I address myself to you not as...' He was going to say, 'as an offended husband,' but, afraid of injuring his case thereby, he changed the expression to 'not as a statesman' (this sounded inappropriate) 'but simply as a man, a kind man and a Christian!
Mi rivolgo a te adesso — “non come al marito offeso” voleva dire Stepan Arkad’ic, ma, temendo di rovinare la faccenda, cambiò — non come all’uomo di stato — il che risultò fuor di proposito — ma semplicemente all’uomo, all’uomo buono, al cristiano.