Note 109 — Chapter 7 The End of my Studies—The Schiller Period—Early Youth and Bohemianism—Saint-Simonism and N. Polevoy
Constance Garnett translation
In 1844, I met Perevoshtchikov at Shtchepkin’s and sat beside him at dinner. Towards the end he could not resist saying: ‘It is a pity, a very great pity, that circumstances prevented you from taking up work, you had excellent abilities.’
‘But you know it’s not for every one to follow you up to heaven. We are busy here on earth at work of some sort.’
‘Upon my word, to be sure that may be work of a sort. Hegelian philosophy perhaps. I have read your articles, there is no understanding them; bird’s language, that’s queer sort of work. No, indeed!’
For a long while I was amused at this verdict, that is, for a long while I could not understand that our language really was poor; if it were a bird’s, it must have been the bird that was Minerva’s favourite.