The Idiot — Part I — Chapter V

General Epanchin primes his wife with a dramatic account of Prince Myshkin’s poverty and “idiocy,” then hurriedly departs. Mrs. Epanchin, initially stern and curious, agrees to receive the prince. At lunch, Prince Myshkin speaks politely about Abbot Pafnute, his handwriting, his health, and his Swiss years, quickly dispelling the family’s preconceptions.

Afterward in the boudoir, Mrs. Epanchin urges stories. The sisters tease and test Prince Myshkin, who good‑naturedly describes his first clear memory in Basel, his fondness for a donkey, and the melancholy and solace he found amid Swiss nature. The talk turns to time, happiness, and whether one can live valuing every minute.

Prince Myshkin recounts a man reprieved minutes before execution and how those five minutes felt like “an eternity.” Pressed further, he describes an execution he saw at Lyons, focusing on the condemned man’s face at the scaffold and proposing it as a powerful painting subject for Adelaida.

The sisters alternately mock and admire him; Mrs. Epanchin defends him. Prince Myshkin reads their faces but withholds his conclusions. When pressed about love, he calmly denies having been in love, saying he has been “happy in another way,” and promises to explain his insights later.