Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff
CZENUKFR

Tuesday, 20 August 1878

Tuesday, 20 August 1878

I forgot to mention that my Uncle Nicolas has been here for three weeks or more. He is very ugly, and he is a nihilist1 — a narrow-minded nihilist. I mocked him at first, then reasoned with him seriously and asked him to explain the thing to me, as clearly and briefly as possible, what it is they want.

J'ai oublié de dire que mon oncle Nicolas est ici depuis trois semaines ou plus. Il est très laid et c'est un nihiliste, un nihiliste borné. Je m'en suis moquée et puis j'ai raisonné sérieusement et je l'ai prié de m'expliquer la chose et de me dire aussi clairement et brièvement que possible ce qu'ils veulent.

He tangled himself in such a multitude of words that I was left dizzy and irritated. They are all like that. It seems that liberty does not yet exist anywhere, and that Switzerland is a monstrosity, or very nearly. I can listen to the most monstrous things, provided they are stated logically and clearly. Confusion, the lack of the concrete — one can only tolerate that in beautiful things.

Il s'est embarassé dans une telle multitude de mots que j'en suis étourdie et agacée. Ils sont tous ainsi. Il paraît que la liberté n'existe encore nulle part et que la Suisse est une monstruosité ou à peu près. J'écouterai les choses les plus monstrueuses si elles sont logiquement et clairement dites. La confusion, le manque de *positif* ne se peut souffrir que dans les belles choses.

I have a table clock with alarm and repeater; a basket for newspapers and papers; I write with a goose-quill pen, like M. Grévy1 — I lack only a small bell, which I shall have tomorrow.

J'ai un chronomètre de table à réveil et répétition; une corbeille pour les journaux et papiers, j'écris avec une plume d'oie comme M. Grévy, il me manque une sonnette je l'aurai demain.

Notes

Russian nihilism was a radical philosophical and political movement of the 1860s–1880s that rejected traditional moral and social authority. By 1878 the movement had radicalized significantly, with Vera Zasulich's attempted assassination of the governor of St. Petersburg having occurred in January of that year. ↩
Jules Grévy (1807–1891) was then President of the Chamber of Deputies; he would become President of the French Republic in January 1879. His frugal, old-fashioned habits — including writing with a quill pen — were widely noted. ↩