In the first case, it is the
question of a cause, an idea, whereas in the other--"
"Well?"
"Oh! I don't know how to express myself!" And Novikoff snapped his
fingers.
"There now!" said Sanine, interrupting. "That's how you always evade
the point. I shall never believe that the longing for a constitution is
stronger in you than the longing to make the most of your own life."
"That is just a question. Possibly it is."
Sanine waved his hand, irritably.
"Oh! don't, please! If somebody were to cut off your finger, you would
feel it more than if it were some other Russian's finger. That is a
fact, eh?"
"Or a cynicism," said Novikoff, meaning to be sarcastic when he was
merely foolish.
"Possibly. But, all the same, it is the truth. And now though in Russia
and in many other States there is no constitution, nor the slightest
sign of one, it is your own unsatisfactory life that worries you, not
the absence of a constitution. And if you say it isn't, then you're
telling a lie. What is more," added Sanine, with a merry twinkle in his
eyes, "you are worried not about your life but because Lida has not yet
fallen in love with you.
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