“And in addition to that, she’s illiterate as well.”
“But that’s not at all important!” warmly defended Soloviev. “If we had to do with a well-educated girl, or, worse still, with a half-educated one, then only nonsense would result out of all that we’re preparing to do, a mere soap-bubble; while here before us is maiden ground, untouched virgin soil.”
“He-ee!” Nijeradze started neighing equivocally.
Soloviev, now no longer joking, but with real wrath, pounced upon him:
“Listen, prince! Every holy thought, every good deed, can be made disgusting, obscene. There’s nothing clever or worthy in that. If you regard that which we’re preparing to do so like a stallion, then there’s the door and God be with you. Go away from us!”
“Yes, but you yourself just now in the room ...” retorted the prince in confusion.
“Yes, I too,” Soloviev at once softened and cooled down. “I popped out with a stupidity and I regret it. But now I willingly admit that Lichonin is a fine fellow and a splendid man; and I’m ready to do everything, for my part. And I repeat, that knowledge of reading and writing is a secondary matter. It is easy to attain it in play. For such an untouched mind to learn reading, writing, counting, and especially without school, of one’s free will, is like biting a nut in two. And as far as a manual trade is concerned, through which it would be possible to live and earn one’s keep, then there are hundreds of trades, which can be easily mastered in two weeks.”
“For instance?” asked the prince.
“Well, for instance ... for instance ... well, now, for instance, making artificial flowers. Yes, and still better, to get a place as a flower clerk. A charming business, clean and nice.”
“Taste is necessary,” Simanovsky dropped carelessly.