Russian · Book III — The Sensualists

VIII. За коньячком

Over the Brandy

255 sentences · 442 notes

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1
The argument was over, but, strange to say, Fyodor Pavlovitch, who had grown so merry, suddenly scowled toward the end.
Спорargumentспор · noun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of кончился
кончилсяwas overкончиться · verb, past, indicative, middle, singular, perfectivemain verb of the sentence
ноbutно · conjunctionlinks the coordination
странноеstrangeстранный · adjective, nominative, neuter, singularmodifies дело
делоthingдело · noun, nominative, neuter, singularparenthetical expression
'странное дело' is a set parenthetical meaning 'strange to say'.
стольsoстоль · adverbmodifies развеселившийся
развеселившийсяwho had grown merryразвеселиться · verb, past, active, participle, masculine, singular, nominative, perfectiveclause modifying Федор
ФедорFyodorфёдор · proper noun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of нахмурился
ПавловичPavlovitchпавлович · proper noun, nominative, masculine, singularin apposition to Федор
подtowardпод · prepositionpreposition marking конец
конецthe endконец · noun, accusative, masculine, singularoblique complement of нахмурился
вдругsuddenlyвдруг · adverbmodifies нахмурился
нахмурилсяscowledнахмуриться · verb, past, indicative, middle, singular, perfectivecoordinated with кончился
Word«странное дело» — strange to say A frozen parenthetical, literally "a strange thing", used like English "strangely" or "oddly enough" to flag what follows as surprising. It floats outside the clause's grammar as an aside in the narrator's voice.
GrammarA past active participle as epithet «развеселившийся» is a reflexive past active participle ("who had grown so merry") from «развеселиться», packed in front of the name «Фёдор Павлович» as a compact modifier. It folds a whole «который»-clause — "who had cheered up so" — into one bookish adjective, with «столь» (the elevated form of «так») heightening the literary register.
GrammarPerfective «нахмурился»: a sudden single event The perfective past «нахмурился» ("scowled / knitted his brow") names one completed act, reinforced by «вдруг» ("suddenly") — against the imperfective background of the preceding merriment. Dostoevsky's narration constantly snaps the story forward with such perfectives.
2
He scowled and tossed back a brandy, and this was already one glass too many.
Word«хлопнуть» — to knock back a drink Colloquial «хлопнуть» (literally "to slap / smack") is slangy for tossing back a shot. Note the partitive genitive «коньячку» — "some brandy" — using the special masculine partitive in -у that 19th-century texts favour for a portion of an uncountable.
GrammarPartitive genitive with a diminutive «коньячку» is the partitive genitive of the diminutive «коньячок» — "a drop of brandy" — marking a portion taken from the mass. The genitive-partitive plus the cozy diminutive together give the line its offhand, indulgent tone.
Word«рюмка» and «лишний» A «рюмка» is a small stemmed glass for spirits. «лишняя» here means "superfluous, one too many" — "this was already a quite unnecessary glass", the narrator dryly noting Fyodor Pavlovitch has overdone it.
3
"Off with you, you Jesuits, get out," he shouted at the servants.
GrammarReflexive imperative «убирайтесь» «убирайтесь» is the plural/polite imperative of the reflexive verb «убираться» ("to clear off, get out"), reinforced by «вон» ("out!"). The redundant pronoun «вы» here is not politeness but contemptuous emphasis — "off with you lot".
Grammar«крикнуть на» + accusative — to shout at «крикнуть на кого-то» governs the accusative «на слуг» and means specifically "to shout AT (in reproach)", not merely to call out. «слуг» is the animate accusative plural (borrowing the genitive form) of «слуга».
4
"Go on, Smerdyakov.
Grammar«Пошёл!» — a past form as brusque command Literally "[you] went" (perfective past), «Пошёл!» is used idiomatically as a curt, even rude imperative: "Off with you! Get going!" This past-for-command pattern is colloquial and dismissive, fitting Fyodor Pavlovitch's tone toward the servant.
5
I'll send the gold piece I promised today, but you, off you go.
GrammarPast passive participle «обещанный» «обещанный» ("promised") is a past passive participle from perfective «обещать», used attributively before «червонец»: "the promised gold piece". It compresses "the gold piece [that] I promised" into a single agreeing adjective.
GrammarPerfective future «пришлю» «пришлю» — "I'll send" — is the simple perfective future of «прислать», a single conjugated form with no auxiliary. The present-style endings on a perfective stem deliver a completed future action, contrasting with the dismissive «а ты пошёл» that follows.
6
Don't cry, Grigory, go to Marfa, she'll comfort you and put you to bed.
GrammarNegated imperfective imperative «не плачь» «Не плачь» ("don't cry") shows the rule that a prohibition normally uses the imperfective imperative — here from «плакать». A perfective imperative under «не» would instead warn against an accidental single act; the imperfective simply forbids the activity.
Grammar«ступай» — archaic-flavoured "go" «ступай» is the imperative of «ступать» ("to step"), an old, folksy way of saying "go, off with you". It carries a slightly patriarchal, fairy-tale colouring, softening the command to the weeping old servant Grigory.
GrammarPerfective futures of comfort «утешит» ("will comfort") and «уложит» — in «спать уложит», "will put to bed" — are both perfective simple futures, picturing two single completed acts of care. The asyndetic pairing (no "and") gives the reassurance a brisk, soothing rhythm.
7
"The scoundrels won't let a man sit in peace after dinner," he snapped all at once in vexation, the moment the servants withdrew at his command.
Word«каналья» — scoundrel, rascal A borrowing (ultimately from Italian/French canaille, "rabble"), «каналья» is an expressive 19th-century term of abuse, "rascal, scoundrel". Half-affectionate, half-contemptuous, it is exactly the kind of theatrical insult Fyodor Pavlovitch relishes.
GrammarSubjectless «не дают» + infinitive «Не дают… посидеть» is an impersonal third-person-plural construction ("they won't let one sit") with an unnamed "they" — a common Russian way to state a general grievance without a subject. The perfective «посидеть» means "to sit a while", a brief bounded rest.
GrammarReflexive «удалились» and inverted order «удалились» is the reflexive perfective of «удалиться» ("to withdraw"), the -ся giving an intransitive "took themselves off". Verb-before-subject order («удалились слуги») throws the new information — that the servants left — into focus at the clause's end.
8
"Smerdyakov keeps pushing his way in here at dinner now, every single time — it's you he finds so fascinating; how have you so won him over?" he added, turning to Ivan Fyodorovitch.
Word«лезть» — to push / barge in «лезть» literally means "to climb", but colloquially "to push one's way in, to intrude". «сюда лезет» ("keeps barging in here") conveys Fyodor Pavlovitch's irritation at the servant Smerdyakov hovering at dinner.
GrammarShort adjective «любопытен» + dative «любопытен» is the short (predicative) masculine form of «любопытный», here meaning "interesting / fascinating TO someone", with that someone in the dative «ему». So «ты ему любопытен» = "you are interesting to him" — the bookish short form fits the elevated «столь».
Word«заласкать» — to win over with fondness From «ласкать» ("to caress, fondle") with the prefix за-: "how did you so charm / fawn him into liking you?" The verb hints at something almost seductive in Ivan's hold over the lackey, used here with sneering insinuation.
GrammarDative of the addressee «Ивану Фёдоровичу» is in the dative — "he added TO Ivan Fyodorovich" — marking the person spoken to. Note the name-plus-patronymic form, the respectful neutral mode of address that the narrator uses for the educated Ivan even amid the father's mockery.
9
"Not in the least," the other replied. "He's taken it into his head to respect me; he's a lackey and a boor.
Grammar«тот» as "the other one" Here the demonstrative «тот» ("that one") tracks the second speaker — "replied the other" — without naming Ivan again. This use of «тот» to point to the more distant of two referents is a key device that lets Russian dialogue stay terse.
Word«вздумать» — to take it into one's head «вздумать» + infinitive means to take some notion into one's head, often whimsically or absurdly: "he's taken it into his head to respect me". The word frames Smerdyakov's regard for Ivan as an unaccountable caprice. Fyodor Pavlovitch later quotes it back in scare-quotes (s19).
Word«лакей» and «хам» «лакей» is a footman/menial servant, but as a slur it means a servile, fawning soul. «хам» — from the biblical Ham, Noah's disrespectful son — means a boorish, insolent lout. Together they pin Smerdyakov's social and moral type in two words.
10
Advance cannon-fodder, though, when the time comes.
Word«передовое мясо» — cannon-fodder of the vanguard Literally "advance / forward meat". «передовой» means "foremost, advanced, progressive"; «мясо» ("meat") here is grim slang for human material to be expended — "advance cannon-fodder". Ivan brands Smerdyakov as the first, disposable wave of a coming social type.
GrammarPerfective future in a «когда»-clause «наступит» is the perfective future of «наступить» ("to come, to set in") of a moment in time. After «когда» ("when") Russian uses the future here where English allows the present ("when the time comes") — the future tense marks the still-pending arrival.
11
"Advance?"
12
"There will be others, and better ones, but there will be these as well.
GrammarExistential «будут» — "there will be" «Будут» is the imperfective future of «быть», used existentially: "there will be others". With no overt subject pronoun, the verb fronts the clause and posits the existence of future people; the repeated «но будут и такие» insists "these too will exist".
Grammar«получше» — the softened comparative «получше» is the comparative «лучше» ("better") with the prefix по-, which mellows it to "a bit better / somewhat better". The suppletive comparative «лучше» comes from «хороший», and the colloquial по- prefix is everywhere in this chatty, vernacular speech.
13
First there will be this kind, and after them the better ones."
GrammarContrastive «а» sequencing The conjunction «а» here is not "but" but the mild contrastive "and then / whereas", chaining "first these, and after them the better ones". This topic-shifting «а» is the untranslatable hinge of Russian narration, marking succession rather than opposition.
14
"And when will the time come?"
GrammarOpening «А» in a question Beginning a question with «А» ("And…?") is a conversational pickup, tying the new question to what was just said: "And when will the time come?" It keeps the dialogue's thread without adding real "and"-meaning.
15
"The rocket will go up, but it may not burn all the way through.
GrammarTwo perfective futures, и one negated «Загорится» ("will catch fire / go up") and «не догорит» ("will not burn through to the end") are perfective futures from the prefixed pair за-/до-горе́ть. The prefix до- means "to complete to the end", so «не догорит» = "won't finish burning" — the image of a rocket that fizzles out.
Word«да и» — "and then / but then" «да и» is a colloquial connective adding a next or contrasting beat — here "but then it may not burn all the way". The folksy «да» (in place of «и» or «но») suits Ivan's deliberately offhand, riddling tone.
16
For now the common folk aren't very fond of listening to these broth-makers."
Word«бульонщик» — "broth-maker" A coinage with the agentive suffix -щик on «бульон» ("bouillon, broth"), "broth-makers". The genitive plural «бульонщиков» is contemptuous slang for shallow purveyors of fashionable ideas — Ivan's dismissive label for the half-baked progressives like Smerdyakov.
GrammarThe emphatic clitic «-то» In «не очень-то», the hyphenated clitic «-то» leans on «очень» to add a knowing, qualifying emphasis — "not all THAT fond, mind you". This is the topic-emphasising «-то», distinct from the indefinite «-то» of «кто-то», and it colours the line with the speaker's wry attitude.
17
"You know, brother, a Balaam's ass like that one thinks and thinks, and the devil knows what he may think himself round to in there."
GrammarReduplication + perfective «додумается» The repeated imperfective «думает, думает» depicts drawn-out, ongoing pondering; then «да и… додумается» (perfective future of «додуматься», "to think one's way to a conclusion") snaps to the eventual result. The prefix до- again signals reaching an end-point — "thinks and thinks, and then arrives God-knows-where in his head".
Word«То-то» as a knowing exclamation «То-то» is an emphatic conversational opener meaning roughly "that's just it / you see", marking insight or a told-you-so. Paired with the familiar address «брат» ("brother", used loosely to any male companion), it sets the cozy, confiding tone of the father's aside to Ivan.
18
"He'll store up his thoughts," Ivan said with a smirk.
GrammarGenitive object after «накопить» «накопит» (perfective future, "will accumulate / store up") takes a partitive genitive object «мыслей» — "will store up [a quantity of] thoughts". Verbs of accumulating naturally govern the genitive of an indefinite amount, and fronting «мыслей» throws emphasis onto what he hoards.
Word«усмехнуться» — to smirk A reflexive perfective from «усмехаться», «усмехнулся» denotes a single small, often ironic or sardonic smile — a smirk or wry grin, not open laughter. It is a favourite Dostoevsky verb for the cool, faintly mocking Ivan.
19
"You see, I happen to know that he can't stand me, any more than he can stand anyone else, and you just the same, though it seems to you he's 'taken it into his head to respect you.'
GrammarIdiom «терпеть не может» — can't stand «терпеть не может» (literally "cannot bear to tolerate") is a fixed idiom for "can't stand, detests". Note the negation sits on the modal «может» while the infinitive «терпеть» stays positive — "is unable to endure" — yielding strong dislike.
Word«равно как и» — "just as / as well as" A bookish connective, «равно как и всех» = "as much as everyone else". The slightly formal «равно как» lifts the register a notch above ordinary speech, even inside Fyodor Pavlovitch's rambling confidences.
GrammarConcessive «хотя» + dative «кажется» «хотя» ("although") opens a concessive clause, and «тебе кажется» is an impersonal dative construction — "it seems to you", with the experiencer «тебе» in the dative and no nominative subject. The expletive «и» after «хотя» merely intensifies the concession.
20
Alyosha even more so — Alyosha he despises.
GrammarFronted accusative object Both clauses front the accusative «Алёшку» before its verb — "Alyoshka he despises" — a topic-comment inversion that the free word order permits, hammering the object by repetition. The case ending alone keeps it the object even out of position.
WordPejorative-familiar «Алёшка» and «подавно» «Алёшка», with the -ка suffix on Alyosha, is a rough, familiar (even slighting) diminutive — the offhand way the father names his youngest son. «подавно» means "all the more, even more so": Smerdyakov despises Alyosha "even more so" than the others.
21
But he won't steal, there's that, he's no gossip, he holds his tongue, he won't carry the household's dirty linen abroad, he bakes a splendid fish-pie, and besides all that, the devil take him, truth be told — so is he even worth talking about?"
GrammarSentence-initial affirming «Да» Here «Да» is not "yes" but a conceding/affirming particle launching the clause — "But he won't steal, mind". The perfective future «не украдёт» states a confident prediction about his character, and the trailing «вот что» ("there's that") underscores the point.
WordIdiom «не выносить сор из избы» A play on the proverb «не выносить сор из избы» — literally "not to carry the litter out of the hut", i.e. not to air a household's dirty secrets to outsiders. «сору» is the partitive genitive of «сор» ("rubbish, litter"). The whole says Smerdyakov keeps the family's shameful affairs to himself.
Word«по правде» with emphatic «-то» «по правде» means "truly, to tell the truth"; the appended clitic «-то» ("по правде-то") gives it a confiding, qualifying stress — "truth be told, really now". Like «не очень-то» in s16, this is the topic-emphasising «-то» of colloquial speech.
22
"Of course he isn't."
GrammarImpersonal «не стоит» — it's not worth it «стоит» here is the impersonal "it is worth / one should" (от «стоить»), negated to "it's not worth it". With no subject and an understood infinitive ("talking about him"), it is a textbook subjectless evaluative construction, echoing the father's «стоит ли об нём говорить» just before.
23
"And as for whatever he may dream up in there to himself — the Russian peasant, generally speaking, ought to be flogged.
Grammar«что до… то» — as for X, then Y The frame «что до + genitive… то…» means "as for…, then…", here "as for whatever he dreams up in there, [then] the peasant ought to be flogged". The correlative «то» picks up the topic introduced by «что до», a bookish but common dialogue formula.
GrammarImpersonal «надо» + accusative + infinitive «надо пороть» is the impersonal "one must flog", with the patient «русского мужика» in the animate accusative — there is no nominative subject, only the necessity «надо» and the infinitive. The dative experiencer ("to whom it is necessary") is left unstated, generalising the brutal prescription.
24
I've always maintained it.
GrammarImperfective past for a settled habit «утверждал» (imperfective past of «утверждать», "to assert") with «всегда» reports a repeated, habitual stance — "I always maintained it", a position held over time. An imperfective past is the natural choice for an ongoing or recurrent past truth.
25
Our peasant is a swindler, he isn't worth pitying, and it's a good thing they still thrash him now and then even now.
GrammarZero-copula equative sentence «Мужик наш мошенник» has no verb "to be": in the present, Russian simply juxtaposes subject and predicate noun, both nominative — "our peasant [is] a rogue". The possessive «наш» follows its noun, a slightly emphatic, folksy word order.
GrammarGenitive/accusative object + «не стоит» «его… не стоit» — "it's not worth pitying him" — pairs the impersonal evaluative «не стоит» with the infinitive «жалеть» and its object «его». Again no subject: the whole clause judges an action, not an actor.
Word«драть» — to thrash «драть» (here «дерут», 3rd pl. present) is a coarse, expressive verb for flogging or thrashing, more visceral than the neutral «пороть». The unnamed "they" subject and the present tense make the beating an ongoing, matter-of-fact reality "even now".
26
The Russian land is held strong by the birch.
GrammarShort adjective + instrumental of means «крепка» is the short feminine predicative form of «крепкий» ("strong, firm"), agreeing with «земля»; «берёзой» is the instrumental "by means of the birch". So "the Russian land is held firm BY the birch" — the instrumental naming the instrument, here the birch-rod of flogging.
27
Lay waste the forests and the Russian land will perish.
GrammarConditional by juxtaposition Two perfective futures set side by side — «истребят» ("[they] will destroy") and «пропадёт» ("will perish") — form an implicit conditional: "[if] they lay waste the forests, the land will perish". The aphoristic dash replaces "if/then", a terse proverbial structure.
GrammarPostposed adjective «русская» Placing the adjective after its noun («земля русская», not «русская земля») gives a solemn, almost liturgical or epic colouring — "the Russian land" as a hallowed phrase. This inverted, weighty order is a marker of elevated 19th-century style.
28
I stand up for clever men.
Grammar«стоять за» + accusative — to stand up for «стоять за кого-то» governs the accusative and means "to stand up for, side with". «за умных людей» = "for clever people" (animate accusative plural). The dropped subject pronoun is recovered from the 1st-singular ending «-ю» of «стою».
29
We've stopped thrashing the peasants out of our great cleverness, while they go on flogging themselves.
GrammarPhasal «перестать» + imperfective infinitive «перестать» ("to stop, cease") obligatorily takes an imperfective infinitive — «драть» — since one ceases an ongoing process, not a completed act. "We've stopped thrashing the peasants": aspect grammar requires the imperfective after verbs of beginning, continuing, and ceasing.
GrammarIntensive «сами» + reflexive «себя» «сами себя» combines the intensifier «сами» ("they themselves") with the reflexive object pronoun «себя» ("themselves"), and «продолжают пороть» continues the imperfective — "they go on flogging their own selves". The bitter irony is built into the reflexive: the freed peasants now do the lash's work to themselves.
WordIronic «с большого ума» Literally "out of [our] great wits", «с большого ума» is bitterly ironic — "in our great wisdom", meaning the opposite, a foolish over-cleverness. The preposition «с» + genitive here gives cause/source: the abolition of flogging done "out of" supposed enlightenment.
30
And they do well.
GrammarSubjectless «хорошо делают» "And [they] do well" — the 3rd-plural verb «делают» carries an unexpressed "they" (the peasants of the line before), needing no pronoun. The adverb «хорошо» ("well, rightly") delivers Fyodor Pavlovitch's mock approval in two words.
31
With the measure you mete, it shall be meted to you again — or however it goes…
WordChurch-Slavonic «возмериться» «возмерится» ("it shall be measured back") uses the Slavonic prefix воз- and the reflexive/passive -ся, an archaic, liturgical-sounding verb form not in everyday use. The whole maxim wears its biblical register openly — solemn diction in the mouth of a scoffer.
32
In a word, it shall be meted back.
Word«одним словом» — in a word A fixed adverbial in the instrumental, «одним словом» = "in a word, in short". The instrumental of «одно слово» here means "by one word", a frozen connective wrapping up the muddled paraphrase he could not finish.
33
And Russia is filth.
Word«свинство» — piggishness, filth From «свинья» ("pig") plus the abstract suffix -ство, «свинство» means "swinishness, beastly behaviour, a disgrace". "And Russia [is] swinishness" — a zero-copula equation that abruptly damns the whole country, soon echoed in his French cochonnerie (s35).
34
My friend, if only you knew how I hate Russia… that is, not Russia, but all these vices… well, and Russia too, maybe.
GrammarCounterfactual «если бы» + past form «если бы ты знал» is the irrealis conditional — «если бы» plus the past-tense form «знал» — "if only you knew". The particle «бы» turns the past form hypothetical; the unstated apodosis ("you'd be horrified") is left to the listener, a common emotional ellipsis.
Word«пожалуй» — "perhaps, I dare say" «пожалуй» is a hedging particle, "maybe, I suppose, perhaps after all". The retraction "not Russia, but these vices… well, «пожалуй что и Россию»" — "and Russia too, I daresay" — captures the wavering self-correction typical of Fyodor Pavlovitch's drunken sincerity.
Word«пороки» — vices «пороки» (plural of «порок») means moral "vices, depravities". Fyodor Pavlovitch distinguishes hating «Россию» from hating «все эти пороки» ("all these vices") — before collapsing the distinction. The word belongs to the elevated moral vocabulary he mockingly invokes.
35
Tout cela c'est de la cochonnerie.
36
Do you know what I love?
GrammarDropped pronouns in rapid speech Both "you" and "I" vanish — «Знаешь» (you know) and «люблю» (I love) are recoverable from their endings alone. The embedded «что люблю» ("what I love") is an indirect question with «что» as its object, a tight colloquial turn.
37
I love wit."
Word«остроумие» — wit Literally "sharp-mindedness" (острый "sharp" + ум "mind"), «остроумие» means "wit, cleverness, a quick sharp turn of mind". It is the prized quality Fyodor Pavlovitch claims to love above virtue or country — and the word he'll apply to the grotesque flogging anecdote.
38
"You've drunk another glass.
GrammarPerfective «выпить» with a whole object «выпили» (perfective past of «выпить», "to drink up") takes the accusative «рюмку» — "you've drunk [a whole] glass". The perfective stresses the completed downing of the entire glass, with «опять» ("again") marking the repetition Alyosha reproaches.
39
That should be enough for you."
GrammarSoftening «бы» + dative «Довольно бы вам» — "that should be enough for you" — pairs the dative «вам» (the one for whom it's enough) with the particle «бы», which softens the bare «довольно вам» into a gentle, deferential suggestion rather than a flat order. A textbook dative-experiencer plus polite irrealis.
40
"Wait, one more and then one more, and then I'll be done.
GrammarImperative «подожди» and perfective «покончу» «Подожди» (perfective imperative, "wait [a moment]") asks for one act of waiting; «покончу» is the perfective future of «покончить» ("I'll finish, be done"). The prefix по- on «кончить» rounds the action off — "and then I'll have done with it".
GrammarElliptical "one more" «ещё одну и ещё одну» drops the noun «рюмку» entirely — the feminine accusative «одну» carries it: "one more [glass] and one more". Such ellipsis, the case ending doing the work alone, gives the line its wheedling, tipsy momentum.
41
No, hold on, you interrupted me.
Grammar«постой» — "hold on" (perfective imperative) From «постоять», «постой» literally is "stand [a bit]", used idiomatically like «подожди» for "wait, hold on". The po- prefix gives it a brief, momentary sense — a quick "hang on" to recover his interrupted thread.
GrammarPerfective «перебить» — a single interruption «перебил» (perfective past of «перебивать/перебить», "to interrupt, cut off") names one completed act — "you cut me off". The prefix пере- carries the sense of breaking across someone's speech; here both pronouns «ты… меня» are kept for emphatic contrast.
42
Passing through Mokroye I asked an old fellow, and he says to me: 'We're mighty fond, says he, above all else, of flogging the girls by a court ruling, and we let the young men do the flogging.
GrammarHistoric present in storytelling Mid-anecdote the tense flips to the present «спрашиваю» ("I ask") and the quote «он мне» ("he [says] to me", verb elided) — the "historic present" that makes a past tale vivid and immediate. «проездом» is the instrumental adverb "in passing, en route".
WordPeasant dialect markers The old man's speech is marked as rustic: «оченно» (dialectal for «очень», "very"), «пуще всего» (folk-archaic for «больше всего», "most of all"), and «девок» (genitive plural of «девка», "wench, girl", coarser than «девушка»). Dostoevsky stages the peasant's voice phonetically.
43
And afterwards the very girl that one of them flogged today, tomorrow the lad takes her for his bride, so that for the girls themselves, says he, it's become a custom with us.'
WordMore peasant idiom: «ноне», «повадно» «ноне» is dialectal for «ныне/сегодня» ("today, nowadays"); «повадно» is a folk predicative meaning "it's become a custom / an easy habit, it's to their liking". The rustic lexis keeps the old man's reported speech in a distinct, earthy register.
GrammarRelative «которую» in the accusative «которую» agrees with its antecedent «эту [девку]» in feminine singular but takes the accusative its own clause demands (object of «порол», "flogged"). The emphatic «же» ("the very [girl]") pins it to the one just flogged — "that very girl whom he flogged today".
44
What do you make of those Marquises de Sade, eh?
GrammarExclamatory «каков» «каков» (here plural «каковы») is the predicative interrogative "what sort of…!", used exclamatorily — "what do you make of those…!". The tag «а?» invites Ivan's agreement. «каков» is bookish and emphatic, more pointed than «какой».
45
But say what you like, it's witty.
WordConcessive «как хочешь» — say what you like «как хочешь» (literally "as you wish") works as a concessive idiom: "whatever you say, say what you like". It concedes the listener's likely objection before pressing on — "но оно остроумно" ("but it's witty all the same").
GrammarNeuter «оно» + short adjective predicate The vague neuter «оно» ("it") refers to the whole situation, and «остроумно» is the short neuter predicative form of «остроумный» — "it [is] witty". Short adjectives in the neuter are the standard way to predicate a quality of an abstract "it".
46
We ought to drive over and take a look, eh?
Grammar«бы» + infinitive — a mooted suggestion «Съездить бы… поглядеть» is the particle «бы» on a bare infinitive, expressing a wished-for or proposed action — "we really ought to drive over and have a look". The dative «нам» names who should do it, and «и» ("too") slyly includes himself and Ivan among the gawkers.
GrammarRound-trip «съездить» + purpose infinitive «съездить» is a prefixed motion verb meaning a there-and-back trip ("to go and come back"), and «поглядеть» (perfective "to take a look") gives the purpose. The pairing — go over, glance, return — fits the idle excursion he proposes.
47
Alyoshka, have you blushed?
GrammarInceptive perfective «покраснеть» «покраснел» (perfective past of «покраснеть», "to turn red") marks the completed onset of a blush — "have you gone red?". The prefix по- on a colour/state verb gives the sense of entering the state; aspect captures the blush as a single visible event.
Word«Алёшка» — the rough diminutive again Fyodor Pavlovitch keeps calling his son «Алёшка», the -ка diminutive carrying a teasing, faintly belittling familiarity, against the tender «детка» in the next breath. The choice of name-form is itself characterisation of his careless paternal affection.
48
Don't be ashamed, little one.
GrammarNegated reflexive imperative «не стыдись» «стыдиться» ("to be ashamed") is a verb that exists only with -ся; its negated imperative «не стыдись» = "don't be ashamed". The imperfective is required under the prohibition, telling Alyosha not to feel shame.
Word«детка» — "little one, dear child" A tender diminutive of «дитя» ("child"), «детка» means "little one, baby, dear". After the rough «Алёшка», it shows the lurching swing between mockery and unexpected fondness that defines the old man's manner with his sons.
49
A pity I didn't stay for dinner at the Father Superior's just now and tell the monks about the Mokroye girls.
GrammarImpersonal «жаль» + regret clause «Жаль» is the impersonal predicative "[it's] a pity", introducing a «что»-clause of regret. The two negated perfective pasts «не сел… не рассказал» ("didn't stay… didn't tell") name the unperformed acts he now wishes he had done — perfective negation of single completed events.
Word«давеча» — "a while ago, just now" «давеча» is a homely, slightly archaic adverb for "earlier today, a little while back". It belongs to colloquial, old-fashioned speech and recurs in this scene (also s50) as Fyodor Pavlovitch refers back to the morning's monastery visit.
50
Alyoshka, don't be cross that I offended your Father Superior earlier.
GrammarNegated imperative + «что»-clause of cause «не сердись» is the negated imperfective imperative of the -ся verb «сердиться» ("to be angry") — "don't be cross" — followed by a «что»-clause giving the reason. Russian commonly uses «что» (rather than «потому что») after emotion verbs to name what one feels about.
Word«разобидеть» — to badly offend «разобидеть» is «обидеть» ("to offend") intensified by the prefix раз-: "to offend deeply, to hurt thoroughly". The expressive prefix conveys that he didn't merely slight but genuinely wounded the Father Superior at the morning's scene.
51
It's anger that takes hold of me, brother.
GrammarAccusative experiencer: «меня зло берёт» An impersonal idiom: «зло» ("anger, spite", here nominative) is the grammatical force and «меня» the accusative experiencer it "takes hold of" — "anger takes hold of me". Fronting «Меня» makes the helpless self the topic, the emotion something that seizes him from without.
52
For if God exists, if He is real — well, then of course I'm to blame and I'll answer for it; but if there's no God at all, then do they even deserve such treatment, those fathers of yours?
Grammar«ведь» and dialectal «коли» The modal particle «ведь» appeals to shared knowledge — "for, after all, you see". «коли» is a folksy, archaic equivalent of «если» ("if"). Together they open Fyodor Pavlovitch's barbed theological gambit in a deliberately homespun key.
GrammarExistential «есть» — God exists «есть» here is not "has" but the emphatic existential present of «быть» — "God IS, exists", glossed by the synonym «существует». Russian usually drops the present copula, so retaining «есть» throws full weight on sheer existence: the hinge of the whole conditional.
GrammarGenitive of negated existence «нет его» ("there is no [Him]") forces the genitive «его» — the existential negator «нет» always governs the genitive of the thing absent. Set against the affirmative «бог есть», the pair «есть» / «нет + genitive» is the core grammatical contrast of the sentence.
Word"Those fathers of yours" with «-то» «отцов» ("fathers") here means the monastic fathers, the monks, with «твоих» ("your") needling Alyosha's allegiance to them. The clitic «-то» adds a pointed, dismissive emphasis — "those fathers of YOURS" — the same topic-stressing «-то» seen throughout the chapter.
53
For then it isn't enough merely to cut off their heads, because they hold back progress.
Grammar«мало» + genitive + infinitive «мало… головы срезать» means "it's too little / not enough to cut off their heads". The impersonal evaluative «мало» governs an infinitive of the action judged insufficient, with no subject — "merely beheading them isn't enough". «с них» ("off them") locates where the heads would come.
Word«развитие» and «задерживать» «развитие» is "development, progress" — a watchword of the era's progressive discourse — and «задерживают» (imperfective, "hold back, retard") presents it as an ongoing obstruction. Fyodor Pavlovitch mockingly ventriloquises radical rhetoric: the monks "hold back progress".
54
Do you believe me, Ivan, that this torments me in my very feelings?
GrammarAppeal-question «веришь ты» + «что» «Веришь ты…?» ("do you believe…?") fronts the verb with the pronoun «ты» for direct appeal, opening a «что»-clause of what is to be believed. The vocative-like address «Иван» (bare first name) sets the intimate, imploring register of the confession that follows.
Grammar«терзать» + accusative «меня» «терзает» (imperfective, "torments, tears at") takes the accusative «меня» — "this torments me" — and «в моих чувствах» (prepositional, "in my feelings") locates the wound within. The imperfective present makes the torment a continuing, present anguish.
55
No, you don't believe it — I can see it in your eyes.
GrammarCausal «потому» (= «потому что») Here «потому» stands for «потому что» ("because") — "no, you don't believe it, because I see [it]". The reduced one-word causal connective, dropping «что», is colloquial and old-fashioned, fitting Fyodor Pavlovitch's loose speech.
Grammar«по» + dative — to read by signs «по твоим глазам» — "by your eyes", i.e. "I can tell from your eyes". The preposition «по» governs the dative «твоим глазам» and here expresses the evidence one judges by; «видеть по» means to read a truth off someone's face.
56
You believe what people say, that I'm nothing but a buffoon.
Grammar«верить» + dative person «верить кому» governs the dative — «людям» ("[you] believe people") — distinct from «верить во что» (to believe IN). So "you believe people [when they say] that I'm only a buffoon": the dative marks whom one trusts.
Word«шут» — the buffoon / fool «шут» is the jester, clown, buffoon — historically the court fool, and a key word for Fyodor Pavlovitch's self-cast role. «всего только» ("nothing but, merely") sharpens the painful question of whether he is ONLY a clown, repeated four times across these closing lines.
57
Alyosha, do you believe I'm not merely a buffoon?"
GrammarNegation scoping «не всего только» The «не» negates the phrase «всего только шут» ("merely a buffoon"), not a verb — "that I'm NOT merely a buffoon". Placing «не» before «всего только» limits the denial precisely to the "merely", the whole sentence pleading to be seen as more than a clown.
Word«Алёша» — the gentler name He now drops the rough «Алёшка» for the plain affectionate «Алёша» — the standard warm short form of Алексей. The shift to the softer diminutive at this pleading, sincere moment quietly marks the change from mockery to need.
58
"I believe you're not merely a buffoon."
GrammarEchoed negation, subject dropped Alyosha answers by echoing the structure — «Верю, что не всего только шут» — with both "I" and "you" omitted, recoverable from context and the «-ю» ending of «Верю». The repeated «не всего только шут» gently affirms exactly what the father begged him to believe.
59
"And I believe that you do believe it and speak sincerely.
GrammarEmbedded «что» under «верить» "And I believe that you believe" — «верю, что веришь» nests one belief inside another via the subordinator «что» (reported fact). The mirrored verbs, both 1st/2nd singular with pronouns dropped, capture the dizzying recursion of sincerity the father is chasing.
WordAdverb «искренно» — sincerely «искренно» (a slightly older variant of «искренне», "sincerely") modifies «говоришь» — "you speak sincerely". The adverb, repeated in the next line, becomes the keynote of the scene's turn toward genuine, if fleeting, candour.
60
You look at me sincerely and you speak sincerely.
GrammarAnaphora and dropped subject Both clauses front the repeated adverb «искренно» ("sincerely") with the subject «ты» omitted — "sincerely you look and sincerely you speak". The parallel, anaphoric word order gives the line a closing, almost tender cadence, the verb endings alone supplying the "you".
61
But Ivan doesn't.
Grammar«а» as a gentle pivot The clause opens with the contrastive «а», which marks a shift of topic rather than sharp opposition — here pivoting from one brother to «Иван». It is the untranslatable hinge of Russian dialogue, weaker than «но».
GrammarElliptical «нет» The verb is dropped entirely: «А Иван нет» = 'But Ivan does not [do so].' Russian freely gaps a verb recoverable from the prior sentence, leaving the bare negator «нет» to carry the whole denial.
62
Ivan is haughty…
GrammarShort-form adjective as predicate «высокомерен» is the short (predicative) form of «высокомерный», 'haughty'. The short form can only predicate, never modify a noun, and lends a bookish, characterising weight — Fyodor pronouncing a verdict on his son's nature.
63
All the same, I'd have done away with that little monastery of yours.
GrammarConditional with «бы» Past-tense «покончил» plus the particle «бы» forms the irrealis: 'I would have done away with.' Here «бы» leans on the early «я», showing its typical mobility toward the first stressed word.
GrammarPejorative diminutive «монастырёк» «монастырёк» (instrumental «монастырьком») shrinks «монастырь» with the suffix -ёк. In Fyodor's mouth it is dismissive — 'that little monastery of yours' — affection's form turned to mockery, a constant emotional signal in the novel.
Word«покончить с» — to finish off «покончить с чем-либо» means to make an end of something, do away with it — a perfective with a note of finality and even violence, fitting Fyodor's fantasy of abolishing the monastery wholesale.
64
Take all this mysticism and abolish it across the whole Russian land at one stroke, so as to bring all the fools to their senses once and for all.
GrammarInfinitive + «бы» as a wish A bare infinitive «взять» with «бы» voices a daydreamed wish — 'if only one could take…' This impersonal irrealis, with no subject at all, captures Fyodor's idle, sweeping fantasy.
GrammarPurpose clause «чтоб» + past/infinitive «чтоб» (colloquial «чтобы») opens a purpose clause, 'so as to.' It demands the irrealis — here an infinitive «обрезонить» — naming a willed, not-yet-real outcome.
Word«обрезонить» — to bring to reason A colloquial, faintly comic verb from «резон» (reason, French raison): to talk sense into someone, bring them to their senses. Its Gallicism suits Fyodor's buffoonish, half-educated bluster.
Word«разом» — at one stroke An adverb meaning 'all at once, in a single go,' from «раз» (one time). It heightens the violence of the fantasy: the whole of Russia's mysticism swept away in one sweep.
65
And the silver, the gold — think how much would flow into the Mint!"
GrammarPartitive genitive of quantity «серебра» and «золота» stand in the genitive after «сколько» ('how much') — the partitive genitive of measured substance: 'how much of silver, of gold.'
GrammarTopic-emphasising clitic «-то» In «серебра-то» the hyphenated «-то» is not the indefinite suffix but the emphatic topic-marker: 'the silver, mind you…' — singling out a known item for stress, a hallmark of lively speech.
GrammarConditional «бы» in an exclamation «поступило» plus «бы» keeps the hypothetical mood: 'how much would flow in.' The irrealis frames the gain as imagined, not actual.
66
"But why abolish it?" said Ivan.
GrammarImperfective infinitive of general action Ivan picks up Fyodor's «упразднить» but uses the imperfective infinitive «упразднять» — questioning the act as a general policy, not a single deed. The opening «Да» here is a softening discourse particle, 'but why…'
67
"So that the truth may shine forth the sooner — that's why."
Grammar«чтоб» + irrealis past for purpose «чтоб … воссияла» (past-form verb) states the willed purpose, 'so that the truth may shine forth.' The construction requires the past form precisely because the outcome is desired, not asserted as fact.
Word«воссиять» — to shine forth An elevated, Church-Slavonic-flavoured verb (prefix вос-, 'up/forth') used of light and glory: the truth 'blazing forth.' Its scriptural ring sits in heavy irony against Fyodor's mercenary fantasy.
68
"But if that truth does shine forth, then you'll be the very first to be robbed, and after that… abolished."
GrammarChained colloquial particles and «коль» The line is studded with speech-particles: «Да» (well), «ведь» (after all, you know — an appeal to shared sense), «коль» (folksy/archaic «если», 'if'), answered by correlative «так» (then). Together they give the utterance its sly, insinuating voice.
GrammarIndefinite-subject «они» plural «ограбят» and «упразднят» are third-plural verbs with no stated subject — the impersonal 'they,' i.e. 'people / someone will rob you.' «же» intensifies «вас первого»: 'you of all people, first of all.'
Word«коль» — folksy 'if' A colloquial, slightly archaic conditional conjunction, shortened from «коли», equivalent to «если». It flavours Fyodor's speech with peasant-tinged homeliness.
69
"Bah!
WordInterjection «Ба!» An exclamation of sudden surprise or recognition — roughly 'Well!' / 'Bah!' / 'Why, look at that!' Here it marks Fyodor's abrupt, delighted realisation.
70
Why, you may well be right.
Grammar«ведь» + «пожалуй» — conceding the point «ведь» appeals to shared understanding ('after all') and «пожалуй» softens to 'perhaps, I dare say.' «прав» is the short-form predicate of «правый», 'right/correct' — the idiomatic «ты прав».
71
Ah, what an ass I am," Fyodor Pavlovitch flared up suddenly, lightly smacking himself on the forehead.
GrammarPerfective gerund «ударив» «ударив» is a perfective past деепричастие, 'having struck / striking,' naming an attendant action sharing the main subject. Such gerund tails are a hallmark of literary narration.
GrammarReflexive «себя» as object «себя» (here accusative) points back to the clause's subject — Fyodor strikes himself. Unlike the verbal clitic -ся, «себя» is a full object pronoun and has no nominative.
Word«ослица» — a she-ass The feminine «ослица» (she-ass) rather than «осёл» is comically self-deprecating from a man; it also carries a faint biblical echo (Balaam's ass). 'What an ass I am.'
Word«вскинуться» — to start up A reflexive verb meaning to jerk or fling oneself up suddenly, to flare up; it conveys Fyodor's abrupt, theatrical animation.
72
"Well then, let your little monastery stand, Alyoshka, if that's how it is.
GrammarThird-person imperative with «пусть» «пусть» plus a present-tense verb forms a third-person command/concession: 'let your little monastery stand.' It is the standard way Russian expresses 'let it be so.'
Word«Алёшка» — familiar form of Aleksei The suffix -ка on a name is familiar and often condescending — coarser than the tender «Алёша». Fyodor calling his son «Алёшка» mixes affection with a careless, paternal swagger.
Word«коли» — 'if, since' Folksy conditional «коли так», 'if that's how it is.' Like «коль» above, it gives the speech a homely, colloquial colour.
73
And we clever men will sit in the warm and enjoy our brandy.
GrammarCompound imperfective future «будем сидеть … пользоваться» is the analytic imperfective future: «будем» (future of «быть») plus imperfective infinitives, naming an ongoing, comfortable state — 'we'll be sitting … enjoying.'
Grammar«пользоваться» governs the instrumental «пользоваться» ('make use of, enjoy') takes its object in the instrumental: «коньячком». The diminutive «коньячок» (from «коньяк») makes the brandy cosy and indulgent — the chapter's titular «за коньячком».
GrammarFolksy connective «да» Here «да» links the two infinitives as a homely 'and,' warmer and more colloquial than «и» — colouring the picture of clever men idling in the warm.
74
Do you know, Ivan, that it must surely have been arranged this way on purpose by God Himself?
GrammarInterrogative particle «ли» «Знаешь ли» fronts the verb and follows it with the enclitic «ли», forming a literary, slightly solemn yes/no question — 'Do you know…' — more formal than a mere rising intonation.
GrammarInstrumental agent of a passive «устроено» is a short passive participle; the agent «самим богом» ('by God Himself') stands in the instrumental — the regular way Russian names the doer of a passive. «самим» is the intensifier «сам», 'Himself.'
GrammarModal «должно быть» + passive «должно быть» ('must be / surely') stacks with the passive participle and adverbs «непременно нарочно» to pile up Fyodor's mock-theological certainty: it 'must surely deliberately have been arranged so.'
75
Ivan, tell me: is there a God or not?
GrammarImperfective imperative «говори» «говори» is the imperative of imperfective «говорить» — a demand to start and keep talking, more insistent and direct than the perfective «скажи». Fyodor is pressing, not requesting a single answer.
Grammar«есть» — existential 'there is' «есть» (the frozen present of «быть») asserts existence: 'is there a God or not.' The bare «нет» supplies the negative pole. This stripped existential frame is the chapter's drumbeat.
76
Wait: tell me for certain, tell me in earnest!
GrammarImperative «стой» «стой», imperative of «стоять» ('stand'), is used idiomatically for 'wait! stop!' — Fyodor halting the exchange to demand a serious answer.
GrammarFronted adverb + repeated imperative Twin commands with the adverb pushed before the verb («наверно говори», «серьёзно говори») give an urgent, drumming rhythm. «наверно» here keeps its older sense 'for certain, for sure,' not the modern 'probably.'
77
What are you laughing at again?"
GrammarColloquial genitive «чего» for «что» «смеяться» governs «над» + instrumental, but colloquially the cause of laughter appears as bare genitive «чего» ('at what / why'). The genitive «чего» here works as a casual 'what are you laughing at / why are you laughing.'
GrammarReflexive-only verb «смеяться» «смеяться» exists only in the -ся form; the clitic is lexicalised, not a true reflexive. The present «смеёшься» ('you laugh') marks ongoing, repeated action.
78
"I'm laughing at the witty remark you yourself made earlier about Smerdyakov's belief in the existence of two elders who can move mountains."
GrammarDative object of «смеяться» via «тому» «смеюсь … тому, как…» uses the correlative «тому» (dative of «тот») to point forward to the «как»-clause: 'I'm laughing at the thing — namely, how you remarked…' Fronting «смеюсь» throws emphasis onto the act of laughing.
GrammarRelative «которые» + aspect «которые» ('who') agrees with «старцев» in number but takes nominative as subject of its own clause. The imperfective infinitive «сдвигать» after «могут» frames a general capacity — elders 'able to move mountains.'
Word«давеча» — 'a little while ago' A colloquial, now archaic adverb meaning 'earlier today, just now / not long since.' It situates the remark in the recent past with a homely, old-fashioned flavour.
79
"What, does it sound like that now?"
GrammarParticle «разве» of incredulous question «разве» opens a question coloured with surprise or doubt — 'what, surely it isn't…?' «похоже» is the impersonal predicate 'it resembles / sounds like [that].' Fyodor half-protests that he hadn't sounded like Smerdyakov.
80
"Very much so."
81
"Well then, that means I too am a Russian man, and I have a Russian streak, and you, a philosopher, can likewise be caught out on your own streak in just the same way.
GrammarRepeated «и … и …» 'both/also' The anaphoric «и … и …» chains parallel claims ('and I too… and I have…'), each «и» an additive 'also/and.' Note the zero-copula present: «я русский человек» needs no verb 'to be.'
GrammarAnimate accusative = genitive «тебя» and the appositive «философа» are accusative objects of «поймать»; «философа» shows the animate-accusative ending (= genitive) that masculine animate nouns take, keeping object distinct from subject.
GrammarImpersonal «можно» + infinitive «можно поймать» is a subjectless modal construction, 'one can catch.' Such impersonals, with the predicate «можно» and a bare infinitive, are pervasive in Russian and need no nominative subject.
82
Shall I catch you out?
GrammarAsyndetic conditional Two finite clauses set side by side with no conjunction: «Хочешь, поймаю» = 'If you like, I'll catch you out.' «поймаю» is a perfective present-form verb with future meaning — 'I will catch [you].'
83
Let's lay a wager that I'll catch you out as soon as tomorrow.
Word«побиться об заклад» — to lay a wager A set idiom, 'to make a bet, lay a wager' (with «заклад», a stake or pledge). The reflexive «побьёмся» is reciprocal — the two of them betting against each other.
GrammarIntensifying «же» «же» fastens onto «завтра» to sharpen it: 'this very tomorrow, as soon as tomorrow.' The particle insists on the immediacy of the boast.
84
But all the same, tell me: is there a God or not?
Grammar«всё-таки» — 'all the same' «всё-таки» concedes yet presses on, 'still, all the same,' and the imperfective imperative «говори» renews the insistent demand. The whole refrain «есть бог или нет» recurs as Fyodor's compulsive question.
85
Only in earnest!
GrammarElliptical adverbial command A verbless exclamation — only the adverb «серьёзно» survives, the imperative 'tell me' understood from context: 'Only in earnest!' Such ellipsis gives the dialogue its breathless, clipped urgency.
86
I need it in earnest now."
GrammarDative-subject impersonal with «надо» «Мне надо» is the classic impersonal: the experiencer «мне» in the dative, the predicate «надо» ('it is necessary'), no nominative subject — 'I need [it] now.' This dative-first frame pervades the characters' inner life.
87
"No, there is no God."
GrammarColloquial «нету» + genitive of negation «нету» is a folksy, emphatic variant of «нет» ('there is not'). As a negated existential it forces the genitive on its subject: «бога» (gen. of «бог») — 'there is no God.'
88
"Alyoshka, is there a God?"
89
"There is a God."
90
"Ivan, and is there immortality, well, some sort of it, even a little one, the tiniest little one?"
GrammarNon-specific «-нибудь» «какое-нибудь» marks a wholly non-specific 'some sort of, any kind at all.' The «-нибудь» series is the 'any-whatever' indefinite, against «-то»'s 'a specific but unknown one.' Fyodor begs for immortality of any description.
WordExpressive diminutive «малюсенький» «малюсенькое» piles diminutive suffixes onto «малый» for an almost pleading tininess — 'teeny-tiny.' The escalation «маленькое, малюсенькое» is pure emotional colour, comic and oddly touching.
GrammarExistential «есть» again «есть» asserts existence — 'is there immortality?' — with the noun «бессмертие» fronted as topic. The recurring «есть … / нет …» pairing structures the whole catechism.
91
"There is no immortality either."
GrammarGenitive of negation + additive «и» «нет» governs the genitive «бессмертия» ('there is no immortality'); the «и» means 'either/too,' tying this denial to the previous 'no God.' The mounting genitives — «бога», «бессмертия», «черта» — are the negative refrain.
92
"None at all?"
GrammarNegative pronoun «никакой» in the genitive «никакого» (gen. of «никакой», 'none at all') continues the genitive-of-negation chain, the verb «нет» understood: 'none whatever?' The «ни-» word is part of Russian's obligatory negative concord.
93
"None at all."
94
"That is, an absolute zero, or something?
GrammarSuperlative suffix «-ейший» «совершеннейший» is the bookish synthetic superlative of «совершенный», formed with «-ейший»: 'a most perfect / absolute zero.' This suffix belongs to elevated, literary style rather than everyday speech.
Word«нуль» vs «нечто» Fyodor weighs «нуль» (a flat 'zero, nothing') against «нечто» (an indefinite 'something, a some-thing') — a near-philosophical hesitation between absolute void and a faint residue of being.
95
Perhaps there's some sort of something?
Grammar«нечто» + «какое-нибудь» indefinite The indefinite pronoun «нечто» ('something') is reinforced by «какое-нибудь» ('some sort of any'), the non-specific series — 'some sort of something or other.' «Может быть» ('perhaps') keeps it tentative.
96
Surely it can't be nothing at all!"
GrammarDouble negation «не ничто» «не ничто» — 'not nothing' — stacks «не» on the negative pronoun «ничто» to assert that there is, after all, something. With «всё же» ('still') and «ведь» ('surely, you know'), Fyodor clutches at a last sliver of being.
97
"An absolute zero."
GrammarLong-form adjective «совершенный» Ivan answers with the plain long form «совершенный» ('complete, absolute'), flatly cancelling Fyodor's hopeful «нечто». The bare nominal phrase, verbless, lands with finality.
98
"Alyoshka, is there immortality?"
99
"There is."
100
"Both God and immortality?"
GrammarCorrelative «и … и …» 'both … and' The paired «и … и …» here means 'both God and immortality,' coordinating two nominatives as a single question. The pattern recurs in Alyosha's answer, knitting the two articles of faith together.
101
"Both God and immortality. Immortality is in God."
GrammarPrepositional «в боге» of location «в боге» is «бог» in the prepositional after «в», here a figurative 'location': immortality resides 'in God.' Alyosha's terse credo turns Fyodor's either/or into an indwelling.
102
"Hm.
103
More likely Ivan is right.
GrammarComparative «вероятнее» as predicate «вероятнее» is the invariable predicative comparative of «вероятный», 'more probable.' The inverted «прав Иван» (predicate before subject) throws weight onto «прав» — 'it's more likely that Ivan is right.'
104
Lord, only think how much faith man has given up, how many forces of every kind squandered for nothing on this dream, and for so many thousands of years already!
GrammarGenitive of quantity «веры» After «сколько» the things measured stand in the genitive: «веры» (of faith), «сил» (of forces). «человек» here is generic 'man/mankind,' subject of «отдал» — 'how much faith man has given up.'
GrammarInfinitive exclamation + correlative «о том» The bare infinitive «подумать» with «только» makes an exclamatory 'only to think…!'; «о том» (prep. of «тот») points ahead to the «сколько»-clause it governs. A characteristic loose, speech-like syntax.
WordVocative «Господи» «Господи» is the surviving Church-Slavonic vocative of «Господь», 'O Lord.' Here it is reduced to a sigh of exclamation — but the sacred address ironically punctuates Fyodor's lament over wasted faith.
Word«даром» — 'for nothing, in vain' An adverb (frozen instrumental of «дар», 'gift') meaning 'for free' and, by extension, 'for nothing, to no purpose, in vain.' Here: forces squandered «даром» on a mere dream.
105
Who is it, then, that mocks mankind so?
Grammar«кто же» + «над» + instrumental «смеяться над» governs the instrumental: «над человеком» ('at man'). «же» after «кто» sharpens the question to 'who on earth…?' and «это» here is an emphatic filler, not a demonstrative.
106
Ivan?
107
For the last time and once and for all: is there a God or not?
Word«решительно» — 'decidedly, once and for all' The adverb «решительно» (from «решить», to decide) means 'decisively, definitively' — Fyodor framing this as the final, settled demand, paired with «в последний раз», 'for the last time.'
108
I ask it for the last time!"
GrammarVerbless emphatic clause The verb is gapped ('I [ask] for the last time'), leaving only «Я» and the adverbial phrase. Such ellipsis, recoverable from the prior line, gives the outburst its clipped insistence.
109
"And for the last time, no."
GrammarEchoing «и» + bare «нет» Ivan answers by echoing Fyodor's phrase with «и» ('and / likewise') and the flat existential «нет» — 'and for the last time, no.' The repetition mirrors and closes the father's demand.
110
"Then who is it that mocks mankind, Ivan?"
GrammarIrregular plural «людьми» «людьми» is the instrumental plural of the suppletive «человек → люди» ('people'), governed by «смеяться над». The noun's wholly irregular plural is one to know on sight.
111
"The devil, must be," Ivan Fyodorovitch said with a smirk.
GrammarModal «должно быть» — 'must be' «должно быть» as a parenthetical means 'probably, must be' — Ivan's wry hedge. Set off by commas, it modalises the whole answer rather than functioning as a verb of the clause.
Word«усмехнуться» — to smirk A semelfactive perfective (suffix -ну-): to give a single, slight, often ironic smile or smirk — distinct from open «засмеяться». It pins Ivan's cool, sardonic detachment in one verb.
112
"And does the devil exist?"
GrammarExistential «есть» with «а» The topic-shifting «а» opens the new question, and «есть» asks after existence — 'and does the devil exist?' The same minimal frame «есть … / нет …» is now turned on the devil.
113
"No, there's no devil either."
GrammarGenitive of negation «черта» «черта» is the genitive of «чёрт» ('devil'), required by the negated existential «нет»: 'there's no devil either.' The additive «и» closes the trio of denials — God, immortality, devil.
114
"A pity.
WordImpersonal «жаль» — 'a pity' «жаль» is an invariable predicative word, 'it is a pity, [I'm] sorry.' Standing alone it makes a complete impersonal sentence; the one who feels it would go in the dative («мне жаль»).
115
Devil take it, what wouldn't I do after that to the man who first invented God!
GrammarConditional «б» + correlative «с тем, кто» «что б … сделал» is the irrealis with «бы» reduced to «б»: 'what I would do.' «с тем, кто…» pairs the demonstrative «тем» (instr. after «с») with the relative «кто» — 'with the one who…'
Word«чёрт возьми» — 'devil take it' A stock oath, literally 'may the devil take [it],' an imperative-flavoured «возьми». Its appearance just after Ivan has denied the devil's existence is a small grim joke.
116
Hanging him on a bitter aspen would be too good for him."
GrammarInfinitive + «мало» — 'not enough to…' «Повесить … мало» is an impersonal idiom: 'to hang him is too little / would not be enough.' The infinitive «повесить» is the logical subject, «мало» the predicate — 'hanging him would be too good for him.'
117
"There'd have been no civilization at all then, if they hadn't invented God."
GrammarCounterfactual conditional with «бы … если бы» A full irrealis: main clause «не было бы» and protasis «если бы не выдумали» both carry «бы» — 'there would have been none, if they hadn't invented.' «цивилизации» is genitive under the negated «не было».
GrammarIndefinite-subject plural «выдумали» «выдумали» is third-plural with no subject — the impersonal 'they,' i.e. 'people / mankind invented.' Russian routinely expresses an unspecified agent this way.
118
"There wouldn't have been?
GrammarEchoed counterfactual Fyodor echoes the apodosis as a question: «не было бы?» — the negated «было» plus «бы», 'there wouldn't have been?' Picking up the irrealis verbatim is a natural conversational uptake.
119
Without God, you mean?"
GrammarEmphatic «-то» on the topic The clitic «-то» attaches to «бога» to underline the just-raised topic — 'without God, you mean / this is the no-God scenario, then?' «без» governs the genitive «бога».
120
"Yes."
121
And there'd have been no brandy either.
GrammarConditional «бы» + genitive of negation The particle «бы» joined to the past «не было» makes the irrealis: 'there would have been no…'. And the absent subject «коньячку» stands in the genitive, as a negated existential always demands — here a partitive genitive in «-у» («коньячку», not «коньяк»), giving the cosy 'a bit of brandy' feel.
122
But the brandy I'll have to take off your hands all the same.
GrammarImpersonal «придётся» + «у» of possession «придётся» ('it will be necessary, one will have to') is an impersonal future with no nominative subject; the obliged person, if named, would go in the dative. The phrase «у вас взять» ('to take from you') uses «у» + genitive, Russian's standard way of marking the person one takes something away from.
GrammarConcessive «всё-таки» «всё-таки» means 'all the same, nonetheless' — a concessive particle that concedes a prior point ('there'd have been no brandy…') while pressing on regardless. It is one of the small connective words that give Fyodor Pavlovich's drunken patter its grudging logic.
123
"Wait, wait, wait, my dear, one more little glass.
GrammarPerfective imperative «постой» «постой» is the imperative of perfective «постоять», literally 'stand a moment' but idiomatically 'wait, hold on'. The triple repetition is colloquial insistence, and the singular form (not «постойте») marks the intimate «ты» he uses with Alyosha.
Word«рюмочка» — a little glass A «рюмка» is the small stemmed glass for spirits; the diminutive «рюмочка» (here accusative «рюмочку») coaxes — 'just one wee glass'. The suffix «-очк-» does the wheedling that the whole drunken scene runs on.
124
I've offended Alyosha.
GrammarAnimate accusative «Алёшу» «Алёшу» is the accusative direct object of «оскорбил» ('I offended'). Because the diminutive «Алёша» declines like a feminine «-а» noun and names a person, it takes the «-у» accusative — the object of the offense.
125
You're not angry, Alexey?
GrammarReflexive «-ся» verb «сердиться» «сердиться» ('to be angry') exists only in the «-ся» form — there is no plain «сердить себя» here. The clitic «-ся» (here «-шься») marks a middle, emotional state rather than a true reflexive action; «не сердишься» is present-tense, second-person singular «ты».
126
My dear little Alexey, my own little Alexey!"
GrammarAffectionate diminutives Russian builds emotional diminutives with suffixes. From the name «Алексей», the suffix «-чик» yields «Алексейчик», a tender, coaxing form ('dear little Alexey'). The chapter is full of such forms — «рюмочку», «девчоночка», «кликушечка» — where «-очк-/-ечк-» and «-чик» soften a word and add warmth or condescension; English usually needs 'little' or 'dear' to convey it.
GrammarPostposed possessive «ты мой» In «Алексейчик ты мой» the pronoun «ты» and possessive «мой» fall after the noun — an affectionate, vocative-like word order ('Alexey of mine, you'). The free placement, impossible in English, is exactly the topic-comment flexibility Russian cases allow.
127
"No, I'm not angry.
128
I know your thoughts.
GrammarObject-first word order Neutral order would be «Я знаю ваши мысли», but here the object «ваши мысли» ('your thoughts') is fronted before the verb «знаю», throwing the weight onto what Alyosha knows. The cases keep the sense unambiguous, freeing word order for emphasis.
129
Your heart is better than your head."
GrammarComparative «лучше» + genitive of comparison «лучше» is the suppletive comparative of «хороший» ('better'). The thing compared against, «головы» ('than your head'), stands in the bare genitive — Russian's terser alternative to «чем» — so the whole means 'your heart is better than your head'.
Grammar«у вас» — the possessor «Сердце у вас» literally 'the heart with you', i.e. 'your heart'. Russian regularly expresses 'your X is…' with «у» + genitive rather than a possessive adjective, locating the trait in its owner.
130
"My heart better than my head?
GrammarThe topic-emphatic clitic «-то» Here «-то» is not the indefinite suffix but the hyphenated topic clitic: «У меня-то» singles out 'my heart, of all things' with incredulous emphasis — 'MY heart better than my head?'. It pins the spotlight on a known topic, the speaker himself.
131
Lord, and who is it saying so?
GrammarIntensifying «да» + «же/ещё» The opening «да» is not 'yes' but an intensifying particle launching an emphatic exclamation; «ещё» here piles on the incredulity — 'and to think who's saying it!'. These stacked particles are the texture of spoken indignation.
132
Ivan, do you love Alyoshka?"
Word«Алёшка» — the rough-fond diminutive Where «Алёшенька» would be tender, the «-к-» suffix in «Алёшка» is blunter and more familiar — affectionate but slightly coarse, fitting the boozy intimacy. The form is accusative «Алёшку», object of «любишь».
GrammarInverted verb-subject in a question Placing the verb «любишь» before the pronoun «ты» («любишь ты…» rather than «ты любишь») gives a colloquial questioning lilt, a softer cousin of the formal «ли» question. The pronoun is kept, not dropped, for the direct buttonholing of Ivan.
133
"I do."
GrammarPronoun-dropping reply The bare «Люблю» ('[I] love [him]') drops both subject and object — the present-tense ending «-лю» already fixes 'I', and the object is clear from context. Russian's verb morphology lets a whole answer shrink to one word.
134
"Then love him."
GrammarImperfective imperative «люби» «Люби» is the singular imperative of imperfective «любить» — 'go on loving him'. The imperfective imperative urges a continuing or general action rather than a single act, fitting Fyodor's command to keep loving Alyosha.
135
(Fyodor Pavlovich was getting badly drunk.)
GrammarImperfective «хмелел» — a process «хмелел» is the imperfective past of «хмелеть» ('to grow tipsy'), viewing the drunkenness as an ongoing process — 'was getting drunk', not 'got drunk'. The imperfective is the natural choice for this parenthetical stage-direction of background state.
136
"Listen, Alyosha, I was rude to your elder just now.
GrammarDative «старцу» of the person wronged «грубость сделать кому» ('to be rude to someone') takes the dative for the offended party, so «старцу твоему» ('to your elder') is dative. The possessive «твоему» agrees with it in case, gender, and number.
Word«давеча» — a moment ago «давеча» is a folksy, slightly archaic adverb meaning 'a little while ago, earlier today'. It colours Fyodor's speech as old-fashioned and homely, the register of a provincial buffoon.
137
But I was worked up.
Grammar«в волнении» — prepositional of state «в волнении» ('in agitation') uses «в» + the prepositional case to name a state one is in, much like English 'in a state of'. «волнение» is one of the bookish «-ение» abstract nouns Russian forms freely from verbs.
138
And yet there's a wit about that elder — what do you think, Ivan?
Grammar«а ведь» — 'and yet, you know' The pairing «а ведь» opens the thought with a mild contrastive «а» plus the appeal-to-shared-knowledge particle «ведь»: 'and yet, after all'. «ведь» invites Ivan to agree with something Fyodor presents as obvious — a hallmark of Dostoevsky's coaxing dialogue.
GrammarPostposed demonstrative «этом» «в старце этом» places the demonstrative «этом» after its noun ('in this elder here'), a colloquial, slightly disparaging order — pointing at Zosima with a dismissive gesture. Both words sit in the prepositional after «в», agreeing in case.
139
"Maybe there is."
Word«пожалуй» — 'I daresay' «пожалуй» is a hedging particle, 'maybe, I suppose, I daresay', conceding a point grudgingly. With «что и есть» Ivan grants 'perhaps there is [something to it]' — his characteristically cool, half-committed assent.
140
"There is, there is, il y a du Piron là-dedans.
141
He's a Jesuit — a Russian one, that is.
Word«то есть» — the corrective 'that is' «то есть» ('that is to say') marks a self-correction or clarification, here tacked on after the noun: 'a Jesuit — a Russian one, that is'. Fyodor uses it repeatedly to refine and qualify his own slippery claims.
142
As befits a noble creature, there boils up in him a hidden indignation at having to put on a show… to pull holiness over himself like a coat.
Grammar«как у» — 'as in / as befits' «Как у благородного существа» ('as with a noble creature') uses «у» + genitive to mean 'as is the case with', framing what follows as typical of such a nature. The adjective «благородного» agrees with «существа» in the genitive.
GrammarReflexive «представляться» — to put on a show «представляться» (here infinitive, '-ться') means 'to pose, pretend, put on an act' — the «-ся» giving the verb its self-presenting, performative sense. Fyodor's whole charge is that the elder must 'pretend' to holiness.
Word«натягивать святыню» — pulling holiness on like a garment A vivid coinage: «натягивать» is to pull or tug on (clothing), so 'to drag holiness (святыню) over himself' pictures sanctity as an ill-fitting coat yanked on. «себя» is the reflexive object, 'onto oneself'.
GrammarParticiple as adjective «затаённое» «затаённое» is a past passive participle of «затаить» ('to conceal') used adjectivally — 'hidden, pent-up' indignation. Its long form agrees with the neuter «негодование», which is the nominative subject of «кипит» ('boils up').
143
"But surely he does believe in God."
GrammarStacked particles «да… ведь… же» Alyosha's protest piles three particles: «да» launches the objection, «ведь» appeals to the obvious, and «же» insists — 'but surely he DOES believe!'. Russian routinely clusters these tiny words where English manages only intonation.
GrammarBookish «верует» + «в» + accusative «верует» is the elevated, Church-flavoured present of «веровать» ('to believe [religiously]'), loftier than everyday «верит». 'To believe IN God' takes «в» + accusative («в бога»), the construction of religious faith.
144
"Not a kopeck's worth.
Word«ни на грош» — not a farthing's worth A «грош» was a tiny copper coin (half a kopeck); «ни на грош» means 'not in the slightest, not a whit'. The «ни» intensifies the negation to zero — he doesn't believe even a coin's worth.
145
And you didn't know?
GrammarImperfective «не знал» «не знал» is imperfective past — 'you didn't know / weren't aware', a state rather than an event. Negated verbs of knowing and perceiving naturally take the imperfective, since one negates an ongoing awareness.
146
Why, he tells everyone so himself — well, not everyone, but every clever man who comes to him.
GrammarDative «людям» + relative «которые» «всем умным людям» is dative — the recipients of «говорит» ('tells [to] everyone clever') — with «всем» and «умным» agreeing in the dative plural. The relative «которые» then opens a clause, agreeing with «люди» in number but taking nominative as its own subject of «приезжают».
GrammarSelf-correcting «а» The contrastive «а» ('not… but rather') executes Fyodor's instant retraction: «не всем, а всем умным» — 'not to everyone, but to every clever one'. This is «а»'s job as the gentle pivot of correction, untranslatable by a single English word.
147
To Governor Schultz he came straight out with it: credo, but I don't know in what.
Word«отрезать» — to cut off / retort bluntly Literally 'to cut off', «отрезал» here means he 'snapped out' a curt, decisive reply — to retort so flatly there is no answering it. The perfective captures the single sharp stroke of the rejoinder.
148
"Really?"
Word«неужто» — 'you don't say!' «неужто» is a folksy variant of «неужели», an exclamation of incredulous surprise — 'really? surely not!'. The «-то» form is homelier and more colloquial than the standard «неужели».
149
"Exactly so.
Grammar«именно» — precisely «именно» is an emphatic particle, 'exactly, precisely, just so', affirming the prior word with full conviction — here 'exactly so'. It sharpens assent to a fine point.
150
But I respect him.
GrammarAnimate accusative «его» fronted «его» here is the accusative object of «уважаю» ('I respect him'), placed before the verb. The contrastive «Но» ('but yet') frames the respect against the disbelief just confessed.
151
There's something Mephistophelean in him, or rather something out of A Hero of Our Time… Arbenin, or whatever his name is… that is, you see, he's a sensualist; he's such a sensualist that even now I'd be afraid for my daughter or my wife, if she went to him to make confession.
Word«сладострастник» — a sensualist «сладострастник» ('voluptuary, sensualist') is built from «сладкий» (sweet) + «страсть» (passion) — literally a lover of 'sweet passion'. It is a key, recurring word in the novel for the Karamazov appetite, lust dignified as a temperament.
GrammarFull conditional with «бы… если бы» A complete unreal conditional: main clause «я бы… побоялся» ('I would be afraid') plus «если бы… пошла» ('if she went'), both verbs in the past form carrying «бы». «и теперь» means 'even now'; the construction is Russia's single irrealis mood at full stretch.
Word«али / аль» — folksy 'or' «али» and its clipped «аль» are colloquial, peasant-tinged variants of «или» ('or'). They lend Fyodor's monologue a homespun, story-teller's lilt, mixing oddly with his French and literary name-dropping.
152
You know, once he gets to telling a story…
Grammar«как» + perfective future = 'once he gets going' «как начнёт рассказывать» uses «как» with the perfective future «начнёт» in a vivid colloquial idiom — 'the moment he starts telling…', setting up an anticipated burst of action. «начнёт» is a conjugated perfective, hence future in meaning, with imperfective infinitive «рассказывать».
153
Year before last he lured us over to his place for a little tea, and with liqueur (the ladies send him liqueur), and once he set off describing the old days, we nearly split our sides…
Word«третьего года» — the year before last «третьего года» (genitive of time) idiomatically means 'two years ago, the year before last' — counting this year as the first. It is a homely temporal phrase typical of oral storytelling.
WordCoaxing diminutives «чаёк», «ликерец» «чаёк» (from «чай», tea) and «ликерец» (from «ликёр», liqueur) are affectionate diminutives — 'a nice little tea, a drop of liqueur' — that make the indulgence sound cosy and tempting. The suffixes do the seducing.
WordIdioms of getting carried away and laughing «пуститься расписывать» is 'to launch into embroidering [a tale]', and «животики надорвали» (literally 'we strained our little bellies') is the set idiom for 'we split our sides laughing'. The diminutive «животики» heightens the helpless mirth.
154
Especially how he'd cured some paralytic woman.
Word«расслабленная» — the Gospel 'paralytic' «расслабленный» (here feminine accusative «расслабленную») is the old scriptural word for a paralytic, the 'palsied' man Christ heals in the Gospels. Its biblical colour makes the 'cure' story a parody of a miracle.
GrammarPerfective «излечил» — completed cure «излечил» is the perfective past of «излечить» ('to cure [fully]'), naming the single accomplished event — he 'cured' her. The prefix «из-» and perfective aspect together signal the result, ripe for the tale's punchline.
155
'If only my legs didn't ache,' he says, 'I'd dance you a dance.'
GrammarUnreal conditional with «бы» A contrary-to-fact conditional: «Если бы ноги не болели» ('if [my] legs didn't ache') + «я бы… протанцевал» ('I'd dance'). Both past-form verbs carry «бы»; the perfective «протанцевал» imagines the whole dance carried through.
Grammar«говорит» as a quotative tag The inserted «говорит» ('he says') is the oral-narrative quotative, dropped mid-sentence to flag reported speech — 'I'd, he says, dance you a dance'. Fyodor sprinkles it through the anecdote, mimicking the elder's own voice.
156
Eh, how's that?
Word«каков?» — 'how about that?' «каков» is the short interrogative 'what sort / how is he', here a rhetorical 'eh, how's that for you?' inviting amazed agreement. The short form, predicative only, is brisk and exclamatory.
157
'I've been quite the holy rogue in my day,' he says.
Word«наафонить» — Dostoevsky's holy-rogue coinage «наафонить» is coined from «Афон», Mount Athos, the great monastic mountain — so 'I've done a lot of Athos-ing', i.e. played the pious holy man (with a wink at humbug). The prefix «на-» adds 'plenty of'. A nonce verb mocking sham sanctity, hard to render except by something like 'holy rogue'.
Word«на своём веку» — in my time «на своём веку» (literally 'in my own age/lifetime') is the set idiom 'in all my days, in my time'. «век» here means a lifespan, and «своём» reflexively points to the speaker.
158
He fleeced sixty thousand off the merchant Demidov.
GrammarGenitive plural after the numeral After «шестьдесят» ('sixty', 5-and-above) the counted noun goes to the genitive plural: «шестьдесят тысяч» ('sixty thousand'). The whole sum is the object of «тяпнул».
Word«тяпнуть» — to filch, snatch «тяпнуть» is low colloquial for 'to grab, swipe, knock off' a sum — to make off with it slyly. The perfective «-ну-» suffix gives a single quick snatch, perfectly suited to the dishonest grab.
159
"What — stole it?"
GrammarPerfective «украл» — the deed done Alyosha's startled «украл?» is perfective past of «украсть» ('to steal') — 'he STOLE it?', the single completed act. The bare «Как,» ('what — ?') registers the shock.
160
"The man brought it to him as to an honest fellow: 'Keep it for me, brother, they're searching my place tomorrow.'
GrammarCorrelative «тот» + dative «доброму человеку» «Тот» ('that one, the man') is the demonstrative used as a tracking pronoun for the other party. «как доброму человеку» ('as to an honest man') is dative, the recipient — with «как» framing the trust placed in him.
GrammarImperative «сохрани» + address «брат» «Сохрани» is the perfective imperative of «сохранить» ('keep, safeguard [it]') — a single act of safekeeping. «брат» ('brother') is familiar address between men, not a literal kinsman.
161
And he kept it, all right.
GrammarEmphatic «и» — 'and kept it he did' Here «и» is not 'and' the conjunction but the emphatic particle stressing the verb: «А тот и сохранил» — 'and keep it he did [for good]'. The deadpan «и» carries the punchline's irony: he 'kept' it by keeping it for himself.
162
'But you'd donated it to the church,' he says.
Grammar«ведь» appealing to a shared 'fact' The rogue justifies himself with «ведь» — 'but you HAD, after all, donated it to the church'. The particle conjures a supposed shared knowledge to license the theft. «пожертвовал» is perfective past, the supposed completed gift.
163
I say to him: you're a scoundrel, I say.
Word«подлец» — scoundrel «подлец» is a strong term of contempt, 'scoundrel, villain, base wretch'. Placed first — «подлец ты» — for full force, it is a recurring insult in the novel's overheated quarrels.
GrammarPredicate-first + quotative «говорю» «подлец ты» fronts the predicate noun before «ты» for emphasis ('a scoundrel, you are'), with no copula in the present. The framing «говорю» ('says I') twice marks this as quoted speech inside the anecdote.
164
No, he says, I'm no scoundrel, only I'm broad-natured…
GrammarShort adjective «широк» «широк» is the short (predicative) form of «широкий» ('broad'), here figuratively 'broad of nature, expansive'. The short form, bookish and absolute, states a defining trait — the Karamazov 'breadth' that excuses every excess.
GrammarContrastive «а» after negation «не подлец, а…» ('not a scoundrel, but rather…') is the textbook «не X, а Y» frame, where «а» introduces the corrected alternative. He rejects the label only to reframe himself flatteringly.
165
But no, that wasn't him… That was somebody else.
Grammar«впрочем» — 'though, on second thought' «впрочем» reverses course — 'but then again, however' — as Fyodor abruptly disowns his own story. «это не он» ('that wasn't him') with no copula relies on bare nominatives flanking the negated 'be'.
166
I got muddled, telling it about someone else… and never noticed.
Word«сбиться» — to get muddled «сбиться» (reflexive «-ся») means to lose one's way, get mixed up, lose the thread — here 'I got muddled, telling it about someone else'. The «-ся» gives the intransitive 'went astray on my own'.
Grammar«про» + accusative — 'about' «про другого» ('about the other man') uses colloquial «про» + accusative for 'concerning, about', homelier than «о». «другого» is the animate accusative of «другой», equal to the genitive form.
167
Well, one more little glass and that's enough; clear away the bottle, Ivan.
GrammarPerfective imperative «убери» «убери» is the perfective imperative of «убрать» ('clear away, take away [it]'), commanding a single completed act. «бутылку» is the accusative object; «Иван», nominative, is the one addressed.
168
I was talking rubbish — why didn't you stop me, Ivan… why didn't you tell me I was lying?"
Word«врать» — to lie, to talk rubbish «врать» (imperfective «врал», 'I was lying / talking nonsense'; present «вру», 'I'm lying') is blunt, colloquial 'to lie' or 'to talk rot' — coarser than «лгать». Its repetition is Fyodor turning on himself.
Grammar«отчего» + perfective negatives «отчего» ('why, for what reason') opens the reproach; the two perfective past negatives «не остановил» and «не сказал» mean 'why didn't you [actually] stop me… and tell me' — each a single act left undone. Perfective negation faults the omission of a specific deed.
169
"I knew you'd stop of your own accord."
GrammarReported clause «что» + perfective future «что» opens the reported clause after «знал» ('I knew that…'). «остановитесь» is the perfective future of reflexive «остановиться» ('you would stop [yourself]') — conjugated like a present but future in force, and «-ся» giving the self-arresting sense.
GrammarIntensifier «сам» — 'of your own accord' «сами» (the intensifier «сам», agreeing with «вы») stresses that Fyodor would stop 'himself, on his own', without prompting. It is distinct from the reflexive «себя»: «сам» emphasises the agent, not an object.
170
"That's a lie — you did it out of spite toward me, sheer spite.
Word«по злобе» — out of spite «по злобе» ('out of malice, from spite') uses «по» + dative to give the motive. The repetition with «единственной» ('sole, sheer') hammers it: 'out of spite, pure spite alone'.
171
You despise me.
GrammarObject «меня» + present «презираешь» «меня» is the accusative object fronted before the verb for emphasis, «презираешь» the present of «презирать» ('you despise [me]'). Keeping «ты» rather than dropping it makes the accusation pointed and personal.
172
You came to my house and despise me under my own roof."
GrammarPrepositional «в доме» + possessive «моём» «в доме моём» ('in my house') is «в» + prepositional for location, with «моём» postposed for an injured, emphatic ring. The doubling «меня в доме моём презираешь» piles the affront — 'under my own roof' — on the repeated «презираешь».
173
"I'll go away, then; the brandy's getting the better of you."
GrammarPerfective future «уеду» + emphatic «и» «уеду» is the perfective (prefixed) future of the motion verb «уехать» ('I'll leave, drive off') — a single departure. The particle «и» adds resolve: 'I'll just go away, then'.
Word«разбирает» — 'the drink is getting to you' Impersonal «коньяк вас разбирает» — literally 'the brandy is taking you apart', idiomatically 'the drink is getting the better of you / going to your head'. «вас» is the accusative of the person overcome; «коньяк» the nominative force at work.
174
"I begged you, for the love of Christ and God, to go to Chermashnya… for a day or two, and you won't go."
Grammar«съездить» + «в» of motion-toward «съездить» is the perfective 'to make a [round] trip', and «в Чермашню» ('to Chermashnya') uses «в» + accusative for motion toward a place. Chermashnya — the errand to Chermashnya — becomes a fateful thread later in the novel.
175
"I'll go tomorrow, if you insist on it so."
Word«коли» — folksy 'if' «коли» is an old, colloquial conjunction for «если» ('if'). It tints Ivan's curt concession — 'I'll go tomorrow, if you insist' — with a faint archaic, popular flavour.
GrammarPerfective future «поеду» «поеду» is the perfective future of the motion verb «поехать» ('I'll go [by vehicle]'), a single planned departure for tomorrow. The «по-» prefix sets the journey in motion as one completed act.
176
"You won't go.
GrammarNegated perfective future «Не поедешь» ('you won't go') flatly negates the perfective future Ivan just used, throwing his promise back at him. The drunken father contradicts the very act his son has just agreed to.
177
You'd rather stay here and spy on me — that's what you want, you malicious soul, and that's why you won't go, isn't it?"
GrammarDative-subject «тебе… хочется» A classic impersonal: «тебе… хочется» ('you feel like, you want to'), with the experiencer «тебе» in the dative and the reflexive «хочется» impersonal — no nominative subject. The infinitive «подсматривать» ('to spy') names what is wanted; this dative-want pattern is everywhere in Dostoevsky's inner life.
GrammarGenitive «чего» with «хочется» «чего хочется» uses the genitive «чего» (of «что») because «хотеться», like «хотеть», governs the genitive of the thing wanted — 'that's what you want'. «вот» points triumphantly: 'there, that's it'.
Word«злая душа» — 'you malicious soul' «злая душа» ('evil/malicious soul') is hurled as direct address, in the nominative as Russian abuse typically is. «злой» here means spiteful, ill-natured — the charge Fyodor keeps pressing on the cold Ivan.
178
The old man would not let up.
GrammarImperfective «не унимался» — kept on «унимался» is imperfective past of reflexive «униматься» ('to calm down, let up'); negated, «не унимался» means 'would not let up, kept at it' — a sustained, repeated state. The imperfective is exactly right for ongoing, unrelenting behaviour.
179
He had reached that little notch of drunkenness where certain drunkards, peaceable until that moment, are seized all at once with the urge to turn nasty and make a show of themselves,
Word«черточка» — 'that little notch' «черта» is a line or mark; the diminutive «черточка» ('little line, fine point') here means a precise threshold — 'that exact little notch of drunkenness'. «до» + genitive marks the point reached.
GrammarDative-subject «иным пьяным захочется» Another impersonal want: «иным пьяным… захочется» ('certain drunkards suddenly feel the urge'), with the experiencers «иным пьяным» in the dative plural and the impersonal perfective «захочется». The infinitives «разозлиться» and «показать» name what they crave.
GrammarArchaic «дотоле» + agreeing «смирным» «дотоле» ('until then, theretofore') is a bookish, archaic adverb of the literary register. «смирным» ('peaceable') agrees in the dative plural with «пьяным» — a participial-style modifier, 'drunkards, peaceable until that moment'.
GrammarReflexive «себя показать» — to show off «себя показать» (literally 'to show oneself') is the idiom 'to make a display of oneself, show off'. «себя» is the full reflexive object pronoun, referring back to the would-be braggart drunkards.
180
"Why are you looking at me?
Grammar«что» as 'why' + «глядеть на» Here «что» is colloquial for 'why, what for' — 'why are you looking at me?'. «глядеть на» ('to look at') governs «на» + accusative «меня». «глядеть» is the homelier synonym of «смотреть».
181
What sort of eyes are those of yours?
Grammar«какой» asking 'what kind' «какие» is the interrogative «какой» ('which / what kind of') agreeing with plural «глаза». It does not ask 'which eyes' but 'what sort of eyes are these' — a qualitative, almost accusatory question, fitting Fyodor's drunken jab.
182
Your eyes look at me and say to me: 'You drunken mug.'
GrammarImperfective process verbs Both «глядят» (look) and «говорят» (say) are imperfective presents, framing the eyes' staring and speaking as an ongoing, repeated reproach rather than a single event.
Word«харя» — a coarse 'mug' «харя» is a crude, abusive word for a face — 'mug', 'ugly snout'. «Пьяная ты харя» ('you drunken mug') is gutter invective; Fyodor is voicing the contempt he imagines in Ivan's eyes.
GrammarPronoun wedged into an insult Inserting «ты» between adjective and noun («Пьяная ты харя») is a colloquial vocative-of-abuse pattern — the personal pronoun pinned inside the phrase makes the insult land directly on the addressee.
183
Suspicious eyes you have, contemptuous eyes…
GrammarFronted adjective for emphasis The order «Подозрительные твои глаза» (adjective before possessive + noun) front-loads the quality — 'suspicious, your eyes are'. Russian's free word order lets the predicate-like adjective head the phrase for rhetorical weight, an effect repeated with «презрительные».
184
You came here with something on your mind.
Word«себе на уме» — keeping one's own counsel A set idiom: to be «себе на уме» is to be secretly shrewd, to have a private agenda one doesn't reveal — 'cagey', 'with something up your sleeve'. Fyodor accuses Ivan of arriving with a hidden purpose.
GrammarPerfective of arrival «приехал» is the prefixed perfective of vehicular motion («при-» + «-ехать»), naming the single completed act of arriving. The directional prefix «при-» turns the motion pair into an ordinary aspect pair meaning 'to arrive'.
185
Now Alyoshka there is looking on, and his eyes are shining.
Word«Алешка» — the blunt diminutive «Алешка» is the «-ка» form of Alyosha's name: familiar and a touch rough or dismissive, the form an elder or drunk uses downward. It contrasts pointedly with the tender «Алеша» Fyodor uses elsewhere in the same scene.
GrammarPostposed possessive «его» «глаза его» places the frozen genitive possessive «его» after the noun — a bookish, rhythmical ordering ('his eyes') common in 19th-century narration, where the neutral order would be «его глаза».
186
Alyosha doesn't despise me.
GrammarNegation fronted before the subject The verb-first, subject-last order «Не презирает меня Алеша» throws the negated verb into focus — 'does NOT despise me, Alyosha doesn't'. The subject «Алеша» trails as given information.
187
Alexey, don't love Ivan…"
GrammarImperfective negative imperative «не люби» is a negative command in the imperfective («любить»), the normal aspect for prohibitions — 'don't love Ivan'. With «не», Russian strongly prefers the imperfective imperative for telling someone not to do something.
GrammarAnimate accusative = genitive The object «Ивана» takes an animate-accusative ending identical to the genitive: for animate masculine nouns the accusative borrows the genitive form, distinguishing the loved object from a subject.
188
"Don't be angry at my brother!
GrammarPolite/plural negative imperative + «на» «сердитесь» is the «-те» (polite/plural) imperative of the reflexive «сердиться» ('to be angry'), and the anger is directed with «на» + accusative («на брата»). Alyosha addresses his father with respectful «вы».
189
Stop hurting him," Alyosha said suddenly and insistently.
GrammarPhasal verb + imperfective infinitive «перестаньте … обижать» pairs the perfective phasal imperative 'stop' with an imperfective infinitive 'hurting'. Verbs of beginning, continuing, and stopping obligatorily take the imperfective infinitive, since they describe an ongoing process being halted.
Word«настойчиво» — insistently An adverb from «настойчивый» ('persistent, insistent'), marking that the gentle Alyosha speaks with sudden firmness («вдруг настойчиво») — a small but telling shift in his usual meekness.
190
"Oh, very well, if you like.
Word«пожалуй» — grudging assent Here «пожалуй» is the concessive particle 'all right then / I suppose / if you like', signalling reluctant agreement, not the polite «пожалуйста». Coupled with «Ну что ж» ('well, all right'), it is the spoken texture of Fyodor giving in.
191
Ugh, my head aches.
Grammar«болит» — the verb for aching Russian states a bodily ache with the verb «болеть» (3rd person «болит/болят»), the aching part as nominative subject: «голова болит» = 'the head aches'. No 'have' construction — the head itself does the aching.
192
Take away the brandy, Ivan — I'm telling you for the third time."
GrammarPerfective imperative «убери» is the perfective imperative of «убрать» ('take away, clear off') — a single, result-bearing command. Perfective imperatives, unlike negated ones, push for one decisive completed act.
GrammarAccusative of repeated time «третий раз» ('for the third time') is a bare accusative time-phrase with no preposition — the standard way Russian counts repetitions of an action.
193
He fell to musing, and suddenly broke into a long, sly smile:
GrammarPerfective «-ся» of onset «улыбнулся» is the perfective reflexive «улыбнуться» ('to smile / break into a smile'), with the «-ну-» suffix marking a single momentary act and «-ся» as a lexical part of the verb. The adverbs «длинно и хитро» ('long and slyly') color the one completed smile.
194
"Don't be angry, Ivan, at an old weakling.
Word«мозгляк» — a feeble wretch «мозгляк» is a contemptuous word for a puny, sickly, worthless man — 'weakling, runt'. Fyodor applies it to himself («на старого мозгляка», 'at an old weakling') in a gesture of self-abasing charm.
GrammarFamiliar «ты» negative imperative «не сердись» is the singular, familiar imperative of «сердиться» — to Ivan, Fyodor uses intimate «ты», where to Alyosha just above he used polite «вы» («не сердитесь»). The aspect is imperfective, as expected after «не».
195
I know you don't love me, but all the same don't be angry.
Grammar«что» reporting a fact «знаю, что ты не любишь меня» uses «что» ('that') to open a clause of reported fact — distinct from «чтобы», which would add will or hypothesis. The comma before «что» is obligatory in Russian.
Word«всё-таки» — all the same «всё-таки» means 'nevertheless, all the same, even so' — a concessive that hinges Fyodor's plea: granted you don't love me, still don't be angry.
196
There's nothing in me to love anyway.
GrammarImpersonal «не за что» + the -то clitic «не за что любить» is an impersonal negative — 'there is nothing to love (me) for', with no subject. The clitic «-то» on «любить-то» emphasizes the topic ('as for loving'), and «и» adds 'even', deepening the self-deprecation.
197
Go off to Chermashnya, and I'll come to you myself, bring you a present.
GrammarPerfective futures throughout «съездишь», «приеду», «привезу» are all conjugated perfective verbs carrying future meaning — 'you'll make a trip', 'I'll come', 'I'll bring'. A perfective conjugated like a present yields the simple future of completed acts.
198
I'll point out a little wench to you there — I've had my eye on her a long while.
Word«девчоночка» — a leering diminutive «девчоночка» is a double-diminutive of «девка/девчонка» ('girl, wench'), here dripping with Fyodor's lecherous relish — 'a sweet little wench'. Russian diminutives can carry exactly this coarse, possessive tenderness.
Word«насмотрел» — picked out by long looking The prefixed perfective «насмотреть» here means to have spotted and marked out by watching — 'I've had my eye on her'. The «на-» prefix conveys accumulated, sufficient looking.
199
She still goes about barefoot, for now.
Word«босоножка» — barefoot girl «босоножка» (from «босой», 'barefoot') is a girl who goes barefoot — a peasant child too poor for shoes, hence very young and untouched. Fyodor's «пока еще босоножка» ('still barefoot, for now') is grimly suggestive.
GrammarZero copula in the present «она ещё босоножка» — 'she is still a barefoot girl' — has no verb 'to be'. Present-tense predication links subject and predicate noun with a bare nominative and no copula.
200
Don't be frightened of barefoot girls, don't scorn them — they're pearls!.."
GrammarGenitive after «пугаться» The reflexive «пугаться» ('to be frightened') governs the genitive of what one fears: «босоножек» is genitive plural. Reflexive verbs of fearing and shunning regularly take a genitive object.
Word«перлы» — pearls «перл» (plural «перлы») is a bookish, French/Latin-flavored word for 'pearl', loftier than the plain «жемчуг». Fyodor's exclamation 'they're pearls!' lends a mock-poetic gloss to his predation.
201
And he kissed his own hand with a smack.
GrammarReflexive pronoun «себя» as object «чмокнул себя в ручку» — 'smacked a kiss on his own hand'. The full object pronoun «себя» (not the verbal «-ся») points back to the subject; «в ручку» marks the spot kissed with «в» + accusative.
Word«ручка» — affectionate 'little hand' «ручка» is the diminutive of «рука». The mawkish little-hand softens the gesture into theatrical self-relish, typical of Fyodor's buffoonery.
202
"For me," he came suddenly all alive, as if for an instant he had sobered up the moment he hit upon a favorite theme, "for me…
Grammar«для» + genitive «для меня» ('for me') uses «для», which always governs the genitive. The repeated, stranded «для меня…» that frames the speech is a rhetorical false start, broken off and resumed.
GrammarPerfective gerund «отрезвев» «отрезвев» is the perfective past gerund («деепричастие») of «отрезветь» ('to sober up') — 'having sobered for a moment'. The gerund compresses a prior completed action into an adverbial sharing the main subject 'he'.
Word«оживился весь» — came all alive «оживиться» ('to liven up, come alive') with intensifying «весь» ('all over') captures Fyodor's whole body kindling as he hits his favorite theme.
203
Ah, you lads!
Word«эх» + familiar «ребята» The interjection «эх» voices wistful, indulgent feeling, and «ребята» ('lads, fellows') addresses the young men with rough affection. Together they set the coaxing, paternal-buffoon tone.
204
You children, you little sucklings, for me… why, in my whole life there was never an ugly woman — there's my rule!
WordCooing diminutives of address «деточки» ('dear little children') and «поросяточки» (a double-diminutive of «поросёнок», 'piglet' → 'little sucklings') are heaped endearments. The piling of «-очки/-ятк-» diminutives is mock-tender, half-affectionate, half-condescending.
GrammarGenitive of negation in existential «не было … женщины» — 'there was no … woman' — puts the absent subject in the genitive with neuter «не было». Negated existentials obligatorily take the genitive and an invariable «не было».
Grammar«весь» in a time-phrase «во всю мою жизнь» ('in my whole life') is «в» + accusative with «весь» ('all, whole') agreeing with feminine «жизнь» — a duration spanned. The «во» form of «в» appears before the consonant cluster «вс-».
205
Can you grasp that?
GrammarModal «мочь» + perfective infinitive «можете … понять» joins the modal «мочь» ('to be able') to the perfective infinitive «понять» ('to grasp [fully]'). The perfective frames the comprehension as an achievable, completed act — can you actually get it?
206
But how could you grasp it: you've still got milk in your veins instead of blood, you're not even hatched yet!
GrammarDative-subject 'how could you' + «же» «где вам это понять» is an impersonal dative construction — literally 'where [is it] for you to grasp this', i.e. 'how could you'. The experiencer «вам» stands in the dative with a bare infinitive and no nominative subject; the particle «же» adds incredulous emphasis.
Word«молочко» — milk, diminutive «молочко» is the affectionate diminutive of «молоко» ('milk'). 'Milk instead of blood' mocks the young men as unripe; the cozy diminutive sharpens the jeer.
Word«вылупиться» — to hatch «вылупиться» ('to hatch, break out of the shell'); «не вылупились» — 'you're not even hatched yet'. The barnyard image extends the chicks/piglets motif of Fyodor's taunt.
207
By my rule, in every woman there's something extraordinarily — devil take it — interesting, something you won't find in any other, only you have to know how to find it, and there's the trick of it!
GrammarGenitive of negation + «ни»-concord «чего … не найдёшь» negates with the object «чего» in the genitive ('something you won't find'), while «ни у которой другой» ('in not any other') uses «ни» for negative concord — the «не» on the verb and the «ни»-phrase together make one emphatic negation.
GrammarArchaic impersonal «надобно» «надобно» is a bookish, dated variant of «надо» ('one must, it is necessary'), here in an impersonal predicate with infinitives 'one must know how to find'. Its old-fashioned flavor suits Fyodor's mock-sententious tone.
Word«штука» — 'the trick of it' «штука» literally 'a thing/item', but in «вот где штука» it means 'there's the catch / the knack / the point of it'. A lively colloquial flourish closing the boast.
208
That's a talent!
Grammar«это» as a pointing predicate «Это талант!» — 'That's a talent!' — uses «это» as an invariable demonstrative subject with a zero copula. «это …» summing up a preceding idea is a staple of emphatic spoken Russian.
209
For me there were never any plain ones: the mere fact that she's a woman, that alone is half of everything… but how are you to grasp that!
Word«мовешка» — from French 'mauvaise' «мовешка» is a Russified slang noun from French «mauvaise» ('bad [one]'), meaning a plain or homely woman. Fyodor sprinkles such French-derived gallantries («мовешка», later «вьельфилька») to ape worldly connoisseurship.
GrammarGenitive of negation, again «мовешек не существовало» — 'plain ones did not exist [for me]' — puts the absent subject «мовешек» (genitive plural) with neuter «не существовало». The pattern echoes «не было … женщины» a few lines earlier.
GrammarCorrelative «то, что» + «уж» «одно то, что она женщина» — 'the one fact that she is a woman' — uses the correlative neuter «то» picked up by the «что»-clause. The particle «уж» ('already, even just') intensifies: the mere fact alone.
210
Even among the withered old ones you'll sometimes turn up something that leaves you marveling at the other fools — how they ever let her grow old and never noticed her till now!
Word«вьельфилька» — from French 'vieille fille' «вьельфилька» is another Russified French coinage, from «vieille fille» ('old maid, spinster') — a withered older woman. Like «мовешка», it flaunts Fyodor's pseudo-cosmopolitan vocabulary of lechery.
GrammarIdiomatic «диву дашься» «диву дашься» (lit. 'you will give yourself to amazement') is a fixed expression — 'you'll be astonished, you can only marvel'. «диву» is a frozen dative inside the idiom; «дашься» is the perfective future of «даться».
Grammar«дать» + infinitive = 'let' «состариться дали» — 'they let [her] grow old'. The perfective «дать» plus an infinitive means 'to allow/let'; «дали» is a generalized 3rd-person plural 'they/people', the agent left vague.
211
A barefoot girl or a plain one you have first of all to astonish — that's how you've got to go about her.
GrammarImpersonal «надо» + perfective infinitive «надо … удивить» is an impersonal 'one must astonish', with the object «босоножку и мовешку» fronted as topic. The perfective «удивить» frames the astonishing as a single decisive stroke.
Word«сперва-наперво» — first of all A folksy reduplicated intensifier of «сперва» ('first') — 'first and foremost, before anything else'. The rhyming doubling gives it a proverbial, peasant ring.
Grammar«браться за» + accusative «браться за неё» — 'to take her on / set about her'. The reflexive «браться» with «за» + accusative means 'to get down to, tackle' something, here crudely applied to a woman.
212
And you didn't know that?
GrammarContrastive «а» opening a question «А ты не знал?» — the hinge «а» ('and / but / why') turns to Ivan with a teasing shift of address. This mild contrastive «а», hard to translate, threads through Russian dialogue marking a turn of topic.
213
You have to astonish her into rapture, into a pang, into shame that such a gentleman as you should have fallen for a swarthy little thing like her.
Grammar«до» + genitive of degree The anaphora «до восхищения, до пронзения, до стыда» uses «до» + genitive to express the point reached — 'to the point of rapture, of a pang, of shame'. «до» always governs the genitive, and the triple repetition builds rhetorical climax.
Word«чернявка» — a dark, swarthy girl «чернявка» (from «чёрный», 'black') is a colloquial-affectionate word for a dark-haired, swarthy-complexioned girl. The diminutive «-ка» adds a possessive, slightly belittling warmth.
214
It's truly a fine thing that there always are and always will be churls and gentry in the world, so there'll always be a little scrubwoman of that sort and always her master, and that's all one needs for the happiness of life!
Grammar«есть» and «будут» — present and future of 'to be' «есть и будут» pairs the present 'there are' with the future «будут» ('will be') of «быть» — affirming a timeless state. The folksy «да» joins «хамы да баре» where neutral Russian would use «и».
Word«поломоечка» — little scrubwoman «поломоечка» is a diminutive of «поломойка», a woman who scrubs floors — the lowliest household drudge. The endearing «-ечка» makes her a cherished little servant-girl in Fyodor's leering social fantasy.
Grammar«ведь» appealing to shared sense «а ведь того только и надо» — 'and that, after all, is all one needs'. The particle «ведь» appeals to the listener's assumed agreement, and «того … надо» takes a genitive object of need with impersonal «надо».
215
Wait… listen, Alyoshka, I always used to astonish your late mother, only it came out in another way.
GrammarTwo familiar imperatives «Постой» (perfective, 'wait, hold on') and «слушай» (imperfective, 'listen') are both «ты»-imperatives to Alyosha. The perfective «постой» asks for one brief halt; the imperfective «слушай» opens an ongoing act of attention.
GrammarImperfective of habit «удивлял» is imperfective past with «всегда» ('always') — a repeated, habitual 'I always used to astonish'. The imperfective is the aspect of recurring background action across the whole narrated past.
Word«покойница» — the deceased «покойница» (feminine of «покойник», from «покой», 'rest') means a dead woman, 'the late one'. «мать-покойницу» — 'your late mother' — is the customary respectful way of naming the dead.
216
I'd never caress her, but then all of a sudden, when the moment came — all of a sudden I'd just throw myself down before her, crawl on my knees, kiss her little feet, and I'd always, always bring her — I remember it as if it were now — to a little laugh of a certain kind, a crumbling, ringing laugh, not loud, nervous, peculiar.
Grammar«бывало» + present for habitual past «бывало» ('it used to happen') paired with present-tense imperfectives («ласкаю», «ползаю», «целую») is a vivid storytelling device: it narrates a recurring past habit in the present, making the scene immediate. «никогда … не» supplies negative concord.
GrammarTopic-marking clitic «-то» «минутка-то» attaches the emphatic clitic «-то» to a known topic — 'the moment, you know'. This «-то» (distinct from the indefinite «-то» of «кто-то») foregrounds an already-understood item in colloquial speech.
Word«рассыпаться» — to scatter/crumble «рассыплюсь» here means to gush, to fall all over someone ('pour myself out before her'), and the matching «рассыпчатый смешок» is a 'crumbling, scattering' little laugh — Dostoevsky binds gesture and laugh with the same root «рассып-».
Word«ножки» — little feet «ножки» is the diminutive of «ноги» ('feet/legs'). Kissing the 'little feet' is part of Fyodor's grovelling theatre; the diminutive lends mock-worshipful tenderness.
217
That was the only laugh she had.
Grammar«у» + genitive possession + emphatic «и» «у ней … был» is the standard Russian 'have' frame: «у» + genitive of the possessor («ней», a colloquial variant of «неё») with «быть». The «только … и был» ('was the only one she had') uses «и» to underline exclusivity.
218
I knew, you see, that her illness always began that way with her, that the very next day she'd start shrieking out like a possessed woman, and that this present little laugh meant no rapture at all — but still, deception though it was, it was rapture.
WordThe 'shrieker' A «кликуша» (from «кликать», 'to cry out') was a village woman subject to fits of screaming and convulsions, often during church services, popularly thought to be possessed. The related verb «выкликать» means to shriek out such cries. We render «кликушей выкликать начнет» as 'start shrieking out like a possessed woman'; Dostoevsky uses the loaded folk term to mark Alyosha's mother's condition and the religious atmosphere around it.
GrammarInstrumental of role + phasal «начать» «кликушей» is the instrumental of «кликуша», marking the role she takes on — 'she'd start [as] a shrieker'. «начнёт … выкликать» joins perfective phasal «начать» ('begin') to an imperfective infinitive, as verbs of beginning require.
GrammarParticle pile-up: «да ведь … хоть … да» This clause is dense with spoken particles: «ну да» ('well yes'), «ведь» appealing to shared knowledge, «хоть … да» as a concessive 'even if … still'. The texture of Fyodor's grudging admission lives entirely in these tiny modal words.
219
That's what it means to know how to find your own little notch in everything!
Word«чёрточка» — a little line/notch «чёрточка» is the diminutive of «черта» ('line, trait, feature'). Fyodor's «свою черточку … находить» — finding 'one's own little notch/line' in everything — turns a small word into his whole cynical philosophy of pleasure.
GrammarReflexive possessive «свой» «свою» (reflexive possessive «свой») means 'one's own', pointing back to the implied subject of the act of finding — your own notch, not someone else's. Choosing «свой» over «его/её» is precisely what makes it 'your own'.
220
Once Belyavsky — there was a handsome fellow here, and rich, who hung about after her and took to coming to my house — suddenly, in my own home, ups and gives me a slap, and right in front of her.
Word«красавчик» — a pretty fellow «красавчик» is the diminutive of «красавец» ('a handsome man'), here faintly ironic — 'a pretty boy'. Fyodor sizes up his rival Belyavsky with a touch of mocking diminution.
Grammar«дай» — narrative imperative for sudden action «дай мне пощёчину» uses the imperative form «дай» not as a command but as the 'sudden-action' narrative imperative: a vivid colloquial device where an imperative reports an abrupt, unexpected past act — 'ups and gives me a slap'. The «же … и» heighten the surprise.
Word«волочиться за» — to chase after «волочиться за кем-то» (lit. 'to drag oneself after') is the period idiom for courting, dangling after, pursuing a woman — 'hung about after her'. The reflexive «-ся» is lexical here.
221
And she, that lamb of a woman — why, I thought she'd beat me herself for that slap, the way she flew at me: 'You,' she says, 'you've been struck now, struck, you've taken a slap from him!
Word«овца» — 'lamb/sheep' as character «овца» ('sheep, ewe') stands for a meek, submissive creature — 'that lamb of a woman'. «этакая» ('such a, that kind of') is a colloquial-expressive variant of «такая», coloring the image with rueful fondness.
Grammar«ведь» + exclamatory «как» «ведь как напала» — 'why, the way she flew at me'. «ведь» appeals to the listener and exclamatory «как» ('how, to what a degree') heightens the verb «напала» ('attacked, set upon').
Grammar«говорит» as a quotative tag «говорит» ('says') is dropped into the middle of the quoted speech as a parenthetical quotative — the spoken Russian way of marking reported direct speech, like English 'she says' or 'goes'. «битый» is the short-ish past passive participle of «бить», 'struck, beaten'.
222
You were selling me to him,' she says…
GrammarImperfective of accusation «продавал» is imperfective past — 'you were selling me / you kept selling me'. The imperfective casts the act as a drawn-out, ongoing betrayal rather than one transaction; «ему» is the dative recipient 'to him'.
223
How dared he strike you in front of me!
Grammar«сметь» + infinitive = 'dare' «как он смел … ударить» — 'how dared he strike'. The verb «сметь» ('to dare') takes a bare infinitive; «смел» is its past. The opening «да» is here an emphatic intensifier ('how on earth'), not 'yes'.
224
And don't you dare come to me ever again, never, never!
GrammarProhibitive «не смей» + imperfective + «никогда» «не смей … приходить» is the sharp prohibition 'don't you dare come', with imperfective «приходить» (the multidirectional motion verb prefixed, now imperfective). The doubled «никогда, никогда» piles on negative concord with the «не» of «не смей».
225
Go this instant, challenge him to a duel…'
GrammarTwo imperatives: imperfective then perfective «беги» (imperfective, 'run, go this instant') urges immediate setting-out; «вызови» (perfective of «вызвать», 'summon/challenge') names the single decisive act. «вызвать на дуэль» = 'challenge to a duel', with «на» + accusative.
226
So then I took her off to the monastery to be humbled, and the holy fathers read prayers over her.
Grammar«для» of purpose + genitive «для смирения» — 'for [the purpose of] humbling'. «для» + the genitive «смирения» expresses purpose; «смирение» ('humility, submission') is a key Orthodox-monastic virtue, here imposed coercively.
227
But as God's my witness, Alyosha, I never once wronged my little shrieker!
Word«вот тебе бог» — as God is my witness «вот тебе бог» (literally 'here's God for you') is a colloquial oath — 'as God is my witness, I swear by God'. From the mouth of the blasphemous Fyodor it is heavily ironic.
Word«кликушечка» — tender 'little shrieker' «кликушечка» softens the harsh «кликуша» with a double diminutive «-ечк-», 'my poor little shrieker'. Fyodor wraps his dead wife's affliction in mawkish endearment — a chilling tenderness.
228
Just the one time, perhaps, that first year: she was praying a great deal then, kept the feasts of the Mother of God especially, and would drive me out of her room into my study.
GrammarChain of imperfective pasts «молилась», «наблюдала», «гнала» are all imperfective pasts describing her habitual conduct in that first year — praying, keeping the feasts, driving him off. Imperfective past is the aspect of standing background and repeated action.
GrammarHedging particle «разве» «разве» here is the dubitative-concessive particle 'perhaps, unless, only maybe', softening the admission — 'just the one time, perhaps'. It hedges Fyodor's claim of never wronging her.
229
I think to myself, let me knock this mysticism out of her!
GrammarHortative «дай-ка» + perfective future «дай-ка выбью» is the self-exhortation 'let me knock out', where «дай» + the perfective future «выбью» ('I'll beat out') means 'come on, let me…'. The softening particle «-ка» makes it coaxing; «из неё» is «из» + genitive, 'out of her'.
Word«мистика» — 'mysticism' «мистика» ('mysticism, otherworldly stuff') is Fyodor's dismissive label for his wife's religious fervor. Calling her devotion «мистика» he means to 'beat' out reveals his coarse materialism set against her faith.
230
'You see,' I say, 'you see, here's your holy icon, here it is, watch me take it down.
GrammarInserted quotative «говорю» «говорю» ('I say') is dropped into the quoted taunt as a parenthetical quotative tag, the same device used earlier with «говорит». The repeated «видишь» ('you see') mimics live, jeering speech.
GrammarDemonstrative «вот» + perfective future «вот … сниму» — 'watch, I'll take it down now'. «вот» points to the imminent act and «сниму» (perfective future of «снять») names the single completed removal Fyodor is about to perform.
231
Now look here: you hold it for a wonder-worker, and I'm going to spit on it this minute, right before you, and nothing will come of it for me!..'
GrammarDative + double negation 'nothing will happen to me' «мне ничего … не будет» is an impersonal dative construction — 'nothing will come of it for me'. The experiencer «мне» is dative, «ничего … не» is negative concord, and «будет» is the future of «быть» used impersonally.
Grammar«плюнуть на» + accusative; «при» + prepositional «плюну на него» — 'I'll spit on it' (perfective future of «плюнуть», «на» + accusative for the target). «при тебе» ('in your presence') uses «при» + the prepositional «тебе» — exactly the cruelty: doing it before her eyes.
232
When she saw it — Lord, I think, now she'll kill me — but all she did was jump up, throw up her hands, then suddenly cover her face with her hands, begin shaking all over, and fall to the floor… just sank straight down…
GrammarChain of perfective pasts A rapid string of perfective pasts — «вскочила, всплеснула, закрыла, затряслась, пала» — drives the action forward event by event: jumped up, threw up [her hands], covered, began shaking, fell. Perfective is the narrative aspect that advances the sequence of completed acts.
Word«пала» — bookish 'fell' «пала» (from «пасть») is the elevated, literary counterpart of the everyday «упала» ('fell'). The loftier verb, echoed by «опустилась» ('sank down'), lends a solemn, almost liturgical fall to the swooning woman.
GrammarPerfective future inside thought «убьёт она меня теперь» — 'now she'll kill me' — is reported inner speech: the perfective future «убьёт» imagines a single completed act, with «господи, думаю» ('Lord, I think') framing it as a flash of dread.
233
Alyosha, Alyosha! What's wrong, what's wrong with you!"
GrammarIdiomatic «что с тобой» (+ instrumental) «что с тобой?» — 'what's wrong with you?' — is a fixed idiom using «с» + the instrumental «тобой», literally 'what [is] with you'. It is the ordinary Russian way of asking after someone's sudden distress.
234
The old man jumped up in fright.
Grammar«в испуге» — state expressed with «в» + prepositional «в испуге» ('in fright') uses «в» + the prepositional «испуге» to express the emotional state accompanying the act «вскочил» ('jumped up'). Russian frequently names a state of feeling this way, 'in fear / in joy'.
235
From the very moment he had begun to speak about his mother, Alyosha's face had little by little begun to change.
GrammarInceptive «стал» + imperfective infinitive «стал изменяться» pairs the perfective «стать» ('began to') with the imperfective infinitive «изменяться» ('to change') — 'began to change'. «стать» + imperfective infinitive is the standard inceptive 'started doing'; «в лице» = 'in [the] face'.
Word«мало-помалу» — little by little «мало-помалу» is a fixed reduplicative adverb 'little by little, gradually'. Its slow, paired rhythm fits the gradual transformation of Alyosha's face.
236
He had flushed red, his eyes had blazed up, his lips had trembled…
GrammarIngressive perfectives «покраснел» ('flushed'), «загорелись» ('blazed up'), «вздрогнули» ('quivered') are perfective pasts marking the onset of new states — the «по-» and «за-» prefixes are ingressive, naming the moment a process begins. Together they paint Alyosha's sudden physical change.
237
The drunken old wretch went on spluttering and noticed nothing until the very minute when something very strange happened to Alyosha all at once — namely, that the very same thing was suddenly repeated in him, point for point, that he had just been telling about the 'shrieker.'
Word«старикашка» — contemptible old man «старикашка» carries the pejorative suffix «-ашк-», belittling «старик» ('old man') into 'a wretched/nasty little old man'. The narrator's word choice tilts our view of Fyodor as he splutters on, oblivious.
GrammarReflexive «повториться» + «то же, что» relative «повторилось … то же самое, что … рассказал» — 'the very same thing repeated that he had told'. The middle-voice «-ся» verb «повториться» ('to recur'), the correlative «то же самое» ('the very same'), and the relative «что» knit the eerie repetition together.
Word«точь-в-точь» — exactly, point for point «точь-в-точь» is an expressive reduplicated adverb 'exactly, precisely the same, point for point'. Its insistent repetition (it recurs in the next sentence) underscores the uncanny mirroring of mother in son.
238
Alyosha suddenly sprang up from the table, exactly as, by the account, his mother had done, threw up his hands, then covered his face with them, dropped onto a chair as if cut down, and all at once began shaking all over in a hysterical fit of sudden, convulsing, soundless tears.
GrammarPerfective cascade mirroring the mother Alyosha's actions repeat the mother's in the same perfective-past cascade — «вскочил, всплеснул, закрыл, упал, затрясся» — deliberately echoing «вскочила, всплеснула, закрыла … затряслась» of segment 232. The matched aspect and verbs make the resemblance grammatical as well as thematic.
Word«как подкошенный» — as if mown down «как подкошенный» (from «подкосить», 'to cut down at the root, scythe') is a set simile for collapsing suddenly and helplessly — 'as if cut down'. «подкошенный» is a past passive participle frozen into the idiom.
GrammarCause with «от» + genitive «затрясся … от … припадка … слёз» uses «от» + genitive to give the cause of the shaking — 'from a hysterical fit of … tears'. «от» + genitive regularly marks the involuntary cause of a physical reaction.
239
The extraordinary resemblance to the mother particularly struck the old man.
GrammarSubject-object distinguished by case Word order puts the long subject «необычайное сходство» first and the object «старика» (animate accusative = genitive) last around the perfective «поразило» ('struck'). Case, not position, keeps subject and object apart; «с матерью» is «с» + instrumental, 'resemblance with/to the mother'.
240
"Ivan, Ivan! Quick, get him some water.
GrammarElliptical command + dative + partitive genitive «скорей ему воды» is a verbless, urgent command — the verb 'give/bring' is omitted. «ему» is the dative recipient ('to him') and «воды» a partitive genitive ('some water'), the genitive used for an indefinite quantity of a mass noun.
241
It is like her, exactly like her, like his mother that time!
Word«точь-в-точь» — exactly so A reduplicative colloquial intensifier meaning 'exactly, to a tee, the spitting image'. It heightens «как она» ('like her') into an uncanny precision — the old man sees his dead wife in Alyosha's face.
GrammarZero copula in the present Russian uses no verb 'to be' in the present, so «Это как она… как тогда его мать» strings predicates onto an implied 'is'. The naked nominative «мать» stands as the present-tense complement with no link verb.
242
Spray some water from your mouth onto him — that is what I used to do with her.
GrammarPerfective imperative «вспрысни» A perfective imperative (from «вспрыснуть», 'to sprinkle/spray once') formed with stressed -и on a consonant stem. The perfective frames it as a single decisive act — do it now, once — rather than the repeated habit named just after in «я так… делал».
GrammarImperfective past of habit «делал» The imperfective past «делал» reports a repeated, customary action: 'that is what I used to do'. Against the one-shot perfective command «вспрысни», it sets habit (background) beside a single event (foreground).
Grammar«с той» — bare demonstrative as a person The demonstrative «тот» in the instrumental feminine «с той» stands alone, without a noun: 'with that one (woman)'. Avoiding her name, the old man refers to his dead wife only as 'her' — «с» governs the instrumental of accompaniment.
243
It is on account of his mother, his own mother… — he muttered to Ivan.
Grammar«за» + accusative; reflexive «свою» «за» with the accusative here means 'on account of, for the sake of'. The reflexive possessive «свою» ('his own') points back to the clause's subject — it is Alyosha's own mother, not someone else's; «его» would have pointed elsewhere.
GrammarImperfective «бормотал» — muttering as process The imperfective past presents the muttering as an ongoing, unfocused process rather than a finished utterance, which suits the old man's drunken, repetitive trailing-off (note the repeated «за мать свою»).
244
— But surely my mother too, I suppose, was his mother — or what is your opinion? — Ivan burst out all at once, with an irrepressible, wrathful scorn.
GrammarParticles «да» and «ведь» Ivan opens with a cluster of speech particles: «да» as an emphatic 'but, why' launching the retort, and «ведь» appealing to a shared, obvious fact ('surely, after all'). They carry the indignant 'but you know perfectly well…' that English can only render with stress.
GrammarInstrumental predicate dropped — bare nominative in the past Here «моя… мать… его мать была» links two nouns with past «была»; in elevated/neutral style a predicate after «быть» would often take the instrumental («была его матерью»). The nominative «мать» keeps the identification flat and insistent, as if stating a plain equation.
GrammarPolite «вы» turned to a sneer «как вы полагаете» ('what is your opinion') uses the formal/plural «вы» to a father — and «полагать» is a bookish, deliberative verb for 'to suppose'. The cold formality is itself the scorn: Ivan addresses his father like a stranger.
Word«прорваться» — to burst out Literally 'to break/burst through' (as a dam or abscess), the reflexive «прорвался» pictures Ivan's scorn finally rupturing the surface — long-pent feeling forcing its way out, not a mere 'said'.
245
The old man flinched at the sudden flash of his glare.
GrammarPerfective «вздрогнул» — a single flinch The perfective past names one instantaneous, completed start of fright. The prefix «вз-» adds the sense of an abrupt upward jolt — a body's involuntary twitch caught in a single point of time.
GrammarPast active participle «засверкавшего» «засверкавший» is a past active participle from «засверкать» ('to begin flashing'), declined here in the genitive after «от». It packs a whole relative clause — 'the glare that had begun to flash' — into one bookish adjective, a hallmark of Dostoevsky's narration.
246
But here something very strange happened — for one second only, it is true: it seems the old man had genuinely lost hold of the notion that Alyosha's mother had also been Ivan's mother…
GrammarNeuter «случилось» with indefinite «нечто» The reflexive «случиться» ('to happen') takes its subject «нечто» ('something'), an indefinite neuter pronoun; the verb and adjective all agree in neuter singular. «нечто» is more bookish than «что-то».
GrammarTopic–comment: subject after the verb The grammatical subject «соображение» ('the notion') comes last, after «выскочило из ума» ('jumped out of the mind'); the new, weighty information is held to the end. Free word order, licensed by the case endings, here mimics the thought slipping away before it is named.
GrammarInstrumental predicate «матерью» In the «что»-clause the predicate noun after «была» takes the instrumental: «была… матерью Ивана» ('had been Ivan's mother'). This is the standard instrumental of the predicate in the past tense, framing the role rather than naming an identity.
Word«соображение» — the grasping of a fact A noun in bookish -ение from «соображать» ('to make sense of, work out'). Less 'an idea' than 'the mental hold on a fact': the old man had, for a second, genuinely lost his grip on knowing the two boys shared a mother.
247
— How do you mean, your mother? — he mumbled, not understanding.
GrammarVerbless astonishment with «как так» «Как так твоя мать?» has no verb at all — an idiomatic 'How do you mean, your mother?' «как так» is a set colloquial expression of baffled disbelief, the bare nominative «твоя мать» echoing Ivan's words back as a question.
GrammarImperfective gerund «не понимая» «понимая» is an imperfective present gerund (деепричастие): 'while not understanding'. It names an attendant circumstance simultaneous with «пробормотал», sharing that verb's subject — the old man mumbles and fails to grasp at the same moment.
248
— What are you on about? Which mother do you mean?.. why, was she really… Ah, the devil!
Grammar«за что» — 'what for, on what grounds' «за что» (literally «за» + accusative «что») asks 'for what reason, what have I done to deserve this'. The dangling «это» and absent verb give the clipped, drunk-startled syntax of speech: 'What are you on about?'
Grammar«про» + accusative; interrogative «какую» «про» governs the accusative and means 'about, concerning' — colloquial beside the more formal «о» + prepositional. «какую» is the interrogative «какой» ('which/what kind') agreeing with «мать» in accusative feminine.
GrammarParticle «разве» — incredulous question «разве» opens a question expecting a startled 'surely not?': 'why, was she really…'. Trailing off unfinished, it marks the moment realization dawns. Like «ведь» and «же», it colours the utterance with the speaker's disbelief.
249
Why, of course she was yours too!
Grammar«да ведь… и» — 'why, of course… too' A verbless exclamation: «она и твоя» = 'she (is) yours too', with zero copula. «да ведь» insists on the now-obvious shared fact and «и» here means 'also' — the old man concedes the point he had momentarily forgotten.
250
Ah, the devil!
Word«Ах, чёрт!» — the devil! A mild oath, «чёрт» being the folk devil. Repeated here (it closes s248 and stands alone as s250), it is Fyodor Pavlovich's habitual buffoon's exclamation — and, in a novel obsessed with the devil, never quite innocent.
251
Well, brother, my mind went blank as never before — forgive me, I had thought, Ivan… He-he-he! — He broke off.
Word«брат» as familiar address Here «брат» ('brother') is not literal kinship but a chummy buttonholing vocative — 'old chap, my friend' — flung at Ivan to smooth over the gaffe. The forced intimacy is pure Fyodor Pavlovich.
Word«затмение» — eclipse, blackout Literally an 'eclipse' (of sun or moon), «затмение» is used figuratively for a sudden mental blackout: 'my mind went dark'. The bookish -ение noun lends his excuse a mock-grand, theatrical color.
GrammarImperative «извини» (singular) A perfective imperative, 'forgive (me)', addressed with the intimate singular «ты» — the same familiarity as «брат». Note he flips to it after the icy «вы» Ivan had just used; the asymmetry is the father trying to reclaim closeness.
252
A long, drunken, half-witless grin spread his face wide.
GrammarStacked agreeing adjectives Three adjectives — «длинная, пьяная, полубессмысленная» — all agree with feminine singular «усмешка» in the nominative, building the grin detail by detail before the verb «раздвинула» arrives.
Word«усмешка» — a smirk, not a smile Distinct from «улыбка» (an open smile), «усмешка» is a knowing, sardonic, or leering grin. With «полубессмысленная» ('half-witless') it captures the drunk, half-vacant smirk spreading across his face.
253
And just then, at that very instant, there rose up in the entrance hall a fearful din and clatter, frenzied shouts rang out, the door flew open, and Dmitri Fyodorovich came hurtling into the room.
GrammarChain of perfectives drives the action A rapid string of perfective past verbs — «раздался», «послышались», «распахнулась», «влетел» — fires off one completed event after another, the perfective's job in narrative: it moves the scene forward in sharp, sequential bursts.
GrammarSubject held to the end for impact The adverbials and verb come first; the subject «Дмитрий Федорович» bursts in last, mirroring his eruption into the room. This topic-comment ordering — known information first, the new arrival climactically last — is exactly what free word order buys.
Word«сени» — the entrance passage «сени» (only plural, here prepositional «в сенях») is the unheated entry hall or vestibule of a traditional Russian house, between the porch and the living rooms. The din comes from this threshold space before Dmitri bursts through into the «зала».
254
The old man flung himself at Ivan in terror:
Grammar«броситься к» + dative The reflexive perfective «бросился» ('flung himself') takes «к» governing the dative «Ивану» — 'rushed toward Ivan'. «к» + dative is the standard frame for motion toward a person.
Grammar«в испуге» — state in the prepositional «в» + prepositional «испуге» expresses the state he is in — 'in fright, in terror'. Russian often locates an emotion as a place one is inside of («в страхе», «в гневе»).
255
— He will kill me, he will kill me! Don't give me up, don't give me up! — he kept crying out, clutching at the skirt of Ivan Fyodorovich's frock coat.
GrammarPerfective present = future «убьёт» «убьёт» is the perfective «убить» conjugated like a present, which yields a single completed future: 'he will kill (me)'. There is no auxiliary — the future sits in the ending. The doubling conveys panic.
GrammarNegated imperfective imperative «не давай» Under negation the imperative normally switches to the imperfective: «не давай» (not «не дай») — 'don't give me up, don't let them have me'. Negated commands take the imperfective for a general prohibition or plea.
GrammarPerfective gerund «вцепившись» A perfective past gerund (деепричастие) in -вшись from the reflexive «вцепиться» ('to clutch at'): 'having clutched / clutching'. It marks the prior/accompanying action of the same subject as «выкрикивал», and «вцепиться в» governs the accusative «полу».
Word«пола сюртука» — the skirt of a frock coat «пола» (here accusative «полу») is the front flap or tail of a coat; a «сюртук» is the long 19th-century frock coat of a gentleman. He grabs the very hem of Ivan's coat — a vivid, abasing detail of the cowering old man.

The particulars

The text: Братья Карамазовы, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Book III — The Sensualists.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents