# The Brothers Karamazov, At the Hohlakovs'

Братья Карамазовы · Fyodor Dostoevsky · Book IV — Lacerations

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b4-c4. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b4-c4.json.


Скоро подошел он к дому госпожи Хохлаковой, к дому каменному, собственному, двухэтажному, красивому, из лучших домов в нашем городке.  
Soon he came up to the house of Madame Hohlakov, a stone house, her own, of two storeys, a handsome one, among the finest houses in our little town.
> Adjectives trailing after the noun: Instead of the usual order («к каменному дому»), Dostoevsky strings the adjectives after «дому», each in the dative to agree with it («каменному, собственному, двухэтажному, красивому»). The postposed, comma-stacked list mimics an appraising eye moving over the house feature by feature — a bookish, rhetorical inversion.
> Perfective «подошёл» and inverted subject: «подошёл» is the perfective of «подходить/подойти» (a prefixed verb of motion: «под-» = up to/toward), naming the single completed act of coming up to the house. The verb-then-subject order («подошёл он») throws the weight onto the arrival before naming who.
> «городок» — our little town: The diminutive of «город» (city/town), «городок» means a small provincial town, here warmed by the narrator's familiar «в нашем городке» (in our little town). The suffix conveys modest scale and intimate affection rather than literal smallness.

Хотя госпожа Хохлакова проживала большею частию в другой губернии, где имела поместье, или в Москве, где имела собственный дом, но и в нашем городке у нее был свой дом, доставшийся от отцов и дедов.  
Although Madame Hohlakov lived for the greater part in another province, where she had an estate, or in Moscow, where she owned a house of her own, she also had her own house here in our little town, one that had come down to her from her fathers and grandfathers.
> «Хотя… но» — although… yet: «Хотя» (although) opens the concessive subordinate clause; Russian then frequently resumes the main clause with a redundant «но» (but) — «Хотя… проживала… но… у неё был свой дом» — a pairing English drops. The «и» here is the additive particle "also."
> Imperfective for the standing background: «проживала» (lived/resided) and «имела» (had) are imperfective pasts describing an ongoing, habitual state — where she usually lived, what she possessed — the standing background against which the story's events will move.
> Past active participle «доставшийся»: «доставшийся» is the past active participle of «достаться» (to fall to one's lot, come down to), with the reflexive «-ся», agreeing with «дом» — "[the house] that had come down to her." Such participles compress a «который»-clause into one modifier, a hallmark of literary narration.
> "From fathers and grandfathers": Literally "inherited from fathers and grandfathers," this set phrase means an ancestral inheritance handed down through the generations; we render it "come down to her from her fathers and grandfathers." Note the genitive plural endings after «от»: «отцов» (from «отец») and «дедов» (from «дед»).

Да и поместье ее, которое имела она в нашем уезде, было самое большое из всех трех ее поместий, а между тем приезжала она доселе в нашу губернию весьма редко.  
And indeed the estate she owned in our district was the largest of all three of her estates, yet she had until now come to our province only very rarely.
> Relative «которое»: «которое» (which) is neuter to agree with its antecedent «поместье», but stands in the accusative as the object of «имела» within its own clause — the relative's gender/number come from the antecedent, its case from its job inside the clause.
> Superlative «самое большое» + genitive after a numeral: The superlative is built with «самое» (the very) agreeing with «большое». «трёх… поместий» shows the numeral chain: «три» normally takes the genitive singular, but governed here by «из» the whole phrase declines, yielding genitive plural «поместий».
> Discourse connectives «да и» and «между тем»: «Да и» opens the sentence as an emphatic "and indeed, what's more," while «а между тем» ("and yet, meanwhile") pivots to a contrast — she owned the largest estate yet rarely came. The contrastive «а» hinges the two facts against each other.
> «доселе» — until now: «доселе» is a bookish, archaic adverb meaning "up to now, hitherto," markedly more literary than the everyday «до сих пор». It lends the narrator's aside a period-elevated, chronicling tone.

Она выбежала к Алеше еще в прихожую.  
She ran out to meet Alyosha while he was still in the entrance hall.
> Prefixed motion «выбежала» + accusative of goal: «выбежала» is perfective, «вы-» (out) + «бежать» (run) — she ran out to meet him. «в прихожую» takes the accusative after «в» because it expresses motion toward a place (into the entrance hall), not location in it.
> «прихожая» — the entrance hall: «прихожая» (from «приходить», to arrive) is the entrance hall or front room of a house where guests first step in. Grammatically it is an adjective-turned-noun, hence its adjectival ending and declension.

— Получили, получили письмо о новом чуде? — быстро, нервно заговорила она.  
"Did you get it, did you get the letter about the new miracle?" she began rapidly, nervously.
> Doubled perfective «получили»: «получили» (perfective, "received/got") names the single completed act; the breathless repetition «Получили, получили» is pure Hohlakov agitation. With the subject pronoun dropped, the polite/plural form quietly addresses Alyosha as «вы».
> Inceptive perfective «заговорила»: The prefix «за-» on «говорить» gives «заговорить», "to begin speaking, start talking" — a perfective that marks the onset of an action. We render it "she began."

— Да, получил.  
"Yes, I got it."
> Masculine past «получил»: Alyosha answers with the bare perfective past «получил» ("[I] got it"), the «-л» form, here masculine singular to agree with the male speaker. Pronoun «я» is dropped — the ending and context carry it.

— Распространили, показали всем?  
"Have you passed it round, shown it to everyone?
> Paired perfectives, dative «всем»: Both verbs are perfective ("have you circulated it, shown it"), again with the subject dropped. «всем» is the dative plural of «все» (everyone) — the indirect object of «показали», to whom it was shown.

Он матери сына возвратил!  
He gave a son back to his mother!"
> Dative + accusative + verb-final word order: "He gave a son back to his mother": «матери» is dative (the recipient, to the mother), «сына» accusative (the gift, animate so genitive-like ending), and the verb «возвратил» lands at the very end for emotional climax — free word order arranging given-before-new.

— Он сегодня умрет, — сказал Алеша.  
"He will die today," said Alyosha.
> Perfective future «умрёт»: «умрёт» is the perfective of «умирать/умереть» (to die), conjugated with present-tense endings to yield a simple future: "he will die [and be dead]." There is no auxiliary — the future sits in the ending alone.

— Слышала, знаю, о, как я желаю с вами говорить!  
"I heard it, I know, oh, how I long to talk with you!
> Feminine past «слышала»: «Слышала» carries the feminine «-ла» ending — the past tense agrees in gender, marking the female speaker — while «знаю» is a present. The leap from past to present mirrors her scattered, headlong speech.
> Exclamatory «как» + instrumental after «с»: «как» here is exclamatory ("how I long…"), not a question. «с вами» takes the instrumental after «с» (with) — the «вами» is the instrumental of polite «вы».

С вами или с кем-нибудь обо всем этом.  
With you, or with someone, about all of this.
> Indefinite «кем-нибудь»: «кем-нибудь» is the instrumental of «кто-нибудь», "someone, anyone at all." The particle «-нибудь» marks a non-specific referent — any interlocutor would do — which she then instantly rejects in favour of Alyosha.
> «обо всём этом» — about all this: After «о» (about) the prepositional case is required; «всём этом» is the prepositional of «всё это» (all this). The form «обо» (rather than «о») appears before certain consonant clusters for ease of speech.

Нет, с вами, с вами!  
No, with you, with you!

И как жаль, что мне никак нельзя его видеть!  
And what a pity that there is no way at all for me to see him!
> Dative-subject impersonal «мне нельзя»: A classic impersonal: there is no nominative subject. The experiencer stands in the dative («мне»), and «нельзя» (it is impossible / not allowed) plus the infinitive «видеть» states what she cannot do. «никак» (in no way at all) intensifies the impossibility.
> «как жаль» — what a pity: «жаль» is an impersonal predicate word ("it is a pity"), again with no nominative subject; the exclamatory «как» heightens it. The whole turn is the dative-experiencer mode so pervasive in Dostoevsky's emotional speech.

Весь город возбужден, все в ожидании.  
The whole town is stirred up, everyone is in suspense.
> Short-form participle «возбуждён»: «возбуждён» is the predicative short form of the past passive participle of «возбудить» (to stir up): "[the town] is stirred up." Short forms predicate only, and here state a resulting condition. Note the contrast «весь город» (the whole town) vs «все» (everyone).

Но теперь… знаете ли, что у нас теперь сидит Катерина Ивановна?  
But now... do you know who is sitting with us at this moment? Katerina Ivanovna!"
> Interrogative particle «ли»: «знаете ли» fronts the focused verb and tacks on the enclitic «ли» to form a literary yes/no question, "do you know…?" It is more formal and bookish than mere question intonation and is frequent in Dostoevsky.
> «у нас сидит» — present for vividness: «сидит» is the imperfective present ("is sitting"), here for vivid immediacy; «у нас» ("at our place, with us") uses «у» + genitive, the standard way Russian locates a person at someone's home or household.

— Ах, это счастливо! — воскликнул Алеша. — Вот я с ней и увижусь у вас, она вчера велела мне непременно прийти к ней сегодня.  
"Ah, how fortunate!" exclaimed Alyosha. "Then I shall see her here at your house; she told me yesterday that I must come to her without fail today."
> Reciprocal «-ся» in «увижусь»: «увижусь» (perfective future of «увидеться») carries reflexive «-ся» in its reciprocal sense — "I shall see / meet with [her]." The «-ся» turns "see" into mutual seeing, and «с ней» names the other party.
> «велела» + dative + infinitive: «велеть» (to order, bid) governs the dative of the person bidden («мне») and an infinitive of the deed («прийти», perfective, to come). «непременно» ("without fail") underscores the insistence.
> Framing particles «вот… и»: «Вот… и» frames a conclusion drawn on the spot: "So that's how I'll get to see her." The «и» is emphatic rather than "and," and «вот» points to the lucky upshot of her being here.

— Я всё знаю, всё знаю.  
"I know everything, everything.
> Neuter «всё» as object: «всё» here is the neuter pronoun "everything," the accusative object of «знаю». Its repetition is again Hohlakov's emphatic, overwrought style. (Note: «всё» with the dots differs from «все», "everyone.")

Я слышала всё до подробности о том, что было у ней вчера… и обо всех этих ужасах с этою… тварью.  
I have heard every detail of what happened at her place yesterday... and about all those horrors with that... creature.
> Correlative «о том, что…»: «о том, что было» = "about that which happened": the demonstrative «том» (prepositional after «о») sets up a correlative, and «что» opens the dependent clause. «у ней» is an older/colloquial variant of «у неё» (at her place).
> Archaic instrumental «этою»: «этою» is the older bookish instrumental of «эта» (modern «этой»), agreeing with «тварью» after «с». The trailing dash before «тварью» dramatizes her recoil from naming the woman.
> «тварь» as an insult: Originally «тварь» means "a created being, creature" (from «творить», "to create"), and in religious language it can denote all of God's creation. Used of a person, as here, it is a strong insult—roughly "vile creature, wretch." We keep the literal "creature," but in context it is plainly contemptuous.
> «до подробности» — down to the last detail: «до подробности» (literally "to the detail") is an idiom meaning "in full detail, down to the smallest particular." «до» + genitive marks the extent reached.

C’est tragique,<ref>Это трагично (франц.).</ref> и я бы на ее месте, — я не знаю, что б я сделала на ее месте!  
C’est tragique,<ref>It is tragic (French).</ref> and in her place I—I do not know what I would do in her place!
> Conditional with «бы»: Twice the irrealis particle «бы» (here also clipped to «б») joins a past-tense form to make the conditional: «что б я сделала на её месте» = "what I would do in her place." The mobile «бы» leans on the focused word, and «сделала» is the perfective past base of the hypothetical.

Но и брат-то ваш, Дмитрий-то Федорович ваш, каков — о боже!  
But your brother too, that Dmitri Fyodorovich of yours, what a man—oh God!
> Topic-marking clitic «-то»: The hyphenated «-то» on «брат-то» and «Дмитрий-то» is the emphatic topic clitic — "as for your brother, that Dmitri of yours…" — singling out a known referent with a faintly insinuating, gossipy stress. This is distinct from the indefinite «-то» of «кто-то».
> Exclamatory «каков»: «каков» is the short interrogative-exclamatory "what (a sort of)" — here a free-standing exclamation, "what a man!" It is the predicative counterpart of «какой», markedly expressive and bookish.
> «о боже» — oh God: «боже» is the Church-Slavonic vocative of «бог» (God), surviving in modern Russian only in such exclamations of address and prayer. Here it is a society-lady's expressive sigh rather than devotion.

Алексей Федорович, я сбиваюсь, представьте: там теперь сидит ваш брат, то есть не тот, не ужасный вчерашний, а другой, Иван Федорович, сидит и с ней говорит: разговор у них торжественный…  
Alexei Fyodorovich, I am getting muddled, only imagine: your brother is sitting in there now—that is, not that one, not the dreadful one from yesterday, but the other, Ivan Fyodorovich—he is sitting and talking with her, and theirs is a solemn conversation...
> Self-correction with «то есть» and contrastive «а»: «то есть» ("that is") flags a correction, and the contrastive «а» pivots from what is denied to what is meant: "not that one… but the other." «тот» (that, the farther/aforesaid) and «другой» (the other) track which brother amid her muddle.
> Zero copula + «у них»: "Theirs is a solemn conversation" has no verb "to be" — the present-tense copula is simply omitted, leaving «разговор… торжественный». «у них» ("with them, between them") again uses «у» + genitive to locate the conversation as theirs.
> Reflexive «сбиваюсь»: «сбиваться» (with «-ся») means "to get muddled, lose one's thread" — a middle/change-of-state use of the reflexive, not a true "do to oneself." The present tense gives her live, ongoing confusion.

И если бы вы только поверили, что между ними теперь происходит, — то это ужасно, это, я вам скажу, надрыв, это ужасная сказка, которой поверить ни за что нельзя: оба губят себя неизвестно для чего, сами знают про это и сами наслаждаются этим.  
And if only you could believe what is passing between them now—it is dreadful, it is, I tell you, a laceration, it is a dreadful tale that one simply cannot believe: the two of them are destroying themselves no one knows why, they know it themselves and they themselves take pleasure in it.
> Counterfactual «если бы»: «если бы… поверили» is the counterfactual conditional: «если бы» plus the past-tense form makes a contrary-to-fact "if only you could believe…". The particle «только» ("just, only") heightens the wished-for note.
> Relative «которой» in the dative + negative impersonal: «которой» is dative because «поверить» (to believe) governs the dative; "a tale one cannot believe." «ни за что нельзя» ("by no means is it possible") is a negative impersonal: «нельзя» + infinitive, intensified by «ни за что».
> Reflexive «себя», intensive «сами»: «губят себя» uses the reflexive pronoun «себя» ("themselves," a full object) — they are destroying themselves; «сами» is the intensifier "they themselves," and «наслаждаются этим» (delight in this) takes the instrumental «этим» after the «-ся» verb «наслаждаться».
> «надрыв» — the "laceration" of Book IV: «надрыв» (from «надорвать», "to tear/strain") is the keyword of this whole book, which is titled «Надрывы» ("Lacerations"). It names a peculiarly Dostoevskian state: a self-inflicted emotional rupture in which people deliberately torment themselves and others, taking a painful pleasure in it. We render it "laceration," but there is no single tidy English equivalent.

Я вас ждала!  
I was waiting for you!
> Imperfective «ждала» + accusative «вас»: «ждала» (feminine past of imperfective «ждать», to wait) views the waiting as a drawn-out process — "I was waiting for you." «ждать» here takes the accusative «вас» (you, a person). This line is paired by sound with the next.

Я вас жаждала!  
I was thirsting for you!
> «жаждала» — a sound-pun on «ждала»: «жаждать» means "to thirst, crave, long for" (literally "to be thirsty"), an elevated, almost biblical verb. Dostoevsky sets «ждала» (waited) beside «жаждала» (thirsted) for a deliberate near-rhyme — Hohlakov topping her own phrase, intensity outrunning sense.

Я, главное, этого вынести не могу.  
The chief thing is, I cannot bear it.
> Genitive of negation «этого»: Under the negated «не могу… вынести», the object slips from accusative «это» to genitive «этого» — "I cannot bear it." Such genitive-of-negation is especially natural with abstract objects. Fronting «этого» throws the weight onto what she can't endure.

Я сейчас вам всё расскажу, но теперь другое и уже самое главное, — ах, ведь я даже и забыла, что это самое главное: скажите, почему с Lise истерика?  
I will tell you everything presently, but now there is something else, and the most important thing of all—ah, why, I had even forgotten that this is the most important thing: tell me, why has Lise had a fit of hysterics?"
> Perfective future «расскажу»: «расскажу» (perfective «рассказать», to tell through) conjugated in present-form endings is a simple future: "I will tell [it all]." The perfective frames the telling as a single, to-be-completed act.
> Appealing particle «ведь»: «ведь» appeals to shared knowledge or self-evidence — "why, you see, after all" — softening her confession that she'd forgotten the main point. It is one of the modal particles that give Dostoevsky's dialogue its conversational texture.
> Verbless «у»-construction implied: "Why is Lise in hysterics" is rendered with no verb: «с Lise истерика» (literally "with Lise [there is] hysterics") — «с» + instrumental names the person seized by the state. Russian readily states such conditions without a copula.

Только что она услыхала, что вы подходите, и с ней тотчас же началась истерика!  
"The moment she heard you were coming, she fell straight into hysterics!"
> «только что» + present «подходите»: «Только что» means "the moment that, just as soon as." Note «подходите» is present ("are approaching") inside reported speech: Russian keeps the original tense of the reported thought rather than backshifting it as English does.
> Reflexive «началась» + «с ней»: «началась» (perfective past of «начаться», with «-ся») is the intransitive "began, set in," agreeing feminine with «истерика». «с ней» ("with her") again frames the person overtaken by the fit; «тотчас же» = "at once, instantly."

— Maman, это с вами теперь истерика, а не со мной, — прощебетал вдруг в щелочку голосок Lise из боковой комнаты.  
"Maman, it's you who are in hysterics now, not me," a little voice chirped suddenly through a crack in the door—Lise's voice, from the adjoining room.
> Contrastive «а не» with «с»-construction: Lise turns her mother's own frame back on her: «с вами… истерика, а не со мной» — "it's with you the hysterics is, and not with me." The contrastive «а не» sharply opposes the two; «с вами»/«со мной» are instrumental after «с».
> Diminutive «голосок» + «прощебетал»: «голосок» is the affectionate diminutive of «голос» (voice) — a "little voice," fitting Lise's teasing girlishness. «прощебетал» (from «щебетать», to chirp/twitter, of birds) paints the voice as a quick bird-chirp, charmingly belittling the outburst.
> Diminutive «щёлочка»: «щёлочка» is the diminutive of «щель» (crack, chink) — "a tiny crack," the gap in the door through which Lise speaks. The suffix shrinks it endearingly, matching the playful scene.

Щелочка была самая маленькая, а голосок надрывчатый, точь-в-точь такой, когда ужасно хочется засмеяться, но изо всех сил перемогаешь смех.  
The crack was a tiny one, and the little voice was strained, exactly the way it sounds when one terribly wants to laugh but is fighting back the laughter with all one's might.
> Impersonal «хочется» vs personal «перемогаешь»: «хочется» ("one feels like") is impersonal-reflexive, the wanting that simply comes over you; «перемогаешь» is the 2nd-person singular used generically ("one fights back"), a vivid Russian way of saying "you/one." The pairing captures the inner struggle to hold in laughter.
> «надрывчатый» — a strained little voice: «надрывчатый» derives from the same root as «надрыв» (the book's keyword, "laceration"): a voice that is "strained, on the verge of breaking." Dostoevsky slips the leitmotif even into the timbre of Lise's suppressed laughter.
> «точь-в-точь» — exactly so: «точь-в-точь» is a colloquial reduplicated idiom meaning "exactly, precisely, the very spit of" — here "exactly the way it sounds when…". The doubling gives it an emphatic, folksy ring.

Алеша тотчас же заметил эту щелочку, и, наверно, Lise со своих кресел на него из нее выглядывала, но этого уж он разглядеть не мог.  
Alyosha noticed the little crack at once, and Lise, no doubt, was peering out at him through it from her chair, but that much he could not make out.
> Imperfective «выглядывала» for ongoing peeping: «выглядывала» is imperfective past ("was peering out"), framing the looking as ongoing and habitual through the scene. Stacked prepositional phrases «на него» (accusative, at him) and «из неё» (genitive, out of it [the crack]) pile up the spatial detail.
> Genitive of negation + fronting: «этого… не мог» fronts the genitive object before the verb for emphasis: "that much he could not make out." Under the negated «не мог… разглядеть», the object «это» appears as genitive «этого». The particle «уж» adds a resigned "however" tinge.

— Не мудрено, Lise, не мудрено… от твоих же капризов и со мной истерика будет, а впрочем, она так больна, Алексей Федорович, она всю ночь была так больна, в жару, стонала!  
"No wonder, Lise, no wonder... your whims will give me hysterics too. But for all that she really is ill, Alexei Fyodorovich, she was so ill all night, feverish, moaning!
> «от» + genitive of cause; «же» emphatic: «от твоих… капризов» uses «от» + genitive to give the cause — "from your very whims." The particle «же» ("the very, precisely your") sharpens the blame, and «истерика будет» is the compound future implied by «будет» — "there'll be hysterics for me too."
> Short adjective «больна» + imperfective chain: «больна» is the short (predicative) feminine adjective "ill," stating her condition; «была… больна… стонала» chains imperfective pasts to paint the whole feverish night as drawn-out process. «всю ночь» (accusative) marks duration.
> «не мудрено» — no wonder: «не мудрено» (literally "it is not cunning/difficult") is a fixed colloquial idiom meaning "no wonder, small wonder, it's not surprising." «мудрёный» means tricky or hard to fathom.

Я насилу дождалась утра и Герценштубе.  
I could hardly wait for morning and for Herzenstube.
> Perfective «дождалась» — waited it out: «дождалась» (perfective «дождаться», with «-ся») means not merely "waited" but "waited until [something] finally came" — the prefix «до-» supplies the reaching of the longed-for endpoint. «насилу» ("barely, with great difficulty") stresses how she could hardly hold out.

Он говорит, что ничего не может понять и что надо обождать.  
He says he can make nothing of it and that we must wait.
> Negative concord «ничего… не»: «ничего… не может понять» shows obligatory negative concord: the negative pronoun «ничего» (nothing) and the negator «не» both appear — "can understand nothing." English uses one negative; Russian requires both. «ничего» is the genitive of «ничто».
> Impersonal «надо» + perfective infinitive: «надо обождать» is an impersonal necessity construction: «надо» (one must / it is necessary) plus the infinitive. «обождать» is a colloquial perfective of «ждать» (to wait a while), the «об-» giving it a casual, folksy ring.

Этот Герценштубе всегда придет и говорит, что ничего не может понять.  
This Herzenstube always comes and says he can make nothing of it.
> Perfective present for habitual action: Oddly to an English ear, «всегда придёт» pairs "always" with a perfective future-form verb: this is the perfective of habitual/typical recurrence — "every time he turns up and says…". It frames each visit as one complete, predictable little event.

Как только вы подошли к дому, она вскрикнула и с ней случился припадок, и приказала себя сюда в свою прежнюю комнату перевезть…  
The instant you came up to the house she shrieked and had an attack, and ordered herself carried here, into her old room..."
> «как только» — the instant that: «Как только» ("as soon as, the very instant") opens a temporal clause; the perfective «подошли» (you came up) names the single completed trigger, immediately followed by the chain of perfectives «вскрикнула… случился… приказала».
> Reflexive «себя» + archaic infinitive «перевезть»: «приказала себя… перевезть» — "ordered herself to be carried" — uses the reflexive pronoun «себя» as the object of carrying. «перевезть» is an archaic/colloquial infinitive of «перевезти» (to transport), the older «-зть» form lending a period flavour.
> «припадок» — a fit, an attack: «припадок» is a sudden seizure or fit — of illness, hysterics, or (elsewhere in Dostoevsky) epilepsy. Here it is Lise's nervous attack, the era's medicalized "hysterics."

— Мама, я совсем не знала, что он подходит, я вовсе не от него в эту комнату захотела переехать.  
"Mama, I had no idea at all that he was coming; it wasn't to get away from him that I wanted to move into this room."
> «от него» = to get away from; «вовсе не»: «не от него… захотела переехать» — literally "I didn't want to move because of/away from him." «от» + genitive «него» here marks the cause she's escaping. «вовсе не» ("not at all") emphatically negates the whole motive.
> Present in reported speech «подходит»: Again the reported clause keeps the present «подходит» ("that he was/is coming"): Russian preserves the tense of the original thought where English shifts it back. «что» is the reporting conjunction "that."

— Это уж неправда, Lise, тебе Юлия прибежала сказать, что Алексей Федорович идет, она у тебя на сторожах стояла.  
"That isn't true, Lise; Yulia ran to tell you that Alexei Fyodorovich was coming—she was standing watch for you."
> Dative «тебе» + purpose infinitive: «тебе… прибежала сказать» — "Yulia ran to tell you": «тебе» is the dative of «ты» (to you), and the infinitive «сказать» states the purpose of the running. «прибежала» is prefixed perfective motion («при-» = arriving).
> «на сторожах стоять» — to stand watch: «стоять на сторожах» (also «на стрёме») is a colloquial idiom for keeping a lookout, standing guard or watch. «сторож» is a watchman; the plural locative gives the sense of being posted on the alert.

— Милый голубчик мама, это ужасно неостроумно с вашей стороны.  
"My darling little mama, that was terribly unwitty of you.
> «голубчик» — a term of endearment: «голубчик» (literally "little dove," diminutive of «голубь») is a tender, coaxing endearment — "my dear, darling." Lise heaps it on with «милый» ("darling") to soften the teasing barb that follows. Such affectionate diminutives are a constant emotional signal in the dialogue.
> «с вашей стороны» — on your part: «с вашей стороны» ("on your side/part") uses «с» + genitive to attribute the quality to the doer: "that was terribly unwitty of you." «неостроумно» (un-witty) is an impersonal predicate adverb.

А если хотите поправиться и сказать сейчас что-нибудь очень умное, то скажите, милая мама, милостивому государю вошедшему Алексею Федоровичу, что он уже тем одним доказал, что не обладает остроумием, что решился прийти к нам сегодня после вчерашнего и несмотря на то, что над ним все смеются.  
And if you want to make up for it and say something very clever right now, then tell our newly arrived gracious lord Alexei Fyodorovich, dear mama, that by the mere fact of resolving to come to us today, after yesterday, and in spite of everyone laughing at him, he has already proved that he is no wit at all."
> Nested «что»-clauses: A bookish stack of subordinate clauses: «скажите… что он доказал, что не обладает остроумием, что решился прийти…». Each «что» opens a new layer of reported content, and Lise's deliberately convoluted syntax is the joke — an elaborate way of calling Alyosha witless.
> Past active participle «вошедшему»: «вошедшему» is the past active participle of «войти» (to enter), in the dative to agree with «Алексею Фёдоровичу» — "to the newly-entered Alexei Fyodorovich." Tucked as a modifier before the name, it is a mock-ceremonious flourish.
> «обладать» + instrumental: «обладать» (to possess, be endowed with) governs the instrumental: «обладает остроумием» = "possesses wit." Negated, it states that Alyosha is "no wit at all."

— Lise, ты слишком много себе позволяешь, и уверяю тебя, что я наконец прибегну к мерам строгости.  
"Lise, you take too many liberties, and I assure you that I shall finally be driven to stern measures."
> Reflexive «себе» — to allow oneself: «позволять себе» ("to allow oneself, take liberties") uses the dative reflexive «себе»: "you permit yourself too much." The idiom carries a reproof — taking liberties beyond what is proper.
> Perfective future «прибегну» + «к» dative: «прибегну» is the perfective future of «прибегнуть» (to resort to), "I shall resort to." «к мерам строгости» takes the dative after «к» — "to measures of severity." «мерам» is dative plural of «мера».

Кто ж над ним смеется, я так рада, что он пришел, он мне нужен, совсем необходим.  
"Who is laughing at him? I am so glad he has come; I need him, I cannot do without him."
> Emphatic «же» + «над» instrumental: «Кто ж» (= «кто же») uses the insistent particle «же» — "who on earth is laughing at him?". «смеяться над» (to laugh at, mock) governs «над» + instrumental «ним»; «смеётся» itself is a «-ся» verb existing only in that form.
> Short adjectives «нужен», «необходим» + dative: «нужен» and «необходим» are short predicative adjectives agreeing with «он» (he is needed, indispensable), and the one who needs stands in the dative «мне». "He is necessary to me" — the Russian frames need with the experiencer in the dative.

Ох, Алексей Федорович, я чрезвычайно несчастна!  
"Oh, Alexei Fyodorovich, I am extraordinarily unhappy!"
> Short adjective «несчастна»: «несчастна» is the short feminine form of «несчастный» (unhappy), used predicatively — "I am unhappy." The short form, more bookish, suits a heartfelt declaration of state. «чрезвычайно» ("extraordinarily") is Hohlakov's habitual overstatement.

— Да что ж такое с вами, мама-голубчик?  
"Why, what is the matter with you, mama dear?"
> Particle cluster «да… ж… такое»: A pile-up of conversational particles: «Да» (here "why, but"), «ж» (= «же», insistent), and «что такое» ("what's the matter, what on earth"). «с вами» (instrumental after «с») frames the trouble as happening to her — "what is the matter with you?"
> «мама-голубчик» — mama dear: Lise addresses her own mother, pairing «мама» with the endearment «голубчик» ("little dove, dear one"). The hyphenated apposition is a warm, coaxing form of address.

— Ах, эти твои капризы, Lise, непостоянство, твоя болезнь, эта ужасная ночь в жару, этот ужасный и вечный Герценштубе, главное вечный, вечный и вечный!  
"Ah, these whims of yours, Lise, your inconstancy, your illness, that dreadful night in a fever, this dreadful and everlasting Herzenstube, everlasting above all, everlasting, everlasting, and everlasting!
> Anaphoric «эти/эта/этот» piling up: Hohlakov heaps demonstratives — «эти… эта… этот… это» — each agreeing in gender/number with its noun, listing her grievances in a breathless accumulation. The repeated «этот/эта» (this) makes each woe vividly present and immediate.
> «вечный» — everlasting, in comic repetition: «вечный» means "eternal, everlasting." Applied to the ever-recurring Dr. Herzenstube and hammered four times over, it tips from solemn into comic exasperation — the doctor as an inescapable, perpetual nuisance.

И, наконец, всё, всё… И, наконец, даже это чудо!  
And then everything, everything... And then, on top of it all, this miracle!
> Emphatic «даже» — even, on top of it all: «даже» ("even") singles out the miracle as the climactic last straw atop her catalogue of troubles. The neuter demonstrative «это» agrees with «чудо» (miracle, a neuter «-о» noun).

О, как поразило, как потрясло меня это чудо, милый Алексей Федорович!  
Oh, how it struck me, how it shook me, this miracle, dear Alexei Fyodorovich!
> Exclamatory «как» + perfective verbs, postposed subject: Twin exclamatory «как» clauses with perfective pasts «поразило… потрясло» (it struck… it shook), the neuter agreeing with the postposed subject «это чудо». Holding the subject to the end lets the verbs of impact land first, the syntax enacting the shock.

И там эта трагедия теперь в гостиной, которую я не могу перенести, не могу, я вам заранее объявляю, что не могу.  
And there is this tragedy now in the drawing room, which I cannot endure, I cannot; I tell you in advance that I cannot.
> Relative «которую» in the accusative: «которую» (which) is feminine to match «трагедия», but accusative as the object of «перенести» (to endure) — "a tragedy which I cannot endure." The relative's case is set by its role in its own clause.
> Dative «вам» of address: «вам» is the dative of «вы» — "I announce to you in advance." «объявлять» (to declare, announce) takes the dative of the addressee. «заранее» = "beforehand, in advance."

Комедия, может быть, а не трагедия.  
A comedy, perhaps, rather than a tragedy.
> Contrastive «а не» — comedy, not tragedy: The narrator's dry aside opposes the two with «а не» ("and not, rather than"): "a comedy, perhaps, and not a tragedy." Both nouns stand bare in the nominative, no copula needed.

Скажите, старец Зосима еще проживет до завтра, проживет?  
Tell me, will the elder Zosima live until tomorrow, will he live?
> Perfective future «проживёт»: «проживёт» (perfective «прожить», to live out [a span]) in present-form endings is a simple future: "will he live [through]?" The prefix «про-» frames living-through a duration; «до завтра» = "until tomorrow," «до» + genitive of extent.

О боже мой!  
Oh my God!
> Vocative «боже» in «боже мой»: «боже» is the Church-Slavonic vocative of «бог» (God), preserved in this fixed exclamation "my God!" — direct address standing outside the clause's grammar. The everyday «бог» has otherwise lost its vocative.

Что со мной делается, я поминутно закрываю глаза и вижу, что всё вздор, всё вздор.  
What is happening to me—every minute I close my eyes and see that it is all nonsense, all nonsense."
> Reflexive «делается» — what is happening to me: «делаться» (with «-ся») is the intransitive "to happen, become" — «что со мной делается» = "what is happening to me." The «с» + instrumental «со мной» frames her as the one undergoing it. The present tense gives live bewilderment.
> Imperfective present for repeated action: «закрываю… вижу» are imperfective presents, and «поминутно» ("every minute, repeatedly") makes the repetition explicit — the habitual, recurring sense the imperfective carries. «всё вздор» (it's all rubbish) doubles for emphasis.
> «вздор» — nonsense, rubbish: «вздор» is a dismissive word for "nonsense, rubbish, twaddle." Doubled here («всё вздор, всё вздор»), it conveys her sense that her own agitated thoughts are worthless.

— Я бы очень вас попросил, — перебил вдруг Алеша, — дать мне какую-нибудь чистую тряпочку, чтобы завязать палец.  
"I would very much like to ask you," Alyosha suddenly broke in, "to give me some clean rag to bind up my finger.
> Conditional «бы» as polite softener: «Я бы… попросил» is the conditional/subjunctive («бы» + past-form verb) used to soften a request into politeness — "I would very much like to ask you." Russian regularly uses the irrealis «бы» this way to take the edge off an imperative.
> Purpose «чтобы» + infinitive: «чтобы завязать» expresses purpose: "in order to bind up [my finger]." With the same subject as the main clause, «чтобы» takes a bare infinitive rather than a past-form clause. «завязать» is perfective (bind once and done).
> Diminutive «тряпочка»: «тряпочка» is the diminutive of «тряпка» (rag, cloth) — "a little rag." The suffix softens the request to something small and unimportant, in keeping with Alyosha's gentle, undemanding manner.

Я очень поранил его, и он у меня мучительно теперь болит.  
I have hurt it badly, and it is aching torments now."
> Perfective «поранил»: «поранил» (perfective «поранить», to injure/hurt) names the single completed act of having hurt the finger; «его» is the accusative referring back to «палец». «очень поранил» — "I've hurt it badly."
> «у меня болит» — the aching belongs to me: «у меня… болит» (literally "with me it aches") is the idiomatic way to say a body part hurts: «у» + genitive of the person, plus «болит». «мучительно» ("agonizingly") intensifies the present-tense, ongoing pain.

Алеша развернул свой укушенный палец.  
Alyosha unwound his bitten finger.
> Reflexive possessive «свой» + passive participle «укушенный»: «свой» ("his own") refers back to the clause's subject, Alyosha — his own finger, not someone else's. «укушенный» is the past passive participle of «укусить» (to bite): "the bitten finger," naming the thing acted upon.

Платок был густо замаран кровью.  
The handkerchief was thickly soaked with blood.
> Periphrastic passive «был замаран» + instrumental agent: «был замаран» is the periphrastic passive: «был» (was) plus the short past passive participle «замаран» (soiled, from «замарать»). The means/agent «кровью» (with blood) stands in the instrumental — the standard case for what a passive is done by or with.

Госпожа Хохлакова вскрикнула и зажмурила глаза.  
Madame Hohlakov shrieked and screwed her eyes shut.
> Paired perfectives with «вс-» and «за-»: Two perfective pasts move the action forward: «вскрикнула» (gave a cry, «вс-» of sudden upward burst) and «зажмурила» (screwed shut, «за-» of bringing into a closed state). Each names a single, instantaneous act.

— Боже, какая рана, это ужасно!  
"Good heavens, what a wound, it is dreadful!"
> Vocative «Боже» + exclamatory «какая»: «Боже» is again the Church-Slavonic vocative "O God," here a startled exclamation. «какая рана» uses exclamatory «какая» (agreeing feminine with «рана») — "what a wound!" — expressing dismay, not a real question.

Но Lise как только увидела в щелку палец Алеши, тотчас со всего размаха отворила дверь.  
But Lise, the instant she caught sight of Alyosha's finger through the crack, flung the door wide open with all her might.
> «как только» + perfective sequence: «как только увидела… отворила» — "the instant she caught sight of [the finger], she flung the door open." Both verbs are perfective, the first the trigger, the second the immediate completed reaction. «увидела» is the perfective of seeing (catching sight).
> «со всего размаха» — with full force: «со всего размаха» ("with a full swing, with all one's might") is an idiom for doing something with the whole force of a sweeping movement — here Lise hurling the door wide. «размах» is a sweep or swing.

— Войдите, войдите ко мне сюда, — настойчиво и повелительно закричала она, — теперь уж без глупостей!  
"Come in, come in here to me," she cried insistently and imperiously, "and now, no more foolishness!
> Imperative «войдите» + «ко мне»: «войдите» is the plural/polite imperative of «войти» (to come in) — the «-те» marks the respectful form she uses to Alyosha. «ко мне» ("to me") is «к» + dative «мне», the dative governed by «к».
> «настойчиво… повелительно» — insistently, imperiously: The adverbs «настойчиво» (insistently) and «повелительно» (imperiously, commandingly) describe how Lise cries out as she abruptly seizes command. «повелительно» shares its root with «повелительное наклонение», the imperative mood.

О господи, что ж вы стояли и молчали такое время?  
Oh, Lord, why did you stand there and say nothing all that time?
> Vocative «господи»: «господи» is the Church-Slavonic vocative of «господь» (the Lord), surviving as the everyday exclamation "O Lord! good heavens!" It is direct address, set apart from the sentence, and carries no real prayerful weight here.
> Imperfective «стояли… молчали» + «ж»: «стояли… молчали» are imperfective pasts framing the standing-and-staying-silent as a drawn-out duration — "why did you stand and say nothing all that time?" The particle «ж» (= «же») adds reproachful insistence, "why on earth."

Он мог истечь кровью, мама!  
He might have bled to death, mama!
> Past + perfective infinitive: «could have…»: «мог» is the imperfective past of «мочь» (could/might), here governing the perfective infinitive «истечь» (to drain out, completed). The pairing yields a counterfactual potential — he was capable of bleeding to death, a single completed outcome that did not happen.
> «истечь кровью» — to bleed to death: A fixed idiom: «истечь» means to flow out or expire, and with «кровью» (instrumental, 'by blood') it means to bleed out fatally. The instrumental names the substance by which one drains away.
> «мама» — childlike address: Lise calls her mother «мама», the intimate nursery word (vs. the more formal «маменька»/«мамаша» also used in this scene). The shifting forms of address for the same mother are part of Dostoevsky's characterisation of tone.

Где это вы, как это вы?  
Where did you do it, how did you do it?
> Expressive «это» in questions: The little «это» wedged into a question («где это…», «как это…») is not the demonstrative 'this' but an emphatic particle of astonishment — 'where on earth', 'however'. It heightens the agitated, breathless register of Lise's interrogation.
> Elided verb: Both clauses drop the verb entirely, leaving only the question word plus «вы» — the action (hurt yourself) is understood from context. Such ellipsis is natural in agitated spoken Russian, where the case-marked words carry the sense.

Прежде всего воды, воды!  
Water first of all, water!
> Genitive of the partitive: «воды»: «воды» is genitive, not nominative «вода» — the partitive/quantitative genitive used in demands for 'some water'. A bare genitive object like this reads as 'give (some) water!', the missing imperative understood.
> «прежде всего» — first of all: A set adverbial phrase, literally 'before everything (genitive)'. «прежде» governs the genitive «всего» and means 'before, first'.

Надо рану промыть, просто опустить в холодную воду, чтобы боль перестала, и держать, всё держать… Скорей, скорей воды, мама, в полоскательную чашку.  
The wound must be washed, simply held in cold water so the pain will stop, and held there, kept there... Quick, quick, water, mama, in a rinsing bowl.
> Impersonal «надо» + infinitive: «надо» is an impersonal predicate of necessity with no nominative subject; the thing to be done stands as an infinitive («промыть») and the object «рану» is accusative. This subjectless 'one must…' construction is pervasive in Russian.
> Aspect chain: perfective acts, imperfective duration: The perfectives «промыть» (wash out) and «опустить» (lower in) name completed single acts, while the imperfective «держать» (to hold) and its repeated «всё держать» name ongoing, sustained holding. The shift mirrors the meaning: do it, then keep doing it.
> «чтобы» + past form for purpose: «чтобы» (so that) takes the past-tense form «перестала», not a present/future — the irrealis purpose construction. The 'past' here is purely formal, carrying the willed, not-yet-real outcome of the pain stopping.
> «полоскательная чашка» — a rinsing bowl: A slop-basin or rinse-bowl, from «полоскать» (to rinse, swill). A period domestic item — the bowl into which one emptied or rinsed teacups — pressed here into service as a basin of water.

Да скорее же, — нервно закончила она.  
Be quick, then," she finished nervously.
> Particles «да» and «же» urging haste: Opening «да» here is not 'yes' but an insistent imperative particle ('come on, do…'), and «же» reinforces the urgency. Together with the comparative «скорее» they pile pressure onto an unspoken command: 'be quicker, will you!'
> Comparative adverb «скорее»: «скорее» is the comparative of «скоро/скорый» (quick) — 'more quickly, faster', here used as an urgent 'hurry!'. Predicative comparatives in -ее are invariable.
> Inversion in the speech tag: The verb precedes its subject («закончила она») — the standard inverted order in Russian dialogue attribution, leaving the adverb «нервно» fronted for manner. Word order is free here precisely because the endings fix who finished.

Она была в совершенном испуге; рана Алеши страшно поразила ее.  
She was in utter terror; Alyosha's wound had shaken her dreadfully.
> Location-in-state: «в испуге»: «в совершенном испуге» (prepositional after «в») frames an emotional state spatially — literally 'in complete fright'. Russian often locates a person inside a feeling rather than predicating the feeling of them.
> Topic–comment: object before verb: Subject «рана Алеши» leads, then «страшно поразила ее» — but the direct object «ее» (accusative) sits last as the comment. The free order, secured by the case endings, lets the wound be the topic and the shaking of her the news.
> «поразить» — to strike, shock: From the root «раз-» (strike/blow), «поразить» means to strike down, astonish, or shock deeply — stronger than English 'surprise'. The wound did not merely worry her but struck her.

— Не послать ли за Герценштубе? — воскликнула было госпожа Хохлакова.  
"Hadn't we better send for Herzenstube?" Madame Hohlakov was about to exclaim.
> «не… ли?» — tentative suggestion: The frame «не + infinitive + ли» softens a proposal into 'shouldn't we perhaps…?' The interrogative particle «ли» follows the fronted focus «послать», giving a polite, deliberative question — 'hadn't we better send?'
> «послать за» + instrumental: 'To send for' someone is «послать за» plus the instrumental — fetching by means of going after. (The German name «Герценштубе» is left undeclined.) The instrumental here marks the object of the errand.
> The particle «было» of the interrupted act: «было» after a perfective past marks an action begun or about to happen but cut off — 'was on the point of exclaiming'. This special use of «было» (distinct from past 'was') signals a movement checked before completion.

— Мама, вы меня убьете.  
"Mama, you will be the death of me.
> Perfective future «убьете»: «убьете» is the simple (perfective) future of «убить» — conjugated like a present but meaning a single completed future act, 'you will kill (the death of) me'. Hyperbolic, but grammatically a finished result projected forward.

Ваш Герценштубе приедет и скажет, что не может понять!  
Your Herzenstube will come and say he can make nothing of it!
> Two perfective futures: arrive and pronounce: «приедет» (will arrive, prefixed motion verb) and «скажет» (will say) are both perfective futures, chaining two completed future events. Lise foretells the doctor's whole useless visit in two crisp perfectives.
> Dismissive possessive «Ваш»: «Ваш Герценштубе» — 'your Herzenstube' — uses the possessive contemptuously to push the doctor off onto the mother, a sneering distancing common in Russian (and English) speech. The form is genuinely possessive but the tone is scorn.

Воды, воды!  
Water, water!
> Partitive genitive imperative: Again the genitive «воды» (not nominative «вода») as a clipped demand for 'some water'. The repeated bare genitive enacts panic — the verb is stripped away, only the wanted substance remains.

Мама, ради бога, сходите сами, поторопите Юлию, которая где-то там завязла и никогда не может скоро прийти!  
Mama, for God's sake, go yourself, hurry up Yulia, who has got stuck somewhere out there and can never come quickly!
> Polite imperatives «сходите», «поторопите»: Both verbs are perfective imperatives in the polite/plural -те form: «сходите» (go and come back — a there-and-back trip) and «поторопите» (hurry someone along). Perfective imperatives press for a single, decisive action.
> Relative «которая» agreeing with Yulia: «которая» is feminine singular to match «Юлию», but takes nominative as the subject of its own clause ('who got stuck'). The relative pronoun borrows gender/number from its antecedent yet its own case from its role.
> Indefinite «где-то» — somewhere: The clitic «-то» on «где» makes a specific-but-unknown 'somewhere' (a real place, just not identified), reinforced by «там» (out there). Contrast «где-нибудь», which would mean 'anywhere at all'.
> «завязнуть» — to get bogged down: Literally to sink into mud or get stuck fast (root «вязнуть», to stick); figuratively to be held up, mired. Lise's irritated image of the maid 'bogged down somewhere' is vividly physical.
> «ради бога» — for God's sake: A fixed entreaty, «ради» (for the sake of) governing the genitive «бога». Idiomatic and emphatic rather than literally religious, like English 'for God's sake'.

Да скорее же, мама, иначе я умру…  
Be quick, then, mama, or I shall die..."
> «иначе» + perfective future: «иначе» ('otherwise') introduces the dire alternative, with «умру» the perfective future of «умереть» — 'I shall die', a single completed event. The hyperbole is grammatically a finished future result.
> Repeated «да… же» pressure: The insistent «да … же» frame returns, bracketing the comparative «скорее» — Dostoevsky uses the recurrence to convey Lise's mounting, half-theatrical impatience.

— Да это ж пустяки! — воскликнул Алеша, испугавшись их испуга.  
"Why, it's a mere trifle!" exclaimed Alyosha, alarmed at their alarm.
> «ж» — reduced «же»: «ж» is the elided form of the particle «же», leaning on «это» for emphasis: 'why, it's nothing!' The clipped spelling reflects fast colloquial speech.
> Perfective gerund «испугавшись»: «испугавшись» is a perfective adverbial participle (деепричастие) in -вшись from the reflexive «испугаться» — 'having taken fright'. It compresses a prior, completed action sharing Alyosha's subject, the literary hallmark of such gerunds.
> Wordplay: «испугавшись их испуга»: Dostoevsky's figura etymologica — 'frightened at their fright', the verb and noun sharing a root. The echo (alarmed at their alarm) is deliberate, gently mocking the panic in the room.
> «пустяки» — trifles, nonsense: From «пустой» (empty); 'mere nothings, trifling matters'. Plural by default in this dismissive sense — a wave of the hand at the fuss.

Юлия прибежала с водой.  
Yulia came running with the water.
> Prefixed motion «прибежала»: «прибежать» (perfective) is «бежать» (to run) with the arrival prefix «при-» — 'came running up'. The prefix supplies both the direction (toward) and the perfective completion of the single arrival.
> Comitative «с» + instrumental: «с водой» — 'with water' — is «с» governing the instrumental «водой», the case of accompaniment. She arrives bearing the water.

Алеша опустил в воду палец.  
Alyosha lowered his finger into the water.
> Motion-into: «в» + accusative: «в воду» takes the accusative (not prepositional «в воде») because there is motion into the water — lowering the finger in. The same «в» would govern the prepositional for static location.

— Мама, ради бога, принесите корпию; корпию и этой едкой мутной воды для порезов, ну как ее зовут!  
"Mama, for God's sake, bring lint; lint and that biting, cloudy water for cuts—oh, what is it called!
> Perfective imperative «принесите»: «принесите» — bring (and have here), the polite perfective imperative of «принести». The perfective fits a one-off fetching with a clear result: the lint in hand.
> «как её зовут» — tip-of-the-tongue: The impersonal «как ее зовут» ('what is it called', lit. 'how do they call it') with «ну» captures Lise groping for a forgotten name. «её» is the accusative object of the impersonal 'they call'.
> «корпия» — lint for wounds: Charpie: threads picked from old linen and packed into a wound to staunch and absorb — the standard 19th-century field dressing before modern gauze. A period medical detail.
> «едкая мутная вода» — the antiseptic wash: 'Biting, cloudy water' — almost certainly lead-water or a similar astringent lotion («свинцовая примочка») kept for cuts. «едкий» (caustic, biting) and «мутный» (turbid) describe its sting and cloudiness; the genitive forms follow «принесите … воды».

У нас есть, есть, есть… Мама, вы сами знаете, где стклянка, в спальне вашей в шкапике направо, там большая стклянка и корпия…  
We have some, we have, we have... Mama, you know yourself where the bottle is, in your bedroom, in the little cupboard on the right; there is a big bottle there, and lint..."
> «у нас есть» — possession construction: Russian expresses 'we have' as «у нас есть» — 'at us there is' — with «у» + genitive «нас» and the existential «есть». Possession is framed as something present near the owner, not as a verb 'to have'.
> Stacked locatives in the prepositional: «в спальне… в шкапике» — both 'where' phrases take «в» + prepositional for static location (bedroom, little cupboard). The postposed possessive «вашей» after «спальне» is a colloquial, spoken word order.
> «стклянка» — old spelling of «склянка»: A small glass bottle or phial; «стклянка» preserves the older «ст-» spelling of «склянка» (from «стекло», glass). The form fixes the period flavour of the text.
> «шкапик» — little cupboard (archaic «шкап»): A diminutive of «шкап», the 19th-century form of modern «шкаф» (cupboard, wardrobe). The «-ик» suffix shrinks it to a 'little cupboard', and the old «шкап» dates the speech.

— Сейчас принесу всё, Lise, только не кричи и не беспокойся.  
"I'll bring everything at once, Lise, only don't shout and don't fret.
> Perfective future «принесу»: «принесу» (I'll bring) is the perfective future of «принести» — a single, soon-completed act, reinforced by «сейчас» ('right now'). No auxiliary: the future lives in the ending.
> Negated imperfective imperatives: «не кричи», «не беспокойся» — negative commands take the imperfective imperative (and «беспокойся» the reflexive «-ся»). Russian prohibitions normally use the imperfective: 'don't be doing X'.

Видишь, как твердо Алексей Федорович переносит свое несчастие.  
See how firmly Alexei Fyodorovich bears his misfortune.
> Imperfective «переносит» of ongoing endurance: «переносит» (imperfective present) frames the bearing of misfortune as an ongoing state, with the adverb «твердо» (firmly). The imperfective fits a continuing manner of conduct rather than a single act.
> Reflexive possessive «свое»: «свое несчастие» — 'his own misfortune' — uses «свой», which points back to the clause subject (Alexei). «его» would risk meaning someone else's; «свой» keeps the possession his.

И где это вы так ужасно могли поранить себя, Алексей Федорович?  
And wherever did you manage to hurt yourself so dreadfully, Alexei Fyodorovich?"
> «могли поранить» + reflexive «себя»: «могли поранить себя» pairs past «мочь» with a perfective infinitive and the reflexive object pronoun «себя» (oneself, accusative) — 'could so dreadfully wound yourself'. «себя» is a full object pronoun, distinct from the verbal clitic «-ся».
> Emphatic «это» of wonder again: The same astonished «это» as in s62, here stretched by «так ужасно» — 'and however did you manage to hurt yourself so dreadfully?' A particle of marvelling, not the demonstrative.

Госпожа Хохлакова поспешно вышла.  
Madame Hohlakov hurried out.
> Prefixed motion «вышла»: «вышла» is the perfective of «выйти» — «-й-» motion with the exit prefix «вы-», 'went out'. A single completed departure, modified by «поспешно» (hurriedly).

Lise того только и ждала.  
That was just what Lise had been waiting for.
> Genitive object «того» after «ждать»: «ждать» governs the genitive of an awaited abstract thing, here «того» ('that'). The «только и ждала» frame ('was only waiting for') idiomatically means 'that was exactly what she had been waiting for'.
> «только и» — emphatic 'only': The frame «только и + verb» intensifies to 'did nothing but…, was just waiting for'. The «и» here is an emphasising particle, not 'and'.

— Прежде всего отвечайте на вопрос, — быстро заговорила она Алеше, — где это вы так себя изволили поранить?  
"First of all, answer the question," she began rapidly to Alyosha, "wherever did you deign to hurt yourself so?
> «отвечать на» + accusative: To answer a question is «отвечать на вопрос» — «на» + accusative, 'respond onto the question'. The polite imperative «отвечайте» opens Lise's brisk interrogation.
> «изволить» — ironic deference: «изволить» ('to deign, be pleased to') is an old polite auxiliary; here «где это вы … изволили поранить себя» drips mock-formality — 'where did you deign to hurt yourself?' Lise mimics courtly speech to tease.
> Inceptive prefix «за-»: «заговорила»: «заговорила» is «говорить» with the prefix «за-» marking the beginning of an action — 'began to speak, struck up'. The perfective inceptive captures the sudden onset of her rapid speech.

А потом уж я с вами буду говорить совсем о другом.  
And afterward I shall talk with you about something quite different.
> Compound imperfective future «буду говорить»: «буду говорить» is the analytic imperfective future — «буду» plus the imperfective infinitive — naming ongoing future talk ('I shall be talking'), against the perfective simple futures elsewhere in the scene. «уж» adds a tone of 'then, at that point'.
> Topic «о» + prepositional: «о другом» — 'about something else' — is «о» governing the prepositional, the case of the topic of speech. «другом» is the substantivised adjective 'another (thing)'.

Ну!  
Well!"
> «Ну!» — prompting exclamation: «Ну!» alone is an impatient prompt — 'Well? Out with it!' A discourse particle doing the work of a whole clause, urging Alyosha to answer.

Алеша, инстинктом чувствуя, что для нее время до возвращения мамаши дорого, — поспешно, много выпустив и сократив, но, однако, точно и ясно, передал ей о загадочной встрече своей со школьниками.  
Sensing by instinct that for her the time until her mother's return was precious, Alyosha hurriedly—leaving much out and cutting it short, yet exactly and clearly—told her of his puzzling encounter with the schoolboys.
> Imperfective gerund «чувствуя»: «чувствуя» is the present (imperfective) adverbial participle of «чувствовать» — 'sensing, while sensing', an action simultaneous with the main verb «передал». «инстинктом» is instrumental, 'by instinct', the means of sensing.
> Perfective gerunds «выпустив», «сократив»: Two perfective past gerunds in -в («выпустив» — having left out, «сократив» — having cut short) pile up prior completed acts that shaped his telling. Such gerund chains are a signature of literary narration.
> Reflexive possessive «своей» + topic «о»: «своей» (reflexive possessive) keeps the encounter Alyosha's own; «о … встрече» is «о» + prepositional, the topic he reported. The verb «передать» here means 'relate, recount'.
> «школьники» — the schoolboys: «школьники» (instrumental «-ами» after «со») are the schoolboys of the earlier stone-throwing scene with Ilyusha. The diminutive «мальчишки» Lise prefers below is more contemptuous; «школьники» is neutral.

Выслушав его, Lise всплеснула руками:  
When she had heard him out, Lise threw up her hands:
> Perfective gerund «выслушав» — having heard out: «выслушав» is the perfective past gerund of «выслушать» (to hear out, listen to the end) — 'having heard him out', a completed prior action before she throws up her hands. The prefix «вы-» gives the sense of hearing through to the finish.
> «всплеснуть руками» — to throw up one's hands: A vivid set gesture: to clasp/fling up the hands in astonishment or dismay. «руками» is instrumental (by/with the hands). A stock theatrical movement of surprise.

— Ну можно ли, можно ли вам, да еще в этом платье, связываться с мальчишками! — гневно вскричала она, как будто даже имея какое-то право над ним, — да вы сами после того мальчик, самый маленький мальчик, какой только может быть!  
"Well, how could you, how could you, and in that cassock too, get into a scuffle with little boys!" she cried out angrily, as though she even had some sort of right over him. "Why, after that you are a little boy yourself, the very smallest boy there could possibly be!
> Impersonal «можно ли … вам» of reproach: «можно ли вам» pairs the impersonal predicate «можно» (is it permissible/possible) with the dative experiencer «вам» and the interrogative «ли» — 'how could you possibly…'. A subjectless, dative-framed rhetorical rebuke.
> Gerund under «как будто» — 'as if having': «имея» is the imperfective gerund of «иметь», governed by «как будто» ('as if') — 'as though even having some right over him'. The gerund renders an attendant, imagined circumstance.
> «мальчишки» — pejorative for boys: The suffix «-ишк-» turns «мальчик» into a belittling «мальчишка» — 'mere boys, brats'. Lise's scorn is built into the morphology; she repeats «мальчик/мальчишка» to shame Alyosha for scuffling with them.
> Superlative «самый» + «какой только»: «самый маленький» is the periphrastic superlative ('the very smallest'), and «какой только может быть» ('such as could possibly be') is an emphatic relative tag intensifying it. «самый» declines with its adjective.

Однако вы непременно разузнайте мне как-нибудь про этого скверного мальчишку и мне всё расскажите, потому что тут какой-то секрет.  
All the same, you must find out for me somehow about that nasty little boy and tell me everything, because there is some sort of secret in it.
> Imperative «разузнайте» + ethical dative «мне»: «разузнайте» is the perfective imperative of «разузнать» (to find out thoroughly), and «мне» is an ethical/benefactive dative — 'find out for me'. The dative marks the interested party Lise.
> «как-нибудь» + «про» + accusative: «как-нибудь» ('somehow, by any means') uses «-нибудь» for a non-specific manner; «про этого … мальчишку» is «про» + accusative ('about that nasty brat'). The animate accusative «мальчишку» borrows its genitive-like ending.
> «скверный» — nasty, vile: «скверный» means foul, wretched, nasty — a strong moral disgust, beyond mere 'bad'. Applied to the boy, it colours Lise's intrigued contempt.

Теперь второе, но прежде вопрос: можете ли вы, Алексей Федорович, несмотря на страдание от боли, говорить о совершенных пустяках, но говорить рассудительно?  
Now the second thing, but first a question: can you, Alexei Fyodorovich, in spite of the suffering from the pain, talk about utter trifles, and talk sensibly?"
> Yes/no question with «ли»: «можете ли вы … говорить?» fronts the focus «можете» followed by «ли» to form a formal yes/no question — 'are you able to…?' The literary «ли» is more deliberate than mere rising intonation.
> «несмотря на» + accusative: The concessive «несмотря на» ('despite, in spite of') governs the accusative «страдание»; «от боли» is «от» + genitive marking cause ('from the pain'). A compact concessive frame.
> «рассудительно» — sensibly, judiciously: From «рассудок» (reason, judgement); 'reasonably, with good sense'. Lise asks whether he can chat about trifles yet keep his wits — a wry test of his composure.

— Совершенно могу, да и боли я такой уже теперь не чувствую.  
"I can perfectly well, and besides, I no longer feel such pain now."
> Genitive of negation: «боли … не чувствую»: Under the negated verb «не чувствую», the object shifts from accusative «боль» to genitive «боли» — the genitive of negation, idiomatic with abstract or non-specific objects. Fronting «боли» also topicalises 'such pain'.
> «да и» — 'and besides': «да и» links a reinforcing afterthought — 'and besides, what's more'. Here it adds a second reason to his cheerful 'I can perfectly well'.

— Это оттого, что ваш палец в воде.  
"That is because your finger is in the water.
> «оттого, что» — causal correlative: «оттого, что» ('because of the fact that') is a causal subordinator, the «оттого» pointing forward to the «что»-clause. The final clause «ваш палец в воде» is a zero-copula present (no 'is'), with «в воде» locative prepositional.

Ее нужно сейчас же переменить, потому что она мигом нагреется.  
It must be changed right now, because it will warm up in an instant.
> Impersonal «нужно» + infinitive, object «ее»: «нужно … переменить» is the impersonal-necessity construction with the perfective infinitive 'to change', and «ее» (accusative, = the water) is its object — 'it must be changed'. No nominative subject; necessity is stated impersonally.
> Perfective future «нагреется» (-ся): «нагреется» is the perfective future of the reflexive «нагреться» — 'will warm up' (intransitive, change of state via «-ся»). The «-ся» turns 'heat' into 'become hot of itself'.
> «мигом» — in a flash: An instrumental adverb from «миг» (an instant, blink) — 'in a trice, instantly'. Lise repeats «мигом» insistently through the scene, drumming her impatience.

Юлия, мигом принеси кусок льду из погреба и новую полоскательную чашку с водой.  
Yulia, fetch a lump of ice from the cellar this instant, and a fresh rinsing bowl with water.
> Familiar imperative + partitive genitive «льду»: «принеси» is the singular familiar imperative (to the servant Yulia), and «льду» is a partitive genitive in the special stressed «-у» form ('some ice'). «кусок льду» — 'a lump of ice' — pairs the quantity noun with the partitive.
> «из» + genitive — out of the cellar: «из погреба» is «из» governing the genitive, the case of source/origin ('out from the cellar'). Motion away from an enclosed place.

Ну, теперь она ушла, я о деле: мигом, милый Алексей Федорович, извольте отдать мне мое письмо, которое я вам прислала вчера, — мигом, потому что сейчас может прийти маменька, а я не хочу…  
Now that she has gone, to business: this instant, dear Alexei Fyodorovich, be so good as to give me back my letter, the one I sent you yesterday—this instant, because mama may come in at any moment, and I don't want..."
> «извольте» — be so good as to: «извольте» (polite imperative of «изволить») + infinitive forms a courteous-yet-commanding 'kindly do, be so good as to'. Lise's mock-formal politeness frames a demand for her letter.
> Relative «которое» — neuter to match «письмо»: «которое» is neuter singular agreeing with «письмо», but accusative as the object of «прислала» within its own clause ('the letter which I sent you'). Antecedent fixes gender/number; the clause fixes case.
> Verb-fronted with new-information subject last: «может прийти маменька» places the subject «маменька» last as the dreaded new information — 'mama may come in at any moment'. The case-free word order lets the looming arrival fall in the comment slot.
> «маменька» — affectionate-formal 'mama': A diminutive of «мама» with the endearing «-еньк-» suffix, period-flavoured and slightly genteel — 'dear mama, mummy'. Note how Lise's word for her mother slides between «мама», «маменька», and «мамаша» by mood.

— Со мной нет письма.  
"I don't have the letter with me."
> Genitive of absence: «нет письма»: «нет» (there isn't) requires the genitive of the missing thing — «нет письма» ('there is no letter'). «со мной» (with «с» + instrumental) locates the absence on his person: 'I don't have the letter on me'.

— Неправда, оно с вами.  
"That isn't true, it is with you.
> Zero-copula present + «с» + instrumental: «оно с вами» — 'it is with you' — has no verb 'to be' in the present (zero copula), and «с вами» is «с» + instrumental marking possession-on-the-person. Lise contradicts him with a bare predicate.

Я так и знала, что вы так ответите.  
I knew you would answer just so.
> «так и знала» + reported «что» clause: «так и знала» ('I just knew it') uses the emphatic «так и» of fulfilled expectation; «что вы так ответите» is a «что»-clause of reported content with the perfective future «ответите» ('would answer'). The future-in-the-past reads as 'would'.

Оно у вас в этом кармане.  
It is in that pocket of yours.
> Possession «у вас» + location «в … кармане»: «у вас» ('on you', «у» + genitive) names the possessor and «в этом кармане» (prepositional) the place — 'it is in that pocket of yours'. Again no verb 'to be' in the present.

Я так раскаивалась в этой глупой шутке всю ночь.  
I have been so sorry for that silly joke all night long.
> Imperfective «раскаивалась» of prolonged feeling: «раскаивалась» (imperfective past, reflexive «-ся») frames the repenting as an extended, ongoing state across «всю ночь» ('all night long', accusative of duration). The imperfective suits the lingering, repeated regret.
> «раскаиваться в» + prepositional: To repent of something is «раскаиваться в» + prepositional («в … шутке») — 'to be sorry for the joke'. The prepositional names what one repents.

Воротите же письмо сейчас, отдайте!  
Give the letter back at once, hand it over!"
> Perfective imperatives with insistent «же»: «воротите» and «отдайте» are perfective polite imperatives (give back!), and «же» drives the demand home. Two near-synonyms doubled for force: 'give it back at once, hand it over!'
> «воротить» — archaic 'return': «воротить» (to give back, return) is the older, more colloquial counterpart of «возвратить/вернуть», with a folksier, period ring. Common in 19th-century speech.

— Оно там осталось.  
"It was left behind there."
> Perfective «осталось» (neuter past, -ся): «осталось» is the neuter perfective past of the reflexive «остаться» (to remain, be left), agreeing with neuter «оно» (письмо). A single completed state: 'it got left behind there'.

— Но вы не можете же меня считать за девочку, за маленькую-маленькую девочку, после моего письма с такою глупою шуткой!  
"But you cannot take me for a little girl, for a tiny, tiny little girl, after my letter with such a silly joke!
> «считать за» + accusative — to take for: «считать за» + accusative means 'to take/reckon someone for' — «за девочку» 'for a little girl'. The interposed «же» protests; «не можете» negates the possibility.
> Reduplication «маленькую-маленькую»: Doubling the adjective («маленькую-маленькую» — 'tiny, tiny') intensifies it to a superlative-emotional pitch, a colloquial device of emphasis. Lise insists she is no mere little girl.

Я прошу у вас прощения за глупую шутку, но письмо вы непременно мне принесите, если уж его нет у вас в самом деле, — сегодня же принесите непременно, непременно!  
I beg your pardon for the silly joke, but you must bring me the letter without fail, if you really don't have it on you—bring it this very day, without fail, without fail!"
> «просить у… прощения» — genitive object + «у»: To beg pardon is «просить прощения» (genitive object «прощения») «у вас» (of you, «у» + genitive). The thing requested goes in the genitive; the person asked is marked by «у».
> Conditional «если» + genitive of absence: «если … его нет у вас» combines the conditional «если» with «нет» + genitive «его» (= письма) — 'if you really don't have it on you'. The genitive of absence recurs inside the conditional clause.
> «непременно» — without fail: 'Certainly, without fail, by all means' — an insistent adverb Lise triples here («непременно, непременно») to hammer the demand. The repetition is pure agitated emphasis.

— Сегодня никак нельзя, потому что я уйду в монастырь и не приду к вам дня два, три, четыре может быть, потому что старец Зосима…  
"Today is quite impossible, because I am going off to the monastery and shall not come to you for two days, three, perhaps four, because the elder Zosima..."
> Prefixed motion futures: «уйду» / «не приду»: «уйду» (will go off, «у-» departure) and «приду» (will come, «при-» arrival) are perfective futures of prefixed motion verbs — a leaving and an arriving, each a single completed move. «к вам» is «к» + dative ('to you').
> Inverted numeral = approximation: Placing the noun before the numeral («дня два» instead of «два дня») signals approximation — 'a couple of days or so'. «дня» is genitive singular after «два». The list 'two, three, four' continues the vague estimate.

— Четыре дня, экой вздор!  
"Four days, what nonsense!
> «экой» — colloquial 'what a!': «экой» (also «эдакий/экий») is a folksy exclamatory determiner — 'what a…!, such…!' Here «экой вздор!» = 'what nonsense!' «вздор» itself means rubbish, twaddle. Both stamp Lise's dismissive, spoken register.

Послушайте, вы очень надо мной смеялись?  
Listen, were you laughing at me a great deal?"
> «смеяться над» + instrumental: To laugh at someone is «смеяться над» + instrumental — «надо мной» ('at me'; «над» takes a fill-vowel «надо» before «мной»). The reflexive verb «смеяться» exists only in the «-ся» form. Word order fronts «надо мной» for focus.

— Я ни капли не смеялся.  
"I wasn't laughing in the least."
> «ни капли … не» — negative concord: «ни капли» ('not a drop, not in the least') intensifies the negation, and Russian still requires «не» on the verb — negative concord, two negatives making one. «капли» is genitive after «ни».

— Почему же?  
"Why not?"
> «же» after an interrogative: «Почему же?» — 'but why?, why ever not?' — uses «же» to press a question already in the air, demanding a reason. The particle adds insistence and surprise.

— Потому что я совершенно всему поверил.  
"Because I believed every word of it."
> «поверить» + dative «всему»: «поверить» (to believe, perfective) governs the dative — «всему» ('everything', dative of «всё'). One believes 'to' a thing in Russian. «совершенно» ('completely') intensifies.

— Вы меня оскорбляете!  
"You insult me!"
> Imperfective present «оскорбляете»: «оскорбляете» is the imperfective present of «оскорблять/оскорбить» — naming the offence as it happens, 'you are insulting me'. «меня» is the accusative object.

— Нисколько.  
"Not in the slightest.
> «нисколько» — not at all: A one-word emphatic denial — 'not in the slightest, not a bit', built on «ни» + «сколько». A negative adverb standing alone as a full reply.

Я как прочел, то тотчас и подумал, что этак всё и будет, потому что я, как только умрет старец Зосима, сейчас должен буду выйти из монастыря.  
The moment I read it, I thought at once that this is just how it would all be, because as soon as the elder Zosima dies I shall have to leave the monastery straightaway.
> «как… то» temporal frame + perfectives: «как … то» here means 'as soon as … then', with the perfectives «прочел» (read through) and «подумал» (thought) chaining two completed events. The «то» resumes the «как»-clause, and «и» emphasises the immediacy ('then at once did think').
> «как только» + perfective future: «как только» ('as soon as') takes the perfective future «умрет» ('dies', a single completed event) — Russian uses the future here where English uses the present. The temporal clause looks forward to Zosima's death.
> «должен буду» + perfective infinitive: «должен буду» (the future of obligation: «буду» + «должен») governs the perfective infinitive «выйти» ('to leave', prefixed motion) — 'I shall have to leave the monastery'. «из монастыря» is «из» + genitive of source.

Затем я буду продолжать курс и сдам экзамен, а как придет законный срок, мы и женимся.  
After that I shall go on with my studies and take my examination, and when the lawful time comes, we shall marry.
> Aspect contrast in two futures: «буду продолжать» is the compound imperfective future of an ongoing activity ('I shall go on with my studies'), while «сдам» is the perfective future of a single completed result ('shall pass/take the exam'). The two future types sit side by side, exactly distinguishing process from result.
> «как придет… мы и женимся»: «как придет» = 'when the time comes' (perfective future); «женимся» is the perfective future of «жениться» ('we shall marry', reflexive «-ся»). The emphatic «и» before «женимся» means 'and so we'll just marry'.
> «законный срок» — the lawful time: 'The lawful/appointed term' — the age and conditions at which marriage would be proper and permitted. «срок» is a fixed period or deadline; «законный» (lawful) frames it as the socially sanctioned moment.

Я вас буду любить.  
I shall love you.
> Compound imperfective future «буду любить»: «буду любить» — 'I shall love you' — is the imperfective future, fitting because love is a continuing state, not a completed act. Alyosha's plainest promise is grammatically an open, ongoing future.

Хоть мне и некогда было еще думать, но я подумал, что лучше вас жены не найду, а мне старец велит жениться…  
Though I have not yet had time to think it over, I thought I should not find a better wife than you, and the elder bids me marry..."
> Dative-impersonal «мне некогда было»: «мне некогда было … думать» is a dative-experiencer impersonal — 'I had no time to think' — with the negative adverb «некогда» and past «было». The person stands in the dative, no nominative subject. «Хоть … и» is the concessive 'although'.
> Comparative «лучше» + genitive of comparison: «лучше вас» — 'better than you' — uses the suppletive comparative «лучше» (from «хороший») with the genitive of comparison «вас» (than you). «жены … не найду» also shows genitive of negation ('shall find no better wife').
> «велеть» + dative + infinitive: «велеть» (to bid, order) takes a dative of the person commanded («мне») and an infinitive («жениться») — 'the elder bids me marry'. The elder's word is treated as binding obedience.

— Да ведь я урод, меня на креслах возят! — засмеялась Лиза с зардевшимся на щеках румянцем.  
"But I am a cripple, I am wheeled about in a chair!" laughed Liza, a flush kindling on her cheeks.
> Particle «ведь» — appeal to the obvious: «ведь» appeals to shared knowledge — 'but after all, you know' — pressing Alyosha to face the obvious. With «да» it opens a protest: 'but I'm a cripple, you know!'
> Impersonal 3rd-pl. «возят» — 'they wheel me': «возят» (they wheel) with no named subject is the indefinite-personal construction — 'I am wheeled about', the 'they' meaning 'people/one'. «меня» accusative is the patient. «возить» is the multidirectional motion verb (habitual carrying).
> «урод» — cripple, deformed one: «урод» means a deformed or crippled person (also 'monster, freak') — a harsh, self-lacerating word Lise flings at her own invalid condition. The bluntness is deliberate, daring Alyosha to recoil.
> «зардевшийся румянец» — a kindling flush: «зардевшийся» is a past active participle of «зардеться» (to flush, glow red); with «румянец» (a blush, ruddy colour) it paints a blush kindling on her cheeks. A bookish, literary participle adding a glow to the gesture.

— Я вас сам буду в кресле возить, но я уверен, что вы к тому сроку выздоровеете.  
"I shall wheel you in the chair myself, but I am certain that by that time you will have got well."
> Intensifier «сам» + future «буду … возить»: «сам» ('myself, in person') intensifies the subject — 'I shall wheel you myself'. «буду … возить» is the imperfective future of the habitual motion verb «возить», naming an ongoing future practice.
> «к тому сроку» (dative) + perfective future: «к тому сроку» — 'by that time' — is «к» + dative giving a deadline, paired with the perfective future «выздоровеете» ('will have got well', a completed recovery). Russian marks the by-when with the dative of «к».

— Но вы сумасшедший, — нервно проговорила Лиза, — из такой шутки и вдруг вывели такой вздор!..  
"But you are mad," said Liza nervously, "to spin such nonsense all at once out of a mere joke!..
> «из» + genitive of source — 'out of a joke': «из такой шутки» ('out of such a joke', «из» + genitive) names the source from which «вывели» ('you spun/deduced') such nonsense. «вывести» (perfective) here means to draw or derive a conclusion.
> Zero-copula predicate adjective: «вы сумасшедший» — 'you are mad' — has no present-tense 'are'; the long-form adjective «сумасшедший» stands directly as predicate. The bare nominative-style predicate is the norm in the zero-copula present.

Ах, вот и мамаша, может быть, очень кстати.  
Ah, here is mama; perhaps very much to the point.
> Presentative «вот и»: «вот и мамаша» — 'here is mama (at last)' — uses the presentative «вот» plus «и» to announce an arrival that was awaited or expected. A deictic flourish pointing to the entering mother.
> «кстати» — opportunely, to the point: «кстати» means 'opportunely, at the right moment, by the way'. «очень кстати» — 'very much to the point' — notes that mama's return is well-timed, ending the private scene.
> «мамаша» — yet another 'mama': «мамаша» is a familiar, slightly homely form of address/reference for a mother — completing the scene's run of «мама / маменька / мамаша». The shifting registers track Lise's quicksilver moods.

Мама, как вы всегда запоздаете, можно ли так долго!  
Mama, how you always dawdle — can one really take so long!
> Perfective future for a habit: «запоздаете» is the perfective future of «запоздать» (to be late), conjugated like a present. Paired with «всегда» (always) it reads not as a single future event but as a recurring, exasperated generalization — "how you always end up late." The perfective future often carries this potential-or-habitual coloring.
> «ли» and impersonal «можно»: «можно ли» fronts the impersonal predicate «можно» (is it permitted / possible) and tags it with the question particle «ли», making a rhetorical yes/no question: "can one really take so long!" «можно» governs no nominative subject — it is one of Russian's many subjectless modal frames.

Вот уж Юлия и лед несет!  
There, Yulia is already bringing the ice!
> «уж … и» — already, and here it comes: «уж» (a shortened «уже», "already") together with «и» gives a sense of something happening sooner or more readily than expected: "there, Yulia is already bringing the ice." «несёт» is the unidirectional motion verb «нести» — carrying in progress, right now, in one direction.

— Ах, Lise, не кричи, главное — ты не кричи.  
"Ah, Lise, don't shout — above all, don't you shout.
> Imperative «не кричи» with emphatic «ты»: «кричи» is the imperative of imperfective «кричать» (to shout); negated with «не», it forbids the ongoing activity — "don't shout." Russian normally drops the subject pronoun in commands, so the added «ты» in «ты не кричи» is emphatic: "don't *you* shout," singling Lise out.

У меня от этого крику… Что ж делать, коли ты сама корпию в другое место засунула… Я искала, искала… Я подозреваю, что ты это нарочно сделала.  
All this shouting gives me… Well, what am I to do, when you yourself stuck the lint away in some other place… I searched and searched… I suspect you did it on purpose.
> Stressed partitive «крику»: «крику» is an old partitive/quantitative genitive of «крик» (shouting), with the stressed -у ending that lingers in such mass-noun phrases (cf. «чаю», «сахару»). The sentence trails off — «У меня от этого крику…» — "all this shouting gives me [a headache]…" — the predicate left unspoken, a hallmark of agitated speech.
> Folksy «коли» and emphatic «сама»: «коли» is a colloquial, slightly archaic equivalent of «если» (if / since), opening the subordinate clause. «сама» is the intensifier «сам» agreeing feminine — "you yourself" — laying the blame squarely on Lise.
> «корпия» — lint for dressing wounds: «корпия» is shredded linen picked apart by hand into soft lint, the standard pre-modern wound dressing before cotton gauze. The whole domestic fuss — lint, ice, lead lotion — paints the period's homely first-aid kit.
> Imperfective repeated for insistence: The imperfective past «искала», doubled, conveys drawn-out, repeated effort: "I searched and searched." Imperfective aspect here foregrounds the process, not any result — fitting, since she never found it.

— Да ведь не могла же я знать, что он придет с укушенным пальцем, а то, может быть, вправду нарочно бы сделала.  
"But how could I have known that he would come with a bitten finger — otherwise I might really have done it on purpose.
> Particle stack «да ведь … же»: Three particles pile up to color Lise's protest: «да» (well/but), «ведь» (after all, appealing to the obvious), and «же» (insistent). Together they mean roughly "but how on earth could I have known" — the texture of lively spoken Russian that English renders only by intonation.
> Conditional «бы» — counterfactual: «бы» with the past-form «сделала» builds the irrealis: "I might really have done it on purpose [if I had known]." The conditional looks back on an outcome that did not happen, completing the hypothetical begun by «а то» (otherwise).
> Past passive participle «укушенный»: «укушенным» is the past passive participle of perfective «укусить» (to bite), in the instrumental after «с» (with): "with a bitten finger." The participle compresses a whole clause — "a finger that had been bitten" — into one agreeing adjective, the bookish economy Dostoevsky favors.

Ангел мама, вы начинаете говорить чрезвычайно остроумные вещи.  
Mama, my angel, you are beginning to say uncommonly witty things.
> «Ангел мама» — angel of a mama: A teasing, affectionate apposition: "angel mama," calling her mother an angel. Lise lards her speech with such endearments even while mocking — the warmth and the sting run together throughout the scene.
> «остроумный» — witty, sharp-witted: «остроумный» (literally "sharp-minded," «острый» sharp + «ум» mind) means witty or clever. Lise uses it ironically: her mother's bumbling remark about the lint has accidentally become "uncommonly witty."

— Пусть остроумные, но какие чувства, Lise, насчет пальца Алексея Федоровича и всего этого!  
"Witty as you please, but what feeling is it, Lise, about Alexei Fyodorovich's finger and all of this!
> Concessive «пусть» — let them be: «пусть» normally forms a third-person imperative ("let him…"), but here it concedes: «Пусть остроумные» — "witty as you please / granted they're witty." The mother grants the point only to push past it to her real complaint.

Ох, милый Алексей Федорович, меня убивают не частности, не Герценштубе какой-нибудь, а всё вместе, всё в целом, вот чего я не могу вынести.  
Oh, dear Alexei Fyodorovich, it is not the particulars that destroy me, not some Herzenstube or other, but everything together, everything as a whole — that is what I cannot bear.
> Contrastive «не … а»: The frame «не частности … а всё вместе» ("not the particulars … but everything together") is the classic Russian corrective construction: «не X, а Y» negates one option and substitutes another. «убивают» (kill / destroy) is hyperbolic present-tense, the verb fronted with its object «меня» for emotional weight.
> Dismissive «какой-нибудь»: «какой-нибудь» ("some … or other") tagged onto the doctor's name belittles him: "not some Herzenstube or other." The non-specific indefinite «-нибудь» waves him off as one trivial vexation among many.
> Genitive object under negation: «чего» stands in the genitive (not accusative «что») because the verb is negated — «не могу вынести» ("cannot bear"). This genitive of negation, paired with the resumptive «вот», caps the sentence: "that is what I cannot bear."

— Довольно, мама, довольно о Герценштубе, — весело смеялась Лиза, — давайте же скорей корпию, мама, и воду.  
"Enough, Mama, enough about Herzenstube," Liza laughed merrily, "give us the lint quickly, Mama, and the water.
> Imperfective past for an accompanying action: «смеялась» (imperfective past of «смеяться», a -ся verb) describes Liza laughing throughout — an ongoing background to her spoken words. The verb-first order «весело смеялась Лиза» is a narrative inversion that lets the adverb «весело» (merrily) lead.
> «давайте» exhortation with «же»: «давайте» plus an implied verb forms a let's/please request; here it governs the bare objects «корпию … и воду» ("give us the lint and water"). The particle «же» urges — "do give it quickly" — and «скорей» (sooner, faster) sharpens the impatience.

Это просто свинцовая примочка, Алексей Федорович, я теперь вспомнила имя, но это прекрасная примочка.  
It is simply a lead lotion, Alexei Fyodorovich — I have just remembered the name — but it is an excellent lotion.
> "Lead lotion" — a lead-acetate compress: «свинцовая примочка» literally means "lead lotion" («свинец» = lead; «примочка» = a compress or wash). It was a common 19th-century household remedy made from lead acetate, used to soothe wounds and bruises; in period English the equivalent preparation was known as "Goulard's water." We render it plainly as "lead lotion" to keep the everyday domestic flavor of the original.
> Perfective «вспомнила» — the name surfaces: «вспомнила» is the perfective past of «вспомнить» (to recall, suddenly), naming a single completed mental event: the name has just come back to her. Perfective aspect captures that instantaneous "I've got it" quality against any ongoing trying-to-remember.

Мама, вообразите себе, он с мальчишками дорогой подрался на улице, и это мальчишка ему укусил, ну не маленький ли, не маленький ли он сам человек, и можно ли ему, мама, после этого жениться, потому что он, вообразите себе, он хочет жениться, мама.  
Mama, just imagine, he got into a fight with some boys on the road, in the street, and it was one of those boys who bit him — well, isn't he a little one himself, isn't he a little fellow, and can he, Mama, after that, get married? — because, just imagine, he wants to get married, Mama.
> Reflexive «вообразите себе»: «вообразите» is the polite/plural imperative of «вообразить» (to imagine), with the dative reflexive «себе» as an ethical dative — "just imagine [for yourself]." Lise repeats it three times in this breathless sentence, a tic of excited storytelling.
> Instrumental of route «дорогой»: «дорогой» here is the instrumental of «дорога» used adverbially to mean "along the way, on the road." The instrumental commonly marks a path traversed (cf. «лесом» = through the forest). «подрался» is the perfective -ся verb «подраться» — to get into a fight.
> «мальчишка» — a brat of a boy: «мальчишка» is «мальчик» (boy) plus the expressive -ишка suffix, half affectionate, half dismissive: a little rascal, a kid. Lise then turns the diminutive logic on Alyosha himself — «не маленький ли он сам человек» — teasing that *he* is a mere boy too.
> Rhetorical «не … ли»: The frame «не … ли» asks a leading question expecting agreement: "isn't he himself a little fellow?" The repetition «не маленький ли, не маленький ли» piles on the teasing insistence, and the question particle «ли» gives it a mock-formal lilt.
> Dative subject with «можно»: «можно ли ему … жениться» frames permission impersonally: the person concerned, «ему» (him), stands in the dative, with the infinitive «жениться» (to marry) and no nominative subject — "can he be allowed to marry?" This dative-experiencer pattern is everywhere in the novel's talk of duty and possibility.

Представьте себе, что он женат, ну не смех ли, не ужасно ли это?  
Imagine him married — well, isn't it a scream, isn't it dreadful?
> Short adjective «женат»: «женат» is the short predicative form ("is married," of a man) — there is no long attributive equivalent in this use. Short adjectives like «женат», «болен», «рад» live only as predicates and carry a stative meaning, the bookish flavor of 19th-century prose.
> Doubled «не … ли» exclamation: Two parallel rhetorical questions — «не смех ли» (isn't it a scream) and «не ужасно ли» (isn't it dreadful) — frame Lise's mock horror. «ужасно ли» pairs «ли» with the predicative neuter short adverb «ужасно», stating a quality impersonally.

И Lise всё смеялась своим нервным мелким смешком, лукаво смотря на Алешу.  
And Lise kept laughing on with her nervous little giggle, looking slyly at Alyosha.
> Present gerund «смотря»: «смотря» is the imperfective present gerund («деепричастие») of «смотреть» (to look), expressing an action simultaneous with the main verb: she kept laughing *while looking* slyly at Alyosha. The gerund must share the main clause's subject (Lise) and is a signature of literary narration.
> Reflexive possessive «своим»: «своим» (instrumental of «свой») means "her own," pointing back to the clause's subject, Lise — "with her own nervous little giggle." Using «её» instead would suggest someone else's giggle; «свой» keeps it hers.
> «смешок» — a little laugh: «смешок» is «смех» (laughter) with the diminutive -ок, a small, suppressed laugh or giggle. Coupled with «нервным мелким» (nervous, fine/small), it characterizes Lise's brittle, half-hysterical merriment — a note the narrator sounds repeatedly about her.

— Ну как же жениться, Lise, и с какой стати это, и совсем это тебе некстати… тогда как этот мальчик может быть бешеный.  
"Now how is he to get married, Lise, and what business is it of yours, and it is altogether out of place for you… when that boy may very well be rabid.
> Idiom «с какой стати»: «с какой стати» is a fixed colloquial idiom — "on what grounds? / what business is it of yours? / whatever for?" — expressing indignant disbelief. «стать» here is an old noun of "manner, occasion," surviving almost only in this phrase.
> «некстати» — out of place, unfitting: «некстати» (the negation of «кстати», "to the point / apropos") means inappropriate, ill-timed, uncalled-for. The mother scolds that the whole topic of marriage is «совсем … тебе некстати» — "altogether unbecoming of you."
> Concessive «тогда как»: «тогда как» is a bookish subordinator meaning "whereas / when in fact," setting the absurd marriage-talk against a graver reality: "when that boy may very well be rabid." «бешеный» (rabid, mad) returns as the scene's running joke.

— Ах, мама! Разве бывают бешеные мальчики?  
"Ah, Mama! Are there really such things as rabid boys?
> Incredulous «разве» with iterative «бывают»: The particle «разве» asks a question of disbelief: "surely there aren't…? really?" «бывают» is the iterative/existential present of «бывать» (to be, habitually / to occur) — "do rabid boys exist as a thing?" — distinct from a one-off «есть».

— Почему ж не бывают, Lise, точно я глупость сказала.  
"And why shouldn't there be, Lise, as if I had said something foolish.
> Reduced «же» → «ж» after a vowel: «ж» is the particle «же» in its reduced post-vocalic form, leaning on «почему»: "and why *shouldn't* there be?" The clipped «ж» is a mark of quick, colloquial speech throughout the dialogue.
> «точно» — as if: «точно» here is not "exactly" but a comparative conjunction meaning "as if, as though": «точно я глупость сказала» — "as if I had said something foolish." The mother defends her remark with mild, wounded irony.

Вашего мальчика укусила бешеная собака, и он стал бешеный мальчик и вот кого-нибудь и укусит около себя в свою очередь.  
Your boy was bitten by a rabid dog, and so he became a rabid boy, and now he will go and bite somebody near him in his turn.
> Object-first word order: The accusative object «вашего мальчика» (animate, so genitive-shaped) leads the sentence, with the subject «бешеная собака» following the verb: "your boy — a rabid dog bit him." Cases keep the roles clear, so the fronting simply makes "your boy" the topic.
> Nominative predicate after «стать»: Normally «стать» (to become) takes an instrumental predicate ("стал бешеным мальчиком"). The mother's colloquial «стал бешеный мальчик» keeps the nominative, a looser spoken usage that lends her logic its breathless, fairy-tale literalness.
> Idiom «в свою очередь»: «в свою очередь» means "in his/its turn," with the reflexive possessive «свою» pointing back to the boy. The mother's chain of contagion — bitten, so biting in turn — is mock-logical comedy, but the phrase itself is everyday.

Как она вам хорошо перевязала, Алексей Федорович, я бы никогда так не сумела.  
How well she bandaged you, Alexei Fyodorovich — I could never have managed it so.
> Dative «вам» — bandaged for you: «вам» (dative) is the beneficiary — "she bandaged [it] for you so well." «перевязала» is the perfective past of «перевязать» (to bind up, dress a wound), viewing the bandaging as a completed, accomplished act.
> Conditional «бы» with negative concord: «я бы … не сумела» is the conditional (past form + «бы»): "I could never have managed it." Note the negative concord: «никогда … не» pairs the ни-adverb with the verb's «не» — two negatives, one meaning.

Чувствуете вы теперь боль?  
Do you feel any pain now?
> Inversion for a question: Verb-then-subject order, «Чувствуете вы», marks this as a question without any particle — "do you feel pain now?" Russian can question by intonation and word order alone, the lighter alternative to a «ли» question.

— Теперь очень небольшую.  
"Now very little.
> Elliptical accusative «небольшую»: Alyosha answers with just the modified object, «очень небольшую» (accusative feminine, agreeing with the dropped «боль»): "[I feel] very little [pain]." The agreement ending alone carries the omitted noun — a tidy bit of Russian ellipsis.

— А не боитесь ли вы воды? — спросила Lise.  
"But aren't you afraid of water?" asked Lise.
> «ли» question + genitive object of «бояться»: «боитесь ли вы» is a polite «ли» question. The verb «бояться» (to fear, a -ся verb) governs the genitive, hence «воды» (of water). Lise is needling — hydrophobia being the classic symptom of rabies, the joke she refuses to drop.

— Ну, довольно, Lise, я, может быть, в самом деле очень поспешно сказала про бешеного мальчика, а ты уж сейчас и вывела.  
"Now, enough, Lise; I may, in fact, have spoken too hastily about a rabid boy, and you have gone and drawn your conclusion at once.
> Perfective «сказала» — the rash word, once said: «сказала» (perfective past of «сказать») names the single completed utterance she now regrets — "I spoke too hastily." The adverb «поспешно» (hastily) underlines that the act, though done in a flash, is finished and irreversible.
> Reproachful «уж … и»: «уж … и вывела» (perfective «вывести», here "to draw a conclusion") carries a reproachful "and you've gone and jumped to it." The string «уж сейчас и» conveys that Lise leapt to her conclusion far too readily — the particles do the work of tone.

Катерина Ивановна только что узнала, что вы пришли, Алексей Федорович, так и бросилась ко мне, она вас жаждет, жаждет  
Katerina Ivanovna has only just learned that you have come, Alexei Fyodorovich, and so she rushed to me — she is longing for you, longing.
> Perfective «узнала» / «пришли»: Both verbs are perfective past: «узнала» (found out, «узнать») and «пришли» (arrived, «прийти» — a prefixed motion verb). «только что» (just now) plus the perfective fixes the news as a fresh, completed event prompting the rush «бросилась».
> «жаждать» — to thirst, to long for: «жаждать» literally means "to thirst" and, figuratively, to crave or long for intensely — an elevated, almost biblical word for so domestic a scene. Its doubling, «жаждет, жаждет», lends Madame Hohlakova's report a breathless, overheated melodrama.

— Ах, мама! Подите одна туда, а он не может пойти сейчас, он слишком страдает  
"Ah, Mama! Go in there alone — he cannot go just now, he is suffering too much.
> Archaic imperative «подите»: «подите» is a slightly old-fashioned/elevated imperative of «пойти» (to go), more emphatic than the everyday «идите» — "go on, go there." «одна» (alone, feminine) agrees with the mother she is addressing: "go in there by yourself."
> Imperfective «страдает» — present suffering: «страдает» (imperfective present of «страдать», to suffer) presents the pain as an ongoing state, not an event — "he is suffering too much [right now]." Only the imperfective has a true present tense, which is why a present-time description runs in it.

— Совсем не страдаю, я очень могу пойти, — сказал Алеша.  
"Not suffering at all — I can perfectly well go," said Alyosha.
> Emphatic negation «совсем не»: «совсем не страдаю» — "I'm not suffering at all," with «совсем» intensifying the «не» to a flat denial. Alyosha's bare, subject-dropped present-tense reply is characteristically plain against the surrounding histrionics.

— Как! Вы уходите? Так-то вы? Так-то вы?  
"What! You are leaving? So that's how you are? So that's how you are?
> Emphatic clitic «-то» in «так-то»: «так-то» tags the adverb «так» (so, thus) with the emphatic, topic-marking clitic «-то»: "so *that's* how you are?" Doubled and indignant, it conveys Lise's mock-betrayal that Alyosha would leave. This «-то» is the topical emphasizer, distinct from indefinite «-то» in «кто-то».

— Что ж? Ведь я когда кончу там, то опять приду, и мы опять можем говорить сколько вам будет угодно.  
"Well, what of it? When I have finished in there, I will come again, and we can talk once more as long as you please.
> Perfective futures in a «когда … то» frame: Both «кончу» (will finish, «кончить») and «приду» (will come, «прийти») are perfective verbs conjugated as futures — single completed acts to come. The correlative «когда … то» ("when … then") sequences them: first finishing, then returning.
> Polite «сколько вам будет угодно»: «угодно» (pleasing) with a dative experiencer «вам» forms the courtly idiom "as much as you please / as it will please you." The future «будет» dates it to when they next talk; the whole phrase is the formal register of polite Russian.

А мне очень хотелось бы видеть поскорее Катерину Ивановну, потому что я во всяком случае очень хочу как можно скорей воротиться сегодня в монастырь.  
But I should very much like to see Katerina Ivanovna soon, because in any case I want very much to get back to the monastery today as quickly as I can.
> Conditional impersonal «хотелось бы»: «мне … хотелось бы» combines a dative experiencer («мне»), the impersonal reflexive «хотелось», and conditional «бы» — "I should very much like." This trifold construction (dative + -ся + бы) is the polite, softened way to voice a wish, pervasive in the novel's inner speech.
> «как можно» + comparative: «как можно скорей» means "as quickly as possible," the fixed pattern «как можно» plus a comparative («скорей» = faster). «воротиться» is a slightly archaic/colloquial variant of «возвратиться» (to return), a -ся verb fitting Alyosha's plain speech.

— Мама, возьмите его и скорее уведите.  
"Mama, take him and lead him away quickly.
> Perfective imperatives «возьмите … уведите»: Two perfective imperatives, «возьмите» (take, «взять») and «уведите» (lead away, «увести» — a prefixed motion verb), order single decisive acts. «скорее» (faster, quickly) spurs them on — Lise dispatching Alyosha with mock-imperious haste.

Алексей Федорович, не трудитесь заходить ко мне после Катерины Ивановны, а ступайте прямо в ваш монастырь, туда вам и дорога!  
Alexei Fyodorovich, do not trouble to look in on me after Katerina Ivanovna; go straight to your monastery — and good riddance to you!
> Negated imperative «не трудитесь»: «не трудитесь» (don't trouble yourself, «трудиться» being a -ся verb) plus the imperfective infinitive «заходить» (to drop in) forms a polite "don't bother to…" The imperfective infinitive after a negated command is the idiomatic choice for forbidding/declining an action.
> Imperative «ступайте» — be off: «ступайте» is the imperative of «ступать» (to step / go), a brisker, more dismissive "go!" than «идите» — "off you go straight to your monastery." «в ваш монастырь» uses «в» + accusative for motion toward.
> Idiom: «туда вам и дорога»: Literally "that's the road for you (to go) there," this fixed idiom means "good riddance" or "serves you right" — a dismissive send-off. Lise says it teasingly, half in pique, which is why we render it "and good riddance to you," keeping the playful sting rather than a literal reading.

А я спать хочу, я всю ночь не спала.  
And I want to sleep — I haven't slept the whole night.
> Infinitive complement «спать хочу»: «хочу» (I want) takes the bare infinitive «спать» (to sleep): "I want to sleep." The fronting of «спать» before «хочу» throws the weight onto the wish for sleep — colloquial topic-comment ordering.
> Imperfective negated «не спала»: «не спала» (imperfective past of «спать») with «всю ночь» (all night) denies an ongoing state across a whole span — "I didn't sleep the whole night." The imperfective is right because the negation covers a continuous, durative non-happening.

— Ах, Lise, это только шутки с твоей стороны, но что если бы ты в самом деле заснула! — воскликнула госпожа Хохлакова.  
"Ah, Lise, this is only joking on your part, but what if you really did fall asleep!" exclaimed Madame Hohlakova.
> Conditional «если бы … заснула»: «если бы … заснула» is a counterfactual conditional: past-form perfective «заснула» ("fell asleep," «заснуть») plus «бы». The mother frets over an unreal but feared possibility — "what if you really did fall asleep!" — the «бы» marking it as hypothetical.
> «с твоей стороны» — on your part: «с твоей стороны» (genitive after «с» here = "from/on the side of") is the idiom "on your part." The mother frames Lise's threat as mere joking «с твоей стороны» — characteristically anxious that it might not be.

— Я не знаю, чем я… Я останусь еще минуты три, если хотите, даже пять, — пробормотал Алеша.  
"I don't know how I… I will stay another three minutes, if you like, even five," muttered Alyosha.
> Instrumental «чем» trailing off: «чем» is the instrumental of «что» ("by/with what"), opening a self-interrupted clause — "I don't know how/by what I…" — that Alyosha lets fade. The broken syntax catches his flustered uncertainty before the household's theatrics.
> Approximation by inversion «минуты три»: Putting the numeral after the noun — «минуты три» instead of «три минуты» — signals approximation: "some three minutes or so." «останусь» is the perfective future of «остаться» (to stay), and the numeral 2–4 governs the genitive singular «минуты».

— Даже пять! Да уведите же его скорее, мама, это монстр!  
"Even five! Do lead him away quickly, Mama, he is a monster!
> Particle stack «да … же» on a command: «да» before and «же» after the imperative «уведите» intensify it into an exasperated plea: "do lead him away, will you, quickly!" These particles, untranslatable one-for-one, are exactly the texture of impatient spoken Russian.
> «монстр» — a (French-flavored) monster: «монстр» is a borrowing (via French monstre) for "monster," used hyperbolically and playfully. In the mouth of the Frenchified Lise — who calls herself «Lise» — it has a teasing, salon ring rather than real menace.

— Lise, ты с ума сошла.  
"Lise, you have gone out of your mind.
> Idiom «с ума сошла» — gone out of your mind: «сойти с ума» (literally "to come down off one's mind") is the standard idiom for going mad or losing one's senses. «сошла» is the perfective past, feminine — "you've gone out of your mind." The mother's scandalized exclamation.

Уйдемте, Алексей Федорович, она слишком капризна сегодня, я ее раздражать боюсь.  
Let us go, Alexei Fyodorovich, she is too capricious today, I am afraid to irritate her.
> Exhortative «уйдемте»: «уйдёмте» is a first-person-plural "let's" form of perfective «уйти» (to leave) with the polite/plural «-те» added: "let us go." Built straight on the perfective future, it proposes a single joint departure — courteous and brisk at once.
> Short adjective «капризна»: «капризна» is the short predicative form of «капризный» (capricious, willful), agreeing feminine: "she is too capricious today." The short form, more bookish than the long «капризная», states the quality as a present condition.
> «боюсь» + imperfective infinitive: «боюсь» (I fear, «бояться» a -ся verb) governs the imperfective infinitive «раздражать» (to irritate): "I'm afraid to irritate her." After verbs of fearing or avoiding, Russian prefers the imperfective infinitive for the activity dreaded.

О, горе с нервною женщиной, Алексей Федорович!  
Oh, what a trial it is to have a nervous girl, Alexei Fyodorovich!
> Archaic instrumental ending «-ою»: «нервною женщиной» shows the literary feminine instrumental in «-ою» (for modern «-ой»), a slightly elevated 19th-century variant after «с» (with). «горе с …» is the lament "what a trial it is to have / be around…"
> «горе» — grief, woe, a trial: «горе» means grief or woe, but in exclamations like «горе с…» it weakens to "what a trial / what a nuisance it is." The mother sighs over the burden of a high-strung daughter; we render the spirit as "what a trial it is."

А ведь в самом деле она, может быть, при вас спать захотела.  
But perhaps she really did grow sleepy in your presence.
> «ведь» — after all: «ведь» appeals to a shared realization dawning on the speaker: "but after all, she really may have…" «захотела» (perfective past of «захотеть») marks the onset of wanting — "she grew sleepy / came to want to sleep," the prefix за- catching the sudden beginning of the state.
> «при вас» — in your presence: «при» governs the prepositional case («вас»), and «при вас» means "in your presence, while you were here." It is the same «при» that elsewhere means "attached to / in the time of" — here, the social sense of being before someone.

Как это вы так скоро нагнали на нее сон, и как это счастливо!  
How quickly you brought sleep upon her, and how fortunate it is!
> Idiom «нагнать сон» + filler «это»: «нагнать на кого-то сон» means "to bring sleep upon someone, make them drowsy"; «нагнали» is the perfective past. The little «это» after «как» is an emphatic filler — "how on earth did you…" — common in exclamatory questions.
> Predicative adverb «счастливо»: «счастливо» is the neuter short / adverbial form used predicatively and impersonally — "how fortunate it is!" Russian exclaims with such bare adverb-predicates where English needs "it is."

— Ах, мама, как вы мило стали говорить, целую вас, мамочка, за это.  
"Ah, Mama, how charmingly you have begun to speak — I kiss you for it, little Mama.
> «стать» + imperfective infinitive (inceptive): «стали говорить» uses perfective «стать» plus the imperfective infinitive «говорить» to mean "began to speak" — «стать» here is inceptive, marking the onset of an ongoing activity. «мило» (charmingly) is the predicative adverb.
> «мамочка» — dear little Mama: «мамочка» is «мама» with the affectionate diminutive «-очка» — "dear little Mama, Mummy." After teasing her mercilessly, Lise melts into endearment, the diminutive flagging the sudden warmth. We render it "little Mama."
> Performative present «целую»: «целую» (imperfective present of «целовать», to kiss) is performative — the act done in the saying: "I kiss you for it." «за это» (for this, «за» + accusative) names the cause of the kiss.

— И я тебя тоже, Lise.  
"And I you too, Lise.
> Gapping: «и я тебя тоже»: The verb «целую» is gapped (left out), understood from Lise's line: «И я тебя тоже» — "and I [kiss] you too." «тебя» is the accusative of «ты»; the mother answers the familiar «ты» with «ты» in return, a tender mutual address.

Послушайте, Алексей Федорович, — таинственно и важно быстрым шепотом заговорила госпожа Хохлакова, уходя с Алешей, — я вам ничего не хочу внушать, ни подымать этой завесы, но вы войдите и сами увидите всё, что там происходит, это ужас, это самая фантастическая комедия: она любит вашего брата Ивана Федоровича и уверяет себя изо всех сил, что любит вашего брата Дмитрия Федоровича.  
"Listen, Alexei Fyodorovich," Madame Hohlakova began in a quick whisper, mysteriously and importantly, as she went out with Alyosha, "I want to suggest nothing to you, nor to lift this veil, but go in and see for yourself everything that is happening in there — it is a horror, it is the most fantastical comedy: she loves your brother Ivan Fyodorovich and assures herself with all her might that she loves your brother Dmitri Fyodorovich.
> Gerund «уходя» + inceptive «заговорила»: «уходя» is the imperfective present gerund of «уходить» (leaving) — she spoke *while* going out with Alyosha. «заговорила» (perfective «заговорить») is inceptive: "began to speak," the prefix за- catching the start of the speech act. «быстрым шепотом» (instrumental) names the manner — "in a quick whisper."
> «подымать завесу» — to lift the veil: «завеса» is a curtain or veil; «подымать» is a slightly old/colloquial variant of «поднимать» (to raise). "To lift the veil" is a literary figure for revealing a secret — and the object «завесы» sits in the genitive under the negated «ни … ни хочу».
> Negative concord «ничего … ни»: «ничего не хочу … ни подымать» strings negatives together — «ничего» (nothing), the verb's «не», and «ни» (nor) — in obligatory negative concord: "I want to suggest nothing, nor to lift…" «внушать» (to insinuate) and «подымать» are imperfective infinitives, the aspect of the activity declined.
> Reflexive object «себя» vs the «что»-clause: «уверяет себя» uses the full reflexive pronoun «себя» as the object — she persuades *herself* — distinct from a -ся verb; the «что»-clause then reports the content of the delusion. The irony hangs on «любит … а уверяет себя, что любит» — loving one brother, convincing herself she loves the other.

Это ужасно!  
It is dreadful!
> Impersonal predicative «ужасно»: «ужасно» is the neuter short / predicative adverb of «ужасный» (terrible), standing as the whole predicate: "it is dreadful!" With the empty subject «это», this is the standard Russian way to pronounce a thing terrible, with no copula in the present.

Я войду вместе с вами и, если не прогонят меня, дождусь конца.  
I will go in with you, and, if they do not drive me out, I will stay until the end.
> Real conditional with perfective futures: A real (not hypothetical) condition: «если … прогонят … дождусь» both perfective futures — "if they do not drive me out, I will wait it out to the end." «прогонят» (drive away, «прогнать») and «дождусь» (wait until, «дождаться» — a -ся verb) name single completed acts; the genitive «конца» follows «дождусь».
> Perfective future «войду» of motion: «войду» is the perfective future of «войти» (to enter), a prefixed motion verb (в- = in): "I will go in." The prefix both supplies the direction (inward) and makes the verb perfective, naming the single act of entering.
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Source text: public domain (Fyodor Dostoevsky, d. 1881; Russian from the Nauka academic edition via ru.wikisource). English translation: original, © 1732 Studios (2026); rendered freshly from the public-domain Russian, not derived from any prior English translation. Sentence-aligned by 1732 Studios.