Chekhov's Searing Insights of the Psyche - by TPO

Madness: Revelations of the Mind

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[from “The Black Monk” by Anton Chekhov*]

Hardly had he [Andrey Kovrin] recalled that legend, conjuring up the dark spectre he had seen in the rye field when quite silently, without the slightest rustling, a man of medium height, his grey head uncovered, all in black, barefoot like a beggar, his black eyebrows sharply defined on his deathly white face, slipped out from behind the pine trees just opposite. Nodding his head welcomingly, this beggar or pilgrim silently came over to the bench and Kovrin could see it was the black monk. For a minute they both eyed each other – Kovrin in assessment, the black monk in a friendly way, with that same rather crafty look.

          ‘You’re just a mirage,’ Kovrin murmured. ‘Why are you here, sitting still like that? It doesn’t tally with the legend.’

          ‘Never mind,’ the monk answered softly after a brief pause, turning his face towards him. ‘The legend, myself, the mirage are all products of your overheated imagination. I’m an apparition …’

          ‘That means you don’t exist?’ Kovrin asked.

          ‘Think what you like,’ the monk said with a weak smile. ‘I exist in your imagination, and your imagination is part of nature, so I exist in nature too.’

          ‘You have a very aged, clever and extremely expressive face, as if you really have lived more than a thousand years,’ Kovrin said. ‘I didn’t know my imagination could create such phenomena. But why are you looking at me so rapturously? Do you like me?’

          ‘Yes. You’re one of the few who are rightly called God’s Chosen. You serve Eternal Truth. Your ideas, intentions, your amazing erudition, your whole life – all bear the divine, heavenly stamp, since they are devoted to the Rational and the Beautiful, that is, to the Eternal.’

          ‘You mentioned “Eternal Truth” … But is that within men’s reach, do they need it if there’s no such thing as eternal life?’

          ‘There is eternal life,’ the monk said.

          ‘Do you believe in immortality?’

          ‘Yes, of course. A great, bright future awaits you human beings. And the more men there are like you on earth, the quicker will the future come about. Without men like you serving the highest principles, living intelligently and freely, humanity would be worthless. In the normal course of events it would have to wait a long time for its life upon earth to come to an end. But you will lead it into the Kingdom of Eternal Truth a few thousand years ahead of time – this is your noble service. You are the Embodiment of God’s blessing which has come to dwell among men.’

          ‘But what is the purpose of eternal life?’ asked Kovrin.

          ‘Like any other kind of life – pleasure. True pleasure in knowledge, and eternal life will afford innumerable and inexhaustible sources of knowledge: this is the meaning of the saying, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”’

          ‘If you only knew how enjoyable it is listening to you!’ Kovrin said, rubbing his hands with pleasure.

          ‘I’m very pleased.’

          ‘But I know one thing: when you’ve gone I’ll start worrying whether you really do exist. You’re a phantom, a hallucination. Does that mean I’m mentally ill, insane?’

          ‘Even if that were so, why let it bother you? You’re ill from overworking, you’ve worn yourself out. I’m trying to say that you’ve sacrificed your health for an idea and it won’t be long before you sacrifice your very life to it. What could be better? All noble spirits blessed with gifts from on high have this as their aim.’

          ‘If I know that I’m mentally ill, how can I have any faith in myself?’

          ‘But how do you know that men of genius, in whom the whole world puts its faith, haven’t seen ghosts too? Nowadays scientists say genius is akin to madness. My friend, only the mediocre, the common herd are healthy and normal. Thoughts about an age of neurosis, overwork, degeneracy and so on can seriously worry only those for whom the purpose of life lies in the present – that is the common herd.’

          ‘The Romans used to speak of mens sana in corpore sano.’ (**)

          ‘Not all that the Greeks and Romans said is true. Heightened awareness, excitement, ecstasy – everything that distinguishes prophets, poets, martyrs to an idea, from ordinary people is hostile to man’s animal side – I mean his physical health. I repeat: if you want to be healthy and normal, go and join the herd.’

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* Source: Anton Chekhov, “The Black Monk” (translated by Ronald Wilks, 1982)

** from Latin: healthy mind in a healthy body.