"Such beauty is real power," said Adelaida. "With such beauty as
that one might overthrow the world." She returned to her easel
thoughtfully.
Prince is person who lives in the dream. He wants to save the world by his Christianity. However, the reality is different, as Lizaveta puts it. "we are only a fantasy." There are wild gaps between the ideal and reality. The prince is an idiot, because he never sees the world as it really is. He lives in an illusion.
Of course, the dream is very important to everyone. A man without dream is a man without a soul. The point is, the dream which is far away from reality is daydream. Moreover, in order to become a dreamer, we must to be a human. We must have love, love the real life, not love an illusion.
In every people's mind, there are Eden. We can't become a nithsist because of the Eden. If so, we are coward ourselves.
一个加拿大作家谈这本书时,说到他在俄国难得见到善意的人 - 大家都怕被别人当做“白痴”... 然后说一本小说,可以毁掉一个民族的精神。(这是我的翻译。他后来赞同这个译法,甚至认为更好。他的原话是 people can ruin a spirit. Don't do that!) 现在普金出兵,将“自古以来就是俄罗斯的领土” 克里米亚收回祖国的怀抱。世界真不知向何处去。