“But what do you mean by living only for yourself?” asked Pierre, growing excited. “What about your son, your sister, and your father?”

“But that’s just the same as myself⁠—they are not others ,” explained Prince Andréy. “The others, one’s neighbors, le prochain , as you and Princess Márya call it, are the chief source of all error and evil. Le prochain ⁠—your Kiev peasants to whom you want to do good.”

And he looked at Pierre with a mocking, challenging expression. He evidently wished to draw him on.