833 On the way, one of them laments, flagellates himself… 31 00:06:08,917 --> 00:06:10,708 - He fades… - Completely… 32 00:06:10,792 --> 00:06:15,875 He cannot forget what happened in Alexandria… 33 00:06:16,417 --> 00:06:20,042 - Whereas the other… - The other sings psalms 34 00:06:20,458 --> 00:06:25,708 as he goes. And then back in their caves, 35 00:06:26,833 --> 00:06:32,333 one continues to repent, to flagellate himself, 36 00:06:32,417 --> 00:06:34,667 finally he decides to return to Alexandria. 37 00:06:34,750 --> 00:06:38,292 - He decides to leave. - He decides. 38 00:06:38,375 --> 00:06:40,000 He leaves everything behind. 39 00:06:40,083 --> 00:06:43,750 Because he believes that after succumbing to debauchery, 40 00:06:43,833 --> 00:06:46,292 there is no going back. 41 00:06:51,125 --> 00:06:54,375 I think the general is leaving. 42 00:06:55,542 --> 00:06:57,833 Shall we see him out? 43 00:06:59,250 --> 00:07:01,750 In three days he embarks for Marseilles. 44 00:07:01,833 --> 00:07:03,417 For Toulon. 45 00:07:03,625 --> 00:07:04,958 Toulon? 46 00:07:34,875 --> 00:07:37,458 Andrey Nikolaevich, maybe I should wake him? 47 00:07:37,542 --> 00:07:38,917 Yes. 48 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,625 Fetch a bucket of cold water. 49 00:08:05,292 --> 00:08:06,917 Well, 50 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:08,750 I should be leaving. 51 00:08:18,875 --> 00:08:20,667 I'll be right back. 52 00:09:26,208 --> 00:09:30,000 Why shouldn't a modern army bear the title “Christ-loving”? 53 00:09:31,667 --> 00:09:33,042 A title! 54 00:09:33,125 --> 00:09:36,208 In that case, is white or black a title? 55 00:09:36,292 --> 00:09:38,167 Is sweet or bitter a title? 56 00:09:38,250 --> 00:09:40,125 Is brave or cowardly a title? 57 00:09:40,208 --> 00:09:42,625 It is not I who says it, but all law-abiding people. 58 00:09:42,708 --> 00:09:45,667 I beg your pardon! But tell me, is there still 59 00:09:45,750 --> 00:09:49,917 a glorious and Christ-loving Russian army? 60 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:51,500 Why quibble over words? 61 00:09:51,583 --> 00:09:55,708 Ingrida meant something by “Christ-loving army”. 62 00:09:56,042 --> 00:09:58,333 Thank you, Madeleine. 63 00:09:59,458 --> 00:10:01,458 This is what I meant: 64 00:10:02,292 --> 00:10:04,125 Since the beginning of time, 65 00:10:04,208 --> 00:10:08,375 every military man, soldier or marshal, 66 00:10:08,458 --> 00:10:12,333 has known that he serves a great and good cause. 67 00:10:13,125 --> 00:10:15,917 Not only a useful or necessary cause, 68 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,833 such as emptying the privy or doing the laundry, 69 00:10:21,292 --> 00:10:25,333 but in the loftier sense, a good, noble and honourable cause, 70 00:10:25,417 --> 00:10:30,833 a cause always served by the best men: the elite, the rulers, the heroes. 71 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,625 Our cause has always been blessed by the Church, 72 00:10:34,708 --> 00:10:37,083 all have glorified it. 73 00:10:37,375 --> 00:10:42,000 Suddenly we discover that we must forget all that 74 00:10:42,083 --> 00:10:44,500 and radically alter our opinion of ourselves 75 00:10:44,583 --> 00:10:46,708 and of our place under the sun. 76 00:10:46,792 --> 00:10:49,917 The cause we once proudly served 77 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:52,625 is declared wicked and baleful, 78 00:10:52,708 --> 00:10:56,250 at odds with our Lord's commandments and human sentiments, 79 00:10:56,333 --> 00:10:58,583 a misfortune and a dreadful evil, 80 00:10:58,667 --> 00:11:01,458 that all nations must unite against it, 81 00:11:01,542 --> 00:11:05,167 and its ultimate demise is only a matter of time. 82 00:11:05,250 --> 00:11:10,083 Have you not heard the voices that condemn war and military service 83 00:11:10,167 --> 00:11:12,250 as vestiges of ancient cannibalism? 84 00:11:12,333 --> 00:11:14,125 Have I heard? 85 00:11:14,542 --> 00:11:18,542 Of course I have! And I've read it too. In several languages. 86 00:11:18,625 --> 00:11:20,500 But the voices of which you speak, 87 00:11:20,583 --> 00:11:24,958 they were, to be frank, nothing but hot air. 88 00:11:25,042 --> 00:11:27,500 We heard them and then forgot them. 89 00:11:28,125 --> 00:11:30,708 But now things have totally changed. 90 00:11:30,792 --> 00:11:33,500 That is why I ask what are we to do? 91 00:11:33,583 --> 00:11:38,500 How should I, or rather any soldier, regard himself: 92 00:11:38,583 --> 00:11:40,583 As a real human 93 00:11:40,667 --> 00:11:43,042 or as nature's Quasimodo? 94 00:11:43,125 --> 00:11:47,333 Am I allowed to have self-respect because I served a just cause? 95 00:11:47,417 --> 00:11:50,500 Or should I be aghast at what I have done, 96 00:11:50,583 --> 00:11:54,083 should I repent and beg all the civilians 97 00:11:54,167 --> 00:11:56,833 to forgive me now that I am proscribed? 98 00:11:56,917 --> 00:11:59,583 Begone, Michel Kutuzoff! 99 00:11:59,667 --> 00:12:01,792 There was a great man! 100 00:12:02,167 --> 00:12:05,083 What an odd way to pose the question! 101 00:12:05,583 --> 00:12:09,667 As if we had asked the military to do something extraordinary. 102 00:12:09,833 --> 00:12:14,458 The new requirements apply not to them, but to diplomats and other civilians, 103 00:12:14,542 --> 00:12:18,875 who do not care if they are proscribed, 104 00:12:18,958 --> 00:12:22,375 just as they do not care how much you love Christ. 105 00:12:22,458 --> 00:12:24,250 This alone is demanded of them: 106 00:12:24,333 --> 00:12:28,000 to obey the orders of your superiors unquestioningly. 107 00:12:28,083 --> 00:12:30,708 As you are not interested in military matters, 108 00:12:30,792 --> 00:12:35,875 of course you get, as you just said, to an odd conclusion. 109 00:12:35,958 --> 00:12:39,333 It is obvious you don't know that in some cases 110 00:12:39,417 --> 00:12:41,083 a superior's orders 111 00:12:41,167 --> 00:12:45,292 mean neither waiting nor asking for orders. 112 00:12:45,375 --> 00:12:47,583 Which is to say? 113 00:12:47,667 --> 00:12:51,833 Which is to say: Imagine that on my superiors' orders 114 00:12:51,917 --> 00:12:55,542 I am placed in charge of an entire military region. 115 00:12:55,625 --> 00:12:57,625 This means that my mission is 116 00:12:57,708 --> 00:13:01,833 to command the armies in my charge in whatever way appropriate, 117 00:13:02,042 --> 00:13:06,500 that I must foster in them a certain morale, 118 00:13:06,583 --> 00:13:09,833 I must act above their will in a prudent way, 119 00:13:09,917 --> 00:13:13,292 I must tune their feelings within a certain range, 120 00:13:13,375 --> 00:13:17,917 in short, I must educate them, in the spirit of their task. 121 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,542 Therefore I am allowed, among other things, to give others… 122 00:13:22,667 --> 00:13:26,333 to give orders to the troops in my region, 123 00:13:26,417 --> 00:13:30,208 on my own account and taking full responsibility. 124 00:13:31,208 --> 00:13:36,375 If I asked high command to dictate what orders to give 125 00:13:36,458 --> 00:13:40,083 or even to provide me with guidelines, 126 00:13:40,750 --> 00:13:44,042 wouldn't I be thought a silly old fool 127 00:13:44,125 --> 00:13:48,208 and then relegated to the reserve? 128 00:13:48,417 --> 00:13:53,333 This means that I myself must instil a certain spirit in my armies, 129 00:13:53,417 --> 00:13:56,583 which will have been endorsed and confirmed 130 00:13:56,667 --> 00:13:58,667 by the high command. 131 00:13:58,750 --> 00:14:00,000 But even so, 132 00:14:00,083 --> 00:14:04,875 questions on this subject are nothing but stupidity or insolence. 133 00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:07,458 But this spirit, 134 00:14:07,542 --> 00:14:10,792 the same, in essence, from Sargon and Assurbanipal 135 00:14:10,875 --> 00:14:12,833 to Wilhelm II, 136 00:14:13,125 --> 00:14:15,917 is now all of a sudden challenged. 137 00:14:16,333 --> 00:14:21,875 Until recently, I knew I must foster the military spirit in my troops, 138 00:14:21,958 --> 00:14:26,375 so a soldier would be ready to strike the enemy or die. 139 00:14:26,458 --> 00:14:29,958 And to do so, we must be convinced 140 00:14:30,042 --> 00:14:33,333 that war is sacred. 141 00:14:34,708 --> 00:14:38,000 But now, for no reason, we deprive them of this conviction 142 00:14:38,083 --> 00:14:40,750 and, as the erudite would say, 143 00:14:40,833 --> 00:14:45,958 martial deeds are deprived of their moral-religious authority. 144 00:14:46,792 --> 00:14:49,750 All this is dreadfully exaggerated. 145 00:14:49,833 --> 00:14:54,083 Nothing permits us to say that opinions have changed so much. 146 00:14:54,167 --> 00:14:55,292 On the one hand, 147 00:14:55,375 --> 00:14:59,333 everyone agrees that war is bad 148 00:14:59,417 --> 00:15:02,250 and the more seldom it occurs the better. 149 00:15:02,333 --> 00:15:04,958 On the other hand, serious-minded people 150 00:15:05,042 --> 00:15:10,667 understand that even today it is an unavoidable evil. 151 00:15:11,167 --> 00:15:13,500 It is not a case of abolishing war, 152 00:15:13,583 --> 00:15:16,542 but rather of gradually confining it 153 00:15:17,625 --> 00:15:19,625 within narrower bounds. 154 00:15:19,708 --> 00:15:21,542 But, in principle, 155 00:15:22,167 --> 00:15:24,958 the opinion of war has not altered. 156 00:15:25,750 --> 00:15:31,542 It remains an unavoidable evil, a calamity that must be borne. 157 00:15:31,625 --> 00:15:33,667 Nothing more? 158 00:15:33,750 --> 00:15:35,208 Yes. 159 00:15:35,667 --> 00:15:39,375 Have you ever cast a glance at the Orthodox calendar? 160 00:15:39,458 --> 00:15:40,792 At the calendar? 161 00:15:40,875 --> 00:15:44,083 Have you noticed what saints are to be found there? 162 00:15:44,458 --> 00:15:46,167 All kind of saints. 163 00:15:46,250 --> 00:15:48,208 What of their occupations? 164 00:15:49,167 --> 00:15:51,000 Every variety, I suppose. 165 00:15:51,083 --> 00:15:53,833 Actually, they do not differ very much. 166 00:15:53,917 --> 00:15:56,625 How so? Could it be they are all soldiers? 167 00:15:56,708 --> 00:15:58,792 Not all of them, but half. 168 00:15:59,292 --> 00:16:00,875 Again you exaggerate. 169 00:16:00,958 --> 00:16:02,208 Certainly… 170 00:16:02,292 --> 00:16:06,583 It is not a case of classifying them for the sake of statistics. 171 00:16:08,125 --> 00:16:12,500 I mean only that all the saints of our Russian Church 172 00:16:12,583 --> 00:16:14,958 fall under just two categories. 173 00:16:15,875 --> 00:16:18,625 They are either monks of various rank, 174 00:16:18,708 --> 00:16:23,000 or princes, who, in those days, were definitely soldiers. 175 00:16:23,083 --> 00:16:26,500 We have no other saints of the male sex. 176 00:16:26,583 --> 00:16:28,583 Either monks or soldiers. 177 00:16:28,667 --> 00:16:30,833 But you forget the holy fools! 178 00:16:30,917 --> 00:16:32,625 Not at all! 179 00:16:33,208 --> 00:16:36,250 But the holy fools are a different kind of monk. 180 00:16:36,333 --> 00:16:41,000 They are to monasticism what Cossacks are to the army. 181 00:16:41,583 --> 00:16:46,000 If among the Russian saints you can find me just one priest, 182 00:16:46,083 --> 00:16:48,542 merchant, state official, 183 00:16:48,625 --> 00:16:51,833 secretary, bourgeois or peasant, 184 00:16:51,917 --> 00:16:56,833 in short, any occupation besides monk or soldier, 185 00:16:56,958 --> 00:17:01,042 then I'll give you my entire winnings the next time I go to Monte Carlo. 186 00:17:02,125 --> 00:17:05,375 Keep your treasure and half your calendar! 187 00:17:05,458 --> 00:17:09,625 Explain to me just what you mean to insinuate by this discovery? 188 00:17:09,708 --> 00:17:14,083 Do you mean only monks and soldiers can provide a moral example? 189 00:17:14,542 --> 00:17:16,208 You are not even close. 190 00:17:16,292 --> 00:17:19,667 I myself know virtuous people among the clergy, 191 00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:23,792 among bankers, public officials and peasants. 192 00:17:23,917 --> 00:17:26,375 And the most virtuous person I can remember 193 00:17:26,458 --> 00:17:29,917 was the nanny who served in the household of a friend. 194 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,500 But that to one side. 195 00:17:31,583 --> 00:17:35,667 I mentioned the saints because I wish to know why there are 196 00:17:35,750 --> 00:17:38,583 so many soldiers among the monks… 197 00:17:38,667 --> 00:17:41,417 favoured over every other occupation, 198 00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:46,167 if we have always regarded the art of war as a tolerable evil… 199 00:17:46,250 --> 00:17:48,583 It is obvious that all Christians, 200 00:17:48,667 --> 00:17:51,208 whose thinking is reflected, 201 00:17:51,292 --> 00:17:53,000 and not only the Russian ones, 202 00:17:53,083 --> 00:17:55,208 because in France it's more or less the same, 203 00:17:55,292 --> 00:17:57,042 not only honour, 204 00:17:57,125 --> 00:18:00,292 but honour especially the military profession. 205 00:18:00,375 --> 00:18:03,667 Of all occupations, only that of arms was deemed capable 206 00:18:03,750 --> 00:18:06,917 of elevating the best specimens to the rank of saints. 207 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,500 Which is at odds with the current anti-war campaign, my dear Edouard. 208 00:18:10,583 --> 00:18:11,625 There you have it! 209 00:18:11,708 --> 00:18:13,833 Did I say there has been no change? 210 00:18:13,917 --> 00:18:16,833 It's obvious it is already happening. 211 00:18:17,208 --> 00:18:18,833 The sacred halo 212 00:18:18,917 --> 00:18:22,208 that once crowned the army, in the eyes of the mob, is fading. 213 00:18:22,292 --> 00:18:24,417 That is where we are heading. 214 00:18:24,500 --> 00:18:26,583 But who, in effect, will be harmed by it? 215 00:18:26,667 --> 00:18:30,583 The clergy, probably, since only they deal in haloes. 216 00:18:30,667 --> 00:18:34,792 Rest assured, dear Edouard, pious accommodations have already begun. 217 00:18:34,875 --> 00:18:37,583 For our magazine I follow religious literature. 218 00:18:37,667 --> 00:18:43,208 In two issues I found that Christianity condemns war. 219 00:18:43,292 --> 00:18:46,292 - Impossible! - I couldn't believe it either. 220 00:18:46,375 --> 00:18:48,708 - I can show you. - Show me what? 221 00:18:48,875 --> 00:18:50,625 You see? 222 00:18:50,708 --> 00:18:55,083 Although the absurd militarist system is doomed to extinction, 223 00:18:55,167 --> 00:18:57,625 the army will be preserved. 224 00:18:57,708 --> 00:19:00,667 As long as it is tolerated and seen as indispensable, 225 00:19:00,750 --> 00:19:03,125 we will demand of it the same military virtues. 226 00:19:03,208 --> 00:19:07,417 You're apt to butcher the cow and then demand its milk. 227 00:19:07,917 --> 00:19:10,958 Who will give you the military virtues you demand, 228 00:19:11,042 --> 00:19:12,750 when the principal virtue, 229 00:19:12,833 --> 00:19:15,917 without which the others matter not a whit, is courage? 230 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,583 That doesn't stand up if we don't believe in the holiness of our cause. 231 00:19:20,792 --> 00:19:22,125 How is that possible, 232 00:19:22,208 --> 00:19:24,875 if we declare war to be perfidy and murder, 233 00:19:24,958 --> 00:19:28,333 tolerable only in the extreme, when it is unavoidable? 234 00:19:28,417 --> 00:19:30,833 We don't demand soldiers accept such a thing, 235 00:19:30,917 --> 00:19:33,333 they only have to believe themselves the best in the world! 236 00:19:33,417 --> 00:19:35,167 Nikolai has already explained it to you. 237 00:19:35,250 --> 00:19:37,833 Don't loot our wallets, that's all! 238 00:19:37,917 --> 00:19:40,083 Where are we, on the moon? 239 00:19:40,167 --> 00:19:43,417 Would you keep soldiers in an absolute void? 240 00:19:43,500 --> 00:19:48,583 If military service is deemed an unavoidable evil for the time being, 241 00:19:48,667 --> 00:19:54,208 no one will devote his life to a military career. 242 00:19:54,292 --> 00:19:58,167 Except perhaps some nature's rejects, who have nowhere else to go. 243 00:19:58,250 --> 00:20:01,833 I have always thought that, after the introduction of military service, 244 00:20:01,917 --> 00:20:04,833 the dissolution of armies and then states themselves, 245 00:20:04,917 --> 00:20:06,625 will only be a question of time. 246 00:20:06,708 --> 00:20:09,875 A time not far away, given the current haste of history. 247 00:20:09,958 --> 00:20:11,708 Perhaps you are right. 248 00:20:11,792 --> 00:20:14,542 I am certain that you are right. 249 00:20:14,625 --> 00:20:18,250 Although such an idea has never crossed my mind. 250 00:20:18,333 --> 00:20:20,500 Marvellous! Just think of it! 251 00:20:20,583 --> 00:20:25,125 In its extreme form, militarism gives rise to compulsory military service. 252 00:20:25,208 --> 00:20:29,083 Thanks to this, not only will militarism perish, 253 00:20:29,167 --> 00:20:32,917 but also its old age foundations. Wonderful! 254 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,542 How nice that Olga has brightened up. 255 00:20:35,625 --> 00:20:40,042 So far she has displayed a gloominess unworthy of a true Christian. 256 00:20:40,125 --> 00:20:43,125 Because there is too much sadness around us. 257 00:20:43,542 --> 00:20:46,833 The only joy left is the thought that reason will triumph. 258 00:20:46,917 --> 00:20:51,292 It is plain that in Europe and Russia militarism is self-devouring. 259 00:20:51,375 --> 00:20:56,000 But what joy and what triumph will spring from it, it's hard to tell. 260 00:20:56,333 --> 00:20:59,875 Do you doubt that war and militarism are an absolute evil 261 00:20:59,958 --> 00:21:03,500 from which mankind must liberate itself? 262 00:21:03,667 --> 00:21:07,250 That the total and immediate destruction of this cannibalism 263 00:21:07,333 --> 00:21:10,083 will constitute the triumph of reason and the good? 264 00:21:10,167 --> 00:21:12,250 I am convinced of the opposite. 265 00:21:12,333 --> 00:21:13,542 How so? 266 00:21:13,625 --> 00:21:16,417 War is not an absolute evil 267 00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:19,000 and peace is not an absolute good. 268 00:21:19,083 --> 00:21:24,083 Or put simply, a good war is as possible as a bad peace. 269 00:21:25,917 --> 00:21:29,250 Now I see how your position differs from Ingrida's. 270 00:21:29,333 --> 00:21:32,708 She thinks war is always good and peace always bad. 271 00:21:32,792 --> 00:21:34,458 Not at all! 272 00:21:34,583 --> 00:21:36,542 I too understand perfectly 273 00:21:36,625 --> 00:21:39,625 that war can sometimes be a very bad thing, 274 00:21:39,750 --> 00:21:43,083 particularly when we are defeated, as, for example, at Austerlitz. 275 00:21:43,167 --> 00:21:45,708 And peace can be a wonderful thing, 276 00:21:45,792 --> 00:21:48,625 such as that of Nystad or Kuchuk-Kainardji. 277 00:21:48,708 --> 00:21:52,292 Behold a variation on the famous words of the Kaffir or Hottentot 278 00:21:52,375 --> 00:21:53,833 who told a missionary 279 00:21:53,917 --> 00:21:57,042 he understood the difference between good and evil: 280 00:21:57,125 --> 00:21:59,750 Good is when I steal another man's women and cattle, 281 00:21:59,833 --> 00:22:01,917 and evil is when he steals mine. 282 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,792 - Both the African and I were joking. - Obviously. 283 00:22:04,875 --> 00:22:06,750 He unwittingly, I deliberately. 284 00:22:06,833 --> 00:22:09,875 What about you, Edouard, who are so well educated, 285 00:22:09,958 --> 00:22:14,625 what do you have to say about war, from the moral standpoint? 286 00:22:14,708 --> 00:22:17,792 I wouldn't let scholasticism and metaphysics 287 00:22:17,875 --> 00:22:20,917 alter such a clear and historically determined problem! 288 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:22,917 Clear from what point of view? 289 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,125 Mine, the typical, European one, 290 00:22:26,208 --> 00:22:30,417 about to be adopted by educated people everywhere. 291 00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:32,125 Forgive me if I laugh! 292 00:22:32,208 --> 00:22:35,917 Evidently, it consists in viewing everything as relative 293 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:37,875 and not allowing any differentiation 294 00:22:37,958 --> 00:22:40,542 between what we are and are not permitted, 295 00:22:40,625 --> 00:22:43,458 between good and evil. That's it, isn't it? 296 00:22:43,542 --> 00:22:48,417 My dear Olga, such an argument is of no help in solving the problem. 297 00:22:48,500 --> 00:22:50,708 Take me, for example, 298 00:22:50,792 --> 00:22:55,000 I allow that morally, good and evil are absolutely opposed. 299 00:22:55,083 --> 00:22:59,042 But it's clear to me that war and peace do not fall under this category. 300 00:22:59,125 --> 00:23:00,542 You cannot view war 301 00:23:00,625 --> 00:23:03,167 as only black, and peace as only white. 302 00:23:03,250 --> 00:23:06,375 A contradiction in terms will then arise. 303 00:23:06,458 --> 00:23:09,667 If something evil in itself, for example, murder, 304 00:23:09,750 --> 00:23:13,417 can become good in the case of war, as you say, 305 00:23:13,750 --> 00:23:17,250 where does that leave the absolute difference between good and evil? 306 00:23:17,333 --> 00:23:19,417 How much easier you make your task! 307 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:21,458 All murder is an absolute evil, 308 00:23:21,542 --> 00:23:22,667 war is murder, 309 00:23:22,750 --> 00:23:24,958 therefore war is an absolute evil. 310 00:23:25,042 --> 00:23:27,208 It's a first-category syllogism. 311 00:23:27,292 --> 00:23:29,417 Except that you forget, my dear Olga, 312 00:23:29,500 --> 00:23:32,042 that both premises, both the major and the minor, 313 00:23:32,125 --> 00:23:33,708 have still to be proven. 314 00:23:33,792 --> 00:23:36,917 Consequently, the conclusion is left hanging too. 315 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,625 Didn't I say we've reverted to scholasticism? 316 00:23:39,708 --> 00:23:41,792 What exactly are we talking about? 317 00:23:41,875 --> 00:23:46,042 You therefore argue that to kill, to take someone's life, 318 00:23:46,125 --> 00:23:48,542 is in any given situation an absolute evil? 319 00:23:48,625 --> 00:23:49,708 Without a doubt. 320 00:23:49,792 --> 00:23:51,917 But is to be killed 321 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:53,708 an absolute evil? 322 00:23:54,708 --> 00:23:57,250 For the Hottentots it is, obviously. 323 00:23:57,875 --> 00:24:00,167 But were we not talking about moral evil? 324 00:24:00,250 --> 00:24:03,958 This exists only in the deeds of a rational being, 325 00:24:04,042 --> 00:24:08,250 deeds that depend on his will, rather than chance. 326 00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:12,167 To be killed is therefore the same as to die of cholera or influenza. 327 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:16,417 Not only it's not an absolute evil, but it's not even an evil. 328 00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:18,917 Socrates and the Stoics knew it already. 329 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,208 I would leave the ancients out of this. 330 00:24:21,292 --> 00:24:25,542 The absolute you cite, in morally assessing murder, is shaky. 331 00:24:25,958 --> 00:24:28,000 From what you say, 332 00:24:28,083 --> 00:24:31,417 absolute evil means to do to a man something that is not evil in itself. 333 00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:34,375 As you like, but it is shaky. 334 00:24:34,458 --> 00:24:36,375 But let us leave this aside, 335 00:24:36,458 --> 00:24:39,625 otherwise we really do revert to scholasticism. 336 00:24:39,917 --> 00:24:42,500 So, in the case of a murder, 337 00:24:42,583 --> 00:24:45,500 the evil is not the physical act of taking someone's life, 338 00:24:45,583 --> 00:24:50,625 rather it resides in the moral cause, in the murderer's intention to do evil. 339 00:24:50,708 --> 00:24:52,958 - Is that not so? - Evidently. 340 00:24:53,042 --> 00:24:54,375 Without the intention, 341 00:24:54,458 --> 00:24:57,167 it would not be murder, but misfortune or carelessness. 342 00:24:57,250 --> 00:25:01,917 Therefore, without the intention, it would be the same as botched surgery. 343 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,625 But we can imagine a different situation, 344 00:25:05,750 --> 00:25:09,583 where the intention does not take as its main aim the killing of a man, 345 00:25:09,667 --> 00:25:12,875 but consents to murder in a case of extreme necessity. 346 00:25:12,958 --> 00:25:17,000 Would such a murder be an absolute evil? 347 00:25:17,833 --> 00:25:21,875 Certainly, since there was the intention to kill. 348 00:25:22,417 --> 00:25:27,958 Might the intention to kill not coincide with the intention to do evil 349 00:25:28,042 --> 00:25:31,208 and therefore might the crime not be an absolute evil, 350 00:25:31,292 --> 00:25:33,167 even subjectively speaking? 351 00:25:33,250 --> 00:25:35,625 I have heard this argument a thousand times! 352 00:25:35,708 --> 00:25:37,875 That father who, in a deserted place, 353 00:25:37,958 --> 00:25:41,417 sees a brute hurl himself at his innocent daughter, 354 00:25:41,500 --> 00:25:44,375 ready to subject her to a base villainy, 355 00:25:44,458 --> 00:25:49,625 and who, finding no other solution, kills the attacker. 356 00:25:49,958 --> 00:25:52,708 For adding effect, I'll say that the daughter is a child. 357 00:25:52,792 --> 00:25:56,208 What is remarkable is not that you've heard it a thousand times, 358 00:25:56,292 --> 00:25:59,292 but that nobody has heard those who think like you 359 00:25:59,375 --> 00:26:02,042 put forward a valid objection to this simple argument. 360 00:26:02,125 --> 00:26:04,625 - What objection? - There you go! 361 00:26:04,708 --> 00:26:06,042 Well, 362 00:26:06,125 --> 00:26:09,000 if you don't want to put forward any objection, 363 00:26:09,083 --> 00:26:11,917 then demonstrate straightforwardly and positively 364 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,042 that in every case, without exception, 365 00:26:14,125 --> 00:26:16,625 not to use force in the battle with evil 366 00:26:16,708 --> 00:26:20,583 is better than to use it and to risk killing an evil-doer. 367 00:26:20,667 --> 00:26:24,125 Is there a specific proof for an isolated case? 368 00:26:24,208 --> 00:26:29,042 Once you allow that, in general, murder is evil in a moral sense? 369 00:26:29,125 --> 00:26:32,208 It is clear that, in every case, it will still be an evil. 370 00:26:32,292 --> 00:26:37,417 Nobody objects that in general, it is better not to kill than to kill. 371 00:26:37,542 --> 00:26:40,667 But the question concerns particular cases. 372 00:26:40,750 --> 00:26:43,250 If the general rule is “thou shalt not kill”, 373 00:26:43,333 --> 00:26:45,083 it is therefore absolute 374 00:26:45,167 --> 00:26:49,958 and without no exceptions or individual circumstances. 375 00:26:50,083 --> 00:26:53,417 I cannot accept that the problem be put so formally. 376 00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:56,042 Let us say that in this exceptional case, 377 00:26:56,125 --> 00:26:58,625 which you have invented as an argument, 378 00:26:58,708 --> 00:27:03,875 let us allow that it is better to kill than not to kill. 379 00:27:04,500 --> 00:27:07,917 Evidently, I do not allow it, but let us say you are right. 380 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,250 Let us even say that the given situation is not fiction, but reality, 381 00:27:11,333 --> 00:27:14,083 although it is extremely rare and exceptional. 382 00:27:14,833 --> 00:27:19,417 But what we are talking about here is war, a universal phenomenon. 383 00:27:20,292 --> 00:27:23,208 Do you contend that Napoleon 384 00:27:23,292 --> 00:27:26,333 found himself in a situation similar 385 00:27:26,417 --> 00:27:30,708 to that of the father forced to defend his daughter from a monster? 386 00:27:30,792 --> 00:27:33,625 An improvement on earlier. Bravo, Olga! 387 00:27:34,083 --> 00:27:36,792 You skillfully avoid an annoying question. 388 00:27:36,875 --> 00:27:41,208 Let us rework the example, lest the details blunt its meaning. 389 00:27:41,292 --> 00:27:44,000 No need for the father or the little girl. 390 00:27:44,083 --> 00:27:48,375 Parental love will lead the father to kill the villain, 391 00:27:48,458 --> 00:27:49,875 without wondering 392 00:27:49,958 --> 00:27:53,167 whether he does so in accordance with the supreme moral principle. 393 00:27:53,250 --> 00:27:55,375 Therefore, instead of a father, 394 00:27:55,458 --> 00:27:57,375 let us take a childless moralist, 395 00:27:57,458 --> 00:28:03,375 before whose very eyes a defenseless creature is attacked by a vile brute. 396 00:28:03,458 --> 00:28:04,792 According to you, 397 00:28:04,875 --> 00:28:08,417 ought he to stand aloof and preach virtue, 398 00:28:08,500 --> 00:28:11,500 while the hellish brute tortures his victim? 399 00:28:11,583 --> 00:28:13,500 Will the moralist 400 00:28:13,583 --> 00:28:16,958 feel no moral obligation to stop the brute by force, 401 00:28:17,042 --> 00:28:20,292 even at risk of killing him? 402 00:28:20,458 --> 00:28:22,583 And if, on the contrary, 403 00:28:22,667 --> 00:28:26,000 he allows the crime to be committed, in keeping with his fine maxims, 404 00:28:26,083 --> 00:28:29,208 do you not think his conscience will reprove him 405 00:28:29,292 --> 00:28:32,625 and he will be ashamed of himself to the point of revulsion? 406 00:28:32,708 --> 00:28:35,125 Perhaps the moralist will feel everything you say 407 00:28:35,208 --> 00:28:38,083 if he does not believe in the reality of moral order. 408 00:28:38,250 --> 00:28:41,500 Or if he has forgotten that God is to be found not in might but in right. 409 00:28:41,583 --> 00:28:43,417 Very well said. 410 00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:46,458 What will you say to that, Nikolai? 411 00:28:47,792 --> 00:28:50,708 I will say that I would like it to be said better. 412 00:28:50,792 --> 00:28:54,833 That is, more directly, simply and to the point. 413 00:28:55,542 --> 00:28:59,583 Did you mean that a moralist who believes in divine justice 414 00:28:59,667 --> 00:29:02,333 ought, without stopping the brute by force, 415 00:29:02,417 --> 00:29:06,167 to pray to God that He prevent the commission of the evil, 416 00:29:06,250 --> 00:29:08,333 either through a moral miracle, 417 00:29:08,417 --> 00:29:11,500 for example the criminal's contrition, 418 00:29:11,583 --> 00:29:15,583 or through a physical miracle, such as his sudden paralysis? 419 00:29:15,667 --> 00:29:17,458 No need of paralysis. 420 00:29:17,542 --> 00:29:19,333 The villain might take fright 421 00:29:19,417 --> 00:29:22,917 or something might divert him in one way or the other. 422 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,417 It is not important what. 423 00:29:25,625 --> 00:29:27,792 The miracle resides not in the event, 424 00:29:27,875 --> 00:29:32,583 but in its causal connection with the prayer and its moral object. 425 00:29:32,792 --> 00:29:36,667 At all events, Olga's solution for preventing a crime 426 00:29:36,750 --> 00:29:39,333 is to pray to God that He perform a miracle. 427 00:29:39,417 --> 00:29:41,125 Whence that conclusion? 428 00:29:41,208 --> 00:29:45,542 Since I believe the world is guided by a good and rational principle, 429 00:29:45,625 --> 00:29:49,792 I also believe that the world moves only in accordance with that principle, 430 00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:52,292 which is to say, the will of God. 431 00:29:52,458 --> 00:29:55,375 Forgive me, dear Olga, but how old are you? 432 00:29:55,625 --> 00:29:58,042 If you know the answer, why ask the question? 433 00:29:58,125 --> 00:30:00,750 For dialogue's sake, I assure you. 434 00:30:00,833 --> 00:30:02,667 Let us say twenty-six. 435 00:30:02,750 --> 00:30:03,917 A little older. 436 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:08,667 Then you will perhaps have seen, heard, or read in the newspapers 437 00:30:08,750 --> 00:30:12,042 that evil and immoral acts are committed everywhere in the world. 438 00:30:12,125 --> 00:30:13,167 Yes. So? 439 00:30:13,250 --> 00:30:17,208 In other words, the moral order, justice and the divine will, 440 00:30:17,292 --> 00:30:19,750 do not come about by themselves. 441 00:30:19,833 --> 00:30:21,208 Clearly, 442 00:30:21,292 --> 00:30:25,000 if evil exists, then the gods either cannot or will not prevent it. 443 00:30:25,083 --> 00:30:28,875 Therefore, the gods do not exist as a good and omnipotent force. 444 00:30:28,958 --> 00:30:31,708 - Not a new idea, but fair. - How can you say so? 445 00:30:31,792 --> 00:30:34,083 See where our conversation has led! 446 00:30:34,167 --> 00:30:36,542 Philosophy bewilders the mind. 447 00:30:36,625 --> 00:30:39,500 Because it is a false philosophy, my dear Ingrida! 448 00:30:40,083 --> 00:30:44,583 As if the divine will depended on how we view good and evil. 449 00:30:44,667 --> 00:30:47,250 It does not depend on any representation 450 00:30:47,333 --> 00:30:51,542 but rather it is closely connected to a true notion of the good. 451 00:30:51,625 --> 00:30:56,000 Otherwise, if good and evil are equally indifferent to the deity, 452 00:30:56,083 --> 00:30:58,000 then you contradict yourself once and for all. 453 00:30:58,083 --> 00:30:59,875 And why is that, may I ask? 454 00:30:59,958 --> 00:31:04,792 Because if the deity is indifferent that a vile brute, 455 00:31:04,875 --> 00:31:09,208 driven by bestial passion, defiles a defenseless creature, 456 00:31:09,708 --> 00:31:12,958 then the deity would not oppose that person among us 457 00:31:13,042 --> 00:31:17,583 who, out of pity for the victim, destroyed the beast. 458 00:31:18,292 --> 00:31:21,375 For you will hardly uphold so absurd a notion that 459 00:31:21,458 --> 00:31:25,917 killing an innocent creature would not be evil in the eyes of God, 460 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,542 whereas killing a vile brute would be evil. 461 00:31:29,625 --> 00:31:34,208 It seems absurd to you because you view it from the wrong direction. 462 00:31:34,458 --> 00:31:35,833 From the moral standpoint, 463 00:31:35,917 --> 00:31:39,125 not the victim but the murderer is important. 464 00:31:39,208 --> 00:31:41,667 You called the malefactor a “brute”, 465 00:31:41,750 --> 00:31:44,042 that is, a man without reason or conscience. 466 00:31:44,125 --> 00:31:46,458 What moral evil can then exist in his actions? 467 00:31:46,542 --> 00:31:49,792 But do we speak of a “brute” in the literal sense? 468 00:31:50,333 --> 00:31:54,042 It would be as if I told my daughter: “That's silly, my angel,” 469 00:31:54,125 --> 00:31:57,042 and you chided me that angels aren't silly! 470 00:31:57,125 --> 00:31:58,625 This is off the point… 471 00:31:58,708 --> 00:32:02,708 Forgive me, but I take it the brigand was called a “brute” metaphorically 472 00:32:02,792 --> 00:32:04,750 and that he possesses neither tail nor hooves. 473 00:32:04,833 --> 00:32:10,458 But we refer to his literal lack of reason and conscience. 474 00:32:10,917 --> 00:32:14,167 A man of conscience could never consent to such a thing! 475 00:32:14,250 --> 00:32:16,083 You're playing on words again! 476 00:32:16,167 --> 00:32:18,542 It is clear that a man who behaves like a brute 477 00:32:18,625 --> 00:32:22,833 loses his reason and conscience, in that he no longer hears their voice. 478 00:32:22,917 --> 00:32:25,625 But that he altogether lacks reason and conscience 479 00:32:25,708 --> 00:32:27,625 is something you will have to demonstrate. 480 00:32:27,708 --> 00:32:29,000 Until then, 481 00:32:29,083 --> 00:32:31,167 I shall continue to believe that the man-brute 482 00:32:31,250 --> 00:32:35,708 differs from us two not by the absence of reason and conscience, 483 00:32:35,792 --> 00:32:38,625 but because he acts despite them, 484 00:32:38,708 --> 00:32:40,875 driven by his brutish whims. 485 00:32:40,958 --> 00:32:43,417 A selfsame brute is latent in each of us, 486 00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:46,917 but as a rule, we keep it chained. 487 00:32:47,208 --> 00:32:50,917 That man released his brute and now obeys it. 488 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,167 He has a chain, but does not use it. 489 00:32:53,250 --> 00:32:54,667 Precisely. 490 00:32:54,750 --> 00:33:00,167 And if Olga does not agree, defeat her with her own weapon! 491 00:33:00,917 --> 00:33:04,583 If the villain is a mere brute without reason or conscience, 492 00:33:04,667 --> 00:33:09,917 to kill him would be the same as killing a wolf or a tiger attacking a man. 493 00:33:10,292 --> 00:33:14,583 As far as I know, the Humane Society has not yet outlawed it. 494 00:33:14,667 --> 00:33:17,417 Have you forgotten that, whatever the man's condition, 495 00:33:17,500 --> 00:33:20,083 be it atrophy of the reason and conscience 496 00:33:20,167 --> 00:33:22,125 or conscious immorality, 497 00:33:22,208 --> 00:33:24,500 if such a thing is at all possible, 498 00:33:24,583 --> 00:33:26,708 then it concerns not him, but you yourselves. 499 00:33:26,792 --> 00:33:29,417 For your reason and your conscience have not atrophied, 500 00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:33,542 nor do you wish to disobey their commands. 501 00:33:34,167 --> 00:33:37,542 Therefore you will not kill that man, whoever he may be. 502 00:33:37,625 --> 00:33:42,750 Of course I would not kill him if my reason and conscience forbade it. 503 00:33:42,833 --> 00:33:46,833 But imagine they told me something different, 504 00:33:46,917 --> 00:33:49,250 something that seemed to me more reasonable and honest. 505 00:33:49,333 --> 00:33:51,542 Interesting. Please go on! 506 00:33:52,375 --> 00:33:53,625 Firstly, 507 00:33:53,708 --> 00:33:57,125 the reason and conscience are able to count to three. 508 00:33:57,208 --> 00:33:58,333 Is that so! 509 00:33:58,417 --> 00:34:00,875 Wherefore the reason and conscience, 510 00:34:00,958 --> 00:34:04,000 unless they wish to lie, will not say “two” instead of “three”… 511 00:34:04,083 --> 00:34:06,792 - Nikolai, please… - I don't follow. 512 00:34:06,875 --> 00:34:07,917 In your opinion, 513 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,583 reason and conscience tell me only about myself and the brigand, 514 00:34:11,667 --> 00:34:13,875 whom I am not allowed to harm. 515 00:34:13,958 --> 00:34:17,208 But there is also a third, equally important person: 516 00:34:17,292 --> 00:34:20,292 the victim of aggression, who demands my help. 517 00:34:20,375 --> 00:34:22,292 You keep forgetting her. 518 00:34:22,375 --> 00:34:26,333 But conscience does not, and God's will is that I save the victim, 519 00:34:26,417 --> 00:34:29,583 while sparing the attacker as best I can. 520 00:34:29,708 --> 00:34:32,542 But her I must assist at any cost. 521 00:34:32,667 --> 00:34:35,167 By verbal persuasion, if possible, 522 00:34:35,250 --> 00:34:37,542 if not, then by force, 523 00:34:37,625 --> 00:34:42,167 and if my hands are tied, there remains but one solution: 524 00:34:42,292 --> 00:34:43,958 prayer. 525 00:34:44,042 --> 00:34:48,917 As to the solution, I leave it to you to decide which is the better. 526 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,042 To me, one thing is certain, 527 00:34:51,125 --> 00:34:54,750 I have to save the victim, that is what my conscience tells me. 528 00:34:54,833 --> 00:34:58,375 Breach to the centre! Hurrah! 529 00:34:58,792 --> 00:35:00,000 Well, Nikolai, 530 00:35:00,083 --> 00:35:03,042 I take care not to have too broad a conscience. 531 00:35:03,125 --> 00:35:07,708 Mine tells me, quite bluntly, not to kill, full stop. 532 00:35:08,208 --> 00:35:11,792 It seems to me that our discussion has made no progress. 533 00:35:11,875 --> 00:35:15,542 Suppose I agreed with you 534 00:35:15,625 --> 00:35:20,292 that anyone might allow himself to kill, what then? 535 00:35:20,625 --> 00:35:24,667 Do you think that Tamburlaine, or Alexander the Great, or Lord Kitchener 536 00:35:24,750 --> 00:35:30,167 and their armies killed to save innocents from evil-doers? 537 00:35:30,375 --> 00:35:33,958 Even though comparing Tamburlaine with Alexander the Great 538 00:35:34,042 --> 00:35:37,583 risks affecting the progress of our discussion, 539 00:35:37,667 --> 00:35:42,417 and inasmuch as this is the second time you have rushed into the topic, 540 00:35:42,500 --> 00:35:46,292 allow me a historical reference that will help us see the connection 541 00:35:46,375 --> 00:35:50,500 between the question of personal defence and defence of the state. 542 00:35:51,625 --> 00:35:54,208 The place is Kiev, the time, the 12th century. 543 00:35:54,292 --> 00:35:55,625 The crown princes 544 00:35:55,708 --> 00:35:58,542 who, it seems, shared your opinion of war 545 00:35:58,625 --> 00:36:01,583 and chose to fight only in self-defence, 546 00:36:01,667 --> 00:36:05,042 refused to go to war against the Polovtsians. 547 00:36:05,125 --> 00:36:09,083 They did not want to subject their people to the calamities of war. 548 00:36:09,208 --> 00:36:13,708 To this, the great Prince Vladimir the Monomachos replied: 549 00:36:13,958 --> 00:36:17,833 “You pity the yokels, but forget that once spring arrives… “ 550 00:36:17,917 --> 00:36:21,667 Nikolai, please, mind your language! 551 00:36:22,208 --> 00:36:24,375 - But it's from the chronicle! - It doesn't matter. 552 00:36:24,458 --> 00:36:28,667 Since you don't know it by heart, say it in your own words. 553 00:36:28,750 --> 00:36:31,875 Anyway, it sounds stupid: “once spring arrives”. 554 00:36:31,958 --> 00:36:35,833 As if what comes next is: “Flowers bloom, nightingales trill.” 555 00:36:35,917 --> 00:36:37,833 And from your mouth… 556 00:36:37,917 --> 00:36:41,125 a “yokel” pops out! 557 00:36:41,208 --> 00:36:42,667 Very well. 558 00:36:42,750 --> 00:36:47,583 “Once spring arrives, the peasant will go out to plough. 559 00:36:47,667 --> 00:36:50,458 The Polovtsian will come, kill the peasant, 560 00:36:50,542 --> 00:36:52,083 steal his horse, 561 00:36:52,167 --> 00:36:55,125 then hordes of Polovtsians will come, massacre the peasants, 562 00:36:55,208 --> 00:36:58,000 enslave their wives and children, 563 00:36:58,083 --> 00:37:00,500 steal their cattle, and burn down their village. 564 00:37:00,583 --> 00:37:03,583 Don't you want to protect them? I do. 565 00:37:03,667 --> 00:37:06,875 That's why I call you to fight the Polovtsians.” 566 00:37:07,292 --> 00:37:09,167 Ashamed, the princes now obeyed, 567 00:37:09,250 --> 00:37:12,417 and under Vladimir Monomachos the country knew peace. 568 00:37:12,500 --> 00:37:15,083 But later they reverted to their pacifism, 569 00:37:15,167 --> 00:37:18,500 giving themselves up to scandalous living. 570 00:37:18,917 --> 00:37:22,625 For Russia, it all ended with the Mongol yoke, 571 00:37:22,833 --> 00:37:25,208 and as for the descendants of those princes, 572 00:37:25,292 --> 00:37:29,333 it ended with the feast served by history in the form of Ivan the Terrible. 573 00:37:29,667 --> 00:37:31,542 I don't understand. 574 00:37:31,625 --> 00:37:35,375 First, you describe a situation none of us is familiar with 575 00:37:35,458 --> 00:37:38,000 and probably never will be, 576 00:37:38,083 --> 00:37:41,875 then you cite a Vladimir Monomachos who probably never existed 577 00:37:41,958 --> 00:37:44,000 and who is anyway none of our concern. 578 00:37:44,083 --> 00:37:46,167 Speak for yourself, Olga! 579 00:37:46,417 --> 00:37:50,833 But Olga, aren't you a Rurikovitch? 580 00:37:51,083 --> 00:37:52,458 Yes, I am. 581 00:37:52,542 --> 00:37:56,417 According to you, I ought to be interested in Rurik, Sineus and Truvor. 582 00:37:56,500 --> 00:37:59,625 Don't get me wrong, but he who doesn't know his ancestors 583 00:37:59,708 --> 00:38:04,417 is like a child who thinks he was delivered by the stork. 584 00:38:05,458 --> 00:38:08,875 What about those unfortunates who have no ancestors? 585 00:38:09,250 --> 00:38:10,958 You know… 586 00:38:11,167 --> 00:38:14,625 This morning, before coming down for breakfast, 587 00:38:14,875 --> 00:38:17,583 Andrei Nikolaevich handed me a letter, 588 00:38:17,667 --> 00:38:21,208 then he made this confession out of the blue: 589 00:38:21,292 --> 00:38:25,500 “Only once in my life have I felt complete moral satisfaction, 590 00:38:25,583 --> 00:38:28,208 “even a form of ecstasy. 591 00:38:28,292 --> 00:38:32,500 “And this good deed has been and always will be 592 00:38:32,750 --> 00:38:35,750 “my most beautiful and purest memory.” 593 00:38:36,292 --> 00:38:39,417 But his only good deed was a crime, 594 00:38:39,583 --> 00:38:41,167 and not a minor one, 595 00:38:41,250 --> 00:38:44,125 for in 15 minutes he slaughtered more than 1,000 men. 596 00:38:44,208 --> 00:38:46,292 And where is the good in that? 597 00:38:47,333 --> 00:38:49,917 It is not easy for me to talk about it. 598 00:38:50,542 --> 00:38:54,292 Forgive me, but I cannot recount it without great emotion, 599 00:38:54,375 --> 00:38:56,750 so strongly did it shake me. 600 00:38:56,833 --> 00:38:58,375 Tell us, Ingrida! 601 00:38:58,458 --> 00:39:01,750 Better I read you a passage from his letter. 602 00:39:02,625 --> 00:39:04,333 It concerns cannons 603 00:39:04,417 --> 00:39:07,458 and the last war against the Turks. 604 00:39:07,542 --> 00:39:10,333 He was in the Cossack army. After 3 October… 605 00:39:10,417 --> 00:39:12,375 3 October? 606 00:39:12,458 --> 00:39:15,833 The Battle of Aladja Dagh. 607 00:39:18,667 --> 00:39:20,042 Listen. 608 00:39:21,917 --> 00:39:24,375 “I had with me the dragoons of Nizhny Novgorod, 609 00:39:24,458 --> 00:39:26,125 300 Cossacks from Kuban, 610 00:39:26,208 --> 00:39:29,083 and a battery of mounted artillery. 611 00:39:29,333 --> 00:39:30,792 The terrain was desolate. 612 00:39:30,875 --> 00:39:32,500 Up the mountains it was beautiful, 613 00:39:32,583 --> 00:39:36,875 but down in the valley there were just burnt villages and barren fields. 614 00:39:37,500 --> 00:39:40,333 One day, it was October 28, 615 00:39:40,417 --> 00:39:42,125 I arrived in a valley where, 616 00:39:42,208 --> 00:39:46,458 by the map, there was an Armenian village. 617 00:39:46,792 --> 00:39:49,833 At the entrance to the village there was a bend in the road. 618 00:39:50,125 --> 00:39:53,875 My Cossacks were already there, standing stock-still. 619 00:39:54,042 --> 00:39:55,583 I galloped up to them. 620 00:39:55,667 --> 00:39:59,875 Before I saw it, I knew from the stench of roasted flesh, 621 00:39:59,958 --> 00:40:03,292 that the Bashi-Bazouks had left behind their kitchen. 622 00:40:04,333 --> 00:40:09,583 They captured a convoy of Armenians unable to save themselves, 623 00:40:09,708 --> 00:40:12,458 and dealt with them in their own fashion. 624 00:40:12,583 --> 00:40:17,167 They lit fires under the carts, having tied the Armenians to them. 625 00:40:17,250 --> 00:40:19,625 Some upright, some upside down, 626 00:40:19,708 --> 00:40:22,500 some on their backs, some on their stomachs, 627 00:40:22,583 --> 00:40:24,958 hanging over the flames, 628 00:40:25,042 --> 00:40:27,208 roasted over a low flame. 629 00:40:28,042 --> 00:40:31,667 The women's breasts had been chopped off, their bellies split open. 630 00:40:31,750 --> 00:40:34,250 I won't go into details. 631 00:40:34,333 --> 00:40:37,708 Apart from one, which I can picture even now. 632 00:40:38,292 --> 00:40:41,250 A woman, stretched out on her back, 633 00:40:41,333 --> 00:40:45,458 her neck and shoulders bound to the cart axle, 634 00:40:45,542 --> 00:40:48,208 so that she wouldn't be able to turn her head. 635 00:40:48,292 --> 00:40:51,333 She had neither been burned nor flayed alive, 636 00:40:51,417 --> 00:40:53,917 only her face was mutilated, 637 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:56,833 it was plain she had died of terror. 638 00:40:57,667 --> 00:40:58,917 In front of her 639 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,083 was a stake planted in the ground, 640 00:41:02,208 --> 00:41:05,708 to which a naked baby was tied. 641 00:41:06,125 --> 00:41:08,083 Undoubtedly her son. 642 00:41:08,417 --> 00:41:11,292 Completely burned, no eyes in his sockets. 643 00:41:12,292 --> 00:41:16,083 Next to him smouldered a charcoal grill. 644 00:41:20,458 --> 00:41:23,458 At first, I was gripped by deathly grief, 645 00:41:23,542 --> 00:41:27,458 I looked around in disgust, acting mechanically. 646 00:41:27,542 --> 00:41:29,667 I gave the order: ʻForward at a brisk pace!ʼ 647 00:41:29,750 --> 00:41:31,583 We entered the burned village. 648 00:41:31,667 --> 00:41:34,792 It had been pillaged, razed to the ground. 649 00:41:34,875 --> 00:41:38,958 Suddenly, from a dry well, a kind of ghost emerged. 650 00:41:39,042 --> 00:41:41,792 Having emerged, dirty and tattered, 651 00:41:41,875 --> 00:41:47,292 he fell to the ground and released a lament in Armenian. 652 00:41:47,458 --> 00:41:49,958 I pulled him to his feet and questioned him. 653 00:41:50,042 --> 00:41:53,083 He was an Armenian from another village, 654 00:41:53,167 --> 00:41:54,958 a good boy. 655 00:41:55,042 --> 00:41:56,833 He was there for business, 656 00:41:56,917 --> 00:42:00,125 just as the inhabitants were about to flee. 657 00:42:00,208 --> 00:42:03,208 No sooner had they set out than the Bashi-Bazouks struck. 658 00:42:03,292 --> 00:42:06,458 A large number… 40,000, he reckoned. 659 00:42:07,333 --> 00:42:12,417 He had heard the screams and anyway knew how it ended. 660 00:42:12,583 --> 00:42:17,625 He then heard the Bashi-Bazouks were returning by a different path. 661 00:42:17,708 --> 00:42:22,000 ʻThey're going to our villageʼ, he said, ʻand will do the same to my people.ʼ 662 00:42:22,083 --> 00:42:26,458 He wept continually, wringing his hands. 663 00:42:27,417 --> 00:42:31,292 All of a sudden, it was as if I was enlightened. 664 00:42:31,958 --> 00:42:36,792 My heart melted and it was as if the world smiled at me once more. 665 00:42:37,125 --> 00:42:41,167 I asked the Armenian how long it had been since they left. 666 00:42:41,250 --> 00:42:44,083 He reckoned it had been about three hours ago. 667 00:42:44,167 --> 00:42:47,750 ʻHow long to your village on horseback?ʼ 668 00:42:47,833 --> 00:42:49,542 ʻFive hours.ʼ 669 00:42:49,625 --> 00:42:53,375 I gave the Armenian a horse and followed him 670 00:42:53,458 --> 00:42:56,042 through the gorge, with the whole detachment. 671 00:42:56,125 --> 00:43:00,583 I no longer know how we climbed those mountains. 672 00:43:01,667 --> 00:43:04,125 We had just emerged from the final gorge, 673 00:43:04,208 --> 00:43:07,542 and were about to join the main road, 674 00:43:07,708 --> 00:43:10,667 When suddenly, I saw the Armenian galloping toward us, 675 00:43:10,750 --> 00:43:12,333 signalling us. 676 00:43:12,417 --> 00:43:13,958 They were there. 677 00:43:14,042 --> 00:43:17,500 I went to the vanguard, focused my telescope: 678 00:43:17,583 --> 00:43:20,708 it was indeed them, horsemen as far as the eye could see. 679 00:43:20,792 --> 00:43:25,917 Not 40,000, but about three or four thousand, maybe even five. 680 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:29,500 The devil's imps saw us and turned to face us. 681 00:43:29,583 --> 00:43:34,583 Just as we came at their left flank, they started shooting at our Cossacks. 682 00:43:34,667 --> 00:43:37,750 Those Asiatics were firing European rifles 683 00:43:37,833 --> 00:43:40,417 almost like they were human beings! 684 00:43:43,250 --> 00:43:46,292 Here and there, Cossacks fell from their horses. 685 00:43:46,667 --> 00:43:50,417 I therefore ordered my men to fire on these demons, 686 00:43:50,500 --> 00:43:53,458 making a dispersed attack, 687 00:43:53,542 --> 00:43:57,667 and once they had provoked them, to retreat to the cannons. 688 00:43:57,750 --> 00:44:00,125 I placed one company to conceal the cannons, 689 00:44:00,208 --> 00:44:03,292 and lined up the Nizhny men on the left of the battery. 690 00:44:03,833 --> 00:44:08,708 After exchanging a few shots, the Cossacks withdrew, whooping. 691 00:44:08,875 --> 00:44:11,292 The demons gave chase. 692 00:44:11,375 --> 00:44:14,458 By now they were hurtling, no longer even shooting. 693 00:44:14,542 --> 00:44:17,292 They galloped straight at us. 694 00:44:18,792 --> 00:44:23,542 I said to myself that the hour of God's will had arrived. 695 00:44:24,375 --> 00:44:27,625 The company split in two, revealing the cannons. 696 00:44:27,708 --> 00:44:30,167 I ordered the battery to fire. 697 00:44:30,250 --> 00:44:33,833 And God blessed all my six shots. 698 00:44:33,917 --> 00:44:37,333 Never in my life had I heard such demonic howling! 699 00:44:37,417 --> 00:44:41,333 Before they knew what hit them, the second salvo came. 700 00:44:41,417 --> 00:44:45,417 When I looked to see, the horde was in rout. 701 00:44:45,500 --> 00:44:50,125 The third salvo struck them from behind, wreaking mayhem. 702 00:44:50,208 --> 00:44:53,500 They were stampeding, trampling each another. 703 00:44:53,583 --> 00:44:57,375 Then, with the dragoons and Cossacks from the left flank, 704 00:44:57,458 --> 00:45:00,083 we butchered them. 705 00:45:00,458 --> 00:45:04,625 Few escaped. The sword finished the cannons' work. 706 00:45:04,708 --> 00:45:08,000 Some threw down their weapons, dismounted, 707 00:45:08,083 --> 00:45:09,792 begging for ʻamanʼ. 708 00:45:09,875 --> 00:45:11,625 I did not intervene, 709 00:45:11,708 --> 00:45:15,250 my men knew it was not the time for ʻamanʼ, 710 00:45:15,333 --> 00:45:18,417 and the Cossacks and Dragoons cut them all down. 711 00:45:19,167 --> 00:45:21,292 The task was finished. 712 00:45:21,417 --> 00:45:24,208 In my soul I felt the Lord's Resurrection. 713 00:45:24,292 --> 00:45:26,542 We gathered our dead. 714 00:45:26,625 --> 00:45:29,917 37 men had entrusted their souls to God. 715 00:45:37,500 --> 00:45:42,500 We laid them on level ground and closed their eyes. 716 00:45:43,833 --> 00:45:47,000 We had a non-commissioned officer, Odarchenko, 717 00:45:47,083 --> 00:45:51,958 a remarkable old man, with a good knowledge of holy writ. 718 00:45:52,750 --> 00:45:58,375 I told him, ʻWe are campaigning, we are no good at hallelujahs, 719 00:45:58,458 --> 00:46:02,958 stand in for the priest, chant the funeral rite for our dead.ʼ 720 00:46:08,125 --> 00:46:11,042 And he chanted the rite as was befitting. 721 00:46:11,125 --> 00:46:14,333 But we had no priest to forgive their sins. 722 00:46:14,833 --> 00:46:18,875 When Odarchenko recited the names of the dead soldiers, 723 00:46:18,958 --> 00:46:22,458 who had fallen on the field of honour for the faith, 724 00:46:22,542 --> 00:46:24,875 for tsar and country, 725 00:46:24,958 --> 00:46:30,167 I truly felt they were not empty words, or ordinary titles, 726 00:46:30,250 --> 00:46:34,125 but that there really was a Christ-loving army 727 00:46:34,208 --> 00:46:36,542 and that war was, is, and will be, 728 00:46:36,625 --> 00:46:38,333 until the end of time, 729 00:46:38,417 --> 00:46:41,500 a great, honourable and holy thing.” 730 00:46:53,417 --> 00:46:57,167 After he buried his dead, filled with such enlightenment, 731 00:46:57,250 --> 00:47:01,292 did he remember the foes he had slain in their hundreds? 732 00:47:01,625 --> 00:47:04,125 Thank God they were able to get themselves thence 733 00:47:04,208 --> 00:47:06,583 before the corpses could remind them. 734 00:47:06,667 --> 00:47:08,417 You have ruined everything. 735 00:47:08,500 --> 00:47:10,417 How can you say so? 736 00:47:10,750 --> 00:47:13,208 What would you have liked him to do? 737 00:47:13,292 --> 00:47:16,500 To give those jackals a Christian burial? 738 00:47:16,625 --> 00:47:20,542 Who were neither Christians nor Muslims, but the devil knows what? 739 00:47:20,625 --> 00:47:25,542 And even if he had been insane enough to order a funeral service for them 740 00:47:25,625 --> 00:47:28,042 to be held alongside that for the Cossacks, 741 00:47:28,125 --> 00:47:32,125 you would have accused him of not respecting their religion. 742 00:47:32,208 --> 00:47:34,000 What! The poor things, 743 00:47:34,083 --> 00:47:37,583 who glorified the devil and worshiped fire all their lives, 744 00:47:37,667 --> 00:47:40,000 to subject them post mortem 745 00:47:40,083 --> 00:47:44,250 to coarse, superstitious Christian rites! 746 00:47:46,083 --> 00:47:48,542 He had other concerns. 747 00:47:48,917 --> 00:47:53,167 He ordered the officers to forbid the men 748 00:47:53,250 --> 00:47:57,042 from going within twenty paces of the corpses. 749 00:47:57,292 --> 00:48:01,125 He had seen that the Cossacks were itching 750 00:48:01,208 --> 00:48:04,292 to loot the dead, as was customary. 751 00:48:04,375 --> 00:48:08,250 Who knows what pestilence they might have caught from those devils. 752 00:48:08,458 --> 00:48:11,542 May they rot in hell! 753 00:48:13,042 --> 00:48:15,042 Do I understand correctly? 754 00:48:15,167 --> 00:48:18,917 You were afraid that the Cossacks, by looting the Bashi-Bazouk corpses, 755 00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:23,458 might have spread contagion in your husband's camp? 756 00:48:23,542 --> 00:48:25,167 It seems obvious to me. 757 00:48:25,250 --> 00:48:27,750 Behold the “Christ-loving army”! 758 00:48:28,583 --> 00:48:30,000 The Cossacks? 759 00:48:30,083 --> 00:48:33,625 Nothing but brigands! They always have been. 760 00:48:33,708 --> 00:48:36,458 Does it not seem to you that we are talking in the abstract? 761 00:48:36,542 --> 00:48:39,625 Yes, it seems to me that something is amiss. 762 00:48:39,708 --> 00:48:43,000 I do not understand what you want from me. 763 00:48:43,083 --> 00:48:46,917 Olga is surprised that the sublime, almost saintly Cossacks 764 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:50,833 proved to be, as you say, “nothing but brigands”. 765 00:48:52,167 --> 00:48:55,500 How can war be “a great, honourable and holy thing” 766 00:48:55,583 --> 00:48:59,833 if, as you say, it is the struggle of brigands against other brigands? 767 00:48:59,917 --> 00:49:04,500 So that is what it was: “The struggle of brigands against other brigands.” 768 00:49:05,292 --> 00:49:09,208 But this is about a different kind of brigand… 769 00:49:09,542 --> 00:49:12,542 If you do not believe that theft 770 00:49:12,625 --> 00:49:17,708 is the same as roasting babies under their mothers' eyes… 771 00:49:19,417 --> 00:49:22,167 This is what I still have to read to you: 772 00:49:22,750 --> 00:49:24,500 My dear Ingrida, 773 00:49:24,583 --> 00:49:28,292 My conscience is so pure, as I look back on it now, 774 00:49:28,375 --> 00:49:34,458 that I still regret not having died after I ordered the last salvo. 775 00:49:34,917 --> 00:49:38,542 And I am in no doubt that, had I died that moment, 776 00:49:38,625 --> 00:49:41,792 I would have gone straight before God, 777 00:49:41,875 --> 00:49:44,958 along with my 37 Cossacks, 778 00:49:45,042 --> 00:49:47,417 and we would have received a place in heaven 779 00:49:47,500 --> 00:49:50,500 next to the good thief of the Gospels. 780 00:49:50,708 --> 00:49:54,417 Not for nothing is he in the Gospels. 781 00:49:55,583 --> 00:49:57,333 But, my dear Ingrida, 782 00:49:57,417 --> 00:49:59,208 the Gospels do not say 783 00:49:59,292 --> 00:50:03,000 that only Christians can be likened to the good thief. 784 00:50:03,083 --> 00:50:06,000 Why are you so antagonistic toward me? 785 00:50:06,167 --> 00:50:10,833 Where did he draw any distinction between nations or religions? 786 00:50:11,375 --> 00:50:15,208 Are the Armenians of the same nation or faith as us? 787 00:50:15,708 --> 00:50:20,167 Are not the “devil's imps” humans too? 788 00:50:20,375 --> 00:50:22,292 Did he say that in every man can be good and evil? 789 00:50:22,375 --> 00:50:24,667 That in every thief, coward or Bashi-Bazouk 790 00:50:24,750 --> 00:50:27,208 lies hidden a good thief? 791 00:50:27,292 --> 00:50:29,625 Who can understand you? 792 00:50:29,708 --> 00:50:31,292 She is right. 793 00:50:31,375 --> 00:50:35,417 Either you say the evil man is an irresponsible brute, 794 00:50:35,500 --> 00:50:39,958 or that a Bashi-Bazouk who roasts children over a low flame 795 00:50:40,042 --> 00:50:42,750 might prove to be the good thief of the Gospels! 796 00:50:42,833 --> 00:50:47,833 And all this only to avoid calling evil by its name. 797 00:50:48,875 --> 00:50:52,542 What matters to me is not that in every man 798 00:50:52,625 --> 00:50:55,458 can be found the seeds of good and evil. 799 00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:57,750 What is important is 800 00:50:57,833 --> 00:51:00,458 not that grape juice can make both wine and vinegar. 801 00:51:00,792 --> 00:51:05,708 What is important is whether the bottle contains wine or vinegar. 802 00:51:06,250 --> 00:51:08,375 For if it is vinegar 803 00:51:08,458 --> 00:51:11,958 and I drink it and serve it to others, 804 00:51:12,042 --> 00:51:15,333 under the pretext that even so, it is still made of grape juice, 805 00:51:15,417 --> 00:51:18,917 I do nobody a service, 806 00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:21,875 but rather I give us all a stomach ache. 807 00:51:23,458 --> 00:51:26,000 All men are brothers. 808 00:51:26,083 --> 00:51:27,667 Perfect. 809 00:51:27,750 --> 00:51:29,500 Glad to hear it. 810 00:51:30,042 --> 00:51:31,792 What then? 811 00:51:31,875 --> 00:51:34,917 Brothers can differ. 812 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:39,875 Why shouldn't I wish to know which is Cain and which Abel? 813 00:51:40,542 --> 00:51:44,542 What if my brother Cain skins my brother Abel, 814 00:51:44,625 --> 00:51:48,208 and I, not being indifferent to my brothers, 815 00:51:48,292 --> 00:51:50,500 box Cain's ears 816 00:51:50,583 --> 00:51:54,125 to stop him doing it again. 817 00:51:54,458 --> 00:51:57,750 “Should I stand aloof or should I hit him?” 818 00:51:57,833 --> 00:51:59,583 Why this dilemma? 819 00:52:00,208 --> 00:52:03,375 Because we cannot find a third way, Olga. 820 00:53:02,583 --> 00:53:04,542 Olga, 821 00:53:04,625 --> 00:53:08,292 earlier you suggested that we pray to God 822 00:53:08,375 --> 00:53:14,333 that He intervenes to mend a devil's ways. 823 00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:18,667 You seem to have abandoned this course. 824 00:53:18,750 --> 00:53:21,708 I too believe that prayer is the path, 825 00:53:21,875 --> 00:53:25,333 but it cannot replace deed. 826 00:53:28,625 --> 00:53:31,167 The pious, for example, 827 00:53:31,250 --> 00:53:33,208 pray before meals, 828 00:53:33,667 --> 00:53:37,917 but in order to chew, they use their own jaws. 829 00:53:38,875 --> 00:53:40,958 I refuse to believe that, 830 00:53:41,042 --> 00:53:43,000 without praying, 831 00:53:43,667 --> 00:53:47,667 Andrei Nikolaevich ordered his artillery to fire. 832 00:53:48,167 --> 00:53:51,208 Such a prayer is obviously a blasphemy. 833 00:53:51,708 --> 00:53:54,833 It is not to pray that counts, but rather to do God's will. 834 00:53:54,958 --> 00:53:57,000 Meaning? 835 00:53:57,458 --> 00:54:00,875 He who is deeply imbued with the spirit of the Gospels 836 00:54:00,958 --> 00:54:03,417 will find within him, when needed, 837 00:54:03,500 --> 00:54:07,333 the ability to use words, deeds and appearances 838 00:54:07,417 --> 00:54:11,875 to sway his blind brother who wants to kill or commit some other evil. 839 00:54:11,958 --> 00:54:15,250 This will produce in him such a strong impression 840 00:54:15,333 --> 00:54:19,750 that it will make him turn back onto the right path. 841 00:54:19,958 --> 00:54:21,750 Heavens above! 842 00:54:22,083 --> 00:54:26,083 You mean that, faced with Bashi-Bazouks who roast babies over a low flame, 843 00:54:26,167 --> 00:54:29,958 he ought to have made moving gestures 844 00:54:30,042 --> 00:54:32,500 and uttered moving words? 845 00:54:32,583 --> 00:54:34,292 Words, my dear Olga, 846 00:54:34,375 --> 00:54:37,583 given the distance between them and the lack of a shared language, 847 00:54:37,667 --> 00:54:40,708 would likely have been out of place. 848 00:54:40,917 --> 00:54:45,708 As for moving gestures, whatever you might say, 849 00:54:45,792 --> 00:54:50,083 nothing better than that could have been found. 850 00:54:50,500 --> 00:54:51,792 In fact, 851 00:54:51,875 --> 00:54:54,917 in what language and by what means 852 00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:59,000 could the general have got along with the Bashi-Bazouks? 853 00:54:59,083 --> 00:55:03,708 I didn't say he could have treated them in accordance with the Gospels. 854 00:55:03,792 --> 00:55:07,083 I said only that a man filled with evangelical grace 855 00:55:07,167 --> 00:55:09,833 would have found a solution even in that situation 856 00:55:09,917 --> 00:55:14,417 to awaken in them the good that lies hidden in every man. 857 00:55:14,542 --> 00:55:16,958 Do you really believe that? 858 00:55:17,042 --> 00:55:19,750 I do not doubt it. 859 00:55:19,833 --> 00:55:25,292 Then you believe that Christ was imbued with sufficient evangelical grace? 860 00:55:25,375 --> 00:55:27,125 What kind of question is that? 861 00:55:27,208 --> 00:55:32,000 I wish to know why Christ did not use His evangelical grace 862 00:55:32,083 --> 00:55:34,583 to awaken the hidden good in the souls of Judas, 863 00:55:34,667 --> 00:55:38,667 Herod, the Jewish high priests and the bad thief. 864 00:55:38,750 --> 00:55:41,458 We forget this when we speak of the good. 865 00:55:41,542 --> 00:55:45,583 But Olga, you must sacrifice one or the other. 866 00:55:45,667 --> 00:55:49,083 Either Christ and the Gospels as the highest authority, 867 00:55:49,167 --> 00:55:51,958 or your moral optimism. 868 00:55:52,042 --> 00:55:54,292 Because the third path, 869 00:55:54,375 --> 00:56:00,167 to regard the Gospels as fiction or priestly distortion, 870 00:56:00,250 --> 00:56:04,542 a well-trodden path, is barred to you once and for all. 871 00:56:05,375 --> 00:56:09,417 No matter how much you truncate the text of the Gospels to suit you, 872 00:56:09,500 --> 00:56:12,167 what remains indisputable, 873 00:56:12,250 --> 00:56:14,917 and what is essential to our discussion, 874 00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:17,917 is the fact that Christ was persecuted 875 00:56:18,167 --> 00:56:21,292 and killed because His enemies hated him. 876 00:56:23,583 --> 00:56:26,417 That He remained above such evil, 877 00:56:26,500 --> 00:56:31,958 that He did not resist and forgave them, we both understand. 878 00:56:32,333 --> 00:56:36,042 But why, in forgiving His enemies, to put it as you would, 879 00:56:36,125 --> 00:56:40,042 did He not save their souls from the darkness in which they lay? 880 00:56:40,125 --> 00:56:44,458 Why did He not vanquish their evil through the power of His meekness? 881 00:56:44,542 --> 00:56:47,500 Why did He not awaken the dormant good in them? 882 00:56:47,583 --> 00:56:51,292 Why did He not give them the light and rebirth? 883 00:56:51,375 --> 00:56:54,667 Why did He not act upon Judas, Herod and the high priests, 884 00:56:54,750 --> 00:56:57,833 as in the case of the good thief? 885 00:56:58,750 --> 00:57:02,458 Therefore, He either could not or would not. 886 00:57:02,875 --> 00:57:05,542 In both cases, according to you, it results 887 00:57:05,625 --> 00:57:10,042 that He was not sufficiently imbued with the true evangelical spirit. 888 00:57:10,125 --> 00:57:14,250 And since we are talking about The Gospel of Christ, 889 00:57:14,333 --> 00:57:16,000 it becomes clear that Christ 890 00:57:16,083 --> 00:57:20,333 was not imbued with the true spirit of Christ. 891 00:57:20,417 --> 00:57:22,333 My congratulations! 892 00:57:23,458 --> 00:57:27,042 I am not going to engage you in a duel of words, 893 00:57:28,125 --> 00:57:32,583 nor would I duel with Ingrida over the love of Christ. 894 00:57:40,667 --> 00:57:42,917 Nikolai, it seems to me 895 00:57:43,208 --> 00:57:47,042 that the time to have lunch gradually approaches. 896 00:57:47,625 --> 00:57:48,833 Yes… 897 00:57:49,333 --> 00:57:51,500 we are just about to be served. 898 00:57:52,458 --> 00:57:54,292 Perfect. 899 00:57:54,625 --> 00:57:57,875 And, of course, we cannot conclude 900 00:57:59,333 --> 00:58:02,375 such a discussion so abruptly. 901 00:58:02,667 --> 00:58:05,958 And later we shall have a game of cards. 902 00:58:06,917 --> 00:58:12,083 But we really must continue this discussion. 903 00:58:12,250 --> 00:58:14,042 Don't you agree, Edouard? 904 00:58:14,125 --> 00:58:16,417 That we should continue the discussion? 905 00:58:16,500 --> 00:58:20,000 And there I was glad that it was over! 906 00:58:20,083 --> 00:58:23,625 The discussion had begun to take on an unpleasant air, 907 00:58:23,708 --> 00:58:26,292 specific to the religious wars. 908 00:58:26,375 --> 00:58:28,667 It is no longer in fashion, and I value my own skin. 909 00:58:28,750 --> 00:58:30,625 Don't be facetious, Edouard! 910 00:58:30,708 --> 00:58:33,667 You too must take part. 911 00:58:33,750 --> 00:58:37,708 I agree, but on one condition: less of the religion. 912 00:58:38,083 --> 00:58:42,667 I won't say we'll exclude it altogether, as that would be impossible. 913 00:58:42,750 --> 00:58:46,000 But let there be less of it, for God's sake! 914 00:58:46,083 --> 00:58:49,042 That “for God's sake” is adorable, given the context! 915 00:58:49,125 --> 00:58:54,417 If you want less of the religion, you should do more of the talking. 916 00:58:54,875 --> 00:58:59,250 Although I would rather listen, especially in weather like this, 917 00:58:59,333 --> 00:59:02,083 I'm prepared to sacrifice myself for two hours 918 00:59:02,167 --> 00:59:05,042 to save our little club from civil war, 919 00:59:05,125 --> 00:59:09,250 which might have calamitous effects on our card game. 920 00:59:09,333 --> 00:59:10,792 What a pure soul! 921 00:59:10,875 --> 00:59:12,542 Perfect! 922 00:59:12,625 --> 00:59:14,333 So… 923 00:59:14,667 --> 00:59:18,750 later we will be able to finish 924 00:59:18,833 --> 00:59:21,667 this discussion of the Gospels, 925 00:59:21,833 --> 00:59:25,958 and Olga might be able to prepare some unbeatable argument. 926 00:59:30,083 --> 00:59:31,417 In that case, 927 00:59:31,500 --> 00:59:34,042 stay for dinner too, Edouard… 928 00:59:34,125 --> 00:59:37,333 It wouldn't be a bad thing for you to accustom yourself to spiritual topics. 929 00:59:37,417 --> 00:59:39,583 My self-sacrifice does not go that far. 930 00:59:39,667 --> 00:59:41,542 And tomorrow I depart for Nice. 931 00:59:41,625 --> 00:59:42,958 Nice? 932 00:59:43,042 --> 00:59:44,792 Such naïve diplomacy! 933 00:59:44,875 --> 00:59:49,125 But it's futile! I deciphered your code long ago. 934 00:59:49,208 --> 00:59:52,333 We all know that when you say “I depart for Nice,” 935 00:59:52,417 --> 00:59:55,833 it means “a party in Monte Carlo”. 936 00:59:55,917 --> 00:59:57,167 A shame! 937 00:59:57,250 --> 00:59:59,375 We shall manage. 938 00:59:59,458 --> 01:00:01,333 Immerse yourself in matter 939 01:00:01,417 --> 01:00:05,917 if you are not daunted by the thought of soon becoming spirit. 940 01:00:06,625 --> 01:00:09,583 Go to Nice, to Monte Carlo! 941 01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:14,917 And may Providence reward you according to your merits! 942 01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:17,750 My merits have nothing to do with Providence, 943 01:00:17,833 --> 01:00:21,792 but rather the application of indispensable measures. 944 01:00:22,708 --> 01:00:26,083 As for winnings and other sums, I accept Providence, 945 01:00:26,167 --> 01:00:29,417 at roulette, as in everything else. 946 01:00:29,500 --> 01:00:34,250 But we should all meet again together. 947 01:00:34,583 --> 01:00:36,458 - Olga! - Poor child! 948 01:00:37,208 --> 01:00:38,292 Olga! 949 01:00:40,125 --> 01:00:42,458 - István! - I'll fetch some water. 950 01:00:45,208 --> 01:00:47,583 You know, such topics… 951 01:00:52,292 --> 01:00:54,500 She is as cold as ice! 952 01:00:57,375 --> 01:00:59,375 Open her mouth, please! 953 01:01:00,208 --> 01:01:03,875 Give her room to breathe! You are crowding her. 954 01:02:10,500 --> 01:02:14,917 Via Chernivtsi, it is two days to Königsberg. 955 01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:19,417 So, Chernivtsi, Lemberg, Warsaw, Vilnius. 956 01:02:21,958 --> 01:02:27,167 There is another route, but it takes longer, around three days. 957 01:02:27,250 --> 01:02:32,417 Via Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Danzig. 958 01:02:32,500 --> 01:02:35,417 Then you reach Königsberg. 959 01:05:20,292 --> 01:05:21,750 Kolea… 960 01:05:42,708 --> 01:05:44,333 Done. 961 01:06:52,042 --> 01:06:53,792 Have you tried it? 962 01:06:54,500 --> 01:06:56,333 Of course. 963 01:06:56,417 --> 01:06:58,500 And you have too, haven't you? 964 01:06:58,583 --> 01:07:02,667 The moving walkway is an invention 965 01:07:02,750 --> 01:07:08,750 used for conveying the countless visitors… 966 01:07:08,833 --> 01:07:11,417 - 50 million. - Yes. 967 01:07:13,333 --> 01:07:15,542 Fewer, actually. 968 01:07:17,625 --> 01:07:21,417 I have always felt well in such a company. 969 01:07:21,500 --> 01:07:23,750 At Monte Carlo, for example. 970 01:07:24,458 --> 01:07:27,208 At Monte Carlo or elsewhere. 971 01:07:27,292 --> 01:07:31,417 Nowhere is there felt the need for a specimen of higher virtue. 972 01:07:32,667 --> 01:07:36,667 But try living in a world with not even one polite man. 973 01:07:36,750 --> 01:07:40,458 I'm not sure I understand. To which world do you refer? 974 01:07:41,042 --> 01:07:44,125 Imagine the soldiers, at Solferino, 975 01:07:44,208 --> 01:07:48,250 exchanging pleasantries as they shoot at each other. 976 01:07:48,333 --> 01:07:51,750 You might as well have said that people crossing central Africa 977 01:07:51,833 --> 01:07:53,958 require something other than politeness. 978 01:07:54,625 --> 01:07:59,125 But I refer to everyday life, in a civilised human society. 979 01:07:59,208 --> 01:08:00,958 Well, in that case, 980 01:08:01,083 --> 01:08:03,958 there is no need for higher virtue 981 01:08:04,042 --> 01:08:06,542 or for so-called Christianity. 982 01:08:08,125 --> 01:08:09,833 Do you nod? 983 01:08:09,917 --> 01:08:13,333 I'm thinking of a sad event of which I recently learned. 984 01:08:13,417 --> 01:08:16,167 Our friend Miklos, who died last Monday. 985 01:08:16,250 --> 01:08:18,708 But how is it that you recalled him now? 986 01:08:18,792 --> 01:08:20,833 Did he die due to somebody's impoliteness? 987 01:08:20,917 --> 01:08:24,250 On the contrary, he died due to his own politeness. 988 01:08:24,333 --> 01:08:27,375 Tell us about it, if you are able. 989 01:08:27,458 --> 01:08:29,167 There is nothing to hide. 990 01:08:29,917 --> 01:08:31,792 Our friend, 991 01:08:31,875 --> 01:08:34,750 who also regarded politeness as the first rung of social morality, 992 01:08:34,833 --> 01:08:39,000 felt duty-bound to follow its rules as strictly as possible. 993 01:08:39,083 --> 01:08:40,167 Meaning? 994 01:08:40,250 --> 01:08:43,417 To read every letter, regardless of the sender, 995 01:08:43,500 --> 01:08:47,417 as well as every book and pamphlet he was sent to review, 996 01:08:47,500 --> 01:08:49,917 to answer every letter, 997 01:08:50,000 --> 01:08:52,292 and to write every review, 998 01:08:52,375 --> 01:08:55,708 to meet absolutely every demand made of him. 999 01:08:55,792 --> 01:08:57,083 That is enormous! 1000 01:08:57,167 --> 01:09:00,500 As a result, every day he was busy with others' affairs, 1001 01:09:00,583 --> 01:09:02,875 setting aside for himself only the nights. 1002 01:09:02,958 --> 01:09:05,208 Further, he accepted every invitation, 1003 01:09:05,292 --> 01:09:08,458 and received every guest who found him at home. 1004 01:09:09,167 --> 01:09:12,208 As long as he was young and could handle strong liquor, 1005 01:09:12,292 --> 01:09:15,792 this convict's life, although oppressive, 1006 01:09:15,875 --> 01:09:21,083 was not transformed into tragedy, since wine saved him from despair. 1007 01:09:21,167 --> 01:09:24,417 When he felt like hanging himself, he laid hands on a bottle 1008 01:09:24,500 --> 01:09:28,333 and having taken a gulp, he bore his cross more bravely. 1009 01:09:28,875 --> 01:09:31,250 But he had a delicate constitution. 1010 01:09:31,333 --> 01:09:34,125 At the age of around forty, he gave up drinking. 1011 01:09:34,208 --> 01:09:36,833 Without strong drink, his penance seemed hellish, 1012 01:09:36,917 --> 01:09:38,792 and we heard he has committed suicide. 1013 01:09:38,875 --> 01:09:42,000 All because of politeness? He was clearly insane! 1014 01:09:42,083 --> 01:09:44,708 He had lost his equilibrium, but he was not insane. 1015 01:09:44,792 --> 01:09:46,708 I too know of cases of insanity 1016 01:09:46,792 --> 01:09:49,667 that are enough to make you lose your mind. 1017 01:09:49,917 --> 01:09:51,583 It is not so simple. 1018 01:09:51,667 --> 01:09:55,167 Forgive me, but politeness is not to blame for your friend's insanity. 1019 01:09:55,250 --> 01:09:59,250 He meant that politeness cannot be an absolute rule. 1020 01:09:59,333 --> 01:10:04,500 Absolute rules were invented by those devoid of any sense of reality. 1021 01:10:04,833 --> 01:10:07,292 I do not allow any absolute rule. 1022 01:10:07,833 --> 01:10:10,500 I only allow only indispensable rules. 1023 01:10:10,958 --> 01:10:15,375 I know for certain that if I do not obey the rules of hygiene, 1024 01:10:15,458 --> 01:10:18,250 both I myself and others will be disgusted at me. 1025 01:10:18,333 --> 01:10:22,250 Not wishing to cause or experience unpleasant sensations, 1026 01:10:22,417 --> 01:10:26,083 every day I obey the rule of washing myself, 1027 01:10:26,167 --> 01:10:28,125 changing my underlinen, 1028 01:10:28,333 --> 01:10:31,250 and not because it's the done thing 1029 01:10:31,333 --> 01:10:33,833 or because it's something sacred, 1030 01:10:33,917 --> 01:10:36,167 but because violation of this rule 1031 01:10:36,250 --> 01:10:39,417 is ipso facto unprofitable. 1032 01:10:39,500 --> 01:10:41,667 Such pragmatism! 1033 01:10:41,750 --> 01:10:46,792 It is the same with politeness, of which bodily hygiene is part. 1034 01:10:47,250 --> 01:10:50,792 It's more convenient to obey the rules than to break them. 1035 01:10:50,875 --> 01:10:53,333 Therefore I obey them. 1036 01:10:53,417 --> 01:10:56,208 If your friend deemed that politeness required him 1037 01:10:56,292 --> 01:10:59,458 to answer every letter and request, 1038 01:10:59,542 --> 01:11:01,542 heedless of his own convenience, 1039 01:11:01,625 --> 01:11:03,625 it was no longer politeness, 1040 01:11:03,750 --> 01:11:05,917 but stupid self-sacrifice. 1041 01:11:06,000 --> 01:11:09,417 Scrupulousness became a mania that destroyed him. 1042 01:11:09,500 --> 01:11:12,958 It is terrible to see a man die for so stupid a reason. 1043 01:11:13,042 --> 01:11:15,583 Couldn't you make him see sense? 1044 01:11:15,667 --> 01:11:17,958 I tried everything. 1045 01:11:18,625 --> 01:11:21,667 He had a strong ally, Umberto, 1046 01:11:21,792 --> 01:11:24,833 a monk, a kind of holy fool. 1047 01:11:24,917 --> 01:11:27,042 Miklos, my friend, 1048 01:11:27,167 --> 01:11:31,417 respected him and often asked his advice on spiritual matters. 1049 01:11:31,500 --> 01:11:34,333 Umberto immediately sniffed out the root of his sufferings. 1050 01:11:34,417 --> 01:11:39,083 I know this monk and was sometimes present during their talks. 1051 01:11:39,208 --> 01:11:42,708 As soon as Miklos laid out to him his moral doubts, 1052 01:11:42,792 --> 01:11:46,458 asking him whether he was right, or whether he had erred, 1053 01:11:46,542 --> 01:11:49,250 Umberto interrupted: “Enough! 1054 01:11:49,333 --> 01:11:52,042 There's no point glooming over your sins. 1055 01:11:52,125 --> 01:11:53,542 Listen to what I say: 1056 01:11:53,625 --> 01:11:55,833 Sin 539 times a day…” 1057 01:11:55,917 --> 01:11:58,167 539 times? 1058 01:11:58,250 --> 01:12:00,083 - 539 times. - How healthy. 1059 01:12:00,167 --> 01:12:01,333 A day! 1060 01:12:01,417 --> 01:12:03,250 “And above all, do not repent, 1061 01:12:03,333 --> 01:12:06,125 anyone can repent after sinning. 1062 01:12:06,208 --> 01:12:09,208 Sin away and never repent. 1063 01:12:10,167 --> 01:12:11,708 If sinning is evil, 1064 01:12:11,792 --> 01:12:15,625 remembering evil means being rancorous, which is not good. 1065 01:12:16,167 --> 01:12:18,958 The worst rancour is to remember your own sins. 1066 01:12:19,042 --> 01:12:22,792 Better you remember the evil done to you by others, 1067 01:12:23,042 --> 01:12:25,625 it will help you in future to avoid them. 1068 01:12:25,708 --> 01:12:29,958 As for the evil you yourself do, erase it completely from memory. 1069 01:12:30,333 --> 01:12:33,958 The only mortal sin is sorrow, because it gives rise to despair, 1070 01:12:34,042 --> 01:12:38,375 and despair goes beyond sin, it is the very death of the soul. 1071 01:12:39,375 --> 01:12:42,042 And then, what other sins are there? 1072 01:12:42,125 --> 01:12:43,625 Drunkenness? 1073 01:12:44,708 --> 01:12:47,792 An intelligent man drinks as much as he can hold, 1074 01:12:48,417 --> 01:12:50,750 if he can't hold it, he doesn't drink. 1075 01:12:50,917 --> 01:12:54,125 But a fool gets drunk even on spring water. 1076 01:12:54,208 --> 01:12:57,667 It means that not wine, but stupidity is to blame. 1077 01:12:57,792 --> 01:13:00,500 Out of stupidity, some inflame themselves with wine 1078 01:13:00,583 --> 01:13:04,208 not only on the outside, but on the inside too, 1079 01:13:04,458 --> 01:13:10,042 they are inflamed and burn, I have seen it myself,” said Umberto. 1080 01:13:10,125 --> 01:13:12,250 Of what evil do we speak 1081 01:13:12,333 --> 01:13:15,958 when before your very eyes, you spout the flames of hell? 1082 01:13:16,750 --> 01:13:19,333 “As for breaking the 6th commandment, 1083 01:13:19,458 --> 01:13:21,750 with hand on heart, I say: 1084 01:13:21,833 --> 01:13:24,875 to judge is not easy, but to praise is impossible. 1085 01:13:24,958 --> 01:13:26,250 I don't recommend it! 1086 01:13:26,333 --> 01:13:28,583 Certainly, it is a great pleasure, 1087 01:13:28,667 --> 01:13:30,292 no doubt about it, 1088 01:13:30,375 --> 01:13:33,833 but thereafter comes despair, which shortens life.” 1089 01:13:35,917 --> 01:13:37,958 He used to say: 1090 01:13:38,500 --> 01:13:40,750 “In youth, when one is still raw, 1091 01:13:40,833 --> 01:13:44,667 desire is great, but after that, you control yourself. 1092 01:13:44,750 --> 01:13:49,917 Then you start raking up the past, tormenting yourself with questions: 1093 01:13:50,000 --> 01:13:54,667 How did I lose my innocence, purity and bodily cleanliness? 1094 01:13:54,750 --> 01:13:58,500 It is utter stupidity, it means becoming the devil's buffoon. 1095 01:13:58,583 --> 01:14:03,333 And devil is flattered to see that your soul, rather than rising, 1096 01:14:03,417 --> 01:14:06,167 still flounders in the mud. 1097 01:14:06,833 --> 01:14:08,750 My advice is this: 1098 01:14:09,208 --> 01:14:15,167 As soon as the devil appears, tempting you with repentance, 1099 01:14:15,333 --> 01:14:17,958 spit in the wind and tell him: 1100 01:14:18,042 --> 01:14:19,542 These are my grave sins, 1101 01:14:19,625 --> 01:14:22,542 and this is how much I think they're worth! 1102 01:14:22,625 --> 01:14:25,167 He will leave you alone, I speak from experience”, 1103 01:14:25,250 --> 01:14:27,000 said Umberto. 1104 01:14:29,625 --> 01:14:32,083 “What other sins are there? 1105 01:14:32,250 --> 01:14:34,375 You're not going to steal, are you? 1106 01:14:34,458 --> 01:14:38,458 And even if you did, it's not serious. Nowadays everyone steals. 1107 01:14:38,542 --> 01:14:42,958 Stop worrying about trifles and seek to avoid sorrow. 1108 01:14:43,042 --> 01:14:45,417 When you remember your sins, 1109 01:14:45,500 --> 01:14:48,542 when you ask yourself whether you have upset anyone, 1110 01:14:48,625 --> 01:14:50,583 go to the theatre instead. 1111 01:14:50,708 --> 01:14:53,083 Go out with friends. 1112 01:14:53,167 --> 01:14:55,000 Read farces. 1113 01:14:55,375 --> 01:14:59,083 And if you really want a rule, this is it: 1114 01:14:59,167 --> 01:15:00,958 Be strong in faith, 1115 01:15:01,042 --> 01:15:06,292 not for the fear of sin, but for the joy of living with God.” 1116 01:15:06,958 --> 01:15:08,500 Do you hear that? 1117 01:15:09,875 --> 01:15:13,500 “Without God it is terrible. 1118 01:15:13,583 --> 01:15:15,708 Study the word of God. 1119 01:15:16,083 --> 01:15:19,583 If you read carefully, every verse is a pearl. 1120 01:15:19,667 --> 01:15:23,708 Pray from your heart, at least once or twice a day. 1121 01:15:29,958 --> 01:15:31,792 And of course, don't forget to wash…” 1122 01:15:31,875 --> 01:15:33,750 That's for you. 1123 01:15:33,917 --> 01:15:37,083 “A sincere prayer is the best soap for the soul. 1124 01:15:37,167 --> 01:15:40,958 Fast for a healthy stomach and innards, 1125 01:15:41,042 --> 01:15:43,208 don't think about other people's affairs, 1126 01:15:44,125 --> 01:15:47,292 don't engage in good works if you have other business, 1127 01:15:47,375 --> 01:15:50,542 be generous to the paupers who cross your path, 1128 01:15:50,625 --> 01:15:54,000 donate to churches and monasteries without keeping score, 1129 01:15:54,083 --> 01:15:57,042 since the balance will be settled in Heaven. 1130 01:15:57,125 --> 01:16:00,250 In this way, you will be healthy in body and soul. 1131 01:16:00,667 --> 01:16:03,833 Ignore the bigots who look 1132 01:16:03,917 --> 01:16:05,750 to sway your soul, since theirs are empty.” 1133 01:16:09,583 --> 01:16:12,833 These words had an effect on our friend, 1134 01:16:12,917 --> 01:16:16,208 but could not halt the tide of impressions 1135 01:16:16,292 --> 01:16:17,500 that overwhelmed him. 1136 01:16:17,583 --> 01:16:22,625 But your monk, in his own fashion, says more or less the same as I do. 1137 01:16:22,708 --> 01:16:24,667 What an astounding moralist! 1138 01:16:24,750 --> 01:16:28,250 Sin and do not repent: That I like. 1139 01:16:28,333 --> 01:16:31,167 I assume he does not say the same thing to everyone. 1140 01:16:31,250 --> 01:16:35,583 I think he takes a different tone with fools or villains. 1141 01:16:35,917 --> 01:16:37,208 Quite right. 1142 01:16:37,292 --> 01:16:40,750 When he observes excess scruple, he becomes philosophical, 1143 01:16:40,833 --> 01:16:42,417 even fatalistic. 1144 01:16:43,208 --> 01:16:48,417 Umberto also stirred the interest of a very intelligent old lady. 1145 01:16:48,500 --> 01:16:51,625 She was of the Russian faith, but educated abroad. 1146 01:16:51,708 --> 01:16:56,125 On hearing of him, she wanted him to be her spiritual adviser. 1147 01:16:56,583 --> 01:16:59,542 But he would not let her voice her spiritual concerns. 1148 01:16:59,625 --> 01:17:03,417 “Why fret over such foolery?” he said. 1149 01:17:03,542 --> 01:17:04,833 “To what avail? 1150 01:17:04,917 --> 01:17:09,333 “If it bores me, a mere peasant, how could it be of any interest to God? 1151 01:17:09,417 --> 01:17:13,958 “Enough! You're a wizened old crone and you'll never be more than that.” 1152 01:17:15,500 --> 01:17:18,667 She herself told me the story, with tears of laughter. 1153 01:17:24,458 --> 01:17:27,708 She tried to contradict him, 1154 01:17:29,083 --> 01:17:33,917 but he won the argument with a tale from the Lives of the Holy Fathers. 1155 01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:35,583 What tale? 1156 01:17:36,583 --> 01:17:40,083 A story Umberto used to tell us, Miklos and me. 1157 01:17:40,167 --> 01:17:41,750 A beautiful story, 1158 01:17:41,833 --> 01:17:44,583 but it would take too long to tell it now. 1159 01:17:44,667 --> 01:17:46,333 Do you hear? 1160 01:17:47,250 --> 01:17:48,500 Yes. 1161 01:17:48,583 --> 01:17:50,667 Yes, it's Christmas Eve. 1162 01:17:50,750 --> 01:17:53,250 Is it to… to herald Christmas. 1163 01:17:53,333 --> 01:17:54,958 It is the tradition here. 1164 01:17:55,042 --> 01:17:57,667 - Do you want to listen to them? - Certainly. 1165 01:17:58,250 --> 01:18:00,542 We would like to go outside, please. 1166 01:18:01,833 --> 01:18:03,875 It is a male choir, isn't it? 1167 01:18:05,375 --> 01:18:08,250 Yes, the villagers carol at every house. 1168 01:18:10,917 --> 01:18:12,750 Quick, quick! 1169 01:19:31,375 --> 01:19:33,583 Let's have some tea. 1170 01:19:46,042 --> 01:19:48,125 A little brandy, perhaps? 1171 01:21:46,333 --> 01:21:49,292 Tell Madame to come quickly, the Count is unwell. 1172 01:21:49,375 --> 01:21:50,750 Tell her! 1173 01:22:05,750 --> 01:22:07,333 Kolea! 1174 01:22:10,542 --> 01:22:14,792 Fetch Dr. Blumenfeld, the count is bleeding. 1175 01:22:14,875 --> 01:22:16,208 Quickly! 1176 01:23:32,167 --> 01:23:35,083 … 29th, Saint Thomas à Becket, 1177 01:23:35,167 --> 01:23:39,333 30th, Sunday of the Holy Family, 1178 01:23:39,417 --> 01:23:42,792 31st, Saint… 1179 01:23:44,417 --> 01:23:47,375 Saint Silvester I, Pope, 1180 01:23:47,458 --> 01:23:51,500 1st, St. Mary, Mother of God… 1181 01:23:57,500 --> 01:23:59,542 Sárika, come here! 1182 01:24:00,667 --> 01:24:02,875 Smell this! 1183 01:24:05,292 --> 01:24:07,792 Is that normal? 1184 01:24:07,875 --> 01:24:09,708 Smell it again! 1185 01:24:15,042 --> 01:24:17,125 I've told you before! 1186 01:24:17,708 --> 01:24:19,625 Go and fetch him! 1187 01:24:26,917 --> 01:24:29,833 Water, please. Five glasses. 1188 01:26:13,875 --> 01:26:15,792 Taste it. 1189 01:26:21,958 --> 01:26:23,667 Drink it all! 1190 01:26:26,417 --> 01:26:28,125 Go on. 1191 01:26:29,167 --> 01:26:30,792 Go on. 1192 01:26:39,750 --> 01:26:42,500 It happened last week, 1193 01:26:43,958 --> 01:26:46,250 it happened this week, 1194 01:26:50,125 --> 01:26:52,375 if it happens again… 1195 01:26:58,292 --> 01:27:01,708 Jancsi. What about the samovar? 1196 01:27:09,958 --> 01:27:12,333 They will have tea now. 1197 01:27:12,417 --> 01:27:15,083 We serve dinner at eight. 1198 01:27:15,167 --> 01:27:19,000 Go to the kitchen and correct everything, everything. 1199 01:27:19,083 --> 01:27:22,667 Because if it happens again, 1200 01:27:23,625 --> 01:27:26,333 I will be very, very upset. 1201 01:27:26,417 --> 01:27:28,125 Do you understand? 1202 01:27:28,708 --> 01:27:30,292 Go. 1203 01:27:56,792 --> 01:28:01,125 For a cough, butter a quince, boil it thoroughly, 1204 01:28:01,208 --> 01:28:04,292 then eat the quince and drink the liquid. 1205 01:28:04,792 --> 01:28:08,708 For bad breath, boil white willow leaf 1206 01:28:08,792 --> 01:28:11,875 and wash your mouth ten times… 1207 01:28:11,958 --> 01:28:13,625 Careful! 1208 01:28:15,792 --> 01:28:18,250 You wash your mouth ten times. 1209 01:28:18,458 --> 01:28:24,625 For a cramp, rub the spot, three Tuesdays in a row, 1210 01:28:24,708 --> 01:28:28,042 with the dust from the peel of a quince. 1211 01:28:38,042 --> 01:28:40,875 Truly sensational! 1212 01:28:41,625 --> 01:28:44,583 - Pardon? - They killed that girl. 1213 01:28:44,667 --> 01:28:46,000 Who? 1214 01:28:46,083 --> 01:28:48,375 From the Cabaret. 1215 01:28:53,500 --> 01:28:55,667 Turcsánsky… 1216 01:28:56,792 --> 01:28:58,458 Elsa. 1217 01:29:10,417 --> 01:29:12,667 Now we lift you up. 1218 01:29:13,792 --> 01:29:16,042 Gently, gently! 1219 01:29:16,833 --> 01:29:18,542 Easy does it. 1220 01:29:21,042 --> 01:29:22,958 Easy. 1221 01:29:30,917 --> 01:29:33,958 She was called Elsa the Witch. 1222 01:29:34,375 --> 01:29:36,417 Who? 1223 01:29:37,125 --> 01:29:40,875 The husband, Schmitt… Miksa. 1224 01:29:41,917 --> 01:29:45,000 The tycoon, with the furniture factory. 1225 01:29:45,083 --> 01:29:46,792 I read about it. 1226 01:29:53,917 --> 01:29:55,958 We've finished. 1227 01:30:05,542 --> 01:30:07,167 Easy… 1228 01:30:18,875 --> 01:30:20,667 - What about the tea? - Straight away. 1229 01:30:20,750 --> 01:30:23,958 Chamomile, marigold, lavender, mint. 1230 01:30:27,708 --> 01:30:30,000 We lift him up slowly. 1231 01:30:36,208 --> 01:30:38,292 Gently, gently. 1232 01:30:42,875 --> 01:30:44,792 Alright. 1233 01:30:49,500 --> 01:30:51,583 Now a little higher. 1234 01:31:06,333 --> 01:31:08,333 Are you comfortable? 1235 01:31:25,250 --> 01:31:28,000 - Olga? - I'm here! 1236 01:31:28,083 --> 01:31:30,208 - Do you still need me? - No. 1237 01:31:39,417 --> 01:31:42,875 Yesterday, European nations were united in the struggle for defence, 1238 01:31:42,958 --> 01:31:45,833 today are they united in spreading civilisation? 1239 01:31:46,250 --> 01:31:47,625 Excuse me… 1240 01:31:56,542 --> 01:31:58,958 The bad politics of the Bourbons… 1241 01:31:59,042 --> 01:32:01,083 - Did you call me? - What do you want? 1242 01:32:01,167 --> 01:32:04,625 - Did you call me? - No, damn it! Leave me alone. 1243 01:32:06,083 --> 01:32:08,708 This is precisely what we call an ugly story. 1244 01:32:09,583 --> 01:32:12,708 Let me invite you to take tea in the library. 1245 01:32:13,458 --> 01:32:16,667 It's not a question of words, political mistakes must be paid for. 1246 01:32:16,750 --> 01:32:19,250 Let them see it as something mystical, if they like. 1247 01:32:19,333 --> 01:32:23,750 Admit that your political remedy is ultimately tedious. 1248 01:32:23,833 --> 01:32:26,750 Had I not been interrupted, I would have finished with the topic 1249 01:32:26,833 --> 01:32:29,542 and given the floor to a more entertaining speaker. 1250 01:32:29,625 --> 01:32:32,333 Don't be angry, I was joking. 1251 01:32:32,417 --> 01:32:35,500 Quite the contrary, I find you highly witty 1252 01:32:35,583 --> 01:32:39,000 for your age and condition. 1253 01:32:39,083 --> 01:32:42,333 All I was saying is that now we are united with Europe 1254 01:32:42,417 --> 01:32:44,667 in our task of civilising Turkey. 1255 01:32:44,750 --> 01:32:48,167 That is why we must have a common strategy. 1256 01:32:50,958 --> 01:32:54,375 Well then, dear Nikolai, do you have Turkish tea for us? 1257 01:32:54,458 --> 01:32:56,042 Turkish tea? No. 1258 01:32:56,125 --> 01:32:58,875 That was cutting, Madeleine. 1259 01:32:58,958 --> 01:33:01,833 I would not have dared with Turkish tea. 1260 01:33:01,917 --> 01:33:04,542 It's ordinary Russian tea. 1261 01:33:06,417 --> 01:33:08,000 The best. 1262 01:33:08,083 --> 01:33:10,708 Exactly, the best tea. 1263 01:33:11,833 --> 01:33:14,708 I'm thinking of a Chinese dictum, 1264 01:33:14,792 --> 01:33:18,917 related to me by our friend, the Ambassador. 1265 01:33:20,833 --> 01:33:24,333 It goes like this: 1266 01:33:52,083 --> 01:33:54,125 Although we are still powerless in Turkey, 1267 01:33:54,208 --> 01:33:56,625 we can play a key role 1268 01:33:56,708 --> 01:33:59,208 in Central Asia and the Far East in particular, 1269 01:33:59,292 --> 01:34:04,250 where, it seems, universal history is about to shift its centre of gravity. 1270 01:34:04,875 --> 01:34:07,375 Thanks to its position, 1271 01:34:07,458 --> 01:34:11,042 Russia can do more there than any other nation, 1272 01:34:11,125 --> 01:34:13,333 apart from England, of course. 1273 01:34:13,417 --> 01:34:15,875 Therefore our policy in this respect 1274 01:34:15,958 --> 01:34:20,375 must aim for a permanent agreement with the English, 1275 01:34:20,458 --> 01:34:23,208 lest our civilising partnership 1276 01:34:23,292 --> 01:34:28,000 deteriorate into absurd animosity or undignified rivalry. 1277 01:34:28,333 --> 01:34:31,542 Never in people's lives or in that of nations 1278 01:34:31,917 --> 01:34:36,208 have I heard of a case where hostility or envy between partners 1279 01:34:36,292 --> 01:34:40,417 has made either stronger, richer, happier. 1280 01:34:40,500 --> 01:34:44,042 Intelligent people know this and I think 1281 01:34:44,125 --> 01:34:47,500 an intelligent nation such as Russia will act on it. 1282 01:34:47,583 --> 01:34:51,708 To be at odds with the English in the Far East would be insane. 1283 01:34:51,792 --> 01:34:56,542 Not to mention the disadvantage of quarrelling in front of strangers. 1284 01:34:56,625 --> 01:35:01,875 Or do you think we're more akin to the yellow-faced Chinese 1285 01:35:01,958 --> 01:35:04,625 than to the fellow countrymen of Shakespeare and Byron? 1286 01:35:04,708 --> 01:35:06,750 It is a delicate matter. 1287 01:35:07,167 --> 01:35:09,458 Just remember, 1288 01:35:09,542 --> 01:35:13,708 if we accept my viewpoint and recognise that at present 1289 01:35:13,917 --> 01:35:16,833 Russia's policy must set itself two tasks alone: 1290 01:35:16,917 --> 01:35:19,458 To preserve the peace in Europe, 1291 01:35:19,542 --> 01:35:22,458 since any war in Europe would, at this point, 1292 01:35:22,542 --> 01:35:26,125 be an absurd and criminal civil war, 1293 01:35:26,458 --> 01:35:27,500 and two, 1294 01:35:27,583 --> 01:35:31,333 to civilise the barbarian peoples within our sphere of influence. 1295 01:35:31,417 --> 01:35:33,833 We shall see that these two tasks 1296 01:35:33,917 --> 01:35:37,292 are of intrinsic value, and mutually support each other, 1297 01:35:37,375 --> 01:35:39,708 astonishingly so, 1298 01:35:39,792 --> 01:35:42,792 as each is conditional upon the other. 1299 01:35:42,917 --> 01:35:46,333 If the Chinese knew that Europe was behind us, 1300 01:35:46,417 --> 01:35:48,792 do you think we would be powerless in Asia? 1301 01:35:49,458 --> 01:35:53,500 But if they see Europe not behind Russia, but against it, 1302 01:35:53,833 --> 01:35:58,792 they might even think to attack our borders, 1303 01:35:59,292 --> 01:36:04,000 forcing us to defend our borders on two fronts 10,000 km apart. 1304 01:36:04,083 --> 01:36:07,250 I don't believe in the bogeyman of a Mongol invasion, 1305 01:36:07,333 --> 01:36:11,167 because I do not allow the possibility of war in Europe, 1306 01:36:11,250 --> 01:36:15,417 but should there be a war, we would also have to fear the Mongols. 1307 01:36:15,500 --> 01:36:20,042 According to you, war in Europe and a Mongol invasion are unlikely, 1308 01:36:20,125 --> 01:36:24,917 but I don't believe at all in this “solidarity of the European nations” 1309 01:36:25,000 --> 01:36:27,708 or in a future universal peace. 1310 01:36:27,792 --> 01:36:29,500 It is unnatural, 1311 01:36:29,583 --> 01:36:32,042 a chimaera. 1312 01:36:32,125 --> 01:36:35,375 Not for nothing do we sing in church: 1313 01:36:35,458 --> 01:36:38,000 “Peace on earth and goodwill to man.” 1314 01:36:38,083 --> 01:36:40,875 In other words, there will be peace 1315 01:36:40,958 --> 01:36:44,208 only when there is goodwill to man. 1316 01:36:44,292 --> 01:36:47,750 But where is this goodwill? 1317 01:36:47,833 --> 01:36:49,792 Have you seen it? 1318 01:36:51,500 --> 01:36:55,625 There is only one European power to which we both feel 1319 01:36:55,708 --> 01:36:59,458 a genuine and sincere goodwill: the Principality of Monaco. 1320 01:36:59,542 --> 01:37:02,333 And our peace with it is very stable. 1321 01:37:03,250 --> 01:37:08,333 But let us consider the Germans and those Englishmen of ours, 1322 01:37:08,583 --> 01:37:11,000 since their interests are ours too, 1323 01:37:11,083 --> 01:37:14,667 since their contentment is ours too, is it not? 1324 01:37:14,750 --> 01:37:18,667 This solidarity with the Europeans will never be possible over here. 1325 01:37:18,750 --> 01:37:20,292 How can it not be possible, 1326 01:37:20,375 --> 01:37:23,958 when it already exists? When it is in the nature of things? 1327 01:37:24,042 --> 01:37:28,250 We are in solidarity with the Europeans because we too are Europeans. 1328 01:37:28,333 --> 01:37:31,583 Ever since the 18th century, it has been an accomplished fact. 1329 01:37:31,667 --> 01:37:34,250 Neither the savagery of the Russian masses 1330 01:37:34,333 --> 01:37:37,000 nor the chimaeras of the Slavophiles will alter anything. 1331 01:37:37,083 --> 01:37:39,917 Are then the Europeans in solidarity among themselves? 1332 01:37:40,000 --> 01:37:42,000 The French and the Germans, for example, 1333 01:37:42,083 --> 01:37:44,833 or the English with the one and the other? 1334 01:37:44,917 --> 01:37:50,375 Apparently, even the Swedes have shed their solidarity with the Norwegians. 1335 01:37:51,542 --> 01:37:53,167 I shall say only this: 1336 01:37:53,250 --> 01:37:56,875 before declaring ourselves Europeans, let us at least wait 1337 01:37:56,958 --> 01:37:59,667 until the European nations are united. 1338 01:37:59,750 --> 01:38:03,417 We can hardly tear ourselves to pieces out of solidarity with Europeans, 1339 01:38:03,500 --> 01:38:06,292 when they are at daggers drawn among themselves. 1340 01:38:06,375 --> 01:38:08,708 Now they're at daggers drawn! Don't worry. 1341 01:38:08,792 --> 01:38:12,750 Neither between Sweden and Norway, nor even between France and Germany, 1342 01:38:12,833 --> 01:38:15,500 will there be a rupture. 1343 01:38:15,583 --> 01:38:16,708 So much is obvious. 1344 01:38:16,792 --> 01:38:18,250 Only in our country 1345 01:38:18,333 --> 01:38:20,958 do so many people believe that France 1346 01:38:21,042 --> 01:38:24,042 is a bunch of adventurers fit for prison. 1347 01:38:24,125 --> 01:38:25,750 That is where they belong. 1348 01:38:25,833 --> 01:38:30,042 Let them voice their nationalism there and preach war with Germany. 1349 01:38:30,458 --> 01:38:32,208 It would be good 1350 01:38:32,292 --> 01:38:35,208 if nationalist animosity could be put in prison. 1351 01:38:35,292 --> 01:38:37,625 But I think you're wrong. 1352 01:38:37,708 --> 01:38:39,167 Naturally, 1353 01:38:39,250 --> 01:38:41,208 I said it with a grain of salt. 1354 01:38:41,292 --> 01:38:45,000 Obviously, Europe is not yet a unified whole. 1355 01:38:45,125 --> 01:38:49,583 Even if regional separatism existed even in the 16th century, 1356 01:38:49,667 --> 01:38:51,458 it was giving up the ghost, 1357 01:38:51,542 --> 01:38:55,833 and state unity, now a reality, had begun to take shape. 1358 01:38:55,917 --> 01:38:57,458 The same as in Europe now: 1359 01:38:57,542 --> 01:39:00,667 although there are still regional antagonisms, 1360 01:39:00,750 --> 01:39:04,167 particularly among the masses and ill-educated politicians, 1361 01:39:04,250 --> 01:39:07,333 they cannot lead to any significant action. 1362 01:39:07,417 --> 01:39:10,542 They cannot cause a war in Europe! 1363 01:39:10,625 --> 01:39:12,708 Does it matter that the French and Germans 1364 01:39:12,792 --> 01:39:16,167 bear each other no goodwill, as long as they don't fight? 1365 01:39:16,250 --> 01:39:18,333 And that will not happen. 1366 01:39:18,417 --> 01:39:23,000 If we concede Europe to be a whole, it does not follow that we are European. 1367 01:39:23,333 --> 01:39:27,833 For the last 20 years, there has been a widespread opinion that Europe, 1368 01:39:27,917 --> 01:39:30,042 that is, the aggregate of the Romano-German peoples, 1369 01:39:30,125 --> 01:39:34,792 constitutes a unified cultural and historical type. 1370 01:39:34,958 --> 01:39:37,542 But we Russians belong not to this type, 1371 01:39:37,625 --> 01:39:40,750 but to another, the Greco-Slavic. 1372 01:39:40,833 --> 01:39:44,125 We are familiar with those gentlemen who rail against Europe 1373 01:39:44,208 --> 01:39:46,625 and our Greco-Slavonic origins, 1374 01:39:46,708 --> 01:39:48,625 casting themselves headlong 1375 01:39:48,708 --> 01:39:52,875 into preaching Confucianism, Buddhism, Tibetanism, 1376 01:39:52,958 --> 01:39:56,042 and other Indo-Mongolian barbarities. 1377 01:39:56,625 --> 01:39:57,792 Their distance from Europe 1378 01:39:57,875 --> 01:40:01,417 is directly proportional to their attraction to Asia. 1379 01:40:01,500 --> 01:40:04,292 Russia was, is and will always act 1380 01:40:04,375 --> 01:40:07,417 as Europe's buffer against Asia. 1381 01:40:08,375 --> 01:40:10,417 That is why 1382 01:40:10,500 --> 01:40:15,167 more than other European countries, our homeland 1383 01:40:15,250 --> 01:40:18,375 is influenced by the Asian element, 1384 01:40:18,458 --> 01:40:20,917 hence our imaginative originality. 1385 01:40:21,000 --> 01:40:23,750 Not even Byzantium was original in and of itself, 1386 01:40:23,833 --> 01:40:26,792 but rather through Asian influence. 1387 01:40:26,875 --> 01:40:29,292 In our case, from the very beginning, 1388 01:40:29,375 --> 01:40:31,458 particularly since Batu Khan, 1389 01:40:31,542 --> 01:40:34,333 the Asian element has permeated our being, 1390 01:40:34,417 --> 01:40:36,708 become our second nature, 1391 01:40:37,042 --> 01:40:39,625 prompting the Germans to say of us: 1392 01:40:39,708 --> 01:40:42,583 “They have two souls in one breast, 1393 01:40:42,667 --> 01:40:45,875 “and one wants to break free of the other.” 1394 01:40:45,958 --> 01:40:48,708 - I hope I didn't mangle it. - No, very nice. 1395 01:40:49,208 --> 01:40:52,958 It would be impossible for us to break free of our second nature, 1396 01:40:53,042 --> 01:40:54,625 for real, 1397 01:40:54,708 --> 01:40:57,833 and it would be pointless, since we are indebted to it. 1398 01:40:57,917 --> 01:41:01,500 But lest this clash tear us apart, 1399 01:41:01,583 --> 01:41:03,375 as you said, Ingrida, 1400 01:41:03,458 --> 01:41:07,917 it is necessary that one alone triumph and dominate. 1401 01:41:08,000 --> 01:41:10,125 The best, of course! 1402 01:41:10,333 --> 01:41:14,917 That is, the most intellectually robust, the one most capable of progress, 1403 01:41:15,000 --> 01:41:18,000 the one richest in potential. 1404 01:41:18,542 --> 01:41:23,833 It happened under Peter the Great, but the deep affinity with Asia, 1405 01:41:23,917 --> 01:41:27,167 although suppressed once and for all, continues 1406 01:41:27,250 --> 01:41:28,917 to urge others 1407 01:41:29,000 --> 01:41:32,708 foolishly to dream of the chimerical solution 1408 01:41:32,792 --> 01:41:36,125 to a historical problem already solved. 1409 01:41:36,208 --> 01:41:38,292 Hence Slavophilia, 1410 01:41:38,375 --> 01:41:43,167 the theory of the cultural-historical original type, and so on. 1411 01:41:43,250 --> 01:41:45,792 In reality, we are irrevocably European, 1412 01:41:45,875 --> 01:41:48,958 with an Asian sediment in the depths of our soul. 1413 01:41:49,042 --> 01:41:51,375 As far as I am concerned, 1414 01:41:51,458 --> 01:41:54,083 it is a grammatical evidence, so to speak. 1415 01:41:54,167 --> 01:41:56,667 What is “Russian”, grammatically speaking? 1416 01:41:58,750 --> 01:42:00,167 An adjective. 1417 01:42:00,875 --> 01:42:04,000 With which noun does it agree? 1418 01:42:04,083 --> 01:42:07,917 With the noun “man”: “a Russian man”, “the Russian people”. 1419 01:42:08,000 --> 01:42:11,000 No, it's too broad, too vague. 1420 01:42:11,125 --> 01:42:15,500 Papuans and Eskimos are also men, but I refuse to share my noun 1421 01:42:15,583 --> 01:42:18,000 with Papuans and Eskimos. 1422 01:42:18,750 --> 01:42:22,833 Nonetheless there are important things humans have in common. 1423 01:42:22,958 --> 01:42:24,583 Love, for example. 1424 01:42:24,667 --> 01:42:26,333 That's even broader: 1425 01:42:26,417 --> 01:42:29,917 how could I deem love as essentially individualising, 1426 01:42:30,000 --> 01:42:33,083 knowing that it belongs to animals and all creatures? 1427 01:42:33,167 --> 01:42:35,125 I, for example, am a meek man. 1428 01:42:35,208 --> 01:42:40,458 In love, I am closer to a white dove than to black Othello, 1429 01:42:40,542 --> 01:42:42,417 even if Othello is a man. 1430 01:42:42,500 --> 01:42:47,042 From a certain age, every reasonable man is in solidarity with white doves. 1431 01:42:47,125 --> 01:42:49,542 What was that? 1432 01:42:50,125 --> 01:42:51,625 It was a play on words, 1433 01:42:51,708 --> 01:42:54,542 not for you, but for His Excellency… 1434 01:42:54,625 --> 01:42:58,000 Joking aside! This is not the Comic Opera, as far as I know. 1435 01:42:58,083 --> 01:43:02,542 I meant that the true noun for the adjective “Russian” 1436 01:43:02,625 --> 01:43:04,625 is the word “European”. 1437 01:43:04,833 --> 01:43:06,667 We are Russian Europeans, 1438 01:43:06,750 --> 01:43:09,375 the same as the English, the French and the Germans. 1439 01:43:09,458 --> 01:43:11,042 If I feel myself to be European, 1440 01:43:11,125 --> 01:43:15,875 is it not stupid to demonstrate that I am Russo-Slavic 1441 01:43:15,958 --> 01:43:17,250 or Greco-Slavic? 1442 01:43:17,333 --> 01:43:20,417 I know for a fact that I am a European, 1443 01:43:20,500 --> 01:43:23,833 just as I know I am a Russian, a Franco-Russian, even. 1444 01:43:25,083 --> 01:43:27,875 I can and perhaps even must 1445 01:43:27,958 --> 01:43:30,625 be charitable to every man and animal. 1446 01:43:30,708 --> 01:43:33,542 But if I am to feel solidarity, 1447 01:43:34,208 --> 01:43:35,708 to feel at home, 1448 01:43:35,792 --> 01:43:38,708 it will not be with the Zulus or Chinese, 1449 01:43:38,792 --> 01:43:40,375 but only 1450 01:43:40,458 --> 01:43:42,250 with the nations 1451 01:43:42,333 --> 01:43:46,292 that have created and preserved this treasury of high civilisation 1452 01:43:46,375 --> 01:43:50,292 on which I nourish my soul and which provides me with supreme delights. 1453 01:43:50,375 --> 01:43:52,000 Are you sure? 1454 01:43:52,750 --> 01:43:56,375 First of all, these chosen nations had to take shape, 1455 01:43:56,458 --> 01:44:00,792 to gain strength and to survive against inferior elements. 1456 01:44:00,875 --> 01:44:03,917 War was necessary, war was sacred. 1457 01:44:04,000 --> 01:44:06,208 Now they have taken shape, 1458 01:44:06,292 --> 01:44:07,917 they have acquired power 1459 01:44:08,000 --> 01:44:12,167 and they have nothing more to fear, except internal strife. 1460 01:44:12,250 --> 01:44:15,458 Everywhere today, an age of peace is heralded, 1461 01:44:15,542 --> 01:44:19,875 an age of peaceful expansion of European civilisation. 1462 01:44:20,375 --> 01:44:23,167 All must become Europeans. 1463 01:44:23,583 --> 01:44:27,500 The notion of European must coincide with that of man, 1464 01:44:27,583 --> 01:44:31,458 and the notion of European civilisation, with that of mankind. 1465 01:44:32,083 --> 01:44:35,792 - This is the meaning of history. - This is becoming serious… 1466 01:44:36,042 --> 01:44:38,750 First they were only Greek Europeans, 1467 01:44:38,833 --> 01:44:40,875 then Roman Europeans, 1468 01:44:40,958 --> 01:44:42,792 then all the rest appeared, 1469 01:44:42,875 --> 01:44:46,125 first in the West, then in the East, 1470 01:44:46,250 --> 01:44:48,542 Russian Europeans appeared, 1471 01:44:49,625 --> 01:44:52,875 across the ocean, American Europeans, 1472 01:44:52,958 --> 01:44:55,625 now is the turn of the Turkish Europeans, 1473 01:44:55,708 --> 01:44:59,167 the Persian, Indian, Japanese, and even Chinese Europeans. 1474 01:44:59,250 --> 01:45:02,750 “European” is a notion 1475 01:45:02,833 --> 01:45:07,167 with a well-defined content and which is constantly growing. 1476 01:45:07,250 --> 01:45:12,625 Regarding this, notice the difference: every man is just as human as any other. 1477 01:45:12,708 --> 01:45:14,542 Therefore, if we take 1478 01:45:14,625 --> 01:45:17,875 so abstract a notion as a noun, 1479 01:45:17,958 --> 01:45:22,167 we will arrive at egalitarian non-differentiation 1480 01:45:22,250 --> 01:45:23,500 and we will not grant 1481 01:45:23,583 --> 01:45:28,125 the nation of Shakespeare and Newton any greater weight than the Papuans. 1482 01:45:28,208 --> 01:45:32,208 Excuse me, but it is taking longer than expected. 1483 01:45:32,292 --> 01:45:34,125 Don't worry. 1484 01:45:34,208 --> 01:45:36,125 I'll be back in half an hour. 1485 01:45:36,208 --> 01:45:39,000 - Will you be needing me, Olga? - No, thank you. 1486 01:45:40,833 --> 01:45:42,208 As I was saying, 1487 01:45:42,292 --> 01:45:45,792 first and foremost it is absurd, and deleterious in practice. 1488 01:45:46,917 --> 01:45:49,500 If my noun is not “man”, 1489 01:45:49,583 --> 01:45:50,875 that biped devoid of content, 1490 01:45:50,958 --> 01:45:53,375 but cultural man, 1491 01:45:53,458 --> 01:45:55,458 that is, the European, 1492 01:45:55,958 --> 01:45:58,333 then absurd egalitarianism no longer has any place. 1493 01:45:58,417 --> 01:46:02,292 The notion of “European” or, in other words, “culture”, 1494 01:46:02,375 --> 01:46:04,583 contains a sure criterion 1495 01:46:04,667 --> 01:46:06,208 for determining, 1496 01:46:06,292 --> 01:46:08,583 by comparison, the quality or value 1497 01:46:08,667 --> 01:46:11,000 of the different races, nations, individuals. 1498 01:46:11,708 --> 01:46:13,292 These differences in value 1499 01:46:13,375 --> 01:46:16,833 must be taken into account by a healthy policy. 1500 01:46:16,917 --> 01:46:19,333 Otherwise, if we place on the same level 1501 01:46:19,417 --> 01:46:21,250 relatively civilised Austria 1502 01:46:21,333 --> 01:46:23,833 and some semi-savage Hertzegovans, 1503 01:46:23,917 --> 01:46:26,417 it will lead us straight 1504 01:46:26,500 --> 01:46:29,458 to the absurd, dangerous adventures 1505 01:46:29,542 --> 01:46:33,417 yearned for by the last Mohicans of Slavophilia. 1506 01:46:33,500 --> 01:46:36,083 There are Europeans and Europeans. 1507 01:46:36,167 --> 01:46:37,958 Is that so? 1508 01:46:40,958 --> 01:46:43,792 When the long-awaited time comes, 1509 01:46:43,875 --> 01:46:46,333 hopefully very soon, when Europe, that is, 1510 01:46:46,417 --> 01:46:48,125 the civilised world 1511 01:46:48,375 --> 01:46:51,667 will genuinely coincide, in its dimensions, 1512 01:46:51,750 --> 01:46:53,958 with the whole population of the globe, 1513 01:46:54,042 --> 01:46:58,542 there will remain in the bosom of a mankind united and at peace 1514 01:46:58,625 --> 01:47:00,667 those natural gradations 1515 01:47:00,750 --> 01:47:04,708 and nuances of cultural value that history has laid down, 1516 01:47:04,792 --> 01:47:09,375 according to which our relations with various peoples must be adjusted. 1517 01:47:09,458 --> 01:47:13,625 And in the triumphant, universal kingdom of the higher civilisation, 1518 01:47:13,708 --> 01:47:17,250 it will be as in the Kingdom of Heaven: 1519 01:47:17,333 --> 01:47:19,458 “One is the light of the sun, 1520 01:47:19,542 --> 01:47:23,125 “one is the light of the moon, one is the light of the stars, 1521 01:47:23,208 --> 01:47:26,000 “for star differs from star in its brilliance.” 1522 01:47:26,083 --> 01:47:28,125 That is what the Catechism says. 1523 01:47:29,542 --> 01:47:33,000 When the target is so close but has not been reached, 1524 01:47:33,083 --> 01:47:34,792 we must guard 1525 01:47:34,875 --> 01:47:38,625 against the errors of undifferentiated egalitarianism. 1526 01:47:39,208 --> 01:47:42,125 Recently, the papers have reported a conflict 1527 01:47:42,208 --> 01:47:44,583 between England and Transvaal. 1528 01:47:45,167 --> 01:47:49,708 It seems the Africans threaten England with war. 1529 01:47:51,792 --> 01:47:54,958 Already I see all kinds of journalists and politicians, 1530 01:47:55,042 --> 01:47:58,458 from here and maybe even all across the continent, 1531 01:47:58,542 --> 01:48:00,958 waging a campaign against England 1532 01:48:01,042 --> 01:48:04,500 and taking the side of those oppressed Africans. 1533 01:48:04,583 --> 01:48:06,042 How shameful! 1534 01:48:06,125 --> 01:48:09,125 If only those wretched cowherds 1535 01:48:09,208 --> 01:48:12,458 had had the flair to accept their Dutch origins. 1536 01:48:12,542 --> 01:48:17,250 Holland is a real nation, honourable, patently superior. 1537 01:48:17,333 --> 01:48:20,917 But no! They consider themselves a nation apart 1538 01:48:21,375 --> 01:48:24,125 and they want to build an African homeland of their own. 1539 01:48:24,208 --> 01:48:25,500 The scoundrels! 1540 01:48:25,583 --> 01:48:27,333 First of all, do not use derogatory words, 1541 01:48:27,417 --> 01:48:31,167 then explain what the Transvaal is and what kind of people live there? 1542 01:48:31,250 --> 01:48:33,417 A mixture of Europeans and blacks: 1543 01:48:33,500 --> 01:48:36,333 Neither white nor black, but brown. 1544 01:48:36,417 --> 01:48:38,750 Another calembour, apparently. 1545 01:48:39,208 --> 01:48:42,625 - Not one of the best. - A calembour for a Boer. 1546 01:48:42,708 --> 01:48:45,917 If you do not like that colour, there is also the Orange Republic. 1547 01:48:46,000 --> 01:48:47,667 Wonderful… 1548 01:48:48,375 --> 01:48:50,333 But seriously, the Boers 1549 01:48:50,417 --> 01:48:53,208 are still Europeans, but of the bad variety. 1550 01:48:53,792 --> 01:48:56,375 Isolated from their glorious homeland, 1551 01:48:56,458 --> 01:49:00,500 they have, to a large extent, lost their civilisation. 1552 01:49:00,583 --> 01:49:03,958 Surrounded by savages, they have grown savage and harsh. 1553 01:49:04,042 --> 01:49:06,250 To place them on the same level as the English 1554 01:49:06,333 --> 01:49:10,000 or worse, to wish for their victory in the war with England, 1555 01:49:10,083 --> 01:49:11,917 is inconceivable! 1556 01:49:12,500 --> 01:49:15,583 But the same Europeans sympathise with the mountain tribes of the Caucasus, 1557 01:49:15,667 --> 01:49:18,792 who oppose you, fighting for their freedom. 1558 01:49:18,875 --> 01:49:22,917 And Russia is far more civilised than the Circassians. 1559 01:49:23,000 --> 01:49:24,500 On that we agree. 1560 01:49:24,583 --> 01:49:26,167 Setting aside 1561 01:49:26,250 --> 01:49:29,500 the reasons for Europe's sympathy for the Caucasus savages, 1562 01:49:29,583 --> 01:49:33,708 I shall say only that we must assimilate 1563 01:49:34,042 --> 01:49:36,875 the global European spirit, 1564 01:49:37,042 --> 01:49:40,125 not the follies of this or that European. 1565 01:49:40,208 --> 01:49:44,708 Certainly, I would deeply regret it if England were forced 1566 01:49:44,792 --> 01:49:46,958 to employ the obsolete 1567 01:49:47,042 --> 01:49:49,750 and historically blameworthy means that is war 1568 01:49:49,833 --> 01:49:52,167 to appease those arrogant barbarians. 1569 01:49:52,250 --> 01:49:55,458 But if war proves inevitable, 1570 01:49:55,542 --> 01:49:57,625 because of Zulu savagery, 1571 01:49:57,708 --> 01:50:01,542 encouraged by continental envy of England, 1572 01:50:01,625 --> 01:50:05,792 then naturally, I will hope the war concludes 1573 01:50:05,875 --> 01:50:08,375 with the African brigands crushed, 1574 01:50:08,458 --> 01:50:12,625 so that we shall never again hear of their independence. 1575 01:50:14,208 --> 01:50:18,333 Were they to prevail, possible given the context, 1576 01:50:19,125 --> 01:50:21,583 it would be the triumph of barbarity over civilisation, 1577 01:50:21,667 --> 01:50:25,500 and for me as a Franco-Russian, i.e. a European, 1578 01:50:25,583 --> 01:50:28,000 it would be a day of national mourning. 1579 01:50:28,208 --> 01:50:29,958 No, I disagree. 1580 01:50:31,125 --> 01:50:33,833 Why shouldn't we sympathise with the Boers 1581 01:50:33,917 --> 01:50:35,667 the same as we do with Wilhelm Tell? 1582 01:50:35,750 --> 01:50:38,917 Well, if they had created their own legend, 1583 01:50:39,000 --> 01:50:42,917 if they had inspired artists like Schiller or Rossini, 1584 01:50:43,042 --> 01:50:45,875 if they had produced a Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1585 01:50:45,958 --> 01:50:47,208 we would speak differently. 1586 01:50:47,292 --> 01:50:49,667 But they all came afterward. 1587 01:50:49,750 --> 01:50:52,583 Even the Swiss were originally nothing but shepherds. 1588 01:50:52,667 --> 01:50:53,708 And not only they. 1589 01:50:53,792 --> 01:50:57,208 When they rebelled against the English 1590 01:50:57,292 --> 01:50:58,750 to gain independence, 1591 01:50:58,833 --> 01:51:01,458 were the Americans notable for their education? No. 1592 01:51:01,542 --> 01:51:03,125 Even if they were not brown, 1593 01:51:03,208 --> 01:51:05,667 they had red skin and scalped their enemies. 1594 01:51:05,750 --> 01:51:07,042 Read Mayne Reid. 1595 01:51:07,125 --> 01:51:09,833 But even so, La Fayette sympathised with them. 1596 01:51:09,917 --> 01:51:11,083 And he was right. 1597 01:51:11,167 --> 01:51:15,458 Because now all the religions have been assembled in Chicago, 1598 01:51:15,542 --> 01:51:18,875 they have held an exhibition, an amazing thing. 1599 01:51:19,583 --> 01:51:23,875 They intended to do the same in Paris for the exhibition, 1600 01:51:23,958 --> 01:51:25,667 but nothing came of it. 1601 01:51:25,750 --> 01:51:27,917 An abbot did his utmost, 1602 01:51:28,000 --> 01:51:30,250 Father Victor Charbonnel. 1603 01:51:30,333 --> 01:51:34,042 He wrote me some letters. A very nice man. 1604 01:51:34,750 --> 01:51:36,792 But all the religions declined. 1605 01:51:36,875 --> 01:51:39,375 The Grand Rabbi said: “For religion, 1606 01:51:39,458 --> 01:51:42,792 “we have the Bible, an exhibition is superfluous.” 1607 01:51:42,875 --> 01:51:47,250 Poor Charbonnel, out of sorrow, has abandoned Christ. 1608 01:51:48,042 --> 01:51:52,542 The newspapers say he has retired, and was quite an admirer of Renan. 1609 01:51:52,708 --> 01:51:54,375 He ended up badly, 1610 01:51:54,458 --> 01:51:57,708 they say either he married 1611 01:51:57,917 --> 01:52:00,250 or succumbed to drink. 1612 01:52:00,625 --> 01:52:03,375 Your Neplyuev ended up the same, 1613 01:52:03,458 --> 01:52:06,042 but he was disillusioned with all religions. 1614 01:52:07,708 --> 01:52:10,125 That idealist wrote to me 1615 01:52:10,208 --> 01:52:12,542 saying he has faith only in humanity. 1616 01:52:12,625 --> 01:52:15,750 But how to exhibit humanity at the Paris Exhibition? 1617 01:52:15,833 --> 01:52:17,917 It seems to me utter folly! 1618 01:52:18,000 --> 01:52:21,375 But the Americans did do a very good job. 1619 01:52:21,458 --> 01:52:24,917 Representatives of every religion answered their call. 1620 01:52:25,000 --> 01:52:27,333 They appointed a Catholic bishop as chairman, 1621 01:52:27,417 --> 01:52:30,708 who read the Lord's Prayer in English, 1622 01:52:30,792 --> 01:52:34,292 and the Chinese and Buddhist idolater priests 1623 01:52:34,375 --> 01:52:39,625 politely answered: “Oh, yes! All right, sir! 1624 01:52:39,708 --> 01:52:41,625 We wish nobody any ill, 1625 01:52:41,708 --> 01:52:46,583 we ask only that your missionaries leave us alone. 1626 01:52:46,667 --> 01:52:48,083 Because 1627 01:52:48,167 --> 01:52:51,375 your religion is very good for you, 1628 01:52:51,458 --> 01:52:54,458 and it is not our fault if you do not follow it, 1629 01:52:54,542 --> 01:52:58,125 but our religion is the best for us.” 1630 01:52:58,208 --> 01:53:00,708 And it all ended well, 1631 01:53:00,792 --> 01:53:04,042 there was no fighting, to everyone's surprise. 1632 01:53:04,125 --> 01:53:06,792 That's Americans today. 1633 01:53:06,875 --> 01:53:07,917 Who knows? 1634 01:53:08,000 --> 01:53:12,625 Today's Africans might one day become Americans like that. 1635 01:53:12,708 --> 01:53:15,167 Anything is possible, of course. 1636 01:53:15,250 --> 01:53:18,500 Even a rascal can become a scientist. Until then, 1637 01:53:18,583 --> 01:53:20,458 a sound thrashing will do him good. 1638 01:53:20,542 --> 01:53:22,458 What an expression! 1639 01:53:22,542 --> 01:53:25,750 You have succumbed to vice. Is it because of Monte Carlo? 1640 01:53:25,833 --> 01:53:29,708 Whose company do you keep there? The families of croupiers? 1641 01:53:34,833 --> 01:53:36,917 Anyway, it's your business. 1642 01:53:38,000 --> 01:53:42,792 I merely ask you to shorten your exposition on political wisdom. 1643 01:53:42,875 --> 01:53:44,375 It is time that we conclude. 1644 01:53:44,458 --> 01:53:49,292 I was about to sum up and link to what I said at the start. 1645 01:53:49,375 --> 01:53:52,583 I don't believe you, you won't conclude by yourself. 1646 01:53:52,667 --> 01:53:56,625 I really must help you clarify your position. 1647 01:53:57,792 --> 01:54:00,542 You said, didn't you, 1648 01:54:00,875 --> 01:54:02,458 that in the olden days, 1649 01:54:02,542 --> 01:54:05,792 there existed God and war, 1650 01:54:06,083 --> 01:54:10,458 but now, instead of God, we have culture and peace? 1651 01:54:13,500 --> 01:54:15,167 That was it, wasn't it? 1652 01:54:15,625 --> 01:54:17,708 In a way, yes. 1653 01:54:17,958 --> 01:54:19,542 Perfect. 1654 01:54:19,875 --> 01:54:23,750 I neither know nor can explain what God is, 1655 01:54:23,833 --> 01:54:25,708 but I can sense Him. 1656 01:54:25,792 --> 01:54:29,958 As for your Culture, it stirs nothing in me. 1657 01:54:30,083 --> 01:54:32,333 Therefore, in brief, explain to me what it is. 1658 01:54:33,625 --> 01:54:37,250 What Culture is, what it consists of, you already know. 1659 01:54:37,333 --> 01:54:40,250 It is the whole treasury of thought and genius, 1660 01:54:40,333 --> 01:54:43,333 created by the elect minds of elect peoples. 1661 01:54:43,417 --> 01:54:44,542 Yes, 1662 01:54:44,625 --> 01:54:48,542 but that can mean anything, and there is considerable diversity. 1663 01:54:49,500 --> 01:54:53,292 Let us take Voltaire, Bossuet, the Madonna, Nana, 1664 01:54:53,375 --> 01:54:55,500 Alfred de Musset, Filaret. 1665 01:54:55,583 --> 01:54:59,917 How can you lump them all together and then replace God with them? 1666 01:55:01,250 --> 01:55:06,167 I also meant that we shouldn't bother about culture as a historical treasure. 1667 01:55:06,250 --> 01:55:08,375 Culture was created, it exists. 1668 01:55:08,458 --> 01:55:12,292 We can still hope there will be other Shakespeares and Newtons, 1669 01:55:12,375 --> 01:55:15,875 but that does not depend on us and is of no practical interest. 1670 01:55:16,667 --> 01:55:18,333 Culture also has 1671 01:55:18,417 --> 01:55:21,167 a practical or, if you like, moral side, 1672 01:55:21,250 --> 01:55:25,708 that is precisely what in private life is known as politeness, courtesy. 1673 01:55:26,250 --> 01:55:29,417 To a superficial eye it may seem unimportant, 1674 01:55:29,500 --> 01:55:32,292 but it has a vast and unique meaning 1675 01:55:32,375 --> 01:55:37,500 because only this can take on a universal, obligatory character. 1676 01:55:37,833 --> 01:55:42,083 We cannot demand of anyone lofty virtue, or superior intelligence or genius, 1677 01:55:42,167 --> 01:55:45,958 but we can demand of all that they show politeness. 1678 01:55:49,375 --> 01:55:52,542 It is the minimum of common feeling and morality, 1679 01:55:54,917 --> 01:55:58,125 which allows people to live like human beings. 1680 01:56:00,625 --> 01:56:03,542 We clearly cannot reduce culture to politeness, 1681 01:56:03,625 --> 01:56:07,083 but it is the indispensable condition for every culture. 1682 01:56:07,625 --> 01:56:10,167 Just as writing and reading are indispensable 1683 01:56:10,250 --> 01:56:12,375 to the mind's education. 1684 01:56:16,458 --> 01:56:19,417 Even if the latter entails more than that. 1685 01:56:29,667 --> 01:56:31,250 What is it? 1686 01:56:38,583 --> 01:56:40,958 Edouard, if you could see your face… 1687 01:56:41,042 --> 01:56:42,833 What's happening? 1688 01:56:48,292 --> 01:56:50,250 What is it? 1689 01:56:51,083 --> 01:56:52,625 I don't know. 1690 01:56:52,708 --> 01:56:54,958 Please, Edouard, continue! 1691 01:56:55,042 --> 01:56:59,292 Excuse me, I lost the thread of what you were saying. 1692 01:56:59,375 --> 01:57:01,250 - No, he'd just finished. - I was saying… 1693 01:57:01,333 --> 01:57:05,333 We should not be concerned with culture in general, 1694 01:57:05,667 --> 01:57:09,458 as a historical treasure, it was created, it exists. 1695 01:57:09,542 --> 01:57:13,458 We can still hope there will be new Shakespeares and Newtons, 1696 01:57:13,542 --> 01:57:17,708 but that does not depend on us and is of no practical interest. 1697 01:57:18,167 --> 01:57:20,875 Culture also has another aspect, 1698 01:57:20,958 --> 01:57:23,875 a practical or, if you like, moral aspect, 1699 01:57:23,958 --> 01:57:26,875 that is precisely what in private life 1700 01:57:26,958 --> 01:57:30,667 is called politeness, courtesy. 1701 01:57:33,208 --> 01:57:34,750 Really? 1702 01:57:35,333 --> 01:57:36,875 Strange… 1703 01:57:41,500 --> 01:57:43,000 Excuse me. 1704 01:57:43,083 --> 01:57:46,042 Now we really are at the Comic Opera. 1705 01:57:51,208 --> 01:57:54,792 - Nobody comes. - Yes, strange that nobody comes. 1706 01:57:54,875 --> 01:57:56,583 Is this a joke? 1707 01:58:00,375 --> 01:58:03,042 How strange that nobody comes. 1708 01:58:08,083 --> 01:58:10,083 It is strange, isn't it? 1709 01:58:11,250 --> 01:58:14,417 Perhaps it is the carollers from earlier. 1710 01:58:17,750 --> 01:58:19,542 But where is Olga? 1711 01:58:23,708 --> 01:58:27,708 Is she in the house? Strange that nobody comes. 1712 01:58:38,708 --> 01:58:40,292 István! 1713 01:58:47,542 --> 01:58:49,292 Maybe we ought to go and see. 1714 01:58:49,375 --> 01:58:51,333 Edouard is uneasy. 1715 01:58:53,042 --> 01:58:55,542 Ring again! 1716 01:58:56,042 --> 01:58:59,708 It's not usual in this house. 1717 01:59:00,958 --> 01:59:05,833 Do you see where you have brought our dear Nikolai's house? 1718 01:59:05,917 --> 01:59:07,833 Everything is out of joint. 1719 01:59:22,750 --> 01:59:24,750 What's with this silence? 1720 01:59:25,500 --> 01:59:27,333 Don't worry. 1721 01:59:29,708 --> 01:59:31,375 Zoyichka!… Zoya!… 1722 01:59:31,458 --> 01:59:34,042 - I'll go and see. - You'd… 1723 01:59:34,125 --> 01:59:36,583 István! 1724 01:59:42,625 --> 01:59:45,042 What's going on? 1725 01:59:45,208 --> 01:59:47,333 Answer me, what's going on? 1726 02:01:06,792 --> 02:01:08,167 Ingrida! 1727 02:04:58,958 --> 02:05:00,583 Easy… 1728 02:05:05,375 --> 02:05:07,750 - Gently. - Mind the door. 1729 02:05:10,042 --> 02:05:11,750 Ready. 1730 02:05:13,333 --> 02:05:14,792 Here we are. 1731 02:05:14,875 --> 02:05:16,792 - Now. - Yes. 1732 02:05:25,250 --> 02:05:26,833 Here you are… 1733 02:05:34,292 --> 02:05:37,417 - Are you comfortable? - István… 1734 02:05:37,500 --> 02:05:38,750 Yes? 1735 02:05:38,917 --> 02:05:43,583 What do you think of this: “Arise, life's accursed, 1736 02:05:44,667 --> 02:05:47,458 “Arise, those condemned to hunger!” 1737 02:05:47,542 --> 02:05:51,750 I think it refers to the foundry workers. 1738 02:05:52,875 --> 02:05:57,208 Those who want to work less but earn more… 1739 02:05:58,333 --> 02:05:59,708 Their wages… 1740 02:05:59,792 --> 02:06:02,083 What about this line? 1741 02:06:02,875 --> 02:06:06,250 “The International will be the human race.” 1742 02:06:07,833 --> 02:06:09,750 István, I need your help. 1743 02:06:09,833 --> 02:06:11,125 Sure. 1744 02:06:12,667 --> 02:06:16,625 In another week you will have recovered. 1745 02:06:20,292 --> 02:06:22,500 Tell me when you finish. 1746 02:06:22,583 --> 02:06:23,958 Yes, sir. 1747 02:07:34,042 --> 02:07:36,625 So you think it is the Antichrist? 1748 02:07:37,458 --> 02:07:38,875 Of course not. 1749 02:07:38,958 --> 02:07:41,958 There are hints as to his nature, 1750 02:07:42,042 --> 02:07:44,500 but he has not yet arrived. 1751 02:07:44,792 --> 02:07:48,917 Then explain him to us as simply as possible. 1752 02:07:49,542 --> 02:07:52,167 I cannot guarantee it will be simple. 1753 02:07:52,333 --> 02:07:54,792 It is not easy to achieve genuine simplicity, 1754 02:07:54,875 --> 02:07:59,292 and illusory, artificial, false simplicity is the most sinful. 1755 02:08:00,042 --> 02:08:04,583 According to an ancient maxim, which a late friend used to repeat: 1756 02:08:04,667 --> 02:08:07,583 “Simplicity can easily be deceptive.” 1757 02:08:08,042 --> 02:08:10,625 Not even that is so simple. 1758 02:08:10,708 --> 02:08:14,208 The same as in the folk saying, probably. 1759 02:08:16,917 --> 02:08:18,583 Which is? 1760 02:08:19,292 --> 02:08:22,833 “Simplicity is the worst theft.” 1761 02:08:23,917 --> 02:08:26,667 Simplicity is worse than theft. 1762 02:08:26,750 --> 02:08:28,083 Exactly. 1763 02:08:28,167 --> 02:08:29,917 Now I understand. 1764 02:08:30,000 --> 02:08:33,625 A pity the Antichrist cannot be explained through proverbs. 1765 02:08:33,708 --> 02:08:35,833 Then enlighten us. 1766 02:08:36,417 --> 02:08:38,208 Very well. 1767 02:08:38,292 --> 02:08:39,542 But before I do, 1768 02:08:39,625 --> 02:08:42,875 tell me whether you recognise the existence 1769 02:08:42,958 --> 02:08:45,708 and power of Evil in the world? 1770 02:08:46,292 --> 02:08:48,750 We wouldn't wish to recognise them, 1771 02:08:49,458 --> 02:08:51,292 but we are forced to do so. 1772 02:08:51,833 --> 02:08:53,750 Death is no small matter, 1773 02:08:53,833 --> 02:08:56,500 an evil none escapes. 1774 02:08:57,208 --> 02:09:00,625 I think the final enemy to be defeated will be death. 1775 02:09:00,708 --> 02:09:02,625 And as long as it is undefeated, 1776 02:09:02,708 --> 02:09:06,500 it is clear that Evil is stronger than Good. 1777 02:09:08,292 --> 02:09:10,583 What do you think, Ingrida? 1778 02:09:11,125 --> 02:09:14,792 Of course Evil exists, the same as Good exists. 1779 02:09:14,917 --> 02:09:18,208 If God exists, then the devil also exists. 1780 02:09:18,583 --> 02:09:21,458 As long as God permits, of course. 1781 02:09:21,708 --> 02:09:24,792 For the time being, I refrain from comment. 1782 02:09:24,875 --> 02:09:28,292 But I am curious as to other opinions. 1783 02:09:28,375 --> 02:09:30,833 I understand Olga's way of thinking, 1784 02:09:30,917 --> 02:09:34,917 that is, it's obvious to me it isn't really a way of thinking, 1785 02:09:35,000 --> 02:09:38,083 but quite simply a pretence, 1786 02:09:38,167 --> 02:09:40,583 which makes no sense. 1787 02:09:40,667 --> 02:09:44,500 But the obviously more consistent religious viewpoint 1788 02:09:44,583 --> 02:09:46,417 is what interests me more, 1789 02:09:46,500 --> 02:09:50,000 although I've encountered it only in its bureaucratic form 1790 02:09:50,083 --> 02:09:52,000 and it doesn't satisfy me. 1791 02:09:52,583 --> 02:09:56,750 I would very much like to hear about this, 1792 02:09:56,833 --> 02:10:01,375 not some pious homilies, but a human opinion. 1793 02:10:02,458 --> 02:10:04,167 Of the stars that 1794 02:10:04,250 --> 02:10:08,583 rise in the mind of him who reads the scriptures, 1795 02:10:08,667 --> 02:10:12,750 none, I think, is brighter or more astonishing 1796 02:10:12,833 --> 02:10:15,250 than that which shines in the Gospels. 1797 02:10:15,333 --> 02:10:16,917 Behold the poet. 1798 02:10:17,708 --> 02:10:19,333 No, wait! 1799 02:10:21,292 --> 02:10:25,750 “Think not that I have come to send peace on earth. 1800 02:10:25,833 --> 02:10:29,125 “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” 1801 02:10:30,583 --> 02:10:32,958 He came to bring us the Truth, 1802 02:10:33,042 --> 02:10:35,958 and the Truth, like the Good, is a sword, it divides. 1803 02:10:36,417 --> 02:10:38,708 Nor is this very clear. 1804 02:10:38,792 --> 02:10:42,000 Why then is Christ named “Prince of Peace” 1805 02:10:42,083 --> 02:10:43,750 and why did He say 1806 02:10:43,833 --> 02:10:47,125 the peacemakers will be named “sons of the Lord”? 1807 02:10:47,875 --> 02:10:50,833 Note that we can only reconcile contradictory texts 1808 02:10:50,917 --> 02:10:53,625 by separating the good peace, the true peace, 1809 02:10:53,708 --> 02:10:55,625 from the false peace, 1810 02:10:55,792 --> 02:10:57,333 the bad peace. 1811 02:10:57,708 --> 02:11:00,625 This distinction was clearly shown 1812 02:11:00,708 --> 02:11:05,000 by Him who brought true peace and good enmity. 1813 02:11:05,583 --> 02:11:07,917 “My peace I give unto you. 1814 02:11:08,000 --> 02:11:10,833 “Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” 1815 02:11:10,917 --> 02:11:13,583 Therefore, there is a good peace, Christ's peace, 1816 02:11:13,667 --> 02:11:17,500 based on the division Christ brings to the world, 1817 02:11:17,583 --> 02:11:20,917 that is, the distinction between Good and Evil, 1818 02:11:21,000 --> 02:11:23,542 lie and truth. 1819 02:11:24,458 --> 02:11:27,208 And there is an evil, worldly peace, 1820 02:11:27,583 --> 02:11:30,458 which rests upon the confusion or seeming reconciliation 1821 02:11:30,542 --> 02:11:33,375 of what essentially cannot be reconciled. 1822 02:11:34,125 --> 02:11:38,708 How do you explain to us the difference between the good and the bad peace? 1823 02:11:39,667 --> 02:11:41,458 Like Ingrida this morning, 1824 02:11:41,542 --> 02:11:44,292 when she joked about there being “good peace”, 1825 02:11:44,375 --> 02:11:47,500 like that of Nystadt or Kuchuk-Kainardji. 1826 02:11:47,583 --> 02:11:52,083 This joke conceals a more important and more general meaning. 1827 02:11:52,458 --> 02:11:55,875 In the spiritual struggle, the same as in the political one, 1828 02:11:55,958 --> 02:11:57,125 a good peace 1829 02:11:57,208 --> 02:12:01,000 is that attained only when the purpose of the war is achieved. 1830 02:12:03,042 --> 02:12:07,042 But ultimately, why are Good and Evil at war? 1831 02:12:08,167 --> 02:12:11,625 Is it really necessary that they confront each other? 1832 02:12:11,708 --> 02:12:16,625 Can there be hand-to-hand fighting between them? 1833 02:12:17,458 --> 02:12:19,708 In a war, 1834 02:12:20,583 --> 02:12:23,958 when one side gains ground, the other side, the enemy, 1835 02:12:24,042 --> 02:12:25,917 seeks reinforcements, 1836 02:12:26,125 --> 02:12:30,667 and the conflict must be solved at the front, with cannon and bayonet. 1837 02:12:31,292 --> 02:12:34,750 But in the battle of Good against Evil, there is no such thing. 1838 02:12:35,250 --> 02:12:38,292 When Good gains strength, Evil is weakened at once, 1839 02:12:38,375 --> 02:12:40,625 and they never actually confront each other. 1840 02:12:40,708 --> 02:12:43,167 Such things are figurative. 1841 02:12:43,917 --> 02:12:45,583 I think that… 1842 02:12:46,708 --> 02:12:49,125 we must merely take care 1843 02:12:49,208 --> 02:12:52,000 that the Good predominate in people, 1844 02:12:52,083 --> 02:12:54,875 for then Evil will be diminished of itself. 1845 02:12:55,125 --> 02:12:57,792 Do you think the good must simply become better 1846 02:12:57,875 --> 02:13:00,417 in order for the wicked to shed their wickedness 1847 02:13:00,500 --> 02:13:02,958 and themselves to become good? 1848 02:13:03,458 --> 02:13:06,000 Yes, I do. 1849 02:13:06,917 --> 02:13:10,750 Has a good man's goodness ever made an evil man good? 1850 02:13:10,833 --> 02:13:12,958 Or at least less evil? 1851 02:13:13,917 --> 02:13:15,167 No. 1852 02:13:17,292 --> 02:13:21,167 Never have I heard the like… 1853 02:13:23,375 --> 02:13:27,375 What you say is similar to what you told Olga this morning. 1854 02:13:27,458 --> 02:13:29,125 In other words, 1855 02:13:29,625 --> 02:13:31,333 not even Christ, 1856 02:13:31,417 --> 02:13:35,042 in all His goodness, could derive any good 1857 02:13:35,125 --> 02:13:37,958 from the soul of Judas Iscariot 1858 02:13:38,042 --> 02:13:40,250 or the soul of the bad thief. 1859 02:13:40,583 --> 02:13:44,750 Olga should answer your question, remember to ask her when she comes. 1860 02:13:45,750 --> 02:13:50,083 Since I don't believe she is Antichrist, I don't believe she'll come. 1861 02:13:50,167 --> 02:13:53,208 I believe even less in her theological astuteness. 1862 02:13:53,500 --> 02:13:57,500 In order for the question not to hamper our discussion, 1863 02:13:57,792 --> 02:14:02,792 I shall present the objection that Olga might express. 1864 02:14:03,708 --> 02:14:06,125 “Why did Christ not use His goodness 1865 02:14:06,208 --> 02:14:09,083 “to restore the souls of Judas and co.?” 1866 02:14:10,042 --> 02:14:13,792 Simply because the age was too ignorant 1867 02:14:13,875 --> 02:14:18,125 and only few souls had attained the moral level 1868 02:14:18,208 --> 02:14:20,417 at which can be perceived 1869 02:14:20,500 --> 02:14:22,875 the intrinsic power of truth. 1870 02:14:23,000 --> 02:14:25,958 Judas and co. had not sufficiently evolved. 1871 02:14:26,958 --> 02:14:30,208 As Christ told His Disciples: 1872 02:14:31,125 --> 02:14:33,417 “The works that I do, 1873 02:14:33,500 --> 02:14:36,583 “greater works than these shall you do.” 1874 02:14:37,292 --> 02:14:40,500 At the advanced stage of moral development 1875 02:14:40,583 --> 02:14:42,750 we have now attained, 1876 02:14:42,833 --> 02:14:45,375 the true disciples of Christ can, 1877 02:14:45,458 --> 02:14:48,750 by the power of their meekness and non-violence, 1878 02:14:49,167 --> 02:14:53,042 work miracles superior to those of 18 centuries ago. 1879 02:14:53,125 --> 02:14:55,083 If I may! 1880 02:14:55,167 --> 02:14:58,792 If they can, then why don't they? 1881 02:15:00,167 --> 02:15:03,167 Or perhaps you have seen such new miracles? 1882 02:15:03,708 --> 02:15:05,250 So it is that Olga, 1883 02:15:05,333 --> 02:15:08,833 not even after 18 centuries of moral development 1884 02:15:08,917 --> 02:15:10,375 of the Christian awareness, 1885 02:15:10,458 --> 02:15:14,000 still cannot enlighten my darkened soul. 1886 02:15:14,083 --> 02:15:17,083 And I remain the same cannibal 1887 02:15:17,167 --> 02:15:19,458 as before I met her. 1888 02:15:19,542 --> 02:15:24,042 The same as up until now, more than anything in the world, 1889 02:15:24,125 --> 02:15:26,833 after God and Russia, I favour the military art, 1890 02:15:26,917 --> 02:15:29,125 and the artillery in particular. 1891 02:15:30,167 --> 02:15:35,000 After all, I have met apostles of non-violence before, 1892 02:15:35,292 --> 02:15:39,125 and of a different calibre than our dear Olga. 1893 02:15:39,208 --> 02:15:40,375 Please, 1894 02:15:40,458 --> 02:15:43,792 why take such a personal stance? 1895 02:15:43,875 --> 02:15:45,708 What do you expect of me? 1896 02:15:45,792 --> 02:15:49,875 I've presented to you on Olga's behalf a Gospel text she had forgotten. 1897 02:15:49,958 --> 02:15:52,917 “That's good, or not so good 1898 02:15:53,000 --> 02:15:55,458 “I can't answer for other people's dreams.” 1899 02:15:56,417 --> 02:16:00,208 Well, now I shall take the defence of our dear Olga. 1900 02:16:01,292 --> 02:16:06,167 She would have shown intelligence if she had answered Ingrida thus: 1901 02:16:07,167 --> 02:16:10,708 “I myself and people like me, whom you have met, 1902 02:16:10,833 --> 02:16:15,125 “regard ourselves as true disciples of Christ 1903 02:16:15,208 --> 02:16:16,958 “only with regard to…” 1904 02:16:17,708 --> 02:16:19,625 Dinner is served. 1905 02:16:19,708 --> 02:16:21,167 Yes, very well. 1906 02:16:23,708 --> 02:16:26,208 - Sorry, what were you saying? - Nothing. 1907 02:16:26,292 --> 02:16:28,000 I was saying that, 1908 02:16:28,833 --> 02:16:32,375 were I to speak on Olga's behalf, 1909 02:16:33,292 --> 02:16:35,833 this is how I would have answered Ingrida: 1910 02:16:36,833 --> 02:16:40,083 “I myself and people like me, whom you have met, 1911 02:16:40,167 --> 02:16:42,958 regard ourselves as true disciples of Christ, 1912 02:16:43,042 --> 02:16:45,917 only with regard to our thoughts and deeds, 1913 02:16:46,000 --> 02:16:49,792 not because we think we have acquired a higher power. 1914 02:16:50,583 --> 02:16:53,458 Certainly, somewhere there exist or will exist, 1915 02:16:53,542 --> 02:16:55,000 one fine day, 1916 02:16:55,708 --> 02:16:58,167 better Christians than us, 1917 02:16:58,292 --> 02:17:01,792 and they would be able to enlighten even you.” 1918 02:17:03,292 --> 02:17:06,792 This answer, certainly, would be convenient, 1919 02:17:06,875 --> 02:17:09,417 since it appeals to an unknown authority. 1920 02:17:09,833 --> 02:17:11,625 But no matter. 1921 02:17:12,708 --> 02:17:15,875 They would say, for example: 1922 02:17:15,958 --> 02:17:17,750 “We cannot do anything. 1923 02:17:17,833 --> 02:17:20,417 Neither more nor the same as Christ did, 1924 02:17:20,500 --> 02:17:23,958 neither less nor even close.” 1925 02:17:24,125 --> 02:17:27,167 What then may we logically deduce therefrom? 1926 02:17:27,250 --> 02:17:30,250 We may deduce only one thing. 1927 02:17:30,333 --> 02:17:34,375 That Christ's words: “Greater works than these shall you do”, 1928 02:17:34,458 --> 02:17:38,292 were not addressed to those men but to others, 1929 02:17:38,417 --> 02:17:40,542 who resemble them not at all. 1930 02:17:41,750 --> 02:17:42,958 However, 1931 02:17:43,167 --> 02:17:45,208 we may imagine 1932 02:17:45,708 --> 02:17:48,792 that a man will fulfil the teachings of Christ 1933 02:17:48,875 --> 02:17:51,875 as to loving one's enemy and turning the other cheek. 1934 02:17:51,958 --> 02:17:53,833 And also through Christ, 1935 02:17:53,917 --> 02:17:57,167 he will be able to turn, by his meekness, 1936 02:17:57,250 --> 02:17:59,500 evil souls into good souls. 1937 02:18:00,333 --> 02:18:04,167 Not long ago, such an experiment was performed. 1938 02:18:04,250 --> 02:18:05,542 Not only did it fail, 1939 02:18:05,625 --> 02:18:08,958 but it proved exactly the opposite of your claims. 1940 02:18:11,292 --> 02:18:14,875 There lived a man of boundless meekness, 1941 02:18:15,208 --> 02:18:17,750 who not only forgave every insult, 1942 02:18:17,917 --> 02:18:21,375 but answered every evil deed with greater and greater good. 1943 02:18:21,458 --> 02:18:22,667 What then? 1944 02:18:22,917 --> 02:18:25,333 Did he shake his enemy's soul to its foundations? 1945 02:18:25,417 --> 02:18:28,000 Did he cause him to be morally reborn? 1946 02:18:28,083 --> 02:18:31,500 Alas, he only has harshened the villain's heart, 1947 02:18:31,583 --> 02:18:34,042 and he died a wretched death by his hand. 1948 02:18:35,250 --> 02:18:37,833 But please, let us take our seats at the dinner table. 1949 02:18:46,042 --> 02:18:48,542 Who were you talking about? 1950 02:18:48,625 --> 02:18:50,208 Who was this man? 1951 02:18:50,292 --> 02:18:52,542 Where and when did he live? 1952 02:18:52,625 --> 02:18:54,833 Not long ago, in St. Petersburg. 1953 02:18:54,917 --> 02:18:56,792 I thought you knew him. 1954 02:18:56,875 --> 02:18:58,500 He's Delarue, the Chamberlain. 1955 02:18:58,583 --> 02:19:01,542 Never heard of him in my life… 1956 02:19:24,875 --> 02:19:27,792 You argued that the meaning of History 1957 02:19:27,875 --> 02:19:30,333 resides in the fact that natural humanity, 1958 02:19:30,417 --> 02:19:33,875 initially composed of peoples of greater or lesser savagery, 1959 02:19:33,958 --> 02:19:37,708 which differed from each other, and either ignored or fought each other, 1960 02:19:37,792 --> 02:19:40,958 gradually gives birth to a better, more educated condition, 1961 02:19:41,042 --> 02:19:42,417 the civilised world. 1962 02:19:42,500 --> 02:19:43,625 Or European world. 1963 02:19:43,708 --> 02:19:45,583 Which grows and expands 1964 02:19:45,667 --> 02:19:50,125 to encompass every remaining people left behind by this movement of history, 1965 02:19:50,375 --> 02:19:54,833 bringing them together in a unitary whole, pacifist, international, in solidarity. 1966 02:19:55,833 --> 02:19:59,625 “The establishment of everlasting international peace.” 1967 02:19:59,833 --> 02:20:02,042 That was how you put it, wasn't it? 1968 02:20:02,292 --> 02:20:04,833 The imminent realisation these words 1969 02:20:04,917 --> 02:20:09,292 will lead to far more civilisational successes than might now appear. 1970 02:20:09,375 --> 02:20:12,458 Think of how much Evil will, necessarily, have atrophied 1971 02:20:12,542 --> 02:20:13,833 and how much Good, 1972 02:20:13,917 --> 02:20:17,292 by the nature of things, will appear and develop. 1973 02:20:17,583 --> 02:20:21,250 How much energy will be released for productive activities, 1974 02:20:21,333 --> 02:20:24,500 how the sciences and arts will flourish, industry and commerce… 1975 02:20:24,583 --> 02:20:27,333 Do you include the elimination of disease and death 1976 02:20:27,417 --> 02:20:30,625 among the imminent successes of civilisation? 1977 02:20:30,708 --> 02:20:31,917 It goes without saying. 1978 02:20:32,000 --> 02:20:33,458 Up to a point. 1979 02:20:33,542 --> 02:20:36,208 Much has been achieved in the medical sphere, 1980 02:20:36,292 --> 02:20:38,792 hygiene, antisepsis, organotherapy… 1981 02:20:38,875 --> 02:20:41,458 But are not these evident positive achievements 1982 02:20:41,542 --> 02:20:45,375 counterbalanced by an equally evident progress 1983 02:20:45,458 --> 02:20:49,292 of the degenerative psychopathic and neuropathological phenomena 1984 02:20:49,375 --> 02:20:52,417 that go hand in hand with the development of civilisation? 1985 02:20:52,625 --> 02:20:54,958 But what scales could weigh such a thing? 1986 02:20:56,875 --> 02:21:00,333 In any event, it is clear that the negative increases with the positive. 1987 02:21:00,417 --> 02:21:03,958 The sum tends toward zero. So much for diseases. 1988 02:21:04,208 --> 02:21:06,208 Then, as for death, 1989 02:21:06,292 --> 02:21:10,167 progress has never been anything other than zero. 1990 02:21:10,250 --> 02:21:14,042 Does the progress of civilisation aim to eliminate death? 1991 02:21:15,500 --> 02:21:17,125 I know very well it does not. 1992 02:21:17,208 --> 02:21:20,208 This is why it's not good to have such expectations. 1993 02:21:20,500 --> 02:21:21,750 In fact, 1994 02:21:21,833 --> 02:21:25,042 if I were certain that I would die once and for all, 1995 02:21:25,125 --> 02:21:27,458 along with all that I love, would I not be indifferent 1996 02:21:27,542 --> 02:21:30,833 whether various nations warred or lived in peace, 1997 02:21:30,917 --> 02:21:33,292 if they were civilised or savage, polite or not? 1998 02:21:33,375 --> 02:21:37,208 From a personal, selfish viewpoint, certainly it's all the same. 1999 02:21:37,333 --> 02:21:38,917 Selfish in what way? 2000 02:21:39,208 --> 02:21:40,750 Death levels all. 2001 02:21:40,833 --> 02:21:44,083 In the face of death, selfishness and altruism are just as absurd. 2002 02:21:44,167 --> 02:21:46,167 True. Nevertheless, 2003 02:21:46,250 --> 02:21:49,458 the absurdity of selfishness does not stop us being selfish. 2004 02:21:49,542 --> 02:21:51,917 Likewise altruism, insofar as it is possible, 2005 02:21:52,000 --> 02:21:53,333 does not require reason, 2006 02:21:53,417 --> 02:21:56,458 and the thought of death changes nothing. 2007 02:21:57,125 --> 02:21:59,792 My children and my grandchildren will die, I'm aware of it, 2008 02:21:59,875 --> 02:22:02,458 but that does not stop me caring for them 2009 02:22:02,542 --> 02:22:04,542 as if they will live forever. 2010 02:22:04,625 --> 02:22:07,292 I work for them, first of all, because I love them. 2011 02:22:07,375 --> 02:22:10,417 I'm glad to devote my life to them. I like doing so. 2012 02:22:10,917 --> 02:22:12,708 It's as simple as that. 2013 02:22:13,167 --> 02:22:15,375 Yes, as long as all is well. 2014 02:22:16,542 --> 02:22:19,625 But the thought of death is still there. 2015 02:22:20,625 --> 02:22:25,042 But when bad things happen to your children and grandchildren, 2016 02:22:25,708 --> 02:22:27,208 what joy, 2017 02:22:27,292 --> 02:22:29,292 what pleasure will you find then? 2018 02:22:29,583 --> 02:22:31,708 It's the same as with waterlilies: 2019 02:22:31,792 --> 02:22:34,500 when you pick them, you sink in the mire. 2020 02:22:35,167 --> 02:22:39,125 But it is still your duty to care for your children and grandchildren. 2021 02:22:39,208 --> 02:22:40,333 Of course. 2022 02:22:40,417 --> 02:22:43,333 Without having answered or even asked the question 2023 02:22:43,417 --> 02:22:47,792 of whether your care for them provides with them a real, definite good. 2024 02:22:48,167 --> 02:22:52,250 You care for them, not without reason, but because you bear them a living love. 2025 02:22:52,750 --> 02:22:56,875 We can't bear the same love for people who do not yet exist. 2026 02:22:57,417 --> 02:23:01,042 And this is where the question that reason asks us comes in, 2027 02:23:01,125 --> 02:23:04,333 with regard to the final purpose of our care. 2028 02:23:05,250 --> 02:23:09,750 If the answer, ultimately, is the death of each and everyone, 2029 02:23:09,958 --> 02:23:12,750 if the final result of progress 2030 02:23:12,833 --> 02:23:14,500 and of your civilisation 2031 02:23:14,583 --> 02:23:17,042 is in every case the death of all, 2032 02:23:17,125 --> 02:23:18,667 then it is clear 2033 02:23:18,750 --> 02:23:22,375 that all civilised activity is in vain. 2034 02:23:22,458 --> 02:23:24,250 It is pointless and absurd. 2035 02:23:24,875 --> 02:23:28,500 The true Christian doctrine does not even allow such an approach. 2036 02:23:30,375 --> 02:23:32,167 The evangelical solution 2037 02:23:32,250 --> 02:23:36,542 is clearly and thoroughly expressed in the parable of the vineyard. 2038 02:23:37,208 --> 02:23:41,792 The servants imagined the vineyard they were to tend for their master 2039 02:23:41,875 --> 02:23:43,792 was their own property 2040 02:23:43,875 --> 02:23:46,333 and that everything there was theirs. 2041 02:23:47,500 --> 02:23:51,417 They set about enjoying life in the vineyard, forgot their master, 2042 02:23:51,500 --> 02:23:55,917 and slew those who reminded them of him and their duties. 2043 02:23:57,083 --> 02:24:00,125 Almost everyone today lives like them. 2044 02:24:00,208 --> 02:24:01,500 In the absurd belief 2045 02:24:01,583 --> 02:24:05,458 that they are masters of their lives given to them for their own pleasure. 2046 02:24:06,750 --> 02:24:08,417 It is obviously absurd. 2047 02:24:08,708 --> 02:24:12,125 If we have been sent here, 2048 02:24:13,500 --> 02:24:16,583 it was by someone's will and for a reason. 2049 02:24:17,417 --> 02:24:20,208 But we have decided we are like mushrooms: 2050 02:24:20,500 --> 02:24:24,167 we are born and we live only for our pleasures. 2051 02:24:25,208 --> 02:24:27,167 It is clearly not good for us, 2052 02:24:27,250 --> 02:24:29,958 nor will it be for the disobedient servant. 2053 02:24:30,042 --> 02:24:33,708 The master's will is expressed in the doctrine of Christ. 2054 02:24:33,792 --> 02:24:37,750 Let people obey His doctrine, and heaven will reign on earth. 2055 02:24:38,250 --> 02:24:42,500 People will then receive the greatest good they are permitted. 2056 02:24:42,708 --> 02:24:43,917 It's all here. 2057 02:24:44,833 --> 02:24:47,333 Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, 2058 02:24:47,417 --> 02:24:49,833 and the rest will be given to you in abundance. 2059 02:24:50,708 --> 02:24:53,042 We do not seek the rest and we do not find it. 2060 02:24:53,875 --> 02:24:57,208 Not only do we not establish the Kingdom of God, but we destroy it 2061 02:24:57,292 --> 02:24:59,250 with our states, our armies, 2062 02:24:59,333 --> 02:25:02,208 courts, universities and factories. 2063 02:25:04,625 --> 02:25:06,833 - Have you finished? - Yes. 2064 02:25:11,958 --> 02:25:13,792 I have to… 2065 02:25:13,875 --> 02:25:17,292 to tell you that I simply cannot understand your way 2066 02:25:17,375 --> 02:25:19,083 of solving the problem. 2067 02:25:19,167 --> 02:25:20,917 You seem to reason, 2068 02:25:21,000 --> 02:25:23,458 argue and explicate, 2069 02:25:24,375 --> 02:25:27,208 you wish to convince us of something, 2070 02:25:27,292 --> 02:25:29,708 and yet you put forward nothing 2071 02:25:29,792 --> 02:25:33,417 but a series of arbitrary, meaningless statements. 2072 02:25:33,500 --> 02:25:35,083 You say, for example: 2073 02:25:35,250 --> 02:25:37,708 if we have been sent here, 2074 02:25:37,875 --> 02:25:40,208 it was by someone's will and for a reason. 2075 02:25:40,292 --> 02:25:42,000 This seems to be the principal idea. 2076 02:25:42,917 --> 02:25:45,083 But what does it mean? 2077 02:25:45,167 --> 02:25:49,375 How do you know we were sent here by someone, for something? 2078 02:25:49,458 --> 02:25:51,167 Who told you so? 2079 02:25:53,583 --> 02:25:55,458 It is true we exist on earth, 2080 02:25:55,542 --> 02:25:59,542 that our life consists in fulfilling some mission or other 2081 02:25:59,625 --> 02:26:01,333 is a wholly gratuitous statement. 2082 02:26:01,417 --> 02:26:04,250 In my youth, when I was sent on mission, 2083 02:26:04,333 --> 02:26:06,250 I knew it for certain. 2084 02:26:06,333 --> 02:26:10,583 I knew by whom and for what purpose. 2085 02:26:11,000 --> 02:26:15,208 First of all because I had indisputable documents, 2086 02:26:15,292 --> 02:26:16,333 secondly, 2087 02:26:16,417 --> 02:26:19,458 because I had had an audience with the late Alexander II, 2088 02:26:19,542 --> 02:26:22,125 who personally gave me instructions, 2089 02:26:22,208 --> 02:26:23,583 and thirdly, 2090 02:26:23,667 --> 02:26:26,292 because every year I was paid 30,000 gold rubles. 2091 02:26:26,375 --> 02:26:27,750 A handsome sum! 2092 02:26:29,625 --> 02:26:31,417 If, rather than all that, 2093 02:26:32,292 --> 02:26:35,458 somebody had approached me on the street, 2094 02:26:35,542 --> 02:26:38,250 made me a minister 2095 02:26:38,333 --> 02:26:40,583 and sent me off on a mission, 2096 02:26:40,667 --> 02:26:45,875 then I would have looked around for a policeman 2097 02:26:45,958 --> 02:26:49,542 to arrest that lunatic lest he take my life. 2098 02:26:49,625 --> 02:26:50,667 In our case, 2099 02:26:50,750 --> 02:26:54,833 your supposed master did not give you indisputable documents, 2100 02:26:55,000 --> 02:26:57,292 he did not grant you a private audience, 2101 02:26:57,375 --> 02:26:59,333 he does not pay you a salary. 2102 02:26:59,417 --> 02:27:01,333 What kind of emissary are you? 2103 02:27:01,417 --> 02:27:05,042 And I refer not just to you, but to all people, 2104 02:27:05,125 --> 02:27:07,708 whether envoys or servants, we do not know for sure. 2105 02:27:07,792 --> 02:27:10,583 By what right? On what basis? I do not understand. 2106 02:27:10,833 --> 02:27:14,417 My impression is that it is a rhetorical exercise, 2107 02:27:14,500 --> 02:27:16,500 and not a very inspired one. 2108 02:27:18,750 --> 02:27:19,958 Please, 2109 02:27:20,667 --> 02:27:23,000 don't play-act again. 2110 02:27:24,958 --> 02:27:26,958 You understand perfectly 2111 02:27:27,042 --> 02:27:30,792 that Olga was not attacking your unbelief, 2112 02:27:30,875 --> 02:27:33,917 but expositing the general Christian view 2113 02:27:34,000 --> 02:27:36,250 according to which we all depend on God 2114 02:27:36,333 --> 02:27:38,417 and must serve Him. 2115 02:27:38,500 --> 02:27:41,167 To serve him without a wage, this I do not understand. 2116 02:27:41,250 --> 02:27:44,583 And if this wage is the same for all, meaning death, 2117 02:27:44,667 --> 02:27:46,625 then my compliments. 2118 02:27:46,708 --> 02:27:48,375 You will die anyway 2119 02:27:48,458 --> 02:27:50,917 and nobody will ask your opinion. 2120 02:27:52,333 --> 02:27:55,750 Precisely this “anyway” shows us that life is not a paid job. 2121 02:27:55,833 --> 02:27:59,292 Whether or not I am asked for my consent, 2122 02:27:59,375 --> 02:28:03,875 since my consent is not required in order to die or be born, 2123 02:28:03,958 --> 02:28:06,167 I prefer to regard both death and life, 2124 02:28:06,250 --> 02:28:09,833 as what they are, that is, necessities of nature. 2125 02:28:10,000 --> 02:28:12,792 Rather than tell myself I serve a master. 2126 02:28:13,375 --> 02:28:14,917 Here is my conclusion: 2127 02:28:15,000 --> 02:28:16,958 Live your life 2128 02:28:17,125 --> 02:28:19,083 and strive to live 2129 02:28:19,333 --> 02:28:22,333 as intelligently and as well as possible. 2130 02:28:22,417 --> 02:28:25,417 The condition for an intelligent and good life 2131 02:28:25,500 --> 02:28:27,708 is a pacifist civilisation. 2132 02:28:28,500 --> 02:28:32,458 Besides, I assume that not even in the realm of Christian teaching 2133 02:28:32,542 --> 02:28:36,667 does Olga's pseudo-solution stand up to criticism. 2134 02:28:37,125 --> 02:28:39,958 But I surrender the floor to more competent speakers. 2135 02:28:40,042 --> 02:28:41,542 What answer are we talking about? 2136 02:28:41,625 --> 02:28:43,833 The question has neither been asked nor answered. 2137 02:28:43,917 --> 02:28:46,000 Instead, we keep going around and around it. 2138 02:28:46,083 --> 02:28:50,458 It is as if I were to draw battalions 2139 02:28:50,542 --> 02:28:52,792 around an enemy fortress on a map 2140 02:28:52,875 --> 02:28:55,125 and imagine I had conquered it. 2141 02:29:03,625 --> 02:29:05,417 I don't understand a thing! 2142 02:29:06,625 --> 02:29:09,667 Is that all you can muster against what I said? 2143 02:29:10,833 --> 02:29:13,625 What was genuinely hard for me to understand 2144 02:29:13,708 --> 02:29:17,958 was the part about mushrooms living for their own pleasures. 2145 02:29:18,042 --> 02:29:21,292 I've always thought they were for the pleasure of gourmets, 2146 02:29:21,375 --> 02:29:23,792 served with cream or in pastry. 2147 02:29:25,375 --> 02:29:29,792 And if God's kingdom on earth leaves death intact, 2148 02:29:29,875 --> 02:29:33,000 then it follows that people live against their will 2149 02:29:33,083 --> 02:29:35,250 and in that kingdom, 2150 02:29:35,333 --> 02:29:37,958 we will live like mushrooms. 2151 02:29:38,042 --> 02:29:40,917 But not like your pleasure-taking mushrooms, 2152 02:29:41,000 --> 02:29:44,542 rather as real mushrooms, which will end up in the pan. 2153 02:29:44,792 --> 02:29:46,708 The same for humans 2154 02:29:46,833 --> 02:29:49,875 in God's kingdom on earth, 2155 02:29:49,958 --> 02:29:52,292 they will finally be devoured by death. 2156 02:29:52,375 --> 02:29:53,708 And that will be that. 2157 02:29:54,208 --> 02:29:56,042 Olga didn't say that. 2158 02:29:56,875 --> 02:29:58,875 Neither that, nor anything else. 2159 02:29:58,958 --> 02:30:02,875 Why do we overlook the most important thing? 2160 02:30:02,958 --> 02:30:04,042 Before that, 2161 02:30:04,125 --> 02:30:07,417 I'd like to know where you got that parable, 2162 02:30:07,500 --> 02:30:10,875 Olga, whereby you expressed your opinion? 2163 02:30:11,417 --> 02:30:14,167 Or maybe you invented it yourself? 2164 02:30:15,500 --> 02:30:17,250 Invented it myself? 2165 02:30:17,333 --> 02:30:19,208 But it's from the Gospels! 2166 02:30:20,542 --> 02:30:23,333 That parable is not in any Gospel. 2167 02:30:24,042 --> 02:30:26,000 For God's sake! 2168 02:30:26,417 --> 02:30:28,583 Why are you picking on Olga? 2169 02:30:37,125 --> 02:30:39,958 There is a parable of the vine workers in the Gospels. 2170 02:30:40,833 --> 02:30:43,292 There is something on a similar subject, 2171 02:30:43,375 --> 02:30:46,083 but its meaning and content refer to something else. 2172 02:30:46,167 --> 02:30:48,833 This is too much! To me, it is the same parable. 2173 02:30:48,917 --> 02:30:52,250 And besides, it seems to me that you are splitting hairs. 2174 02:30:52,333 --> 02:30:54,792 And I don't take your word for it. 2175 02:30:54,875 --> 02:30:56,500 Nor is there any need to. 2176 02:30:56,583 --> 02:30:59,625 The parable can be found in three of the Evangelists: 2177 02:30:59,708 --> 02:31:01,625 Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 2178 02:31:01,708 --> 02:31:04,125 but there is no noticeable difference among them, 2179 02:31:04,208 --> 02:31:08,083 therefore let us look at only one of them, the most detailed, 2180 02:31:08,167 --> 02:31:09,500 in Luke. 2181 02:31:10,000 --> 02:31:11,875 It is in chapter 20, 2182 02:31:11,958 --> 02:31:14,708 where we find Christ's final sermon. 2183 02:31:15,625 --> 02:31:19,250 The end was approaching, and here we are told, 2184 02:31:19,667 --> 02:31:23,542 at the end of chapter 19 and the beginning of chapter 20, 2185 02:31:23,625 --> 02:31:26,083 how Christ's enemies, 2186 02:31:26,167 --> 02:31:28,333 the high priests and scribes, 2187 02:31:28,417 --> 02:31:31,375 made a determined attack, 2188 02:31:31,583 --> 02:31:34,875 demanding He reveal who authorised Him, 2189 02:31:34,958 --> 02:31:36,417 and to say 2190 02:31:37,208 --> 02:31:38,458 by what right 2191 02:31:38,542 --> 02:31:42,583 and by what authority He acted. But better I read it. 2192 02:31:44,250 --> 02:31:46,792 And he taught daily in the temple 2193 02:31:47,208 --> 02:31:49,917 But the chief priests and the scribes 2194 02:31:50,000 --> 02:31:52,000 sought to destroy him 2195 02:31:52,417 --> 02:31:57,792 and could not find what they might do, for all people were waiting to hear him. 2196 02:31:58,208 --> 02:32:01,917 On one of those days as he taught the people in the temple, 2197 02:32:02,000 --> 02:32:05,083 the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2198 02:32:05,167 --> 02:32:07,208 and spoke unto him, saying, 2199 02:32:07,292 --> 02:32:11,500 Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who gave you this authority? 2200 02:32:11,667 --> 02:32:13,333 And he answered and said unto them: 2201 02:32:13,417 --> 02:32:17,500 I will ask you one thing, and answer me: 2202 02:32:17,583 --> 02:32:21,167 the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 2203 02:32:21,542 --> 02:32:24,167 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, 2204 02:32:24,708 --> 02:32:26,792 If we shall say, From heaven, he will say, 2205 02:32:26,875 --> 02:32:28,667 Why then believed ye him not? 2206 02:32:28,750 --> 02:32:31,750 But and if we say, Of men, all the people will stone us, 2207 02:32:31,833 --> 02:32:34,458 for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 2208 02:32:34,542 --> 02:32:37,583 And they answered that they could not tell whence it was. 2209 02:32:37,667 --> 02:32:39,083 And Jesus said unto them, 2210 02:32:39,167 --> 02:32:42,583 Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 2211 02:32:42,833 --> 02:32:44,958 Why do you read this to us? 2212 02:32:45,208 --> 02:32:48,625 It was well that Christ didn't answer when they berated Him. 2213 02:32:48,708 --> 02:32:50,833 What does this have to do with vineyard workers? 2214 02:32:50,917 --> 02:32:52,667 Wait a minute, it all comes together. 2215 02:32:52,750 --> 02:32:55,583 You are wrong that Jesus didn't answer. 2216 02:32:55,667 --> 02:32:58,083 He answered very precisely, 2217 02:32:58,167 --> 02:32:59,667 twice even. 2218 02:32:59,750 --> 02:33:04,000 He called on a witness to His power that they could not challenge. 2219 02:33:04,083 --> 02:33:05,708 Then He showed them 2220 02:33:05,792 --> 02:33:08,833 they had neither power nor any right over Him, 2221 02:33:08,917 --> 02:33:11,000 as they were acting from fear of the people, 2222 02:33:11,083 --> 02:33:12,958 submitting to the mob, 2223 02:33:13,042 --> 02:33:14,500 from fear of death. 2224 02:33:15,083 --> 02:33:17,500 But the true power, isn't it, 2225 02:33:17,583 --> 02:33:20,792 consists not in following others, but in being followed. 2226 02:33:21,250 --> 02:33:23,958 Fearing the people and heeding them, 2227 02:33:24,042 --> 02:33:25,500 they showed that power 2228 02:33:25,583 --> 02:33:27,917 eluded them and belonged to the people. 2229 02:33:28,000 --> 02:33:30,583 It is the people Christ now addresses, 2230 02:33:30,667 --> 02:33:33,208 to accuse them of opposing Him. 2231 02:33:34,792 --> 02:33:36,333 This I like very much! 2232 02:33:53,583 --> 02:33:56,417 The content of vineyard parable 2233 02:33:56,500 --> 02:34:01,875 condemns the unworthy Jewish leaders for opposing the Messiah. 2234 02:34:02,542 --> 02:34:04,083 As you will now see. 2235 02:34:05,708 --> 02:34:08,667 Then he began to speak to the people this parable: 2236 02:34:09,458 --> 02:34:11,083 A man planted a vineyard, 2237 02:34:11,167 --> 02:34:14,833 let it forth to husbandmen and went abroad for a long time. 2238 02:34:14,917 --> 02:34:17,833 At harvest time he sent a servant to the husbandmen, 2239 02:34:17,917 --> 02:34:20,500 so they should give him the fruit of the vineyard. 2240 02:34:20,583 --> 02:34:23,542 But the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty handed. 2241 02:34:23,625 --> 02:34:26,000 And again he sent another servant 2242 02:34:26,083 --> 02:34:27,792 and they beat him also, 2243 02:34:27,875 --> 02:34:31,000 and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty handed. 2244 02:34:31,083 --> 02:34:34,208 And again he sent a third, and they wounded him also 2245 02:34:34,292 --> 02:34:36,250 and cast him out. 2246 02:34:36,333 --> 02:34:38,750 Then the lord of the vineyard said to himself: 2247 02:34:38,917 --> 02:34:40,208 What shall I do? 2248 02:34:40,292 --> 02:34:42,750 I will send my beloved son, 2249 02:34:42,833 --> 02:34:45,417 hopefully they will reverence him. 2250 02:34:45,500 --> 02:34:47,542 But when the husbandmen saw him, 2251 02:34:47,625 --> 02:34:50,375 they reasoned among themselves, saying 2252 02:34:50,708 --> 02:34:52,167 This is the heir, 2253 02:34:52,250 --> 02:34:54,708 let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. 2254 02:34:54,792 --> 02:34:58,167 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 2255 02:34:58,292 --> 02:35:00,625 What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? 2256 02:35:00,708 --> 02:35:01,750 He shall come 2257 02:35:01,833 --> 02:35:06,167 and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. 2258 02:35:06,417 --> 02:35:08,250 And when they heard it, they said: 2259 02:35:08,333 --> 02:35:09,875 God forbid. 2260 02:35:10,000 --> 02:35:13,083 And he beheld them, and said: 2261 02:35:13,167 --> 02:35:14,833 What is this that is written? 2262 02:35:14,917 --> 02:35:17,333 The stone which the builders rejected, 2263 02:35:17,417 --> 02:35:19,333 became the head of the corner. 2264 02:35:19,417 --> 02:35:22,000 Whosoever shall fall upon it shall be broken, 2265 02:35:22,083 --> 02:35:25,000 on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 2266 02:35:25,167 --> 02:35:28,917 The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him, 2267 02:35:29,000 --> 02:35:30,958 but they feared the people. 2268 02:35:31,292 --> 02:35:32,917 For they perceived 2269 02:35:33,000 --> 02:35:35,792 that he had spoken this parable against them. 2270 02:35:38,625 --> 02:35:41,000 To whom and to what, I ask you, 2271 02:35:41,083 --> 02:35:43,542 does the parable of the vineyard refer? 2272 02:35:43,917 --> 02:35:46,333 I don't understand your objection. 2273 02:35:46,917 --> 02:35:49,625 The high priests and scribes were offended 2274 02:35:49,708 --> 02:35:54,042 because they knew they were like the workers in this parable. 2275 02:35:54,292 --> 02:35:57,083 But of what exactly were they accused? 2276 02:35:57,167 --> 02:35:59,542 Of not practising the true doctrine. 2277 02:35:59,625 --> 02:36:00,917 This much seems obvious. 2278 02:36:01,000 --> 02:36:03,875 These villains lived like mushrooms, for their own pleasure. 2279 02:36:03,958 --> 02:36:06,375 They smoked tobacco, drank brandy, 2280 02:36:06,458 --> 02:36:09,333 they ate dead flesh, made offerings of it to their god, 2281 02:36:09,417 --> 02:36:10,875 they also married, 2282 02:36:10,958 --> 02:36:13,625 they judged others and waged war. 2283 02:36:13,708 --> 02:36:19,292 Does such mockery befit your age and rank? 2284 02:36:19,625 --> 02:36:21,542 Don't listen to him, Olga. 2285 02:36:22,208 --> 02:36:24,583 I am convinced… 2286 02:36:25,292 --> 02:36:26,625 I beg your pardon. 2287 02:36:28,750 --> 02:36:31,458 We are trying to have a serious discussion with you. 2288 02:36:31,750 --> 02:36:34,208 Merely tell me, 2289 02:36:34,542 --> 02:36:37,375 in Gospel parable, 2290 02:36:38,792 --> 02:36:41,333 the vineyard workers perish 2291 02:36:41,417 --> 02:36:44,708 because they kill their master's son and heir. 2292 02:36:44,792 --> 02:36:47,250 That is what is essential, according to the Gospel. 2293 02:36:47,333 --> 02:36:49,333 Why do you omit this fact? 2294 02:36:50,083 --> 02:36:53,833 Because it refers to the fate of Christ, 2295 02:36:54,333 --> 02:36:56,542 which, of course, has its own importance and value, 2296 02:36:56,625 --> 02:36:59,958 but is not essential to the only thing necessary. 2297 02:37:00,417 --> 02:37:01,792 Namely? 2298 02:37:02,250 --> 02:37:04,375 To follow Gospel teachings 2299 02:37:04,458 --> 02:37:07,917 whereby we attain the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. 2300 02:37:08,000 --> 02:37:09,042 Wait! 2301 02:37:09,125 --> 02:37:10,875 Wait one moment. 2302 02:37:11,458 --> 02:37:14,167 It is all mixed up in my head. 2303 02:37:14,625 --> 02:37:17,000 What is it about, in fact? 2304 02:37:18,083 --> 02:37:20,542 Nikolai, you hold the Gospels in your hand, 2305 02:37:20,625 --> 02:37:22,792 please tell me 2306 02:37:23,542 --> 02:37:26,958 what comes next in the chapter, after the parable. 2307 02:37:35,958 --> 02:37:37,542 It says 2308 02:37:37,625 --> 02:37:40,583 we must render unto Caesar what is Caesar's 2309 02:37:41,333 --> 02:37:43,792 then it tells of the resurrection of dead, 2310 02:37:43,875 --> 02:37:45,792 that the dead will be resurrected 2311 02:37:45,875 --> 02:37:48,583 because God is not of the dead, but of the living. 2312 02:37:49,542 --> 02:37:51,500 Then, 2313 02:37:51,583 --> 02:37:54,125 it shows that Christ 2314 02:37:54,208 --> 02:37:56,833 is not the son of David, but the son of God. 2315 02:37:57,042 --> 02:38:01,375 And the final verses are against the hypocrisy and vanity of the scribes. 2316 02:38:02,708 --> 02:38:05,542 You see, Olga, the Gospels 2317 02:38:05,708 --> 02:38:10,250 teach that we must recognise the state's role in worldly affairs 2318 02:38:10,333 --> 02:38:12,917 and must believe in the resurrection of the dead 2319 02:38:13,000 --> 02:38:16,208 and that Christ is not an ordinary man, 2320 02:38:16,292 --> 02:38:17,917 but the Son of God. 2321 02:38:21,458 --> 02:38:23,833 Can we draw conclusions from a chapter 2322 02:38:23,917 --> 02:38:27,375 written who knows when and by who knows whom? 2323 02:38:27,458 --> 02:38:29,750 This time, I am in no doubt 2324 02:38:30,750 --> 02:38:34,917 and I don't have to look it up to know it's in a single chapter… 2325 02:38:35,000 --> 02:38:37,333 And… 2326 02:38:39,833 --> 02:38:41,750 Sorry, I became confused, 2327 02:38:41,833 --> 02:38:43,792 but I don't agree with you. 2328 02:38:44,625 --> 02:38:48,333 I don't want to believe that it is only in one chapter, 2329 02:38:48,417 --> 02:38:51,708 I know that in all four Gospels 2330 02:38:52,083 --> 02:38:54,583 there is talk of the resurrection, 2331 02:38:54,667 --> 02:38:56,583 as well as the divinity of Christ, 2332 02:38:56,667 --> 02:38:58,667 particularly in John, 2333 02:38:58,750 --> 02:39:00,917 which is also read at funerals. 2334 02:39:01,000 --> 02:39:05,167 As for the notion that it is unknown when or by whom they were written, 2335 02:39:05,250 --> 02:39:07,542 even liberal German criticism allows 2336 02:39:07,625 --> 02:39:10,417 that the four Gospels are of apostolic origin, 2337 02:39:10,500 --> 02:39:12,250 from the 1st century A.D. 2338 02:39:12,375 --> 02:39:14,917 And in the 13th edition of Renan's “Life of Jesus”, 2339 02:39:15,000 --> 02:39:19,083 I think I saw a retraction regarding the fourth Gospel. 2340 02:39:20,250 --> 02:39:21,542 Right, 2341 02:39:21,625 --> 02:39:24,500 one must keep up with the experts. 2342 02:39:25,042 --> 02:39:28,333 The unfortunate thing is that, whatever the Gospels might be, 2343 02:39:28,417 --> 02:39:31,708 no matter when they were written or by whom, 2344 02:39:31,792 --> 02:39:35,333 there is no Gospel more plausible to you, Olga. 2345 02:39:35,417 --> 02:39:37,250 None more consonant with your doctrine. 2346 02:39:37,333 --> 02:39:39,458 What do you mean there isn't? 2347 02:39:39,542 --> 02:39:40,958 What about the fifth? 2348 02:39:41,042 --> 02:39:44,375 In which Christ does not appear, but is only about animal sacrifice 2349 02:39:44,458 --> 02:39:46,125 and military service. 2350 02:39:46,208 --> 02:39:48,417 Oh no! You as well? 2351 02:39:48,750 --> 02:39:50,292 How shameful! 2352 02:39:51,292 --> 02:39:54,792 The more you and your cronies tease Olga, 2353 02:39:54,875 --> 02:39:56,958 the more I shall take her side. 2354 02:39:58,167 --> 02:39:59,375 Olga, I'm certain 2355 02:39:59,458 --> 02:40:03,750 you want to tackle Christianity honestly. 2356 02:40:03,833 --> 02:40:07,042 Your Gospel, although it does not resemble ours, 2357 02:40:07,125 --> 02:40:08,625 is almost the same. 2358 02:40:09,167 --> 02:40:13,417 The way they used to write books titled: “The spirit of M. de Montesquieu”, 2359 02:40:13,500 --> 02:40:15,042 “The spirit of Fénelon”, 2360 02:40:15,125 --> 02:40:17,667 you and your teachers 2361 02:40:17,750 --> 02:40:20,625 have tried to write “The Spirit of the Gospels”. 2362 02:40:21,292 --> 02:40:24,625 A pity that none of you 2363 02:40:24,917 --> 02:40:27,292 has written a brochure called: 2364 02:40:27,375 --> 02:40:29,750 “The Spirit of Christianity, 2365 02:40:29,833 --> 02:40:32,958 “according to the doctrine of so and so…” 2366 02:40:35,583 --> 02:40:38,250 You must have some kind of… 2367 02:40:38,333 --> 02:40:39,542 catechism, 2368 02:40:39,625 --> 02:40:41,333 for the rest of us, 2369 02:40:41,417 --> 02:40:42,792 we simple people, 2370 02:40:42,875 --> 02:40:45,750 lest we lose the thread of all these variations. 2371 02:40:45,833 --> 02:40:47,958 Because, in effect, 2372 02:40:48,042 --> 02:40:52,458 we are told that the essentials are found in the Sermon on the Mount, 2373 02:40:52,542 --> 02:40:56,333 or they inform us… suddenly… 2374 02:40:56,750 --> 02:41:00,708 that first we must work the land by the sweat of our brows, 2375 02:41:00,792 --> 02:41:04,917 although this is not in the Gospels, but in Genesis, 2376 02:41:05,000 --> 02:41:08,292 where it is said of the throes of labour, 2377 02:41:08,375 --> 02:41:11,167 although it is not a commandment, 2378 02:41:11,250 --> 02:41:12,958 but only a sad fate. 2379 02:41:14,292 --> 02:41:17,583 And we are also told we must give everything to the poor, 2380 02:41:17,667 --> 02:41:20,125 then not to give anything to anyone. 2381 02:41:20,208 --> 02:41:22,167 For, money is Evil 2382 02:41:22,333 --> 02:41:26,167 and you must not do evil to others, but only to yourself and your family. 2383 02:41:26,333 --> 02:41:28,417 For others you must only toil. 2384 02:41:28,500 --> 02:41:30,542 After that we are told 2385 02:41:30,625 --> 02:41:33,958 to do nothing, only to meditate. 2386 02:41:34,583 --> 02:41:37,708 We are even told that a woman's purpose 2387 02:41:37,792 --> 02:41:41,875 is to give birth to as many healthy children as possible 2388 02:41:42,167 --> 02:41:45,958 and then, all of a sudden, that there's no such thing. 2389 02:41:47,250 --> 02:41:48,625 And then, 2390 02:41:49,292 --> 02:41:52,167 apropos of what we have on our plates, 2391 02:41:52,625 --> 02:41:55,542 we are told to stop eating meat, 2392 02:41:55,625 --> 02:41:57,500 and that is the first step, 2393 02:41:57,583 --> 02:41:58,875 but 2394 02:41:58,958 --> 02:42:01,875 nobody knows why it is the first. 2395 02:42:01,958 --> 02:42:05,000 Then brandy is condemned, 2396 02:42:05,083 --> 02:42:06,292 and tobacco, 2397 02:42:06,375 --> 02:42:08,125 then pancakes. 2398 02:42:10,292 --> 02:42:13,375 And now, we discover, my dear Ingrida, 2399 02:42:13,458 --> 02:42:17,458 that military service is the greatest evil 2400 02:42:18,667 --> 02:42:22,375 and that the main duty of the Christian is to refuse it, 2401 02:42:22,458 --> 02:42:25,458 but he who is conscripted 2402 02:42:25,542 --> 02:42:27,167 is already a saint. 2403 02:42:27,250 --> 02:42:31,417 Maybe I'm talking nonsense, 2404 02:42:31,500 --> 02:42:33,625 but that's not my fault. 2405 02:42:33,708 --> 02:42:36,375 It's impossible not to get confused! 2406 02:42:38,458 --> 02:42:42,000 I too think our doctrine needs to be summarised. 2407 02:42:42,083 --> 02:42:43,208 Yes. 2408 02:42:43,625 --> 02:42:46,000 A summary is being written, apparently. 2409 02:42:47,125 --> 02:42:49,250 But until then, 2410 02:42:49,792 --> 02:42:52,250 could you, please, 2411 02:42:52,333 --> 02:42:54,042 in a few words, 2412 02:42:54,125 --> 02:42:58,917 tell us what, to you, is the essence of the Gospel? 2413 02:43:00,292 --> 02:43:03,583 To me it is obviously the great principle 2414 02:43:03,667 --> 02:43:06,708 of not employing violence to oppose Evil. 2415 02:43:06,792 --> 02:43:09,208 And where does tobacco come in? 2416 02:43:10,167 --> 02:43:11,417 What tobacco? 2417 02:43:12,125 --> 02:43:15,000 I'm asking you what connection is there between non-violence 2418 02:43:15,083 --> 02:43:18,625 and abstinence from tobacco, brandy, meat, 2419 02:43:18,708 --> 02:43:19,958 amorous liaisons? 2420 02:43:20,625 --> 02:43:22,667 To me the connection seems clear. 2421 02:43:22,792 --> 02:43:25,375 Such depraved habits stultify man 2422 02:43:25,458 --> 02:43:28,958 and weaken the voice of his rational or moral conscience. 2423 02:43:29,250 --> 02:43:32,667 That's why soldiers are plied with drink before a battle! 2424 02:43:33,375 --> 02:43:35,625 Especially if it is a losing battle. 2425 02:43:36,167 --> 02:43:38,750 The principle of non-violence is important in itself, 2426 02:43:38,833 --> 02:43:42,292 whether or not it justifies the demands of asceticism. 2427 02:43:42,375 --> 02:43:45,042 In your opinion, Olga, 2428 02:43:45,125 --> 02:43:48,083 if we don't oppose Evil by force, 2429 02:43:48,167 --> 02:43:50,292 Evil will disappear by itself. 2430 02:43:51,042 --> 02:43:54,750 Therefore, Evil persists only because we oppose it. 2431 02:43:55,667 --> 02:43:58,125 Or because of our measures against it, 2432 02:43:58,208 --> 02:44:01,250 as it has no power of its own. 2433 02:44:01,708 --> 02:44:03,667 So Evil does not even exist, 2434 02:44:03,750 --> 02:44:07,542 it arises as a result of the false opinion that it does exist 2435 02:44:07,625 --> 02:44:10,958 and we act accordingly, is that it? 2436 02:44:14,208 --> 02:44:15,583 Olga? 2437 02:44:16,792 --> 02:44:17,833 Yes. 2438 02:44:17,917 --> 02:44:20,417 But if Evil has no real existence, 2439 02:44:20,500 --> 02:44:24,792 how do you explain the astounding failure of Christ's mission in history? 2440 02:44:25,125 --> 02:44:27,500 As you say, it did not succeed, 2441 02:44:27,583 --> 02:44:29,875 ultimately nothing came of it. 2442 02:44:29,958 --> 02:44:33,292 In fact, it did more harm than good. 2443 02:44:34,042 --> 02:44:35,375 Why so? 2444 02:44:35,458 --> 02:44:37,042 The odd question! 2445 02:44:38,375 --> 02:44:41,292 But you consider that Christ preached 2446 02:44:41,375 --> 02:44:42,875 the authentic good 2447 02:44:42,958 --> 02:44:47,042 with more clarity, force and perseverance than anyone else. 2448 02:44:47,125 --> 02:44:49,083 - Agreed? - Yes. 2449 02:44:49,167 --> 02:44:53,000 And the real Good consists in not opposing Evil by force, 2450 02:44:53,083 --> 02:44:56,667 that is, an illusory Evil, since Evil doesn't exist. 2451 02:45:03,292 --> 02:45:05,333 Not only did Christ preach the Good, 2452 02:45:05,417 --> 02:45:08,417 but He Himself met the demands of that Good, 2453 02:45:08,500 --> 02:45:11,167 enduring martyrdom without resistance. 2454 02:45:11,250 --> 02:45:15,208 According to you, Christ died and was not resurrected. Perfect. 2455 02:45:15,292 --> 02:45:19,083 By His example, thousands of followers met the same fate. 2456 02:45:19,167 --> 02:45:20,333 Perfect. 2457 02:45:20,458 --> 02:45:22,792 What came of that, in your opinion? 2458 02:45:23,917 --> 02:45:28,625 Would you have wanted angels to place shining crowns on those martyrs' heads… 2459 02:45:28,958 --> 02:45:30,083 and… 2460 02:45:30,167 --> 02:45:34,708 bring them to the Garden of Heaven in reward for their heroism? 2461 02:45:34,792 --> 02:45:37,083 No, why do you say that? 2462 02:45:37,333 --> 02:45:40,417 Like myself, I hope, you certainly wish 2463 02:45:40,500 --> 02:45:44,750 for all your family, alive or dead, to enjoy all that is good. 2464 02:45:44,833 --> 02:45:48,417 However, not what we want matters, but what, as you say, 2465 02:45:48,500 --> 02:45:53,458 resulted from the teachings and sacrifices of Christ and His disciples. 2466 02:45:55,792 --> 02:45:58,875 Resulted for whom? For them? 2467 02:46:01,417 --> 02:46:04,917 For them, we know that it resulted in a cruel death. 2468 02:46:05,000 --> 02:46:08,958 Given their moral heroism, they willingly submitted to it, 2469 02:46:09,042 --> 02:46:13,375 not to be given shining crowns, but genuinely to do good 2470 02:46:13,708 --> 02:46:16,208 to others, to all mankind. 2471 02:46:16,583 --> 02:46:18,125 So I ask you, 2472 02:46:18,208 --> 02:46:22,792 what good did their martyrdom do to mankind? 2473 02:46:23,875 --> 02:46:25,292 As the old saying goes: 2474 02:46:25,375 --> 02:46:29,042 “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” 2475 02:46:31,458 --> 02:46:32,792 That's right, 2476 02:46:32,875 --> 02:46:36,500 but according to you, the Church has distorted authentic Christianity, 2477 02:46:36,583 --> 02:46:39,333 which mankind has now almost forgotten, 2478 02:46:39,417 --> 02:46:43,083 and 18 centuries later it was necessary to start all over again. 2479 02:46:43,167 --> 02:46:45,833 Without any guarantee of success, that is, without hope. 2480 02:46:45,917 --> 02:46:47,583 Why without hope? 2481 02:46:48,625 --> 02:46:53,500 Surely you do not deny that Christ and the primitive Christians 2482 02:46:53,625 --> 02:46:56,542 gave up their souls for this cause, 2483 02:46:56,625 --> 02:46:58,292 and even their lives. 2484 02:46:58,375 --> 02:47:02,000 If in the end, as you say, nothing came out of it, 2485 02:47:02,208 --> 02:47:05,542 then on what are the hopes of a different outcome based? 2486 02:47:06,000 --> 02:47:09,750 All this has an obvious, constant and absolutely identical outcome 2487 02:47:09,833 --> 02:47:11,625 for the founders, distorters, 2488 02:47:11,708 --> 02:47:13,375 destroyers and reformers. 2489 02:47:13,458 --> 02:47:15,792 They all died in the past, 2490 02:47:15,875 --> 02:47:18,167 they die now, and will die in future, 2491 02:47:18,250 --> 02:47:21,042 and the cause of the Good, the preaching of the truth, 2492 02:47:21,125 --> 02:47:24,292 has not produced and is unlikely to produce 2493 02:47:24,375 --> 02:47:26,167 anything but death. 2494 02:47:27,625 --> 02:47:29,417 What does that mean? 2495 02:47:30,333 --> 02:47:31,958 How strange: 2496 02:47:32,125 --> 02:47:35,708 the Evil, which doesn't exist, always triumphs, 2497 02:47:35,958 --> 02:47:38,375 and the Good always crumbles into the abyss. 2498 02:47:51,667 --> 02:47:53,708 But do the wicked not die? 2499 02:47:53,792 --> 02:47:56,083 They do, many of them. 2500 02:47:56,750 --> 02:48:01,583 But the power of Evil merely confirms the kingdom of death, 2501 02:48:01,667 --> 02:48:05,083 whereas the power of Good is contradicted by it. 2502 02:48:05,333 --> 02:48:06,583 In fact, 2503 02:48:06,667 --> 02:48:09,875 Evil is evidently more powerful than Good, 2504 02:48:09,958 --> 02:48:12,833 and if this is taken as the sole real evidence, 2505 02:48:12,917 --> 02:48:16,458 then we must admit the world is the result of a bad principle. 2506 02:48:17,625 --> 02:48:22,917 But how can people, who assume they live in the real world, 2507 02:48:23,042 --> 02:48:27,167 and, consequently, recognise the preponderance of Evil over Good, 2508 02:48:27,250 --> 02:48:30,583 say that Evil does not exist 2509 02:48:30,667 --> 02:48:33,542 and therefore needs not be fought? 2510 02:48:33,667 --> 02:48:36,500 My mind refuses to comprehend such a thing. 2511 02:48:38,333 --> 02:48:40,333 And I expect Olga to help me. 2512 02:48:46,125 --> 02:48:49,958 First, show us how you break the impasse! 2513 02:48:50,542 --> 02:48:52,000 It's simple. 2514 02:48:52,083 --> 02:48:53,500 Evil does exist. 2515 02:48:54,250 --> 02:48:57,125 It does not manifest itself only through the absence of Good, 2516 02:48:57,208 --> 02:48:58,667 but also through resistance 2517 02:48:58,750 --> 02:49:02,750 and a preponderance of inferior over superior qualities 2518 02:49:02,833 --> 02:49:04,625 in every sphere of existence. 2519 02:49:05,042 --> 02:49:06,917 There is an individual Evil, 2520 02:49:07,208 --> 02:49:10,333 manifested by the fact that what is inferior in man, 2521 02:49:10,417 --> 02:49:12,292 his bestial and violent instincts, 2522 02:49:12,375 --> 02:49:15,417 opposes his loftiest aspirations 2523 02:49:15,750 --> 02:49:18,750 and, in the vast majority of people, dominates them. 2524 02:49:18,958 --> 02:49:20,833 There is a social Evil, 2525 02:49:21,167 --> 02:49:23,625 which resides in the fact that the masses of people, 2526 02:49:23,708 --> 02:49:25,667 individually subservient to Evil, 2527 02:49:25,750 --> 02:49:30,000 oppose the redeeming efforts of the best and vanquish them. 2528 02:49:30,333 --> 02:49:31,958 Finally, 2529 02:49:32,042 --> 02:49:34,792 in man there exists physical Evil, 2530 02:49:34,875 --> 02:49:38,167 when the lower material elements of the body 2531 02:49:38,250 --> 02:49:40,292 oppose the living and luminous force 2532 02:49:40,375 --> 02:49:44,042 that unites them in the wonderful form of the organism. 2533 02:49:44,625 --> 02:49:46,542 They oppose this form and break it, 2534 02:49:46,625 --> 02:49:49,625 destroying the real foundation of everything that is higher. 2535 02:49:50,000 --> 02:49:52,500 It is the extreme Evil named Death. 2536 02:49:55,083 --> 02:49:57,125 And if we allow that the victory 2537 02:49:57,208 --> 02:49:58,708 of this extreme physical Evil 2538 02:49:58,792 --> 02:50:00,583 is final and absolute, 2539 02:50:00,667 --> 02:50:03,042 then we cannot regard as a serious success 2540 02:50:03,125 --> 02:50:05,208 any of the victories of Good 2541 02:50:05,292 --> 02:50:08,500 in the moral, individual, or social sphere. 2542 02:50:09,333 --> 02:50:10,625 Indeed, 2543 02:50:10,708 --> 02:50:12,917 let us imagine that a man of good, 2544 02:50:13,042 --> 02:50:14,458 Socrates, for example, 2545 02:50:14,542 --> 02:50:17,583 has not only triumphed over his inner enemies, 2546 02:50:17,667 --> 02:50:19,167 his sordid passions, 2547 02:50:19,250 --> 02:50:23,833 but has also succeeded in rectifying his public enemies, 2548 02:50:24,167 --> 02:50:26,792 in transforming Greek society. 2549 02:50:28,625 --> 02:50:30,667 What use 2550 02:50:31,417 --> 02:50:34,292 would this ephemeral, superficial victory over Evil be, 2551 02:50:34,375 --> 02:50:37,417 if Evil ultimately triumphs over life, 2552 02:50:37,500 --> 02:50:39,500 at the deepest level of being? 2553 02:50:39,583 --> 02:50:43,667 What if the real winners are the microbes of physical decay? 2554 02:50:45,500 --> 02:50:49,500 No moral text could ever protect us against despair 2555 02:50:49,583 --> 02:50:51,708 and extreme pessimism. 2556 02:50:52,250 --> 02:50:53,583 I've heard this before, 2557 02:50:53,667 --> 02:50:56,875 but how do you defend yourself in the face of despair? 2558 02:51:05,000 --> 02:51:06,833 One thing alone protects us: 2559 02:51:07,000 --> 02:51:08,792 the true Resurrection. 2560 02:51:12,375 --> 02:51:14,500 We know that the battle between Good and Evil 2561 02:51:14,583 --> 02:51:17,583 is waged not only in the soul and society, 2562 02:51:17,917 --> 02:51:20,375 but also more deeply, in the physical world. 2563 02:51:20,500 --> 02:51:21,667 And here, 2564 02:51:21,750 --> 02:51:25,125 we know there has already been a victory of the good principle of life, 2565 02:51:25,208 --> 02:51:27,542 in the form of a personal resurrection. 2566 02:51:28,000 --> 02:51:29,667 We await only one thing: 2567 02:51:29,750 --> 02:51:33,167 the victories that will come through the resurrection of all. 2568 02:51:33,292 --> 02:51:36,083 And here, even Evil finds its meaning, 2569 02:51:36,167 --> 02:51:39,375 in that it serves the realisation, fulfillment 2570 02:51:39,458 --> 02:51:43,292 and triumph of the Good. 2571 02:51:43,375 --> 02:51:45,708 If death is stronger than mortal life, 2572 02:51:45,792 --> 02:51:49,167 then eternal resurrection is stronger than both. 2573 02:51:49,250 --> 02:51:50,667 The Kingdom of God 2574 02:51:50,750 --> 02:51:53,250 is the Kingdom of Life 2575 02:51:53,333 --> 02:51:55,750 which triumphs through the Resurrection. 2576 02:51:55,833 --> 02:52:00,083 And in this life, the Good is actual, accomplished, final. 2577 02:52:00,167 --> 02:52:02,875 Here is the entire power of Christ's work. 2578 02:52:02,958 --> 02:52:05,875 Here can be seen His true love for us 2579 02:52:05,958 --> 02:52:07,125 and ours for Him. 2580 02:52:07,208 --> 02:52:11,042 Everything else is nothing but a condition, a path, a phase. 2581 02:52:11,958 --> 02:52:15,667 Without faith in the actual Resurrection of the One 2582 02:52:15,750 --> 02:52:18,917 and without the expectation of the future resurrection of all, 2583 02:52:19,000 --> 02:52:20,958 the Kingdom of God is mere words. 2584 02:52:21,042 --> 02:52:24,833 And, in fact, it is reduced to a kingdom of death. 2585 02:52:25,250 --> 02:52:26,708 How so? 2586 02:52:31,750 --> 02:52:33,208 But, isn't it so, 2587 02:52:33,417 --> 02:52:36,417 by not recognising Death as such, as everyone does, 2588 02:52:36,500 --> 02:52:40,333 the fact that people have died, die and will die, 2589 02:52:40,417 --> 02:52:43,208 you elevate death to the status of an absolute law 2590 02:52:43,292 --> 02:52:45,833 without exceptions, according to you. 2591 02:52:46,083 --> 02:52:49,917 What would we call the world where Death holds absolute sway, 2592 02:52:50,000 --> 02:52:52,292 if not the “kingdom of death”? 2593 02:52:52,500 --> 02:52:55,292 And what else is your God's Kingdom on earth, 2594 02:52:55,375 --> 02:52:57,083 if not a vain, 2595 02:52:57,167 --> 02:52:59,958 arbitrary euphemism for the “Kingdom of Death”? 2596 02:53:00,042 --> 02:53:02,417 I too think it is vain because 2597 02:53:02,500 --> 02:53:06,000 we don't replace a known with an unknown value. 2598 02:53:06,083 --> 02:53:09,708 Nobody has seen God and nobody knows what His kingdom is. 2599 02:53:10,625 --> 02:53:13,917 Whereas we have all seen people and animals die 2600 02:53:14,000 --> 02:53:18,417 and we know that no one escapes this world's sovereign, Death. 2601 02:53:18,500 --> 02:53:21,417 Then why replace this “a” with an “x”? 2602 02:53:21,500 --> 02:53:26,625 It would only create confusion and horrify the little ones. 2603 02:53:26,708 --> 02:53:29,333 I don't understand what we are talking about. 2604 02:53:30,500 --> 02:53:33,500 Certainly, death is an interesting phenomenon. 2605 02:53:34,250 --> 02:53:35,667 We can call it “law,” 2606 02:53:35,750 --> 02:53:38,458 because it is a constant amongst living things, 2607 02:53:38,542 --> 02:53:41,208 and inevitable for them. 2608 02:53:41,292 --> 02:53:44,208 We can also speak of its absolute character 2609 02:53:44,292 --> 02:53:48,833 since until now no exception to it has been observed. 2610 02:53:50,083 --> 02:53:53,042 But what vital importance can this have 2611 02:53:53,125 --> 02:53:55,083 to the true Christian doctrine, 2612 02:53:55,167 --> 02:53:57,125 which through the voice of our conscience 2613 02:53:57,208 --> 02:54:01,208 speaks to us only of what we must do here and now? 2614 02:54:03,042 --> 02:54:05,125 It's clear that the voice of our conscience 2615 02:54:05,208 --> 02:54:09,042 deals only with what we can or cannot do. 2616 02:54:10,708 --> 02:54:15,750 Our conscience is silent, because it cannot speak of death. 2617 02:54:16,792 --> 02:54:21,208 No matter how important it is to our present experiences and desires, 2618 02:54:22,500 --> 02:54:25,333 death does not depend of our will 2619 02:54:25,667 --> 02:54:29,250 and therefore it can have no moral significance for us. 2620 02:54:30,375 --> 02:54:34,292 Viewed thus, death is a fact as neutral as bad weather. 2621 02:54:36,000 --> 02:54:39,958 And if I allow as an inevitable fact that the weather is periodically bad, 2622 02:54:40,042 --> 02:54:41,958 and suffer because of it, 2623 02:54:42,083 --> 02:54:44,042 should I call it 2624 02:54:44,125 --> 02:54:46,500 “kingdom of bad weather” rather than “kingdom of God”? 2625 02:54:46,583 --> 02:54:48,375 No, certainly not. 2626 02:54:48,458 --> 02:54:51,208 Firstly, bad weather reigns only in London. 2627 02:54:51,875 --> 02:54:53,792 Here, in our land, 2628 02:54:53,875 --> 02:54:56,583 we are indifferent to its kingdom. 2629 02:54:57,125 --> 02:55:00,000 Then, your analogy doesn't stand up. 2630 02:55:00,208 --> 02:55:03,792 Even in bad weather we can glorify God. 2631 02:55:04,042 --> 02:55:06,875 Whereas the dead do not glorify God. 2632 02:55:06,958 --> 02:55:10,458 This is why, as his Excellency remarked, 2633 02:55:10,542 --> 02:55:15,708 this world might sooner be called Death's rather than God's kingdom. 2634 02:55:17,917 --> 02:55:18,958 Please… 2635 02:55:20,250 --> 02:55:23,083 Why must you always speak to us of names? 2636 02:55:23,167 --> 02:55:24,792 It's tedious! 2637 02:55:25,000 --> 02:55:27,500 And besides, is it really a question of names? 2638 02:55:27,583 --> 02:55:28,875 Olga, why don't you tell us 2639 02:55:28,958 --> 02:55:31,708 what you actually understand by the Kingdom of God 2640 02:55:31,792 --> 02:55:33,750 and His righteousness? 2641 02:55:34,583 --> 02:55:36,750 By that I understand a state, 2642 02:55:37,042 --> 02:55:39,875 in which people act only in accordance with their conscience, 2643 02:55:39,958 --> 02:55:42,333 thereby fulfilling the will of God, 2644 02:55:42,417 --> 02:55:44,917 which prescribes for them only the pure Good. 2645 02:55:46,250 --> 02:55:48,875 In other words, the voice of conscience, in your opinion, 2646 02:55:48,958 --> 02:55:52,292 speaks to us only of what we have to do here and now. 2647 02:55:53,292 --> 02:55:54,750 Of course. 2648 02:55:54,833 --> 02:55:56,917 Does the conscience tell you nothing 2649 02:55:57,000 --> 02:56:00,958 about a wrong done in adolescence, 2650 02:56:01,042 --> 02:56:03,000 to a person long dead? 2651 02:56:03,833 --> 02:56:08,083 Such a reminder means that I must not do the same again now. 2652 02:56:08,167 --> 02:56:10,917 It's not really like that, but it's not worth dwelling on it. 2653 02:56:11,000 --> 02:56:14,542 I wish merely to remind you of another limit of our conscience, 2654 02:56:14,625 --> 02:56:16,042 a more obvious one. 2655 02:56:16,833 --> 02:56:20,000 Moralists long compared the voice of the conscience 2656 02:56:20,083 --> 02:56:24,000 to the genius or demon that accompanied Socrates, 2657 02:56:24,083 --> 02:56:27,000 protecting him from blameworthy actions, 2658 02:56:27,083 --> 02:56:31,083 but giving no positive indication of what he had to do. 2659 02:56:31,167 --> 02:56:33,542 We can say the same thing about the conscience. 2660 02:56:33,625 --> 02:56:34,708 How so? 2661 02:56:34,792 --> 02:56:36,792 Does my conscience not suggest 2662 02:56:36,875 --> 02:56:40,792 that I help my neighbour if he is in need or in danger? 2663 02:56:40,875 --> 02:56:42,667 I'm glad to hear you say so. 2664 02:56:43,000 --> 02:56:45,833 But if you examine such cases thoroughly, 2665 02:56:45,917 --> 02:56:50,375 you will see that the role of the conscience is purely negative. 2666 02:56:50,667 --> 02:56:52,917 It merely asks you 2667 02:56:53,000 --> 02:56:56,792 not to remain indifferent or inactive when faced with a neighbour in need, 2668 02:56:56,875 --> 02:57:00,667 but as to what exactly you should do, and how to do it, 2669 02:57:00,750 --> 02:57:02,750 the conscience does not say. 2670 02:57:02,833 --> 02:57:04,083 Undoubtedly. 2671 02:57:04,417 --> 02:57:06,708 Because it depends on the circumstances, 2672 02:57:06,792 --> 02:57:10,125 on my situation and that of the neighbour to be helped. 2673 02:57:10,208 --> 02:57:11,292 Obviously. 2674 02:57:11,375 --> 02:57:14,000 But gauging and understanding 2675 02:57:14,083 --> 02:57:17,917 circumstances and situations, depend not on the conscience, 2676 02:57:18,125 --> 02:57:19,875 but on the intellect. 2677 02:57:20,625 --> 02:57:23,958 But can we separate reason from the conscience? 2678 02:57:24,083 --> 02:57:27,500 They don't need to be separated, only to be differentiated. 2679 02:57:27,583 --> 02:57:31,333 Precisely because in reality, sometimes, besides separation, 2680 02:57:31,417 --> 02:57:35,208 there arises an opposition between conscience and intellect. 2681 02:57:35,583 --> 02:57:37,500 If they were one and the same thing, 2682 02:57:37,583 --> 02:57:40,250 how could the intellect enable acts 2683 02:57:40,333 --> 02:57:43,875 not only alien to morality, but even immoral? 2684 02:57:43,958 --> 02:57:45,958 That is what happens, is it not? 2685 02:57:46,333 --> 02:57:49,542 We might help somebody by means of the intellect, 2686 02:57:49,625 --> 02:57:51,625 but with a bad conscience. 2687 02:57:51,708 --> 02:57:53,625 For example, 2688 02:57:53,958 --> 02:57:56,208 if I give food and drink 2689 02:57:56,625 --> 02:58:00,333 to a needy man, heap him with charitable works, 2690 02:58:00,417 --> 02:58:03,708 in order to make him my accomplice 2691 02:58:03,792 --> 02:58:07,083 in committing a fraud or some other evil deed. 2692 02:58:09,792 --> 02:58:11,792 Yes, it's elementary, 2693 02:58:12,000 --> 02:58:13,958 but what conclusion do you draw? 2694 02:58:14,083 --> 02:58:16,875 Well, it is this. If the voice of the conscience, 2695 02:58:16,958 --> 02:58:20,417 essential for warning us and admonishing us, 2696 02:58:20,500 --> 02:58:23,875 provides us with no positive 2697 02:58:23,958 --> 02:58:26,333 or well defined indications as to how to act, 2698 02:58:26,417 --> 02:58:31,167 and our goodwill requires the services of the intellect, 2699 02:58:31,250 --> 02:58:34,792 although the intellect seems a doubtful servant, 2700 02:58:34,875 --> 02:58:37,125 since it is able and willing 2701 02:58:37,208 --> 02:58:38,958 to serve these two masters, 2702 02:58:39,500 --> 02:58:41,333 Good and Evil, 2703 02:58:41,417 --> 02:58:42,667 then, 2704 02:58:43,042 --> 02:58:45,542 in order to accomplish God's will 2705 02:58:46,417 --> 02:58:48,417 and to achieve the Kingdom of God, 2706 02:58:48,500 --> 02:58:49,792 what is needed, 2707 02:58:49,875 --> 02:58:53,542 besides the conscience and intellect, is a third thing. 2708 02:58:54,042 --> 02:58:56,375 And what would this be, according to you? 2709 02:59:08,208 --> 02:59:11,000 In short, the inspiration of the Good 2710 02:59:11,417 --> 02:59:15,583 or the positive and direct action of the Good principle over and within us. 2711 02:59:16,000 --> 02:59:18,375 With such oversight from above, 2712 02:59:19,292 --> 02:59:23,583 the intellect and conscience become trusty helpmeets of the Good. 2713 02:59:23,667 --> 02:59:27,000 And morality, instead of being a behaviour always under suspicion, 2714 02:59:27,083 --> 02:59:29,500 becomes living within the Good. 2715 02:59:29,583 --> 02:59:30,958 Which is to say, 2716 02:59:31,042 --> 02:59:32,792 the organic development 2717 02:59:32,875 --> 02:59:37,042 and perfection of man as a whole, on the interior and exterior, 2718 02:59:37,167 --> 02:59:40,208 of the person and society, 2719 02:59:40,292 --> 02:59:42,917 of the people and mankind. 2720 02:59:43,292 --> 02:59:45,958 In order that they be fulfilled in a living union 2721 02:59:46,042 --> 02:59:48,417 of the resurrected past and embodied future 2722 02:59:48,500 --> 02:59:51,083 in the present of the Kingdom of God, 2723 02:59:51,458 --> 02:59:53,167 which, as it is on earth, 2724 02:59:53,250 --> 02:59:55,583 will be on a new Earth, 2725 02:59:56,000 --> 02:59:58,208 united through love with a new Heaven. 2726 03:00:04,583 --> 03:00:08,000 I have nothing against such poetic metaphors, 2727 03:00:08,875 --> 03:00:12,042 but why do you think those who fulfil the divine will, 2728 03:00:12,125 --> 03:00:14,083 according to the Gospel, 2729 03:00:14,167 --> 03:00:16,583 lack the inspiration of the Good? 2730 03:00:16,875 --> 03:00:21,583 Not merely because in what they do I see neither signs of such inspiration, 2731 03:00:22,000 --> 03:00:25,375 nor the urging of free and immeasurable love, 2732 03:00:25,583 --> 03:00:28,625 for God provides without measure. 2733 03:00:29,000 --> 03:00:31,167 I don't see any good, serene peace 2734 03:00:31,250 --> 03:00:33,500 arising from the joy of receiving these gifts, 2735 03:00:33,583 --> 03:00:35,625 even if they are only incipient. 2736 03:00:36,333 --> 03:00:39,375 If I assume you lack religious inspiration, 2737 03:00:39,458 --> 03:00:41,667 it is because you deem it unnecessary. 2738 03:00:43,875 --> 03:00:48,167 If the good is confined to rules, what room is there for inspiration? 2739 03:00:48,625 --> 03:00:51,375 The Rule has been given once and for all, 2740 03:00:51,458 --> 03:00:54,167 it is fixed and identical for all. 2741 03:00:54,250 --> 03:00:56,000 He who gave the rule 2742 03:00:56,083 --> 03:00:57,792 died long ago 2743 03:00:58,792 --> 03:01:01,375 and, according to you, He was not resurrected 2744 03:01:01,458 --> 03:01:04,708 and therefore, to us He has no living and personal existence. 2745 03:01:05,667 --> 03:01:07,167 The absolute 2746 03:01:07,375 --> 03:01:09,042 and primordial Good 2747 03:01:09,125 --> 03:01:13,583 doesn't appear to you as a father of the spirit and light, 2748 03:01:14,375 --> 03:01:17,333 who might enlighten and inspire you, 2749 03:01:17,750 --> 03:01:20,042 but as a master, 2750 03:01:20,333 --> 03:01:21,583 a parsimonious master, 2751 03:01:21,667 --> 03:01:23,042 who has sent you, 2752 03:01:23,125 --> 03:01:25,667 his mercenaries, to tend his vineyard, 2753 03:01:25,750 --> 03:01:28,042 while he, living abroad, 2754 03:01:28,125 --> 03:01:30,875 sends his emissaries to bring back his earnings. 2755 03:01:33,667 --> 03:01:36,750 As if we created this image arbitrarily! 2756 03:01:38,042 --> 03:01:40,208 No. 2757 03:01:40,292 --> 03:01:45,417 But arbitrarily, you view it as the norm for man's relationship with the deity, 2758 03:01:45,500 --> 03:01:49,333 arbitrarily purging the essence from the Gospel text, 2759 03:01:49,417 --> 03:01:51,000 namely, 2760 03:01:51,333 --> 03:01:53,875 that he reveals to us His son and heir, 2761 03:01:53,958 --> 03:01:57,792 in whom dwells the true norm for the relationship between God and man. 2762 03:01:57,875 --> 03:01:59,792 You see Him only as a master, 2763 03:01:59,875 --> 03:02:03,083 only the duties toward the master, the will of the master. 2764 03:02:03,167 --> 03:02:05,417 But let me tell you that: 2765 03:02:06,875 --> 03:02:08,333 As long as your master 2766 03:02:08,417 --> 03:02:13,375 only imposes duties on you, demands you to obey his will, 2767 03:02:13,833 --> 03:02:16,000 I don't see how you can prove to me 2768 03:02:16,083 --> 03:02:19,208 that he is the true master rather than an impostor. 2769 03:02:21,542 --> 03:02:24,083 What if my reason and conscience tell me 2770 03:02:24,167 --> 03:02:27,083 that the will of the master expresses the purest good? 2771 03:02:27,167 --> 03:02:29,208 I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. 2772 03:02:29,292 --> 03:02:34,500 I don't deny he wills the good, but does that mean he himself is good? 2773 03:02:37,000 --> 03:02:38,917 How could he be otherwise? 2774 03:02:40,167 --> 03:02:44,167 I thought the goodness of a man resides not in what he requires of others, 2775 03:02:44,250 --> 03:02:46,458 but in what he himself does. 2776 03:02:48,667 --> 03:02:53,292 If you find what I say unclear, here's a concrete historical example. 2777 03:02:53,458 --> 03:02:56,375 The Muscovite tsar, Ivan the Terrible, 2778 03:02:56,458 --> 03:02:58,167 in an well known letter, 2779 03:02:58,250 --> 03:03:00,625 asks Prince Andrei Kurbsky 2780 03:03:00,708 --> 03:03:04,792 to show his supreme goodness, and loftiest moral heroism, 2781 03:03:04,917 --> 03:03:10,167 by ceasing to oppose Evil and accepting to die as a martyr for the truth. 2782 03:03:10,333 --> 03:03:14,833 Here, the master's will was good, by what he demanded of him, 2783 03:03:14,917 --> 03:03:19,833 but that doesn't mean the master, who demanded the good was himself good. 2784 03:03:20,125 --> 03:03:24,375 Clearly, although to suffer for the truth is the supreme moral virtue, 2785 03:03:24,458 --> 03:03:27,167 it does Ivan the Terrible no credit, 2786 03:03:27,250 --> 03:03:30,750 since in this case, he was not the martyr, but the executioner. 2787 03:03:37,792 --> 03:03:39,917 What do you mean by that? 2788 03:03:46,792 --> 03:03:51,583 Until Olga shows me the goodness behind her master's actions, 2789 03:03:51,667 --> 03:03:55,042 rather than merely his verbal commands to his workers, 2790 03:03:55,125 --> 03:03:57,125 I will remain convinced 2791 03:03:57,208 --> 03:04:01,625 that this master who asks others to do good, but himself does not, 2792 03:04:01,708 --> 03:04:05,458 who lays down obligations, but does not show love, 2793 03:04:06,208 --> 03:04:09,750 who does not show you his face, but lives abroad, incognito, 2794 03:04:09,833 --> 03:04:14,208 I will remain convinced he is none other than “the god of this age”. 2795 03:04:14,292 --> 03:04:16,000 How awful! 2796 03:05:07,583 --> 03:05:10,292 I quote from Verdi. 2797 03:05:10,375 --> 03:05:14,708 - I'm listing every lyrical ode… - I know, you're a melomaniac. 2798 03:05:14,792 --> 03:05:17,542 …dedicated to Bacchus. It's kind of a game. 2799 03:05:17,625 --> 03:05:19,542 Do you recognise this one? 2800 03:05:22,625 --> 03:05:24,375 Excuse me a moment! 2801 03:05:25,833 --> 03:05:27,250 Judith? 2802 03:05:31,458 --> 03:05:33,250 One more question. 2803 03:05:33,333 --> 03:05:36,042 How is the colonel? Any less agitated? 2804 03:05:36,125 --> 03:05:37,708 Yes, he feels better. 2805 03:05:37,792 --> 03:05:39,875 Dr. Blumenfeld will arrive tomorrow. 2806 03:05:39,958 --> 03:05:43,083 He's coming tomorrow, good. He seems a good doctor. 2807 03:05:43,167 --> 03:05:44,292 Yes. 2808 03:05:44,375 --> 03:05:45,708 And another thing, please. 2809 03:05:45,792 --> 03:05:48,958 It would be better if the door remained shut at all times. 2810 03:05:49,042 --> 03:05:50,750 Yes, of course. 2811 03:06:15,458 --> 03:06:16,917 Yes, Edouard. 2812 03:07:24,875 --> 03:07:26,833 And look, 2813 03:07:26,917 --> 03:07:30,792 István makes his entrance to the sound of music. Wonderful! 2814 03:07:30,875 --> 03:07:32,792 Charming. 2815 03:07:33,625 --> 03:07:38,333 Thank you. That was a short parenthesis while we waited for you, gentlemen. 2816 03:07:38,417 --> 03:07:40,500 Always at your service. 2817 03:07:40,750 --> 03:07:44,750 If we were not holding brandy, we would clap. 2818 03:07:45,042 --> 03:07:46,375 Grazie! 2819 03:07:46,458 --> 03:07:48,083 Forgive me… 2820 03:07:49,625 --> 03:07:52,833 I don't want to interrupt the musical interlude, 2821 03:07:52,917 --> 03:07:56,125 but I wish with all my soul to return to our conversation, 2822 03:07:56,208 --> 03:07:59,250 to prevent any unfortunate misunderstanding. 2823 03:07:59,833 --> 03:08:00,958 But of course. 2824 03:08:01,042 --> 03:08:04,125 I am in no doubt, Olga, that by some honest mistake, 2825 03:08:04,208 --> 03:08:07,292 you take the true God to be a skilled imposter. 2826 03:08:07,375 --> 03:08:12,250 The imposter's skill is, for you, a mitigating circumstance. 2827 03:08:12,333 --> 03:08:15,417 Nor did I understand at first how things stood. 2828 03:08:15,500 --> 03:08:17,375 And now I am in no doubt, 2829 03:08:17,458 --> 03:08:19,708 and you will understand how I feel 2830 03:08:19,792 --> 03:08:24,125 when I gaze upon the deceptive, devious mask of the Good. 2831 03:08:24,208 --> 03:08:27,708 - You don't have long for poetry. - I assure you… 2832 03:08:27,792 --> 03:08:29,458 It's vexing! 2833 03:08:29,625 --> 03:08:32,833 I assure you I do not feel at all vexed. 2834 03:08:33,458 --> 03:08:36,417 A general and rather interesting question has been posed, 2835 03:08:36,500 --> 03:08:39,250 and it surprises me that my interlocutor believes 2836 03:08:39,333 --> 03:08:42,292 that the question is addressed only to me, 2837 03:08:42,375 --> 03:08:44,208 but not to him. 2838 03:08:44,625 --> 03:08:49,292 You ask that I point out my master's good deeds, 2839 03:08:49,375 --> 03:08:53,958 acts to prove he is the principle of Good rather than Evil. 2840 03:08:54,042 --> 03:08:55,083 And you? 2841 03:08:55,167 --> 03:08:59,250 What good deeds can you show me that do not also come from my master? 2842 03:08:59,333 --> 03:09:04,625 He has already shown you a deed on which all the rest is founded. 2843 03:09:04,708 --> 03:09:05,750 Which one? 2844 03:09:05,833 --> 03:09:09,083 The true victory over Evil through the true Resurrection. 2845 03:09:09,167 --> 03:09:13,208 Only thereby, I repeat, is God's Kingdom revealed to us. 2846 03:09:13,292 --> 03:09:18,333 Without it, there is only the kingdom of death, sin and the devil. 2847 03:09:18,417 --> 03:09:22,000 The Resurrection, not figuratively, but literally, 2848 03:09:22,083 --> 03:09:24,583 there is the title of the true God. 2849 03:09:25,167 --> 03:09:28,375 Yes, if you wish to believe in such a mythology. 2850 03:09:28,458 --> 03:09:32,167 I asked you for demonstrable facts, not beliefs. 2851 03:09:32,250 --> 03:09:33,292 Olga, 2852 03:09:33,375 --> 03:09:37,458 we both come from the same faith or, if you like, mythology, 2853 03:09:37,542 --> 03:09:39,708 but I go all the way. 2854 03:09:39,792 --> 03:09:44,375 Whereas you illogically, arbitrarily stop even before you start. 2855 03:09:44,625 --> 03:09:47,292 But do you acknowledge the power of the Good 2856 03:09:47,375 --> 03:09:49,458 and its future triumph on earth? 2857 03:09:49,542 --> 03:09:50,667 Yes. 2858 03:09:50,750 --> 03:09:52,958 Is it a fact or a belief? 2859 03:09:53,042 --> 03:09:55,292 It is a reasonable belief. 2860 03:09:55,375 --> 03:09:57,125 How delightful! 2861 03:09:58,458 --> 03:10:02,000 As I learned at the seminary, reason demands, 2862 03:10:02,083 --> 03:10:05,000 that we disallow that which is not sufficiently grounded. 2863 03:10:05,083 --> 03:10:07,042 Tell me, please, 2864 03:10:07,333 --> 03:10:11,542 as long as you recognise that Good has the power morally to rectify 2865 03:10:11,625 --> 03:10:14,000 and perfect man and mankind, 2866 03:10:14,083 --> 03:10:19,458 on what do you base your claim that Good is powerless in the face of death? 2867 03:10:19,833 --> 03:10:23,333 I think rather you should say why you attribute to Good 2868 03:10:23,417 --> 03:10:26,083 a power that transcends the moral sphere? 2869 03:10:26,167 --> 03:10:28,000 I shall tell you. 2870 03:10:28,083 --> 03:10:30,542 Once I believe in the Good and its power, 2871 03:10:30,625 --> 03:10:35,875 and in the idea of the “power of good” its absolute superiority is asserted, 2872 03:10:35,958 --> 03:10:39,250 then I recognise that this power is unlimited, 2873 03:10:39,458 --> 03:10:43,083 and nothing can stop me believing in the truth of the Resurrection, 2874 03:10:43,167 --> 03:10:45,750 historically proven truth. 2875 03:10:45,833 --> 03:10:49,375 If you had told us you were indifferent to the Christian faith 2876 03:10:49,458 --> 03:10:51,708 and that to you, the Resurrection is a myth, 2877 03:10:51,792 --> 03:10:53,917 I would have kept to myself the animosity 2878 03:10:54,000 --> 03:10:57,708 to your way of thinking that I have been unable to conceal. 2879 03:10:58,500 --> 03:11:01,917 We do not accuse of deception him who makes a mistake. 2880 03:11:02,000 --> 03:11:04,542 And to be angry at someone for a theoretical error 2881 03:11:04,625 --> 03:11:08,750 makes you look petty, faithless, and heartless. 2882 03:11:09,875 --> 03:11:14,500 Whoever truly believes, and is freed from coarseness, 2883 03:11:14,583 --> 03:11:17,542 from pettiness of soul and from wickedness, 2884 03:11:17,625 --> 03:11:23,042 must show a good disposition when faced with a frank and sincere opponent, 2885 03:11:23,125 --> 03:11:26,833 in other words, an honest opponent, who denies religious truths. 2886 03:11:27,458 --> 03:11:29,542 Nowadays, it is rare. 2887 03:11:29,625 --> 03:11:35,292 You don't know how much I rejoice at a declared opponent of Christianity. 2888 03:11:36,042 --> 03:11:38,125 In almost all of them, 2889 03:11:38,208 --> 03:11:40,625 I am prepared to see a future Paul the Apostle, 2890 03:11:40,708 --> 03:11:43,375 whereas in the zealous defenders of Christianity 2891 03:11:43,458 --> 03:11:45,833 I see Judas the traitor. 2892 03:11:47,333 --> 03:11:50,917 But you, Olga, you have expressed yourself so sincerely, 2893 03:11:51,000 --> 03:11:55,833 that I refuse to class you with today's countless Judases and Tartuffes. 2894 03:11:56,375 --> 03:11:59,750 I already foresee a time when I will feel toward you 2895 03:12:00,958 --> 03:12:05,750 the same good disposition awakened in me by many atheists and nonbelievers. 2896 03:12:06,458 --> 03:12:08,625 Since, fortunately, 2897 03:12:08,708 --> 03:12:12,583 we have established that neither atheists and unbelievers, 2898 03:12:12,667 --> 03:12:16,792 nor true Christians like Olga, represent the Antichrist, 2899 03:12:16,875 --> 03:12:18,625 it is time 2900 03:12:18,708 --> 03:12:20,500 that you reveal to us his true portrait. 2901 03:12:21,542 --> 03:12:23,792 So that was what you were aiming at! 2902 03:12:23,875 --> 03:12:27,042 Of the many depictions of Christ, 2903 03:12:27,125 --> 03:12:29,792 some by artists of genius, 2904 03:12:29,875 --> 03:12:32,583 is there any that satisfies you? 2905 03:12:32,667 --> 03:12:36,208 I for one know of no satisfactory depiction. 2906 03:12:36,292 --> 03:12:38,458 I don't even think there could be one, 2907 03:12:38,542 --> 03:12:41,333 as long as Christ is an individual embodiment, 2908 03:12:41,417 --> 03:12:43,208 unique in his own way 2909 03:12:43,292 --> 03:12:46,083 and resembling nothing else, 2910 03:12:46,167 --> 03:12:48,958 of His own essence, the Good. 2911 03:12:49,417 --> 03:12:53,333 Not even genius would be enough in order to depict such a thing. 2912 03:12:53,417 --> 03:12:55,667 The same goes for the Antichrist. 2913 03:12:55,750 --> 03:12:59,333 He is an embodiment of Evil that is just as individual, 2914 03:12:59,417 --> 03:13:04,000 unique in its completeness and fullness. We cannot show his portrait. 2915 03:13:04,083 --> 03:13:06,083 In ecclesiastical literature, 2916 03:13:06,167 --> 03:13:10,750 we find only his passport, with his distinguishing marks. 2917 03:13:13,458 --> 03:13:16,417 And Edouard, as you yourself confessed to us, 2918 03:13:16,500 --> 03:13:19,458 you have no knack for painting. 2919 03:13:19,542 --> 03:13:22,917 Therefore, we don't require his portrait, 2920 03:13:23,000 --> 03:13:25,000 God forbid! 2921 03:13:25,250 --> 03:13:30,458 Rather, explain to us, Nikolai, why he is needed 2922 03:13:30,542 --> 03:13:33,708 and what, in your opinion, is the nature of his plan, 2923 03:13:33,792 --> 03:13:36,042 and finally, tell us 2924 03:13:37,458 --> 03:13:39,458 when he will arrive. 2925 03:13:39,833 --> 03:13:42,958 I can answer you better than you would have thought. 2926 03:13:44,042 --> 03:13:45,875 Some years ago, 2927 03:13:45,958 --> 03:13:49,083 a fellow seminary student, who later became a monk 2928 03:13:49,167 --> 03:13:51,958 was dying and gave me a manuscript he cherished, 2929 03:13:52,042 --> 03:13:54,375 but which he had not been able to publish. 2930 03:13:54,458 --> 03:13:57,625 The title is, A Short Story of the Antichrist. 2931 03:13:57,875 --> 03:14:02,792 Although it takes the form of a fiction, or a future history, 2932 03:14:02,875 --> 03:14:04,958 to me the work encapsulates 2933 03:14:05,042 --> 03:14:08,333 everything which, according to scripture, to the Church and common sense, 2934 03:14:08,417 --> 03:14:11,208 can definitely be said on the subject. 2935 03:14:11,292 --> 03:14:14,958 Is it the work of our old friend, Umberto? 2936 03:14:15,042 --> 03:14:18,000 No, he had a fancier name. 2937 03:14:18,083 --> 03:14:19,625 Pansophius. 2938 03:14:19,708 --> 03:14:22,500 Pan Sofius? A Pole? 2939 03:14:23,208 --> 03:14:24,500 Not at all. 2940 03:14:24,583 --> 03:14:27,000 He came from a family of Russian priests. 2941 03:14:27,083 --> 03:14:29,208 If you will allow me to go to my room, 2942 03:14:29,292 --> 03:14:33,292 I will fetch the manuscript and read it to you. It is not thick. 2943 03:14:33,500 --> 03:14:36,708 Your room is an Ali Baba's cave. 2944 03:14:36,792 --> 03:14:38,667 Certainly, do go! 2945 03:14:39,292 --> 03:14:42,292 - But don't forget to come back! - Naturally. 2946 03:14:47,417 --> 03:14:50,625 I don't know whether my eyesight is dimming with age, 2947 03:14:50,708 --> 03:14:53,042 or whether something has changed in nature, 2948 03:14:53,125 --> 03:14:58,458 but I notice that in no season or place are the days bright any longer, 2949 03:14:58,542 --> 03:15:01,792 the perfect clarity to which we were once accustomed, 2950 03:15:01,875 --> 03:15:03,375 regardless of clime. 2951 03:15:03,458 --> 03:15:06,750 Today, for example, there was not a cloud in the sky, 2952 03:15:06,833 --> 03:15:09,292 we are quite far away from the sea, 2953 03:15:09,917 --> 03:15:14,167 and yet, everything seemed dusted with something gauzy, 2954 03:15:14,292 --> 03:15:16,625 impalpable, of flawed clarity. 2955 03:15:16,708 --> 03:15:18,625 Did you notice, Ingrida? 2956 03:15:18,708 --> 03:15:21,333 Yes, it has been happening for a few years. 2957 03:15:21,417 --> 03:15:23,958 I have been observing it since last year. 2958 03:15:24,042 --> 03:15:26,792 Not only in the air, but also in my soul, 2959 03:15:26,875 --> 03:15:31,333 where there is no perfect limpidity, as you put it, Edouard. 2960 03:15:32,167 --> 03:15:34,333 I feel a kind of disquiet, 2961 03:15:34,417 --> 03:15:36,750 a sense of foreboding. 2962 03:15:36,833 --> 03:15:40,625 I'm sure that you too, Olga, feel the same. 2963 03:15:40,750 --> 03:15:43,958 No, I notice nothing in particular. 2964 03:15:44,042 --> 03:15:46,333 The air seems to me unchanged. 2965 03:15:46,417 --> 03:15:48,042 Because you are too young. 2966 03:15:48,125 --> 03:15:50,667 You lack the terms of comparison. 2967 03:15:51,125 --> 03:15:54,208 But when we remember the seventies, 2968 03:15:54,292 --> 03:15:56,042 then we sense it. 2969 03:15:56,958 --> 03:16:00,917 I believe your first supposition was right, Edouard. 2970 03:16:01,167 --> 03:16:04,125 It is a symptom of worsening eyesight. 2971 03:16:04,417 --> 03:16:06,833 We have grown old, no doubt about it, 2972 03:16:06,917 --> 03:16:09,375 but nor is the earth growing any younger. 2973 03:16:09,458 --> 03:16:12,500 A kind of exhaustion can be felt on both sides. 2974 03:16:13,250 --> 03:16:15,750 But what is even more true, 2975 03:16:16,333 --> 03:16:18,333 as Andrei Nikolaevich says, 2976 03:16:18,417 --> 03:16:22,875 is that the devil's tail scatters fog across the created world. 2977 03:16:22,958 --> 03:16:26,125 It is also a sign of the Antichrist. 2978 03:16:26,958 --> 03:16:28,208 Yes, Ingrida, 2979 03:16:28,292 --> 03:16:30,000 no doubt about it. 240106

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