The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (easy to read books for adults list .txt) đź“•
"Those innocent eyes slit my soul up like a razor," he used to say afterwards, with his loathsome snigger. In a man so depraved this might, of course, mean no more than sensual attraction. As he had received no dowry with his wife, and had, so to speak, taken her "from the halter," he did not stand on ceremony with her. Making her feel that she had "wronged" him, he took advantage of her phenomenal meekness and submissiveness to trample on the elemen
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trousers, and in his right boot just at the toe there was a big hole
in the leather, carefully blackened with ink. Both the pockets of
his greatcoat were weighed down with stones. Alyosha stopped two steps
in front of him, looking inquiringly at him, The boy, seeing at once
from Alyosha’s eyes that he wouldn’t beat him, became less defiant,
and addressed him first.
“I am alone, and there are six of them. I’ll beat them all,
alone!” he said suddenly, with flashing eyes.
“I think one of the stones must have hurt you badly,” observed
Alyosha.
“But I hit Smurov on the head!” cried the boy.
“They told me that you know me, and that you threw a stone at me
on purpose,” said Alyosha.
The boy looked darkly at him.
“I don’t know you. Do you know me?” Alyosha continued.
“Let me alone!” the boy cried irritably; but he did not move, as
though he were expecting something, and again there was a vindictive
light in his eyes.
“Very well, I am going,” said Alyosha; “only I don’t know you
and I don’t tease you. They told me how they tease you, but I don’t
want to tease you. Goodbye!”
“Monk in silk trousers!” cried the boy, following Alyosha with the
same vindictive and defiant expression, and he threw himself into an
attitude of defence, feeling sure that now Alyosha would fall upon
him; but Alyosha turned, looked at him, and walked away. He had not
gone three steps before the biggest stone the boy had in his pocket
hit him a painful blow in the back.
“So you’ll hit a man from behind! They tell the truth, then,
when they say that you attack on the sly,” said Alyosha, turning round
again. This time the boy threw a stone savagely right into Alyosha’s
face; but Alyosha just had time to guard himself, and the stone struck
him on the elbow.
“Aren’t you ashamed? What have I done to you?” he cried.
The boy waited in silent defiance, certain that now Alyosha
would attack him. Seeing that even now he would not, his rage was like
a little wild beast’s; he flew at Alyosha himself, and before
Alyosha had time to move, the spiteful child had seized his left
hand with both of his and bit his middle finger. He fixed his teeth in
it and it was ten seconds before he let go. Alyosha cried out with
pain and pulled his finger away with all his might. The child let go
at last and retreated to his former distance. Alyosha’s finger had
been badly bitten to the bone, close to the nail; it began to bleed.
Alyosha took out his handkerchief and bound it tightly round his
injured hand. He was a full minute bandaging it. The boy stood waiting
all the time. At last Alyosha raised his gentle eyes and looked at
him.
“Very well,” he said, “You see how badly you’ve bitten me.
That’s enough, isn’t it? Now tell me, what have I done to you?”
The boy stared in amazement.
“Though I don’t know you and it’s the first time I’ve seen you,”
Alyosha went on with the same serenity, “yet I must have done
something to you-you wouldn’t have hurt me like this for nothing.
So what have I done? How have I wronged you, tell me?”
Instead of answering, the boy broke into a loud tearful wail and
ran away. Alyosha walked slowly after him towards Mihailovsky
Street, and for a long time he saw the child running in the distance
as fast as ever, not turning his head and no doubt still keeping up
his tearful wail. He made up his mind to find him out as soon as he
had time, and to solve this mystery. just now he had not the time.
At the Hohlakovs’
ALYOSHA soon reached Madame Hohlakov’s house, a handsome stone
house of two stories, one of the finest in our town. Though Madame
Hohlakov spent most of her time in another province where she had an
estate, or in Moscow, where she had a house of her own, yet she had
a house in our town too, inherited from her forefathers. The estate in
our district was the largest of her three estates, yet she had been
very little in our province before this time. She ran out to Alyosha
in the hall.
“Did you get my letter about the new miracle?” She spoke rapidly
and nervously.
“Yes”
“Did you show it to everyone? He restored the son to his mother!”
“He is dying to-day,” said Alyosha.
“I have heard, I know, oh, how I long to talk to you, to you or
someone, about all this. No, to you, to you! And how sorry I am I
can’t see him! The whole town is in excitement, they are all suspense.
But now-do you know Katerina Ivanovna is here now?”
“Ah, that’s lucky,” cried Alyosha. “Then I shall see her here. She
told me yesterday to be sure to come and see her to-day.”
“I know, I know all. I’ve heard exactly what happened yesterday-and the atrocious behaviour of that-creature. C’est tragique, and
if I’d been in her place I don’t know what I should have done. And
your brother Dmitri Fyodorovitch, what do you think of him?- my
goodness! Alexey Fyodorovitch, I am forgetting, only fancy; your
brother is in there with her, not that dreadful brother who was so
shocking yesterday, but the other, Ivan Fyodorovitch, he is sitting
with her talking; they are having a serious conversation. If you could
only imagine what’s passing between them now-it’s awful, I tell you
it’s lacerating, it’s like some incredible tale of horror. They are
ruining their lives for no reason anyone can see. They both
recognise it and revel in it. I’ve been watching for you! I’ve been
thirsting for you! It’s too much for me. that’s the worst of it.
I’ll tell you all about it presently, but now I must speak of
something else, the most important thing-I had quite forgotten what’s
most important. Tell me, why has Lise been in hysterics? As soon as
she heard you were here, she began to be hysterical!”
“Maman, it’s you who are hysterical now, not I,” Lise’s voice
carolled through a tiny crack of the door at the side. Her voice
sounded as though she wanted to laugh, but was doing her utmost to
control it. Alyosha at once noticed the crack, and no doubt Lise was
peeping through it, but that he could not see.
“And no wonder, Lise, no wonder… your caprices will make me
hysterical too. But she is so ill, Alexey Fyodorovitch, she has been
so ill all night, feverish and moaning! I could hardly wait for the
morning and for Herzenstube to come. He says that he can make
nothing of it, that we must wait. Herzenstube always comes and says
that he can make nothing of it. As soon as you approached the house,
she screamed, fell into hysterics, and insisted on being wheeled
back into this room here.”
“Mamma, I didn’t know he had come. It wasn’t on his account I
wanted to be wheeled into this room.”
“That’s not true, Lise, Yulia ran to tell you that Alexey
Fyodorovitch was coming. She was on the lookout for you.”
“My darling mamma, it’s not at all clever of you. But if you
want to make up for it and say something very clever, dear mamma,
you’d better tell our honoured visitor, Alexey Fyodorovitch, that he
has shown his want of wit by venturing to us after what happened
yesterday and although everyone is laughing at him.”
“Lise, you go too far. I declare I shall have to be severe. Who
laughs at him? I am so glad he has come, I need him, I can’t do
without him. Oh, Alexey Fyodorovitch, I am exceedingly unhappy!”
“But what’s the matter with you, mamma, darling?”
“Ah, your caprices, Lise, your fidgetiness, your illness, that
awful night of fever, that awful everlasting Herzenstube, everlasting,
everlasting, that’s the worst of it! Everything, in fact,
everything…. Even that miracle, too! Oh, how it has upset me, how it
has shattered me, that miracle, dear Alexey Fyodorovitch! And that
tragedy in the drawing-room, it’s more than I can bear, I warn you.
I can’t bear it. A comedy, perhaps, not a tragedy. Tell me, will
Father Zossima live till to-morrow, will he? Oh, my God! What is
happening to me? Every minute I close my eyes and see that it’s all
nonsense, all nonsense.”
“I should be very grateful,” Alyosha interrupted suddenly, “if you
could give me a clean rag to bind up my finger with. I have hurt it,
and it’s very painful.”
Alyosha unbound his bitten finger. The handkerchief was soaked
with blood. Madame Hohlakov screamed and shut her eyes.
“Good heavens, what a wound, how awful!
But as soon as Lise saw Alyosha’s finger through the crack, she
flung the door wide open.
“Come, come here,” she cried, imperiously. “No nonsense now!
Good heavens, why did you stand there saying nothing about it all this
time? He might have bled to death, mamma! How did you do it? Water,
water! You must wash it first of all, simply hold it in cold water
to stop the pain, and keep it there, keep it there…. Make haste,
mamma, some water in a slop-basin. But do make haste,” she finished
nervously. She was quite frightened at the sight of Alyosha’s wound.
“Shouldn’t we send for Herzenstube?” cried Madame Hohlakov.
“Mamma, you’ll be the death of me. Your Herzenstube will come
and say that he can make nothing of it! Water, water! Mamma, for
goodness’ sake go yourself and hurry Yulia, she is such a slowcoach
and never can come quickly! Make haste, mamma, or I shall die.”
“Why, it’s nothing much,” cried Alyosha, frightened at this alarm.
Yulia ran in with water and Alyosha put his finger in it.
“Some lint, mamma, for mercy’s sake, bring some lint and that
muddy caustic lotion for wounds, what’s it called? We’ve got some. You
know where the bottle is, mamma; it’s in your bedroom in the
right-hand cupboard, there’s a big bottle of it there with the lint.”
“I’ll bring everything in a minute, Lise, only don’t scream and
don’t fuss. You see how bravely Alexey Fyodorovitch bears it. Where
did you get such a dreadful wound, Alexey Fyodorovitch?”
Madame Hohlakov hastened away. This was all Lise was waiting for.
“First of all, answer the question, where did you get hurt like
this?” she asked Alyosha, quickly. “And then I’ll talk to you about
something quite different. Well?”
Instinctively feeling that the time of her mother’s absence was
precious for her, Alyosha hastened to tell her of his enigmatic
meeting with the school boys in the fewest words possible. Lise
clasped her hands at his story.
“How can you, and in that dress too, associate with schoolboys?”
she cried angrily, as though she had a right to control him. “You
are nothing but a boy yourself if you can do that, a perfect boy!
But you must find out for me about that horrid boy and tell me all
about it, for there’s some mystery in it. Now for the second thing,
but first a question: does the pain prevent you talking about
utterly unimportant things, but talking sensibly?”
“Of course not, and I don’t feel much pain now.”
“That’s because your finger is in the water.
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