# The Brothers Karamazov, Lizaveta

Братья Карамазовы · Fyodor Dostoevsky · Book III — The Sensualists

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b3-c2. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b3-c2.json.


Тут было одно особенное обстоятельство, которое глубоко потрясло Григория, окончательно укрепив в нем одно неприятное и омерзительное прежнее подозрение.  
Here there was one particular circumstance that shook Grigory to the depths and confirmed once and for all an old suspicion of his, unpleasant and loathsome.
> Relative «который» + perfective punch: «которое» agrees in neuter singular with its antecedent «обстоятельство» but takes nominative as the subject of its own clause. The perfective «потрясло» (from потрясти) reports a single, decisive event — the circumstance shook him once and for all.
> Perfective gerund «укрепив»: «укрепив» is a perfective деепричастие in -ив ('having confirmed / strengthened'), folding a second, prior-and-completed action into the same sentence and sharing the subject «обстоятельство». Such gerund chains are a hallmark of Dostoevsky's literary narration.

Эта Лизавета Смердящая была очень малого роста девка, «двух аршин с малым», как умилительно вспоминали о ней после ее смерти многие из богомольных старушек нашего городка.  
This Lizaveta the Reeking was a wench of very small stature, "a little over two arshins," as many of the devout old women of our little town fondly recalled of her after her death.
> «девка» — a wench: «девка» is a plain, folksy word for a young unmarried woman or peasant girl, distinctly lower in register than «девушка». Here it sits naturally in the gossiping townswomen's voice, not unkindly but markedly common.
> Genitive of description «малого роста»: «малого роста» ('of small stature') is a genitive phrase describing a quality — Russian's standard way of attributing height, build, or age to a person (человек высокого роста). The adjective «малого» agrees with «роста» in genitive masculine singular.
> «умилительно» — tenderly, movingly: From «умиление», the soft, melting tenderness so central to Dostoevsky's emotional vocabulary. The old women recalled her «умилительно» — with a sentimental, almost devotional fondness, a tone the narrator gently colors with irony.
> «богомольный» and the diminutive «старушка»: «богомольный» means 'devout, given to prayer' (literally 'God-praying'). «старушек» (gen. pl. of «старушка») is the affectionate diminutive of «старуха» — not just 'old women' but 'dear little old women', the tone half-tender, half-amused.

Двадцатилетнее лицо ее, здоровое, широкое и румяное, было вполне идиотское; взгляд же глаз неподвижный и неприятный, хотя и смирный.  
Her face, that of a twenty-year-old, healthy, broad, and ruddy, was utterly idiotic; the gaze of her eyes was fixed and disagreeable, though meek.
> The particle «же» as a hinge: Here «же» is not emphatic but a soft contrastive connective ('as for the gaze of her eyes…'), pivoting from the description of the face to the eyes. This topic-shifting «же» is one of Russian's quiet structural particles.
> Long-form predicate adjectives: The eyes' gaze is described with long-form adjectives in the nominative («неподвижный, неприятный, смирный») agreeing with «взгляд». «хотя и» ('though') concedes the meekness against the unpleasantness — a tidy 19th-century balancing of attributes.

Ходила она всю жизнь, и летом и зимой, босая и в одной посконной рубашке.  
All her life, summer and winter alike, she went barefoot and in nothing but a coarse hempen shift.
> Multidirectional «ходила» for habit: «ходила» is the multidirectional motion verb «ходить», imperfective — exactly right for a lifelong habit ('she went about all her life'). Fronting the verb before the pronoun «она» throws the weight onto the enduring, repeated manner of her going.
> «посконный» — of coarse hemp: «посконь» is the male hemp plant; «посконная рубашка» is a shift of the cheapest, roughest homespun hemp cloth — the garb of the destitute. The single archaic adjective places Lizaveta at the very bottom of the social world.

Почти черные волосы ее, чрезвычайно густые, закурчавленные как у барана, держались на голове ее в виде как бы какой-то огромной шапки.  
Her nearly black hair, extraordinarily thick and curled like a ram's fleece, sat upon her head in the form of some enormous cap.
> Past passive participle «закурчавленные»: «закурчавленные» ('curled, made curly') is a past passive participle in -нные, long form, agreeing with «волосы» (nom. pl.). It works like an adjective, compressing 'which had been curled' into one word — typical of dense literary description.
> Hedging «как бы» and indefinite «какой-то»: «как бы» ('as it were') and «какой-то» ('some sort of') stack to soften the comparison — the hair sat 'in the form of, as it were, some kind of enormous cap'. The piled hedges are a signature of the narrator's tentative, conversational voice.

Кроме того, всегда были запачканы в земле, в грязи, с налипшими в них листочками, лучиночками, стружками, потому что спала она всегда на земле и в грязи.  
What is more, it was always grimed with earth and mud, with little leaves, splinters, and shavings stuck in it, for she always slept on the bare ground and in the mire.
> Periphrastic passive with short participle: «запачканы» is the short-form past passive participle (from запачкать), joined to «были» to state a result — '[they] were grimed'. The short passive participle + быть is Russian's standard way of describing a resulting state.
> A cascade of diminutives: «листочками» (little leaves), «лучиночками» (tiny splinters), «стружками» (shavings) — the diminutive -очк-/-иночк- suffixes pile up to make the debris in her hair sound small, pitiable, and homely all at once.
> «потому что» + imperfective of habit: «потому что» ('because') opens a causal subordinate clause. Inside it «спала» is imperfective past, naming her habitual practice of sleeping on the ground — process and repetition, not a single event.

Отец ее был бездомный, разорившийся и хворый мещанин Илья, сильно запивавший и приживавший уже много лет вроде работника у одних зажиточных хозяев, тоже наших мещан.  
Her father was a homeless, ruined, and sickly townsman named Ilya, a heavy drinker who for many years had lived as a sort of hired hand sponging off some well-to-do householders, townsfolk like himself.
> Past active participles in -вший: Two imperfective past active participles, «запивавший» ('who drank hard') and «приживавший» ('who sponged'), modify «мещанин Илья», each replacing a «который»-clause. Their imperfective stems give an ongoing, habitual past sense.
> «приживать» — to sponge, live off others: «приживать» / «приживальщик» belongs to a key Dostoevskian lexical family: the dependent hanger-on who lives at another's expense. Ilya «приживал вроде работника» — lived as a kind of half-servant, half-parasite in another household.
> Meshchanin: A «мещанин» was a member of the lowest urban estate (petty townsfolk, small traders or artisans) in Imperial Russia's rigid system of social ranks. We render it here as "townsman" / "townsfolk," but note that the word marks low social standing rather than any particular trade.

Мать же Лизаветы давно померла.  
Lizaveta's mother had died long before.
> «помереть» — the plain word for dying: «померла» (from помереть, perfective) is the colloquial, folk equivalent of «умерла» (from умереть). It belongs to peasant and lower-town speech and recurs through this passage («помер», «померла»), keeping the narrator close to the townsfolk's idiom.
> Topic-marking «же»: «же» here marks a shift of topic — 'as for Lizaveta's mother' — rather than adding stress. It signals that the narration is turning to a new figure after dwelling on the father.

Вечно болезненный и злобный Илья бесчеловечно бивал Лизавету, когда та приходила домой.  
Forever ailing and spiteful, Ilya beat Lizaveta inhumanly whenever she came home.
> Iterative «бивал» + correlative «та»: «бивал» is a frequentative form of «бить» ('used to beat repeatedly'), reinforced by the imperfective «приходила» in the «когда»-clause — habitual beatings on each homecoming. «та» here is the demonstrative «тот» used pronominally for 'she (the latter)'.
> «бесчеловечно» — inhumanly: Built on «человек» with the negating prefix без-/бес-: 'without humanity'. The adverb lands hard against the «божий человек» ('God's person') that Lizaveta will soon be called — Dostoevsky setting cruelty and holiness side by side.

Но приходила она редко, потому что приживала по всему городу как юродивый божий человек.  
But she came rarely, for she lived off the whole town as a holy fool, one of God's own.
> «по» + dative of distribution: «по всему городу» uses «по» with the dative «всему городу» to mean 'all over the town' — distribution across space. The imperfective «приживала» again names her settled way of life, not one act.

И хозяева Ильи, и сам Илья, и даже многие из городских сострадательных людей, из купцов и купчих преимущественно, пробовали не раз одевать Лизавету приличнее, чем в одной рубашке, а к зиме всегда надевали на нее тулуп, а ноги обували в сапоги; но она обыкновенно, давая всё надеть на себя беспрекословно, уходила и где-нибудь, преимущественно на соборной церковной паперти, непременно снимала с себя всё, ей пожертвованное, — платок ли, юбку ли, тулуп, сапоги, — всё оставляла на месте и уходила босая и в одной рубашке по-прежнему.  
Ilya's householders, and Ilya himself, and even many of the compassionate folk of the town — chiefly the merchants and their wives — tried more than once to dress Lizaveta more decently than in a single shift, and toward winter they always put a sheepskin coat on her and shod her feet in boots; but as a rule, letting them put everything on her without a word of protest, she would walk off and somewhere — most often on the porch of the cathedral church — would unfailingly strip off everything that had been given her, kerchief or skirt, sheepskin or boots, leave it all on the spot, and go off barefoot and in nothing but her shift as before.
> «купец» and «купчиха»: «купец» is a merchant (a distinct estate in Imperial Russia); «купчиха» is a merchant's wife (or a woman merchant). The paired forms recur throughout — «купчиха Кондратьева» below — and locate the town's charity in its prosperous trading class.
> Imperfective gerund «давая» + reflexive «себя»: «давая» is an imperfective present gerund ('letting / allowing', simultaneous action). «на себя» uses the reflexive pronoun «себя» pointing back to Lizaveta — she let them put everything 'onto herself'.
> Enumerative «ли … ли»: Repeated «ли» after each item ('kerchief or skirt, sheepskin or boots') builds a 'whether… whether…' enumeration — a more literary, rhythmic way to list alternatives than plain «или».
> Imperfective past «снимала»: «непременно снимала с себя всё» uses the imperfective «снимала» for her habitual ritual of stripping everything off; «ей пожертвованное» is a past passive participle ('that had been donated to her') used as a noun. The whole sentence chains habit upon habit.

Раз случилось, что новый губернатор нашей губернии, обозревая наездом наш городок, очень обижен был в своих лучших чувствах, увидав Лизавету, и хотя понял, что это «юродивая», как и доложили ему, но все-таки поставил на вид, что молодая девка, скитающаяся в одной рубашке, нарушает благоприличие, а потому чтобы сего впредь не было.  
It once happened that the new governor of our province, passing through our little town on a tour of inspection, was deeply offended in his finest feelings at the sight of Lizaveta, and though he understood that she was a "holy fool," as had indeed been reported to him, he nonetheless pointed out that a young wench roaming about in nothing but a shift was an offense to decency, and that henceforth there should be no more of it.
> Gerund «обозревая» + instrumental «наездом»: «обозревая» is an imperfective gerund ('inspecting, while touring'); «наездом» is an instrumental noun used adverbially ('on a flying visit, by dropping in'). Together they sketch the governor's manner of arrival in one tight participial phrase.
> Archaic «сей» + «чтобы» of command: «сего» is the genitive of the bookish archaic demonstrative «сей» ('this'); «чтобы … не было» uses «чтобы» with the past-form irrealis to report an indirect order ('that henceforth there be no more of this'). The officialese «сего впредь» mimics a governor's decree.

Но губернатор уехал, а Лизавету оставили как была.  
But the governor departed, and Lizaveta was left just as she was.
> Impersonal «оставили» (they-subject): «оставили» is a third-person plural verb with no expressed subject — the indefinite 'they / people left'. Russian uses this subjectless plural for a vague collective agent, much as English falls back on the passive ('Lizaveta was left').

Наконец отец ее помер, и она тем самым стала всем богомольным лицам в городе еще милее, как сирота.  
At last her father died, and by that very fact she became, as an orphan, even dearer to all the devout people of the town.
> Comparative «милее» + dative of relation: «милее» is the invariable predicative comparative of «милый» ('dearer'). «всем богомольным лицам» stands in the dative — dearer 'to all the devout people'. The dative marks the ones to whom she became more endeared.
> «помер» — colloquial 'died': Again the folk perfective «помереть» rather than «умереть», keeping the narrator in the register of the town. Notice the masculine «помер» for the father against «померла» for the mother — the -л past agreeing in gender.

В самом деле, ее как будто все даже любили, даже мальчишки ее не дразнили и не обижали, а мальчишки у нас, особенно в школе, народ задорный.  
Indeed, everyone seemed positively to love her; even the boys did not tease or torment her — and our boys, especially at school, are a rowdy lot.
> Negative concord with «не … не»: Two negated imperfective verbs, «не дразнили и не обижали» ('did not tease and did not torment'), describe a sustained absence of cruelty. Russian repeats «не» before each verb, the language's normal way of stacking negation.
> «мальчишки» and «задорный»: «мальчишки» is the slightly rough, affectionate plural for 'boys, urchins'; «народ задорный» ('a rowdy/cheeky lot') uses «народ» colloquially for 'a sort of people'. «задорный» means high-spirited, provoking, full of mischief.

Она входила в незнакомые дома, и никто не выгонял ее, напротив, всяк-то приласкает и грошик даст.  
She would walk into houses where she was unknown, and no one drove her out; on the contrary, everyone would pet her and give her a copper.
> Negative pronoun + obligatory «не»: «никто … не выгонял» pairs the negative pronoun «никто» ('no one') with the still-required verbal «не» — Russian's negative concord, where 'no one drove her out' literally reads 'no one did not drive her out'.
> Folk «всяк» + diminutive «грошик»: «всяк» is an archaic/folk form of «всякий» ('everyone'), and the clitic «-то» lends a homely emphasis. «грошик» is the diminutive of «грош», a tiny copper coin — 'a little penny'. The perfective «приласкает / даст» here express a habitual gesture vividly, as if each time anew.

Дадут ей грошик, она возьмет и тотчас снесет и опустит в которую-нибудь кружку церковную аль острожную.  
If they gave her a copper, she would take it and at once carry it off and drop it into some church or prison alms-box.
> Perfective present for habitual action: A string of perfective 'futures' — «дадут… возьмёт… снесёт… опустит» — is used for a repeated, typical sequence ('whenever they give… she takes… carries off… drops in'). This vivid perfective-for-habit usage makes each instance feel like a single completed scene.
> «аль» and «острожный»: «аль» is a folk/dialectal variant of «или» ('or'). A «кружка» here is an alms-box; «острожный» is the adjective from «острог», an old word for a prison/jail. She gives equally to church and to prisoners — Orthodox charity reaching the condemned.

Дадут ей на базаре бублик или калачик, непременно пойдет и первому встречному ребеночку отдаст бублик или калачик, а то так остановит какую-нибудь нашу самую богатую барыню и той отдаст; и барыни принимали даже с радостию.  
If they gave her a bun or a roll at the market, she would invariably go and hand the bun or roll to the first child she met, or else she would stop one of our very richest ladies and give it to her — and the ladies even accepted it gladly.
> «бублик» and «калачик»: A «бублик» is a ring-shaped bread roll (like a dense bagel); a «калач» is a fine white-flour loaf shaped like a padlock, the «калачик» its diminutive. Both are humble market breads, gifts the holy fool immediately passes on.
> «барыня» — a lady of standing: «барыня» is a lady of the gentry or moneyed class, the feminine of «барин» (master). That Lizaveta would press her roll on 'one of our richest ladies' and the lady would take it «с радостию» captures the reverence the town paid the holy fool.
> Archaic instrumental «с радостию»: «радостию» is the older bookish instrumental of «радость», where modern Russian writes «радостью». The -ию ending lends a faint solemnity, in keeping with the chronicling, slightly old-fashioned voice of the narrator.

Сама же питалась не иначе как только черным хлебом с водой.  
She herself fed on nothing but black bread and water.
> Reflexive «питаться» + «не иначе как»: «питалась» is a reflexive (-ся) imperfective verb meaning 'fed herself / subsisted'. The emphatic idiom «не иначе как только» ('in no other way than only') narrows her diet absolutely to black bread and water.

Зайдет она, бывало, в богатую лавку, садится, тут дорогой товар лежит, тут и деньги, хозяева никогда ее не остерегаются, знают, что хоть тысячи выложи при ней денег и забудь, она из них не возьмет ни копейки.  
She might wander into some rich shop and sit down; costly wares would be lying there, money too, and the owners were never on their guard with her, knowing that even if you laid out thousands in her presence and forgot about it, she would not take so much as a kopeck of it.
> Imperative for a concessive condition: «выложи… и забудь» are second-person singular imperatives used not as commands but as a vivid hypothetical ('even if you laid out thousands and forgot') — a colloquial concessive turn. The genitive «денег» follows the quantity «тысячи».
> «ни» + genitive of negation «ни копейки»: «ни копейки» combines the intensifier «ни» ('not a single') with the genitive of negation under the negated verb «не возьмёт» — 'she would not take so much as a kopeck'. The genitive after a negated object is the rule here.
> «бывало» — the iterative marker: «бывало» ('it used to happen, time was') is a fixed particle-like word that marks a recurring past habit, often paired (as here) with perfective verbs that paint each typical instance vividly: 'she would wander in… sit down…'.

В церковь редко заходила, спала же или по церковным папертям, или перелезши через чей-нибудь плетень (у нас еще много плетней вместо заборов даже до сегодня) в чьем-нибудь огороде.  
She rarely went into church, but slept either on the church porches or, having clambered over someone's wattle fence (we still have many wattle fences instead of board ones even to this day), in someone's vegetable garden.
> Perfective gerund «перелезши»: «перелезши» is a perfective past gerund in -ши ('having clambered over'), a slightly archaic/bookish variant of «перелезши/перелеза». «через» governs the accusative «плетень». The gerund packs a prior action into the description of where she slept.

Домой, то есть в дом тех хозяев, у которых жил ее покойный отец, она являлась примерно раз в неделю, а по зимам приходила и каждый день, но только лишь на ночь, и ночует либо в сенях, либо в коровнике.  
Home — that is, to the house of the householders her late father had lived with — she would turn up about once a week, and in winter she came every day, but only for the night, sleeping either in the entryway or in the cowshed.
> Imperfective past and present in one sentence: The verbs slide between imperfective past («являлась», «приходила» — habitual then) and historic present («ночует» — 'she spends the night'). The present tense among past forms makes the recurring habit feel immediate, a common colloquial-narrative shift.
> «сени» and «коровник»: «сени» (always plural) is the cold entryway or vestibule of a Russian peasant house, between the door and the heated room. A «коровник» is a cowshed. «либо… либо…» is 'either… or…'. The pairing fixes how marginal her shelter was — entryway or barn.

Дивились на нее, что она выносит такую жизнь, но уж так она привыкла; хоть и мала была ростом, но сложения необыкновенно крепкого.  
People marveled that she could endure such a life, but she had grown so used to it; small though she was in stature, she was of an uncommonly sturdy build.
> Impersonal «дивились» + «что»-clause: Subjectless «дивились» ('people marveled', they-plural) takes a «что»-clause reporting the cause of wonder. «выносит» is imperfective — the ongoing endurance of such a life.
> Short adjective «мала» + genitive of description: «мала» is a short-form predicate adjective ('was small'), the bookish predicative form; «сложения … крепкого» is the genitive-of-description ('of sturdy build'). The «хоть и … но» frame concedes her smallness against her toughness.

Утверждали и у нас иные из господ, что всё это она делает лишь из гордости, но как-то это не вязалось: она и говорить-то ни слова не умела и изредка только шевелила что-то языком и мычала — какая уж тут гордость.  
Some of the gentry among us insisted that she did all this out of pride alone, but it somehow did not hold together: she could not speak so much as a word, and only now and then would she stir her tongue a little and low — what pride could there be in that?
> Emphatic «-то» + «ни слова»: The clitic «-то» on «говорить-то» throws topic-emphasis onto the very act of speaking ('speak at all'), while «ни слова не умела» ('couldn't [say] a single word') is the «ни» + genitive-of-negation pattern. The piling of particles is pure spoken Russian.
> Rhetorical «какая уж тут…»: «какая уж тут гордость» ('what pride could there possibly be here') is an idiomatic rhetorical negation built with the interrogative «какой» and the particle «уж» — dismissing the very idea. It captures the narrator's incredulous, conversational shrug.

Вот и случилось, что однажды (давненько это было), в одну сентябрьскую светлую и теплую ночь, в полнолуние, весьма уже по-нашему поздно, одна хмельная ватага разгулявшихся наших господ, молодцов пять или шесть, возвращалась из клуба «задами» по домам.  
Now it so happened that one day (this was a good while ago), on a bright and warm September night, at the full moon and very late by our reckoning, a tipsy band of our revelling gentry, some five or six young bucks, was making its way home from the club "by the back ways."
> Adverbial «по-нашему» and stacked circumstances: «по-нашему» ('by our reckoning, in our way') is the по- + possessive adverb formation. The sentence loads up scene-setting circumstantials — a September night, full moon, very late 'by our standards' — before the subject finally arrives, a leisurely literary build-up.
> «ватага», «хмельной», «разгулявшихся»: «ватага» is a rowdy band or gang; «хмельной» means tipsy (from «хмель», hops/intoxication); «разгулявшихся» is a past active participle ('who had let themselves go') in the genitive plural. The cluster paints a drunken, carousing crew of gentry in three strokes.
> «молодцов» and approximate inversion: «молодцы» here means strapping young fellows / bucks. Note the inverted numeral order «молодцов пять или шесть» (noun before number) — a standard Russian device signalling approximation, 'some five or six lads'.

По обе стороны переулка шел плетень, за которым тянулись огороды прилежащих домов; переулок же выходил на мостки через нашу вонючую и длинную лужу, которую у нас принято называть иногда речкой.  
On both sides of the lane ran a wattle fence, behind which stretched the vegetable gardens of the adjoining houses; the lane itself came out onto the little footbridge over our stinking, long puddle that we are sometimes pleased to call a river.
> Relative «который» in instrumental: «за которым» ('behind which') puts the relative «который» in the instrumental, governed by «за». It agrees with «плетень» in masculine singular but takes its own case from its role in the relative clause — a textbook «который» mechanism.
> «лужа» called «речка» — ironic self-deprecation: «лужа» is a puddle; «речка» the diminutive of «река», 'a little river'. The narrator's wry note that the town is 'pleased to call' its long stinking puddle a river is a fine touch of provincial self-mockery — note «речкой» in the instrumental after «называть».

У плетня, в крапиве и в лопушнике, усмотрела наша компания спящую Лизавету.  
By the wattle fence, amid the nettles and the burdock, our company caught sight of Lizaveta asleep.
> Verb-first word order + present active participle: The perfective «усмотрела» ('caught sight of') is fronted before its subject «наша компания», throwing focus onto the act of spotting. «спящую» is a present active participle ('sleeping') in the accusative, agreeing with «Лизавету».
> «крапива» and «лопушник»: «крапива» is stinging nettle; «лопушник» a thicket of burdock («лопух»). The weedy, neglected setting — nettles and burdock by the fence — matches Lizaveta's outcast, untended life.

Подгулявшие господа остановились над нею с хохотом и начали острить со всею возможною бесцензурностью.  
The drunken gentlemen stopped over her with guffaws and began making jokes with all the obscenity they could muster.
> Perfective onset «начали» + imperfective infinitive: «остановились» (perfective, '[they] stopped') sets the scene; «начали острить» pairs the perfective «начали» with the imperfective infinitive «острить» ('to make jokes') — Russian phase verbs of beginning always take the imperfective infinitive.
> «бесцензурность» and archaic «-ою» endings: «бесцензурность» (lit. 'uncensoredness') means crude obscenity. The instrumental forms «всею возможною» carry the older bookish -ою ending (modern «всей возможной»), lending the sardonic phrase a mock-formal weight.

Одному барчонку пришел вдруг в голову совершенно эксцентрический вопрос на невозможную тему: «Можно ли, дескать, хотя кому бы то ни было, счесть такого зверя за женщину, вот хоть бы теперь, и проч.».  
It suddenly entered the head of one young squire to put a thoroughly eccentric question on an impossible theme: "Could anyone at all, said he, reckon such a beast for a woman — just now, say, and so forth."
> «можно ли» + dative-less impersonal: «можно ли» frames an impersonal possibility question with the interrogative «ли» ('is it possible to…'). «счесть … за женщину» is the idiom 'to reckon/take X for Y'; «такого зверя» is animate accusative (= genitive form) of 'such a beast'.
> «барчонок» and reportative «дескать»: «барчонок» is a contemptuous diminutive of «барчук» — a young master's son, a spoiled gentry whelp. «дескать» is a reportative particle ('he said, supposedly') flagging that the words are being quoted at second hand.
> Concessive indefinite «кому бы то ни было»: «кому бы то ни было» is the fixed concessive-indefinite construction 'to anyone at all whatsoever', built from the interrogative + «бы» + «то ни было». The dative «кому» fits the verb «счесть» (it would be the one doing the reckoning).

Все с гордым омерзением решили, что нельзя.  
With proud disgust they all decided that one could not.
> Impersonal «нельзя» as the whole answer: The reported answer is a single impersonal predicate «нельзя» ('it is not possible / one cannot'), with the infinitive «счесть» understood from context. Russian's impersonal modal words (нельзя, можно, надо) can stand alone as a complete clause.

Но в этой кучке случился Федор Павлович, и он мигом выскочил и решил, что можно счесть за женщину, даже очень, и что тут даже нечто особого рода пикантное, и проч., и проч.  
But Fyodor Pavlovitch happened to be in this little knot, and he sprang up in an instant and decided that one could indeed reckon her for a woman, even very much so, and that there was in this even something of a special, piquant kind, and so forth, and so forth.
> Perfective «случился» — 'happened to be': «случился» (reflexive perfective of «случиться») here means 'happened to be present', not 'occurred' — a chance presence. Fyodor Pavlovich's casual appearance 'in this little knot' is delivered with the same word that elsewhere means a mere happening.
> Elliptical «даже очень»: «даже очень» ('even very [much so]') is a clipped colloquial intensifier leaving the adjective unspoken — Fyodor's leering exaggeration. The reported «можно счесть» echoes and inverts the band's «нельзя» from the previous sentence.

Правда, в ту пору он у нас слишком уж даже выделанно напрашивался на свою роль шута, любил выскакивать и веселить господ, с видимым равенством конечно, но на деле совершенным пред ними хамом.  
True, at that time he was even all too studiously courting his role as a buffoon among us, fond of leaping up and amusing the gentlemen — with apparent equality, of course, though in fact a perfect boor before them.
> Reflexive «свой» + role-noun: «свою роль» uses the reflexive possessive «свой» ('his own role'), pointing back to the subject Fyodor. «напрашивался на» ('was angling for, courting') is imperfective — a sustained, deliberate self-fashioning into the buffoon.
> Instrumental predicate «хамом»: «хамом» (instrumental of «хам») is the predicate complement governed by an implied 'being' — 'a perfect boor before them'. The instrumental of the predicate frames his boorishness as the role he in fact filled, against the «равенством» he affected.
> «шут» and «хам»: «шут» is the jester/buffoon — a role Fyodor Pavlovich consciously plays throughout the novel. «хам» (from the biblical Ham) is a loaded word for a coarse, insolent lout, especially one of low origins aping his betters. The two together skewer his social posture.

Это было именно то самое время, когда он получил из Петербурга известие о смерти его первой супруги, Аделаиды Ивановны, и когда с крепом на шляпе пил и безобразничал так, что иных в городе, даже из самых беспутнейших, при взгляде на него коробило.  
It was precisely the very time when he had received word from Petersburg of the death of his first wife, Adelaida Ivanovna, and when, with crepe on his hat, he drank and behaved so disgracefully that some in the town, even of the most dissolute, were revolted at the sight of him.
> Perfective «получил» vs imperfective «пил, безобразничал»: «получил» (perfective) marks the single event of receiving the news; «пил и безобразничал» (imperfective) describe the ongoing drinking and outrageous conduct that followed. The aspect contrast sets one completed point against a stretch of bad behavior.
> Superlative «беспутнейших»: «беспутнейших» is a bookish synthetic superlative in -ейш- ('the most dissolute'), genitive plural after «из». Even of these worst men some «коробило» ('were revolted') — the impersonal «коробить» governs the affected person in the accusative.

Ватага, конечно, расхохоталась над неожиданным мнением; какой-то один из ватаги даже начал подстрекать Федора Павловича, но остальные принялись плевать еще пуще, хотя всё еще с чрезмерною веселостью, и наконец пошли все прочь своею дорогой.  
The band, of course, roared with laughter at this unexpected opinion; one of them even began egging Fyodor Pavlovitch on, but the rest fell to spitting all the more, though still with excessive merriment, and at last they all went off their separate ways.
> Chain of perfectives moving the action: A run of perfective verbs — «расхохоталась» (burst out laughing), «начали», «принялись», «пошли» — drives the scene forward event by event. The prefix рас-/раз- in «расхохоталась» adds an inceptive burst, 'broke into laughter'.
> «пуще» — folk comparative: «пуще» is an archaic/folk comparative meaning 'all the more, worse, harder' (suppletive, no positive form). 'They fell to spitting all the more' — the disgusted spitting being a physical gesture of contempt, intensified by «пуще».

Впоследствии Федор Павлович клятвенно уверял, что тогда и он вместе со всеми ушел; может быть, так именно и было, никто этого не знает наверно и никогда не знал, но месяцев через пять или шесть все в городе заговорили с искренним и чрезвычайным негодованием о том, что Лизавета ходит беременная, спрашивали и доискивались: чей грех, кто обидчик?  
Afterward Fyodor Pavlovitch swore on oath that he too had gone off then together with all the rest; perhaps that is precisely how it was — no one knows it for certain and no one ever did — but some five or six months later the whole town began to speak, with sincere and extraordinary indignation, of Lizaveta's walking about with child, asking and inquiring: whose was the sin, who was the offender?
> Prefixed perfective «ушёл»: «ушёл» is the perfective of «уходить/уйти», the у- prefix giving 'departed, went away'. Prefixing a motion verb converts the directional pair into an ordinary aspect pair, and here the perfective reports his single act of leaving.
> «ходить беременная» — to be (going about) pregnant: The multidirectional «ходит» here is idiomatic: 'walks about / goes about pregnant' for being visibly with child over a period. The adjective «беременная» agrees with the implied female subject. The town's gossip fixes on her appearing in public so.
> Interrogatives «чей» and «кто»: «чей» ('whose') agrees like an adjective with «грех» (masc.); «кто» ('who') always takes masculine agreement. The breathless double question voices the town's collective inquiry into 'whose sin, who the offender'.

Вот тут-то вдруг и разнеслась по всему городу странная молва, что обидчик есть самый этот Федор Павлович.  
It was just then that a strange rumor suddenly spread through the whole town, that the offender was this very Fyodor Pavlovitch.
> Emphatic «вот тут-то … и»: «вот тут-то … и» is an emphatic narrative frame — 'it was just then that…'. The clitic «-то» on «тут» pinpoints the moment, and «и» before the verb underscores it. «разнеслась» is reflexive perfective, 'spread itself about'.
> Intensifier «самый» + demonstrative: «самый этот» ('this very') stacks the intensifier «самый» onto the demonstrative «этот» to point emphatically — 'this very Fyodor Pavlovitch'. The combination singles him out as precisely the named culprit.

Откуда взялась эта молва?  
Where did this rumor come from?
> Reflexive «взялась» — 'arose from where': «взялась» (reflexive perfective of «взяться») in the idiom «откуда взялась» means 'where did it come from / spring up'. The short rhetorical question, set off as its own sentence, mimics the narrator pausing to interrogate the rumor's source.

Из той ватаги гулявших господ как раз оставался к тому времени в городе лишь один участник, да и то пожилой и почтенный статский советник, обладавший семейством и взрослыми дочерьми и который уж отнюдь ничего бы не стал распространять, если бы даже что и было; прочие же участники, человек пять, на ту пору разъехались.  
Of that band of carousing gentlemen, only one member happened still to be in the town by that time, and he at that an elderly and respectable civil councillor, a man with a family and grown daughters, who would by no means have spread such a thing about even if there had been something to it; the other members, some five men, had scattered by that time.
> Conditional «бы» across both clauses: A full conditional: «не стал бы распространять» (would not have spread) in the main clause, «если бы … было» in the «если бы» protasis. The particle «бы» plus past-form verbs builds the whole irrealis ('would not… even if there had been something').
> Stacked negation «отнюдь … ничего … не»: «отнюдь» ('by no means, not at all') reinforces «ничего … не» — negative concord piled high to make the denial absolute: 'would by no means have spread anything at all'.
> Civil councillor (Table of Ranks): A статский советник ("civil councillor") was a fairly senior grade in Imperial Russia's Table of Ranks, the official ladder of civil service positions established by Peter the Great. Mentioning his rank signals respectability, which is why Dostoevsky stresses such a man would never have spread gossip.

Но молва прямешенько указывала на Федора Павловича и продолжала указывать.  
But the rumor pointed straight at Fyodor Pavlovitch and went on pointing.
> Imperfective persistence + expressive «прямешенько»: Both verbs are imperfective — «указывала» and «продолжала указывать» — stressing the rumor's continued, unrelenting pointing. «прямешенько» is an expressive diminutive-intensive of «прямо» ('straight'), 'point-blank, straight as can be'.

Конечно, тот не очень-то даже и претендовал на это: каким-нибудь купчишкам или мещанам он и отвечать не стал бы.  
Of course, he did not much trouble to contest it: to some petty little merchants or townsmen he would not even deign to reply.
> Pejorative «купчишка»: «купчишка» is «купец» with the contemptuous -ишк- suffix — 'wretched little merchants'. The suffix carries Fyodor Pavlovitch's disdain: such petty merchants («купчишки») and townsmen aren't worth his answering.
> Conditional «не стал бы» + dative addressees: «не стал бы [отвечать]» is conditional (бы + past «стал»), 'would not even deign to reply'. «купчишкам или мещанам» stands in the dative as the people to whom he would not reply — the dative of the addressee after «отвечать».

Тогда он был горд и разговаривал не иначе как в своей компании чиновников и дворян, которых столь веселил.  
In those days he was proud and conversed only within his own company of officials and gentry, whom he so amused.
> Short adjective «горд»: «горд» is the short-form predicate of «гордый» ('proud'), agreeing in masculine singular. Short adjectives like «горд» are the bookish predicative form and often suggest a state characteristic of the moment — he 'was proud' in those days.
> Relative «которых» in animate accusative: «которых» ('whom') is animate accusative plural (= genitive form), object of «веселил» — 'whom he so amused'. «своей компании» again uses reflexive «свой» for 'his own circle' of officials and gentry.

Вот в эту-то пору Григорий энергически и изо всех сил стал за своего барина и не только защищал его против всех этих наговоров, но вступал за него в брань и препирательства и многих переуверил.  
It was precisely at this time that Grigory stood up energetically and with all his might for his master, and not only defended him against all these slanders but entered into wrangling and disputes on his behalf and won many over.
> «не только … но» + aspect shift: The «не только … но» correlative builds the climax. The imperfectives «защищал, вступал» describe his ongoing championing; the perfective «переуверил» ('won over, persuaded round') reports the achieved result — many converted.
> «стать за», «барин», «брань»: «стать за кого-то» idiomatically means 'to stand up for someone'. «барин» is the master/gentleman (Grigory's term for Fyodor). «брань» here means quarreling/abuse (not 'battle'), «препирательства» wrangling — Grigory fought verbally for his master.

«Она сама, низкая, виновата», — говорил он утвердительно, а обидчиком был не кто иной, как «Карп с винтом» (так назывался один известный тогда городу страшный арестант, к тому времени бежавший из губернского острога и в нашем городе тайком проживавший).  
“She is herself to blame, the low creature,” he would say with conviction, and the offender was none other than "Karp the Screw" (so was called a certain dread convict, well known to the town at the time, who had by then escaped from the provincial prison and was living secretly in our town).
> Instrumental predicate «обидчиком был»: «обидчиком был» puts the predicate noun in the instrumental after past-tense «был» — Russian's rule for predicate nouns with быть in the past. «не кто иной, как» is the fixed frame 'none other than'.
> «Карп с винтом» — a convict's nickname: «с винтом» (lit. 'with a screw') is the criminal byname distinguishing this Karp — such descriptive thieves' nicknames were common. We render it 'Karp the Screw'. He is an «арестант» (prisoner/convict), the scapegoat Grigory floats in place of his master.

Догадка эта показалась правдоподобною, Карпа помнили, именно помнили, что в те самые ночи, под осень, он по городу шлялся и троих ограбил.  
This conjecture seemed plausible; Karp was remembered — remembered precisely as having prowled about the town on those very nights toward autumn and robbed three people.
> Impersonal «помнили» with reinforcing repetition: Subjectless «помнили» ('people remembered', they-plural) is repeated for emphasis — 'Karp was remembered, remembered precisely'. The «что»-clause then gives what was remembered. The repetition mimics insistent collective memory.
> «шляться» — to slink, prowl about: «шляться» is a coarse, disreputable verb for aimless loitering or roaming — 'to gad/prowl about'. With «по городу» (по + dative for 'all over town') it casts Karp as a sinister vagrant, robbing three people on those nights.

Но весь этот случай и все эти толки не только не отвратили общей симпатии от бедной юродивой, но ее еще пуще стали все охранять и оберегать.  
But this whole affair and all this talk, far from turning the general sympathy away from the poor holy fool, only made everyone protect and guard her all the more.
> Double «не» in «не только не»: «не только не отвратили … но …» ('far from turning away… on the contrary') is a strong correlative built on negation. The perfective «отвратили» names the result that did not happen; the imperfective «охранять и оберегать» the heightened ongoing protection that did.
> «юродивая» substantivized: Here «юродивой» (feminine, dative/genitive) is used as a noun — 'the poor holy fool' — Lizaveta named by her sacred status. The adjective-turned-noun is the dignified counterweight to the cruel «зверь» the drunks had used.

Купчиха Кондратьева, одна зажиточная вдова, даже так распорядилась, что в конце еще апреля завела Лизавету к себе, с тем чтоб ее и не выпускать до самых родов.  
Kondratyeva, a merchant's wife and a well-to-do widow, even arranged things so that toward the end of April she took Lizaveta into her own house, with the intention of not letting her out until the birth itself.
> Purpose «чтоб» + imperfective infinitive: «с тем чтоб … не выпускать» ('with the aim of not letting [her] out') is a purpose clause; with a shared subject «чтоб» takes the infinitive rather than the past form. «выпускать» is imperfective — sustained confinement until the birth.
> «купчиха» and «зажиточный»: «купчиха» — a merchant's wife (here a widow). «зажиточный» means well-to-do, prosperous (from «жить», to live). The well-off merchant widow's taking Lizaveta in shows again that the town's charity flows from its trading class.

Стерегли неусыпно, но так вышло, что, несмотря на всю неусыпность, Лизавета в самый последний день, вечером, вдруг тайком ушла от Кондратьевой и очутилась в саду Федора Павловича.  
They watched her unsleepingly, but it so fell out that, despite all the vigilance, Lizaveta, on the very last day, in the evening, suddenly slipped away in secret from Kondratyeva's and found herself in Fyodor Pavlovitch's garden.
> Impersonal «так вышло, что» + perfectives: «так вышло, что» ('it so came about that') is an impersonal frame for an unexpected turn. The perfectives «ушла» and «очутилась» ('slipped away', 'found herself') deliver the two sudden completed events that change everything.
> «стеречь» and «неусыпный»: «стеречь» means to guard/watch over closely. «неусыпно / неусыпность» (lit. 'sleeplessly / sleeplessness') is the bookish word for unflagging vigilance. The repetition underlines how, for all the unsleeping watch, she still escaped.

Как она в ее положении перелезла через высокий и крепкий забор сада, осталось некоторого рода загадкой.  
How, in her condition, she clambered over the high, stout fence of the garden remained something of a riddle.
> Embedded question as subject + instrumental predicate: The whole «как … перелезла» clause ('how she clambered over') serves as the grammatical subject of «осталось … загадкой». «загадкой» is the instrumental predicate after «осталось» ('remained a riddle') — the standard instrumental with остаться.

Одни уверяли, что ее «перенесли», другие, что ее «перенесло».  
Some maintained that she had been "carried over," others that she had been "carried away."
> Personal vs impersonal: «перенесли» / «перенесло»: The contrast is the whole point: «перенесли» (they-plural, personal) = 'someone carried her over'; «перенесло» (neuter impersonal, no subject) = 'something/some force carried her over', a miraculous or anonymous agency. Russian's subjectless neuter verb does delicate theological work here.

Вероятнее всего, что всё произошло хоть и весьма мудреным, но натуральным образом, и Лизавета, умевшая лазить по плетням в чужие огороды, чтобы в них ночевать, забралась как-нибудь и на забор Федора Павловича, а с него, хоть и со вредом себе, соскочила в сад, несмотря на свое положение.  
Most likely it all came about in a manner that was, though very intricate, still natural: Lizaveta, who knew how to climb over wattle fences into other people's gardens to sleep there, somehow got up onto Fyodor Pavlovitch's fence as well and, despite her condition, dropped down from it into the garden, even at some hurt to herself.
> Past active participle «умевшая»: «умевшая» is a past active participle ('who knew how'), feminine, modifying Lizaveta and replacing a «которая»-clause. «лазить» is the multidirectional motion verb (habitual climbing about), and «по плетням» is по + dative for 'over [various] fences'.
> Perfective sequence + reflexive «свой»: The perfectives «забралась» ('got herself up') and «соскочила» ('jumped down') trace the two completed steps of her feat. «свое положение» uses reflexive «свой» for 'her [own] condition' — i.e. her pregnancy, against which she still managed it.

Григорий бросился к Марфе Игнатьевне и послал ее к Лизавете помогать, а сам сбегал за старухой повитухой, мещанкой, кстати недалеко жившею.  
Grigory rushed to Marfa Ignatyevna and sent her to help Lizaveta, while he himself ran for an old midwife, a townswoman who happened to live nearby.
> Reflexive «бросился» + round-trip «сбегал»: «бросился» (reflexive perfective) is 'flung himself, rushed'. «сбегал» is the prefixed perfective of the multidirectional «бегать» — a completed there-and-back errand ('ran and fetched'), distinct from one-way «побежал». Three perfectives stack Grigory's swift actions.

Ребеночка спасли, а Лизавета к рассвету померла.  
The infant was saved, but Lizaveta died toward dawn.
> Contrastive «а» across life and death: The mild contrastive «а» hinges the two outcomes — the child saved, the mother dead — without strong opposition, simply turning from one to the other. «спасли» is impersonal (they saved); «померла» the folk perfective. The terse parallelism heightens the pathos.
> Diminutive «ребёночек»: «ребёночка» (acc. of «ребёночек») is the tender diminutive of «ребёнок» — 'the little babe'. The affectionate suffix invests the newborn with warmth at the very moment its mother dies.

Григорий взял младенца, принес в дом, посадил жену и положил его к ней на колени, к самой ее груди: «Божье дитя-сирота — всем родня, а нам с тобой подавно.  
Grigory took the babe, carried it into the house, sat his wife down, and laid it on her knees, at her very breast: “God's child, an orphan — kin to everyone, and to you and me all the more.
> Four perfectives of tender action: Grigory's gestures come as a sequence of perfectives — «взял, принёс, посадил, положил» ('took, carried in, sat down, laid') — each a single completed act, building the slow ritual of placing the orphan at Marfa's breast.
> «дитя», «сирота», «родня»: «дитя» is the elevated/old word for 'child' (neuter); «сирота» an orphan (common-gender); «родня» kin/kinfolk. Grigory's solemn phrasing — 'God's child, an orphan, kin to everyone' — lifts his speech toward the biblical.
> Dative «нам с тобой» + «подавно»: «нам с тобой» ('to you and me') is the Russian idiom for 'we two', literally 'to us with you' in the dative. «подавно» means 'all the more so'. The dative marks those to whom the child is kin — and to Grigory and his wife most of all.

Этого покойничек наш прислал, а произошел сей от бесова сына и от праведницы.  
This one our little dead boy has sent us, and he is sprung from the devil's son and a righteous woman.
> Archaic «сей» + biblical «произошёл от»: «сей» ('this') is the bookish/archaic demonstrative, here pronominal ('this one'). «произошёл от» ('was descended/sprang from') echoes Scriptural genealogy. The elevated «сей» marks Grigory's speech as deliberately solemn, almost liturgical.
> «бесов сын» and «праведница»: «бесов сын» ('son of the devil', with the archaic possessive adjective «бесов» from «бес») brands the father; «праведница» is a righteous/holy woman, the female «праведник». Grigory frames the child's origin as a union of devil's spawn and saint — the novel's moral paradox in one line.
> Diminutive «покойничек»: «покойничек» is the tender diminutive of «покойник» ('the deceased') — 'our little dead one', meaning Grigory and Marfa's own dead infant. The affectionate suffix turns the dead child into a quasi-saintly sender of the foundling.

Питай и впредь не плачь».  
Nurse him, and weep no more.”
> Imperatives «питай» / «не плачь»: Two singular imperatives close Grigory's speech: «питай» ('nurse, feed', from питать) and the negated «не плачь» ('weep no more', from плакать). A negated imperative typically takes the imperfective, as «не плачь» does — a gentle, ongoing 'stop weeping'.

Так Марфа Игнатьевна и воспитала ребеночка.  
And so Marfa Ignatyevna raised the child.
> Resumptive «так … и»: «так … и» ('and so, just so') is a resumptive frame closing the episode: 'and so Marfa Ignatyevna did raise the child'. The «и» before the perfective «воспитала» affirms that the thing came to pass exactly as set up.

Окрестили и назвали Павлом, а по отчеству все его и сами, без указу, стали звать Федоровичем.  
He was christened and named Pavel, and as for his patronymic, everyone, of their own accord and without any order, took to calling him Fyodorovitch.
> Instrumental of naming «Павлом», «Федоровичем»: After «назвать» and «звать» ('to name, to call') the name stands in the instrumental — «Павлом», «Федоровичем». «Окрестили / назвали / стали звать» are impersonal plurals ('they christened and named').

Федор Павлович не противоречил ничему и даже нашел всё это забавным, хотя изо всех сил продолжал от всего отрекаться.  
Fyodor Pavlovitch raised no objection to any of it and even found the whole thing amusing, though he kept on denying everything with all his might.
> «продолжал» + imperfective + reflexive «отрекаться»: «продолжал … отрекаться» — the phase verb «продолжать» ('to continue') governs the imperfective infinitive. «отрекаться» is a reflexive (-ся) verb ('to renounce, deny'); «от всего» (от + genitive) is 'from everything'. He kept on disowning it all.

В городе понравилось, что он взял подкидыша.  
The town was pleased that he had taken in the foundling.
> Impersonal «понравилось» + «что»-clause: «понравилось» here is impersonal/neuter ('it pleased [people], it went down well') with no nominative subject, the cause given by the «что»-clause. The locative «в городе» stands for the collective experiencer — the town as a whole was pleased.
> «подкидыш» — a foundling: «подкидыш» (from подкинуть, 'to throw/place under') is an abandoned child left for others to find and rear. The word frames Smerdyakov from birth as an unwanted thing taken in — a status that shadows him through the novel.

Впоследствии Федор Павлович сочинил подкидышу и фамилию: назвал он его Смердяковым, по прозвищу матери его, Лизаветы Смердящей.  
Afterward Fyodor Pavlovitch invented a surname for the foundling as well: he called him Smerdyakov, after his mother's nickname, Lizaveta the Reeking.
> Instrumental surname «Смердяковым» + «по» + dative: «назвал … Смердяковым» again puts the conferred name in the instrumental after «назвать». «по прозвищу матери» uses «по» + dative ('after, in accordance with the mother's nickname') — the source of the new surname.
> «Смердящая» — 'the reeking': «смердящая» is a present active participle from «смердеть» ('to stink, reek'), here a fixed nickname — Lizaveta 'the Reeking'. The invented surname «Смердяков» is built straight from it, so the son carries his mother's odor of degradation in his very name — Dostoevsky's bitter onomastic stamp on Smerdyakov.

Вот этот-то Смердяков и вышел вторым слугой Федора Павловича и проживал, к началу нашей истории, во флигеле вместе со стариком Григорием и старухой Марфой.  
It was this very Smerdyakov who turned out to be Fyodor Pavlovitch's second servant and who, at the beginning of our story, was living in the lodge together with old Grigory and old Marfa.
> The emphatic clitic «-то»: The hyphenated «-то» tacked onto the demonstrative «этот» picks out a known topic with a touch of insistence: 'this very Smerdyakov, the one we've been talking about'. Distinguish it from the indefinite «-то» of «кто-то» (somebody) — here it merely underscores a referent already in play.
> Emphatic «и» after the subject: This «и» is not 'and' but an emphatic particle meaning 'precisely, indeed' — it leans on the fronted topic «Вот этот-то Смердяков» to say 'it was this very Smerdyakov who turned out…'. Russian's free word order lets the new, weighted information sit where the focus falls.
> Instrumental of the predicate with «выйти»: «Выйти» here is idiomatic — 'to turn out / end up as' — and the role one ends up in takes the instrumental: «вторым слугой» (second servant). The instrumental frames the role as something assumed or arrived at, exactly as it does after «стать» and «быть» in the past.
> Imperfective past for a standing state: Against the perfective «вышел» (a single completed turn of events), «проживал» is imperfective past, painting the durative background — he 'was living / went on living' in the lodge. This pairing of one perfective event against an imperfective state is the basic rhythm of Russian narration.
> Instrumental of accompaniment after «с»: The preposition «с» ('with', together with) governs the instrumental, here threaded through a whole list: «стариком», «старухой», and the names «Григорием», «Марфой» all carry instrumental endings in agreement. Note «со» — the vowel is added before the consonant cluster «ст-» for ease of pronunciation.

Употреблялся же в поварах.  
He was employed as a cook.
> Reflexive «-ся» as a passive: «Употреблялся» is the imperfective verb «употреблять» (to use, employ) plus the clitic «-ся», yielding a passive: 'he was employed / used'. The imperfective «-ся» passive describes an ongoing or habitual being-acted-upon, here his standing duty as cook.
> The modal particle «же»: This unstressed «же» does not translate as a single word; it lightly resumes and contrasts — 'as for his employment, it was as a cook' — linking the terse clause back to what precedes. Such particles carry in Russian the shading English leaves to intonation.
> «в» + prepositional plural for a role: The construction «в поварах» (literally 'among cooks') uses «в» plus the prepositional plural to mean 'as / in the capacity of a cook' — a fixed colloquial pattern for holding a post (compare «служить в солдатах»). It locates a person inside an occupation rather than naming the role outright.

Очень бы надо примолвить кое-что и о нем специально, но мне совестно столь долго отвлекать внимание моего читателя на столь обыкновенных лакеев, а потому и перехожу к моему рассказу, уповая, что о Смердякове как-нибудь сойдет само собою в дальнейшем течении повести.  
It would be well worth saying a word or two about him in particular, but I am ashamed to divert my reader's attention for so long onto such commonplace lackeys, and so I pass on to my narrative, trusting that the matter of Smerdyakov will somehow come up of itself in the further course of my tale.
> The particle «бы» softening a necessity: «Бы» joined to the impersonal «надо» turns a flat 'one must' into the tentative, irrealis 'it would be well to' — the narrator's polite hedge. The particle is mobile, leaning here on the first stressed word «очень» rather than on the verb.
> «примолвить» — to add a word: A bookish, slightly archaic verb built on «молвить» (to utter, say — itself elevated), with the prefix «при-» giving 'to add a word, to put in a remark besides'. The narrator's choice colours his aside as old-fashioned and confiding.
> Dative-experiencer impersonal «мне совестно»: There is no nominative subject: the person who feels stands in the dative («мне»), and the state is named by the invariable predicative «совестно» ('it is shameful [to me]'). This dative-experiencer frame — 'I am ashamed' rendered as 'to me it is shaming' — is everywhere in Dostoevsky's inner life.
> Genitive of possession in «внимание читателя»: «Внимание читателя» is 'the reader's attention' — the possessor «читателя» takes the genitive, with «моего» agreeing in the genitive masculine. The accusative «внимание» is the object of «отвлекать», and the whole sits under «бы… надо» as an infinitive.
> Prefixed motion verb «переходить»: «Перехожу» is the present of «переходить» (to cross over, move on to), a prefixed motion verb where «пере-» gives 'across, over to'. Used figuratively here — 'I pass on to my narrative' — it shows how a directional prefix yields an ordinary imperfective with abstract reach.
> The gerund «уповая» — 'trusting': «Уповая» is an imperfective present деепричастие (adverbial participle) from the lofty verb «уповать» (to trust, set one's hope in), expressing an action attendant on the main verb: 'I pass on… trusting that…'. It shares the narrator's 'I' as subject and lends the sentence its elevated, sermon-like cadence.
> Perfective future «сойдёт»: «Сойдёт» is the simple (perfective) future of «сойти» — a perfective verb conjugated with present-tense endings to name a single completed future outcome: the matter 'will somehow come up of itself'. «Само собою» ('by itself') and «как-нибудь» ('somehow, anyhow') reinforce the offhand, leave-it-to-chance tone.
> «лакей» — lackey, manservant: «Лакей» (genitive plural «лакеев» after «обыкновенных») is a liveried male servant, a footman — here mildly dismissive, 'such commonplace lackeys'. A French loan (laquais) that by Dostoevsky's day also carried, as in English, a sneer of servility.
> «повесть» and bookish «течение»: «Повесть» is a 'tale' or short novel — the narrator's modest word for his own work — and «в дальнейшем течении» ('in the further course / flow') is an elevated metaphor of narrative as a current. The phrase, all in the prepositional after «в», is part of the self-consciously literary voice of these asides.
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Source text: public domain (Fyodor Dostoevsky, d. 1881; Russian from the Nauka academic edition via ru.wikisource). English translation: original, © 1732 Studios (2026); rendered freshly from the public-domain Russian, not derived from any prior English translation. Sentence-aligned by 1732 Studios.