# The Brothers Karamazov, The Alarm

Братья Карамазовы · Fyodor Dostoevsky · Book IX — The Preliminary Investigation

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b9-c2. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b9-c2.json.


Исправник наш Михаил Макарович Макаров, отставной подполковник, переименованный в надворные советники, был человек вдовый и хороший.  
Our district police captain, Mikhail Makarovich Makarov, a retired lieutenant-colonel reranked as a court counsellor, was a widower and a good-natured man.
> «исправник» — district police captain: An «исправник» was the head of the rural district (uyezd) police in Imperial Russia; we render it 'district police captain.' The word is obsolete today; the modern term would be something like «начальник полиции».
> «вдовый» — widowed: «Вдовый» is the now-archaic full (long-form) adjective for a widowed man (feminine «вдовая»; the short form would be «вдов», fem. «вдова»), beside the noun «вдовец». Here it pairs neatly with «хороший» — 'a widower and a good man' — in the dry register of a character-summary.

Пожаловал же к нам всего назад три года, но уже заслужил общее сочувствие тем, главное, что «умел соединить общество».  
He had come to us only three years before, yet had already earned everyone's goodwill, chiefly because he "knew how to bring society together."
> «пожаловать» — to deign to come: «Пожаловать» is an old courteous verb for arriving or coming (as in «добро пожаловать», 'welcome'); fronted here it lends a faintly ceremonious, ironic tone to the narrator's account of how the captain settled among them.
> Perfective past: an accomplished fact: «Заслужил» is the perfective past of «заслужить» — a single, completed result ('had already earned'). Set against the imperfective background that follows, this perfective marks the captain's goodwill as an achieved state.
> The particle «же»: The enclitic «же» here is a soft connective-emphatic, hinging this sentence to the last ('now, as for him…') rather than expressing real contrast — one of the tiny modal particles that carry Russian's conversational texture.

Гости у него не переводились, и, казалось, без них он бы и сам прожить не мог.  
Guests never stopped coming to his house, and it seemed that without them he simply could not have lived.
> «не переводились» — never ran out: «Переводиться» (here in the imperfective past with «не») idiomatically means 'to cease to exist, run dry, run out' — guests at his house 'never ceased.' The reflexive «-ся» gives the intransitive 'come to an end of themselves.'
> Conditional «бы» — the hypothetical: «Прожить не мог бы» uses the irrealis particle «бы» with the past-form verb to state a counterfactual: 'without them he could not have lived.' The particle leans onto the stressed «бы»-slot rather than the verb, and the added «и сам» ('he himself, even') intensifies it.

Непременно кто-нибудь ежедневно у него обедал, хоть два, хоть один только гость, но без гостей и за стол не садились.  
Without fail someone dined with him every single day — two guests, or at least one, but they never sat down to the table without guests.
> «непременно» — without fail: «Непременно» means 'unfailingly, certainly, come what may.' Placed first, it stresses the inviolable daily routine of dining with company.
> Habitual imperfective and negative concord: The imperfective past «садились» ('they would sit down') describes a recurring habit, and «без гостей… не садились» reads as a standing rule. The «не» negates the verb while «без гостей» supplies the condition.

Бывали и званые обеды, под всякими, иногда даже неожиданными предлогами.  
There were formal dinners as well, on every sort of pretext, sometimes even unexpected ones.
> «званый обед» — a formal dinner: «Званый» is literally 'invited, bidden' (from «звать», to call/invite) — a «званый обед» is a dinner to which guests are formally invited, as opposed to the casual daily table just described.
> Instrumental after «под»: «Под… предлогами» is the instrumental plural governed by «под» in its figurative 'under (a pretext)' sense; «всякими» and «неожиданными» agree with it in case and number — a neat showcase of full adjective–noun agreement.

Кушанье подавалось хоть и не изысканное, но обильное, кулебяки готовились превосходные, а вина хоть и не блистали качеством, зато брали количеством.  
The food, though hardly refined, was abundant; the kulebyakas came out splendid, and the wines, though they did not shine in quality, made up for it in quantity.
> Reflexive «-ся» as passive: Both «подавалось» (was served) and «готовились» (were prepared) are imperfective «-ся» verbs used as a passive: the food 'served itself,' the pies 'were made.' This impersonal-passive «-ся» is the natural way Russian states what was customarily done without naming the cooks.
> Concessive «хоть и… но / зато»: The paired «хоть и… но» ('though… yet') and its echo «хоть и… зато» ('though… in return') build two parallel concessions — modest quality offset by abundance. «Зато» ('but to make up for it') is the warm, compensating counterpart to plain «но».

Во входной комнате стоял биллиард с весьма приличною обстановкой, то есть даже с изображениями скаковых английских лошадей в черных рамках по стенам, что, как известно, составляет необходимое украшение всякой биллиардной у холостого человека.  
In the entrance room stood a billiard table furnished quite respectably — that is, even with framed prints of English racehorses on the walls, which, as everyone knows, are the indispensable adornment of any bachelor's billiard room.
> «биллиард» — billiards (old spelling): Spelled with a doubled «лл» in the 19th-century manner (modern «бильярд»), the billiard table and its racehorse prints are the props of fashionable bachelor leisure — a borrowed European mark of gentility in a provincial Russian house.
> Relative «что» summing up the clause: Here «что» is a connective relative referring not to a single noun but to the whole preceding image ('which, as everyone knows, constitutes…'). The interjected «как известно» ('as is known') is the narrator's dry, knowing aside.
> Genitive after «у»: «У холостого человека» ('at/in a bachelor's [house]') is the genitive governed by «у», the all-purpose preposition of location-by and possession. The adjective «холостого» agrees in genitive masculine.

Каждый вечер играли в карты, хотя бы на одном только столике.  
Every evening there was a card game, if only at a single little table.
> Subjectless habitual imperfective: «Играли» ('they/people played') has no expressed subject — a generic, impersonal plural — and the imperfective conveys the nightly habit. «Каждый вечер» ('every evening') reinforces the iterative reading.
> Diminutive «столик» — a little table: «Столик» is the affectionate-diminutive of «стол» ('table'); with «хотя бы на одном только» it shrinks the scene to 'even if only at a single little table' — modest, cosy, faintly ironic.

Но весьма часто собиралось и всё лучшее общество нашего города, с маменьками и девицами, потанцевать.  
But very often the whole of our town's best society gathered there as well, mothers and young ladies and all, to dance.
> «маменька» — mamma (endearing-archaic): «Маменька» is an old, fond diminutive of «мама»/«мать», the genteel 19th-century way daughters and society spoke of their mothers. Paired with «девицами» ('young ladies, maidens') it paints the marriage-market world of provincial soirées.
> Perfective infinitive of purpose «потанцевать»: «Потанцевать» is the perfective infinitive ('to have a [bit of a] dance'); the prefix «по-» gives the bounded, 'a little while' sense, and the infinitive states the purpose of the gathering.

Михаил Макарович хотя и вдовствовал, но жил семейно, имея при себе свою давно уже овдовевшую дочь, в свою очередь мать двух девиц, внучек Михаилу Макаровичу.  
Though Mikhail Makarovich was a widower, he lived a family life, keeping with him his long-since-widowed daughter, who was herself the mother of two girls, Mikhail Makarovich's granddaughters.
> Gerund «имея» plus a past participle: «Имея» is an imperfective gerund («деепричастие», 'having/keeping'), folding a circumstance into the main clause, while «овдовевшую» is a past active participle ('who had long been widowed') modifying «дочь». Two non-finite verb-forms pack a whole subordinate idea into one phrase — a hallmark of literary Russian.
> «хотя… но» concession: «Хотя и вдовствовал, но жил семейно» ('though he was a widower, he lived a family life') is the standard concessive frame «хотя… но», setting his bereaved status against the household full of women he kept around him.
> Reflexive possessive «свою»: «Свою дочь» — 'his own daughter' — uses the reflexive possessive «свой», which points back to the clause's subject (Mikhail Makarovich). Using «его» instead would suggest someone else's daughter.

Девицы были уже взрослые и окончившие свое воспитание, наружности не неприятной, веселого нрава и, хотя все знали, что за ними ничего не дадут, все-таки привлекавшие в дом дедушки нашу светскую молодежь.  
The girls were already grown and had finished their schooling; of not unpleasant appearance and cheerful disposition, and though everyone knew there would be no dowry behind them, they nonetheless drew the fashionable young men of our town into their grandfather's house.
> Past active participles describing the girls: «Окончившие» ('having finished') and «привлекавшие» ('who were drawing in') are past active participles agreeing with «девицы» in nominative plural; the perfective one names a completed schooling, the imperfective one an ongoing pull. They replace two «которые»-clauses in compact bookish style.
> Double negation and genitive of description: «Не неприятной» ('not unpleasant') is litotes — a politely understated double negative — and «наружности… веселого нрава» stands in the genitive of quality ('of [a] not-unpleasant appearance, of cheerful disposition'), describing the girls without a verb.

В делах Михаил Макарович был не совсем далек, но должность свою исполнял не хуже многих других.  
In matters of business Mikhail Makarovich was not exactly quick, yet he discharged his office no worse than many another.
> «не далёк» — not quick-witted (litotes): Here «далёк» (short adjective, 'far') is used idiomatically of mind — «не совсем далёк» softly says 'not exactly bright,' a guarded understatement rather than the literal 'not entirely far.' The narrator's tact is itself characterising.
> Comparative «хуже» with genitive: «Хуже» is the suppletive comparative of «плохой» ('worse'); «не хуже многих других» ('no worse than many others') takes the genitive of comparison after the comparative form — a frequent 19th-century pattern beside «чем».

Если прямо сказать, то был он человек довольно-таки необразованный и даже беспечный в ясном понимании пределов своей административной власти.  
To speak plainly, he was a rather uneducated man, and even careless about any clear grasp of the limits of his administrative authority.
> Conditional frame and inverted word order: «Если прямо сказать, то…» ('if [one is] to speak plainly, then…') is a fixed framing clause with the correlative «то». The inversion «был он человек» (verb before subject) is a bookish rhetorical ordering that throws weight onto the coming description.
> «довольно-таки» — 'rather' with a wink: The clitic «-таки» tacked onto «довольно» ('rather') adds a colloquial, concessive 'after all, when you get down to it' flavour — 'rather uneducated, truth be told.' It is part of the narrator's chatty, confiding voice.

Иных реформ современного царствования он не то что не мог вполне осмыслить, но понимал их с некоторыми, иногда весьма заметными, ошибками и вовсе не по особенной какой-нибудь своей неспособности, а просто по беспечности своего характера, потому что всё некогда было вникнуть.  
Certain reforms of the present reign he could not so much fully comprehend as understand only with certain, sometimes quite glaring, errors — and this not from any special incapacity of his own, but simply from the carelessness of his character, because he never had time to look into anything.
> Correlative «не то что… но… а»: Dostoevsky strings a layered correlative: «не то что… но» ('not so much… as') corrects the first idea, then «не… а» ('not… but rather') corrects again — winding qualifications that mime the captain's own muddled half-understanding.
> Causal «по» + dative: «По беспечности» ('out of/from carelessness') is the dative governed by «по» in its causal sense — 'because of his carelessness.' The reflexive «своего» ties the trait back to the subject.
> Impersonal «некогда было» + dative logic: «Некогда было вникнуть» ('there was never time to look into it') is an impersonal construction: the predicate «некогда» ('no time') with neuter «было» and an infinitive, the implied experiencer in the dative. This subjectless 'there's no time to…' frame is classic Russian.

«Души я, господа, более военной, чем гражданской», — выражался он сам о себе.  
"My soul, gentlemen, is more military than civilian," was how he put it about himself.
> Genitive of quality, fronted for effect: «Души… более военной, чем гражданской» puts the predicate in the genitive ('[I am] of a soul more military than civilian'), and Dostoevsky fronts «души» before «я» for the captain's self-important flourish — word order as bluster.
> Comparative with «более… чем»: «Более… чем» is the analytic comparative ('more… than') used with adjectives that don't take a synthetic -ее form here; both «военной» and «гражданской» stay in the genitive agreeing with «души».

Даже о точных основаниях крестьянской реформы он всё еще как бы не приобрел окончательного и твердого понятия и узнавал о них, так сказать, из года в год, приумножая свои знания практически и невольно, а между тем сам был помещиком.  
Even of the precise foundations of the peasant reform he had still somehow failed to acquire a settled and firm notion, learning of them, so to speak, year by year, building up his knowledge practically and involuntarily — and yet he was himself a landowner.
> Predicate instrumental «помещиком»: After past-tense «был», the predicate noun takes the instrumental, not the nominative: «был помещиком» ('was a landowner'). The instrumental frames the role as a held position — standard with «быть» in the past.
> Gerund «приумножая»: «Приумножая» is an imperfective gerund ('[gradually] increasing'), with the prefix «при-» adding the nuance of 'building up little by little.' It hangs an attendant process onto «узнавал» — he learned 'while augmenting his knowledge.'

Петр Ильич с точностию знал, что в этот вечер он непременно у Михаила Макаровича встретит кого-нибудь из гостей, но лишь не знал, кого именно.  
Pyotr Ilyich knew for certain that this evening he would, without fail, meet some guest or other at Mikhail Makarovich's, only he did not know exactly whom.
> «с точностию» — old instrumental ending: «Точностию» is the archaic, bookish instrumental of «точность» ('exactness'), where modern Russian writes «точностью». The «-ию» ending is a literary survival; the phrase means 'with precision, for certain.'
> Indirect question and genitive/accusative «кого»: «Не знал, кого именно» ('did not know exactly whom') embeds an indirect question; «кого» is the animate accusative (= genitive form) of «кто», the object of the implied 'he would meet.' «Именно» sharpens it to 'precisely whom.'

А между тем как раз у него сидели в эту минуту за ералашем прокурор и наш земский врач Варвинский, молодой человек, только что к нам прибывший из Петербурга, один из блистательно окончивших курс в Петербургской медицинской академии.  
And as it happened, at that very moment there sat with him over a game of yeralash the prosecutor and our district doctor Varvinsky, a young man only just arrived among us from Petersburg, one of the brilliant graduates of the Petersburg Medical Academy.
> Existential «у + genitive» with the verb leading: «У него сидели… прокурор и… врач» ('at his place sat the prosecutor and the doctor') uses «у» + genitive «него» for location-at-a-person, and fronts the verb «сидели» before its compound subject — placing the new information, the guests, in end-focus.
> Stacked past active participles: «Прибывший» ('just arrived') and «окончивших» ('of those who graduated') are two past active participles characterising the young doctor; «один из… окончивших» puts the participle in the genitive plural after «один из». A dense, typically Dostoevskian participial pile-up.

Прокурор же, то есть товарищ прокурора, но которого у нас все звали прокурором, Ипполит Кириллович, был у нас человек особенный, нестарый, всего лишь лет тридцати пяти, но сильно наклонный к чахотке, присем женатый на весьма толстой и бездетной даме, самолюбивый и раздражительный, при весьма солидном, однако, уме и даже доброй душе.  
The prosecutor — that is, the deputy prosecutor, though everyone among us called him simply the prosecutor — Ippolit Kirillovich, was a man of a singular sort, not old, only some thirty-five, but strongly inclined to consumption, and married withal to a very stout, childless lady; vain and irritable, yet possessed of a thoroughly solid mind and even a kind heart.
> «чахотка» — consumption: «Чахотка» (from «чахнуть», to wither/waste away) is the old word for tuberculosis, 'consumption.' «Наклонный к чахотке» — 'inclined to consumption' — flags the prosecutor's frailty, a detail that will matter later in the novel.
> Adjective chain and «при» + prepositional: A string of nominative adjectives («женатый, самолюбивый, раздражительный») characterises him without a verb, then «при… уме… и… душе» ('with [all that] a solid mind and kind heart') uses «при» + prepositional in its concessive 'for all that' sense.

Кажется, вся беда его характера заключалась в том, что думал он о себе несколько выше, чем позволяли его истинные достоинства.  
It seems the whole misfortune of his character lay in this: that he thought of himself somewhat more highly than his true merits warranted.
> Reflexive «о себе» and comparative «выше»: «О себе» ('of himself') is the prepositional of the reflexive pronoun «себя», pointing back to the subject; «несколько выше» ('somewhat more highly') is the comparative of «высоко». Together: he thought of himself a notch above his real worth.
> Comparative clause with «чем»: «Чем позволяли…» ('than… permitted') completes the comparison «выше, чем» with a full clause; «достоинства» is the nominative subject of «позволяли». Standard comparative subordination after a synthetic comparative.

И вот почему он постоянно казался беспокойным.  
And that is just why he always seemed restless.
> «казаться» + instrumental predicate: «Казался беспокойным» ('seemed restless') puts the predicate adjective in the instrumental after «казаться», just as predicate nouns go instrumental after «быть/стать». «И вот почему» ('and that is just why') is a tidy resultative opener.

Были в нем к тому же некоторые высшие и художественные даже поползновения, например на психологичность, на особенное знание души человеческой, на особенный дар познавания преступника и его преступления.  
He had, besides, certain higher and even artistic pretensions — for instance, to psychological insight, to a special knowledge of the human soul, to a special gift for divining the criminal and his crime.
> «поползновение» — a pretension, would-be impulse: «Поползновение» (root «ползти», to crawl) is a wonderfully deflating word for a half-formed aspiration or presumptuous urge — 'pretensions, hankerings.' Applied to the prosecutor's 'higher and even artistic' ambitions, it quietly undercuts them.
> Anaphoric «на» + accusative: The repeated «на психологичность… на знание… на дар» lists the objects of his 'pretensions' with «на» + accusative ('a claim to…'). The triple anaphora builds a mounting, slightly mocking catalogue of his self-image.
> «душа человеческая» — the human soul: «Знание души человеческой» — 'knowledge of the human soul' — sounds the novel's great keyword «душа». The postposed adjective «человеческой» («души человеческой» rather than «человеческой души») gives a faintly solemn, almost liturgical cadence.

В этом смысле он считал себя несколько обиженным и обойденным по службе и всегда уверен был, что там, в высших сферах, его не сумели оценить и что у него есть враги.  
In that respect he reckoned himself somewhat wronged and passed over in his career, and was forever convinced that up there, in the higher spheres, they had failed to value him, and that he had enemies.
> «считать себя» + instrumental participles: «Считал себя обиженным и обойденным» ('reckoned himself wronged and passed over') takes the reflexive object «себя» plus two past passive participles in the instrumental — the case predicate complements assume after «считать (себя)». The participles read as states he believed himself to be in.
> Subjectless 'they' and «не суметь»: «Не сумели оценить» ('they failed to appreciate him') has an unexpressed generic plural subject — the vague 'them up there' of the higher spheres. «Суметь» (perfective, 'to manage/be able') with «не» states a completed failure.

В мрачные минуты грозился даже перебежать в адвокаты по делам уголовным.  
In his blacker moments he would even threaten to go over to the defense bar in criminal cases.
> «грозиться» — to threaten (reflexive): «Грозиться» (reflexive of «грозить», to threaten) means to keep threatening, especially idly or repeatedly. The imperfective past «грозился» suits the recurring 'in his blacker moments he would threaten…'.

Неожиданное дело Карамазовых об отцеубийстве как бы встряхнуло его всего: «Дело такое, что всей России могло стать известно».  
The unexpected Karamazov affair, this parricide, seemed to shake him to the core: "A case of such a kind that all Russia might come to hear of it."
> Impersonal «могло стать известно» + dative: «Всей России могло стать известно» ('might become known to all Russia') is an impersonal construction: neuter «могло», infinitive «стать», short adjective «известно», and the experiencer «всей России» in the dative — 'known to all Russia.'
> Particle «как бы» softening: «Как бы» ('as it were, as if') is a hedging particle the narrator loves, softening 'shook him to the core' into something tentatively reported. «Встряхнуло… всего» — perfective, 'shook all of him' — names the single jolting event.

Но это уж я говорю, забегая вперед.  
But here I am already getting ahead of myself.
> Gerund idiom «забегая вперёд»: «Забегая вперёд» ('running on ahead [of the story]') is an imperfective gerund used as a set narrative aside — 'but here I am getting ahead of myself.' The «-я» gerund attaches the manner of telling to «говорю».

В соседней комнате, с барышнями, сидел и наш молодой судебный следователь Николай Парфенович Нелюдов, всего два месяца тому прибывший к нам из Петербурга.  
In the next room, with the young ladies, sat our young examining magistrate as well, Nikolai Parfenovich Nelyudov, who had come to us from Petersburg only two months before.
> Participle «прибывший» with «к» + dative: «Прибывший к нам» is a past active participle ('who had arrived among us'); «к нам» uses «к» + dative for arrival/direction toward, and «тому» is short for «тому назад» ('ago'). Compact characterisation of the newcomer.

Потом у нас говорили и даже дивились тому, что все эти лица как будто нарочно соединились в вечер «преступления» вместе в доме исполнительной власти.  
Afterward people among us talked, and even marveled, that all these persons had gathered together, as if on purpose, on the evening of "the crime," in the house of the executive authority.
> «как будто» + perfective «соединились»: «Как будто нарочно соединились» ('as if on purpose had gathered') joins the simile particle «как будто» to the perfective reflexive «соединились» ('came together'). The «-ся» gives the intransitive 'assembled themselves,' and «нарочно» ('deliberately') drives the eerie coincidence.
> «дивиться» — to marvel: «Дивиться» (here imperfective past «дивились») is an old-fashioned, slightly folksy verb for wondering or marvelling, warmer than the neutral «удивляться». It colours the townspeople's gossip with naive astonishment.

А между тем дело было гораздо проще и произошло крайне естественно: у супруги Ипполита Кирилловича другой день как болели зубы, и ему надо же было куда-нибудь убежать от ее стонов; врач же уже по существу своему не мог быть вечером нигде иначе как за картами.  
And yet the thing was far simpler and came about quite naturally: Ippolit Kirillovich's wife had had a toothache for the second day running, and he simply had to flee somewhere from her groans; while the doctor, by his very nature, could be nowhere of an evening but at cards.
> Impersonal necessity «надо… было» + dative: «Ему надо было… убежать» ('he had to flee') is the dative-experiencer necessity construction: «надо» + neuter «было» + infinitive, with «ему» in the dative. The inserted «же» adds an exasperated 'after all, he simply had to.'
> «у + genitive» for 'have' with a body part: «У супруги… болели зубы» ('the wife's teeth ached / she had a toothache') uses the «у» + genitive possessor frame; «зубы» is the grammatical subject and «болели» agrees with it. This is how Russian states bodily ailments — the sufferer in the genitive after «у».
> Negative concord «не… нигде»: «Не мог быть… нигде иначе как…» ('could be nowhere else but…') shows Russian's obligatory negative concord: the verb keeps «не» even with the negative adverb «нигде». 'By his very nature' he 'could be nowhere of an evening but at cards.'

Николай же Парфенович Нелюдов даже еще за три дня рассчитывал прибыть в этот вечер к Михаилу Макаровичу, так сказать, нечаянно, чтобы вдруг и коварно поразить его старшую девицу Ольгу Михайловну тем, что ему известен ее секрет, что он знает, что сегодня день ее рождения и что она нарочно пожелала скрыть его от нашего общества, с тем чтобы не созывать город на танцы.  
As for Nikolai Parfenovich Nelyudov, three whole days before he had been planning to turn up that evening at Mikhail Makarovich's, casually, so to speak, in order to startle, suddenly and slyly, the elder of the girls, Olga Mikhailovna, with the fact that he knew her secret — that he knew today was her birthday, and that she had deliberately tried to hide it from our society so as not to summon the whole town to a dance.
> Purpose clause «чтобы» + infinitive: «Чтобы… поразить» ('in order to startle') is the purpose construction «чтобы» + infinitive (same subject), built on the irrealis «бы» fused into «чтобы». The perfective «поразить» names the intended single coup.
> Imperfective intention vs perfective goal: «Рассчитывал» (imperfective, 'was planning/reckoning') frames an ongoing intention, against the perfective infinitive «прибыть» ('to arrive [the once]'). «Так сказать, нечаянно» ('so to speak, by accident') is the studied casualness of his scheme.
> «чтобы не» — negated purpose: «С тем чтобы не созывать…» ('so as not to summon…') negates the purpose clause; with «не», the imperfective infinitive «созывать» is idiomatic ('avoid doing'), where a positive purpose might choose the perfective. Olga hides her birthday precisely to prevent a dance.

Предстояло много смеху и намеков на ее лета, что она будто бы боится их обнаружить, что теперь так как он владетель ее секрета, то завтра же всем расскажет, и проч., и проч.  
There would be much laughter ahead, and teasing about her years — that she was, as it were, afraid to reveal them; that now, since he held the key to her secret, he would tell everyone tomorrow, and so on, and so on.
> Impersonal «предстояло» + genitive «смеху»: «Предстояло много смеху» ('much laughter lay ahead') is impersonal — neuter «предстояло» with no nominative subject — and «много» governs the genitive «смеху», an old partitive genitive ending («-у» rather than «-а»). A flavourful 19th-century form.
> Reported clause with «будто бы»: «Что она будто бы боится…» reports the content of the teasing with «что», while «будто бы» ('as if, supposedly') flags it as alleged. «Боится» governs the infinitive «обнаружить» ('to reveal') — 'afraid to reveal them.'
> «владетель» — possessor, master: «Владетель» is an elevated, slightly archaic word for an owner or holder (cf. «владеть», to possess) — 'master of her secret.' Its grandeur is playful here: the magistrate enjoys lording his little discovery over Olga.

Милый молоденький человечек был на этот счет большой шалун, его так и прозвали у нас дамы шалуном, и ему, кажется, это очень нравилось.  
The dear young fellow was a great tease in such matters; the ladies among us had nicknamed him "the rascal," and it seems he rather liked it.
> Double diminutive «молоденький человечек»: Both words are diminished for affection: «молоденький» ('young' with the endearing «-еньк-») and «человечек» ('little fellow' from «человек»). The narrator's fondness for the magistrate is built right into the morphology.
> «шалун» — a rascal, a tease: A «шалун» (from «шалить», to be naughty/play pranks) is a mischief-maker or 'rascal,' here a fond nickname the ladies gave him. We render it 'the rascal'; it is teasing, not censorious.
> «прозвать» + instrumental of the name: «Прозвали… шалуном» ('nicknamed [him] the rascal') puts the name «шалуном» in the instrumental — the case naming verbs (звать, называть, прозвать) use for what one is called. «Так и прозвали» ('that's just what they dubbed him') is emphatic.

Впрочем, он был весьма хорошего общества, хорошей фамилии, хорошего воспитания и хороших чувств и хотя жуир, но весьма невинный и всегда приличный.  
He was, for all that, of very good society, of a good family, of a good upbringing and good feelings, and though a pleasure-seeker, a very harmless one and always proper.
> Anaphoric genitive of quality: A fourfold «хорошего… хорошей… хорошего… хороших» («good society, good family, good upbringing, good feelings») all stand in the genitive of description, with «хороший» agreeing in gender/number/case each time. The drumbeat repetition gently mocks the catalogue of respectability.
> «жуир» — a bon vivant: «Жуир» is a Gallicism (from French jouir, 'to enjoy') for a pleasure-seeking man-about-town, a bon vivant. The borrowed word itself signals the fashionable, Frenchified gentility the narrator is sketching.
> «фамилия» — family/lineage (false friend): Here «хорошей фамилии» means 'of good family/lineage,' an older sense; modern «фамилия» usually means 'surname.' A gentle false-friend trap for the learner — context (good upbringing, good feelings) makes the 'family stock' reading plain.

С виду он был маленького роста, слабого и нежного сложения.  
In appearance he was small of stature, of a frail and delicate build.
> Genitive of physical description: «Маленького роста… слабого и нежного сложения» ('of small stature, of a frail and delicate build') describes appearance with the genitive of quality — a verbless characterising phrase typical of portrait-sketching in 19th-century prose.

На тоненьких и бледненьких пальчиках его всегда сверкали несколько чрезвычайно крупных перстней.  
On his thin, pale little fingers there always glittered several extraordinarily large rings.
> Cluster of diminutives: «Тоненьких… бледненьких… пальчиках» heaps three diminutives — 'thin little, pale little fingers' — onto the magistrate's delicate hands. The «-еньк-» / «-ик» suffixes convey daintiness, almost effeminacy, mirroring his frail, foppish figure.

Когда же исполнял свою должность, то становился необыкновенно важен, как бы до святыни понимая свое значение и свои обязанности.  
But when he was carrying out his duties, he would take on an extraordinary air of importance, as though he grasped the meaning of his role and his obligations to the point of holiness.
> Short adjective predicate «важен»: «Важен» is the short form of «важный» ('important, self-important'), used predicatively after «становился» to mark the assumed, momentary air of gravity. The short adjective gives a more bookish, state-describing flavour than the long form would.
> Gerund «понимая» with «как бы»: «Как бы… понимая» ('as though grasping') is an imperfective gerund hung on «становился», with «как бы» hedging it and «до святыни» ('to the point of holiness') stretching the irony of his self-importance.

Особенно умел он озадачивать при допросах убийц и прочих злодеев из простонародья и действительно возбуждал в них если не уважение к себе, то всё же некоторое удивление.  
He had a particular knack for disconcerting murderers and other malefactors of the common people under interrogation, and really did rouse in them, if not respect for himself, then at least a certain wonder.
> «простонародье» — the common people: «Простонародье» ('the common folk, the lower orders') is the educated classes' somewhat condescending term for the uneducated peasantry and townsfolk. The magistrate's knack is precisely for unsettling 'murderers and malefactors of the common people' — a class detail.
> Correlative «если не… то»: «Если не… то» ('if not… then [at least]') is a fixed concessive correlative scaling down the claim: he roused in them 'if not respect, then at least a certain wonder.' «Возбуждал» (imperfective) marks the habitual effect.

Петр Ильич, войдя к исправнику, был просто ошеломлен: он вдруг увидал, что там всё уже знают.  
Pyotr Ilyich, on entering the police captain's, was simply dumbfounded: he saw at once that everyone there already knew.
> Perfective gerund «войдя»: «Войдя» is the perfective past gerund of «войти» ('having entered'), marking an action completed just before the main verb — 'on entering… he was dumbfounded.' «К исправнику» uses «к» + dative for going to a person's place.
> Generic «всё знают» in the present: «Там всё уже знают» ('everyone there already knows') keeps the present tense inside reported perception, with a subjectless generic plural «знают» ('they/everyone know'). The vivid present makes Pyotr Ilyich's sudden realisation immediate.

Действительно, карты бросили, все стояли и рассуждали, и даже Николай Парфенович прибежал от барышень и имел самый боевой и стремительный вид.  
Indeed, the cards had been thrown down, everyone was standing and debating, and even Nikolai Parfenovich had run in from the young ladies, with the most warlike and impetuous air.
> Perfective event against imperfective backdrop: «Бросили» (perfective, 'had thrown down') is the single completed act, while «стояли и рассуждали» (imperfective, 'were standing and debating') paint the ongoing scene around it — the aspect contrast that drives Russian narration.
> Prefixed motion verb «прибежать» + «от»: «Прибежал» is the perfective prefixed motion verb (при- 'arrival' + бежать 'run') — 'came running in'; «от барышень» ('from the young ladies') uses «от» + genitive for movement away from people. The prefix фixes both direction and completion.
> «барышня» — a young lady: «Барышня» was the polite term for an unmarried young gentlewoman, the daughter of the house. «От барышень» places the magistrate's flight from flirtation in the next room to the men's grave council — a small comic stage-direction.

Петра Ильича встретило ошеломляющее известие, что старик Федор Павлович действительно и в самом деле убит в этот вечер в своем доме, убит и ограблен.  
Pyotr Ilyich was met by the staggering news that old Fyodor Pavlovich had really and truly been killed that very evening in his own house — killed and robbed.
> Inverted subject–object order: Literally 'Pyotr Ilyich (acc.) was met by the news (nom.)' — the object «Петра Ильича» leads and the subject «известие» follows, the verb agreeing with «известие». Free word order lets the news land as the stressed, end-weighted element.
> Short passive participles «убит, ограблен»: «Убит» and «ограблен» are short-form past passive participles ('killed,' 'robbed') stating the result. They are the heart of the periphrastic passive (here without «был»): Fyodor Pavlovich 'was killed and robbed.'

Узналось же это только сейчас пред тем следующим образом.  
It had come to light only just now, in the following way.
> Reflexive «-ся» impersonal + «же»: «Узналось» is the «-ся» middle/passive of «узнать» ('it became known, came to light'), with «это» as subject. The connective «же» eases into the explanation that follows — 'and it came out thus.'

Марфа Игнатьевна, супруга поверженного у забора Григория, хотя и спала крепким сном на своей постеле и могла бы так проспать еще до утра, вдруг, однако же, пробудилась.  
Marfa Ignatyevna, the wife of Grigory who lay struck down by the fence, though she was sleeping soundly in her bed and might have gone on sleeping so until morning, suddenly, all the same, woke up.
> Pre-posed participial phrase «поверженного у забора»: «Поверженного у забора» ('struck down by the fence') is a past passive participle in the genitive, agreeing with «Григория» and packed in front of the noun — a bookish, weighty embedding ('Grigory, who had been struck down by the fence').
> Conditional «могла бы» vs perfective event: «Могла бы… проспать» ('might have gone on sleeping') is the irrealis «бы» + past form — what would have happened; «вдруг… пробудилась» ('suddenly woke up') is the perfective that actually breaks in. The «однако же» ('all the same') marks the reversal.
> Concessive «хотя… однако»: «Хотя и спала крепким сном… однако же… пробудилась» frames the concession 'though she slept soundly… yet she woke.' «Крепким сном» is an instrumental of manner ('with a sound sleep').

Способствовал тому страшный эпилептический вопль Смердякова, лежавшего в соседней комнатке без сознания, — тот вопль, которым всегда начинались его припадки падучей и которые всегда, во всю жизнь, страшно пугали Марфу Игнатьевну и действовали на нее болезненно.  
What brought it about was the terrible epileptic shriek of Smerdyakov, who lay senseless in the little room next door — that shriek with which his fits of the falling sickness always began, and which all her life had always frightened Marfa Ignatyevna dreadfully and worked on her like an illness.
> «падучая (болезнь)» — the falling sickness: «Падучая» is an old folk name for epilepsy, literally 'the falling (disease),' from «падать», 'to fall.' Dostoevsky pairs it here with the bookish «эпилептический»; we keep the same contrast in English by rendering «падучая» as 'the falling sickness' against 'epileptic.'
> Past active participle «лежавшего»: «Лежавшего» ('who was lying') is an imperfective past active participle in the genitive, agreeing with «Смердякова» and folding 'who lay senseless in the next room' into the noun phrase. The imperfective stem gives the ongoing state.
> Relative «который» in the instrumental: «Тот вопль, которым всегда начинались его припадки» — 'the shriek with which his fits always began.' «Который» agrees with «вопль» in gender/number but takes the instrumental its own clause demands (начинаться + instrumental of means). A textbook case of который's split agreement.

Не могла она к ним никогда привыкнуть.  
She could never get used to them.
> Negative concord and inversion: «Не могла… никогда привыкнуть» pairs «не» on the verb with the negative adverb «никогда» — obligatory negative concord ('she could never get used [to them]'). Fronting «не могла она» throws emphatic weight onto her lifelong inability. «К ним» is «к» + dative.

Спросонья она вскочила и почти без памяти бросилась в каморку к Смердякову.  
Half-asleep, she sprang up and rushed almost out of her wits into Smerdyakov's little cubbyhole.
> «спросонья» — half-asleep, fresh from sleep: «Спросонья» is a fixed adverb (from «со» + «сон») meaning 'while still half-asleep, in a daze of sleep.' It frames her panicked rush as the muddled action of someone just startled awake.
> Chain of perfectives with «-ся»: «Вскочила… бросилась» — two perfective past verbs, the second reflexive («броситься», to fling oneself) — drive the action forward as a quick sequence of completed events. «В каморку» is «в» + accusative for motion into a place.
> «каморка» — a tiny room: A «каморка» is a cramped little room, cubbyhole, or closet — pejorative-diminutive in feel. It fixes Smerdyakov's lowly lodging as a servant in the Karamazov house.

Но там было темно, слышно было только, что больной начал страшно храпеть и биться.  
But it was dark in there; she could hear only that the sick man had begun to snore and thrash about horribly.
> Impersonal predicatives «темно», «слышно»: «Было темно» ('it was dark') and «слышно было» ('one could hear') are impersonal constructions built on neuter predicative adverbs with «было» and no subject — the standard Russian way of stating ambient conditions and perceptions.
> Phasal «начал» + imperfective infinitives: «Начал храпеть и биться» ('began to snore and thrash') — the phasal verb «начать» takes imperfective infinitives, since beginning an action implies its process. «Больной» ('the sick man') is a substantivised adjective. «Биться» is reflexive, 'to struggle/thrash.'

Тут Марфа Игнатьевна закричала сама и начала было звать мужа, но вдруг сообразила, что ведь Григория-то на кровати, когда она вставала, как бы и не было.  
At this Marfa Ignatyevna cried out herself and was about to call her husband, when suddenly it dawned on her that Grigory had not, it seemed, been in the bed when she got up.
> Genitive of negated existence: «Григория… не было» ('Grigory was not [there]') puts the subject of a negated existential in the genitive — the obligatory genitive with «не было». «Как бы и не было» hedges it ('seemed not to have been there').
> Emphatic clitic «-то»: The hyphenated «-то» on «Григория-то» is the topic-emphasising particle ('Grigory, you see / as for Grigory') — distinct from indefinite «кто-то». It spotlights the known topic just as her dawning alarm settles on him.
> The «было» of the interrupted attempt: «Начала было звать» uses the special particle «было» (frozen, invariable) that marks an action begun and then broken off — 'she was just about to call… but [suddenly].' It is a distinctive Russian device for the action that didn't get to happen.

Она подбежала к кровати и ощупала ее вновь, но кровать была в самом деле пуста.  
She ran to the bed and felt over it again, but the bed was indeed empty.
> Sequenced perfectives: «Подбежала… ощупала» — perfective prefixed verbs ('ran up… felt over') chaining two completed actions. «Подбежать» (под- 'up to' + бежать) gives motion right up to the bed; «вновь» ('again') marks the repeated groping.
> Short adjective «пуста»: «Пуста» is the short form of «пустой» ('empty'), predicate after «была» — 'the bed was indeed empty.' The short form here states the bare, confirmed fact, sharpening the dread.

Стало быть, он ушел, куда же?  
So he had gone out, but where?
> «стало быть» and the particle «же» in a question: «Стало быть» is the conversational 'so, therefore' (literally 'it became to be'). «Куда же?» fires off the question with «же» adding urgency — 'but where [on earth]?' — slipping into her free indirect thought.
> Prefixed motion «уйти» (perfective): «Ушёл» is the perfective of «уходить/уйти» ('went away, left'), the у- prefix marking departure and the perfective marking the completed exit — 'he had gone out.'

Она выбежала на крылечко и робко позвала его с крыльца.  
She ran out onto the little porch and timidly called him from the steps.
> Diminutive «крылечко» — the little porch: «Крылечко» is the diminutive of «крыльцо» (the porch/front steps of a Russian house); the «-ечко» suffix gives a homely, modest scale. She steps out onto 'the little porch' to call into the night.
> «робко» — timidly: «Робко» ('timidly, shyly,' from «робкий») recurs in this passage to colour Marfa's frightened approach into the dark garden — a small, repeated brushstroke of her dread.

Ответа, конечно, не получила, но зато услышала среди ночной тишины откуда-то как бы далеко из сада какие-то стоны.  
She got no answer, of course, but instead, amid the silence of the night, she caught from somewhere — as if far off, from the garden — a kind of groaning.
> Genitive of the negated object: «Ответа… не получила» ('got no answer') shifts the object «ответ» into the genitive «ответа» under negation — the genitive of negation, especially natural with an abstract, non-specific object.
> Contrastive «но зато»: «Но зато» ('but instead / but to make up for it') opposes the silence to what she does hear — the compensating counter-conjunction «зато» heightening the eerie 'no answer, but instead… groaning.'
> Hedging «как бы» and indefinite «какие-то»: «Как бы далеко» ('as if far off') and «какие-то стоны» ('some sort of groaning') both blur the perception: «какие-то» (interrogative + «-то») marks a real but unidentified source. The vagueness mirrors her straining in the dark.

Она прислушалась; стоны повторились опять, и ясно стало, что они в самом деле из саду.  
She listened; the groans came again, and it became clear that they were indeed coming from the garden.
> Reflexive «повторились» and impersonal «стало ясно»: «Повторились» is the «-ся» middle of «повторить» ('repeated themselves, came again'); «ясно стало» ('it became clear') is impersonal, with neuter «стало» + predicative «ясно» introducing the «что»-clause.
> «из саду» — old partitive/locative genitive: «Из саду» uses the special masculine «-у» genitive (beside «из сада»), a survival kept in set spatial phrases — 'out of the garden.' The same noun shows the «в саду» stressed locative elsewhere; «сад» is one of these special nouns.

«Господи, словно как тогда Лизавета Смердящая!» — пронеслось в ее расстроенной голове.  
"Lord, it's just like the time of Lizaveta Smerdyashchaya!" flashed through her distraught head.
> Reflexive «пронеслось» of a thought: «Пронеслось» (perfective «-ся», 'flashed/rushed through') is the idiom for a thought darting through the mind. «В… голове» is «в» + prepositional (location); «расстроенной» is a past passive participle, 'distraught,' agreeing with «голове».
> «Господи» — vocative 'O Lord': «Господи» is the Church-Slavonic vocative of «Господь» ('Lord'), surviving only in prayer and exclamation. Marfa's involuntary 'Lord!' is the reflexive piety of a frightened, devout servant — direct address standing outside the sentence's grammar.

Робко сошла она со ступенек и разглядела, что калитка в сад отворена.  
Timidly she came down from the steps and made out that the garden gate stood open.
> Prefixed motion «сойти» + «с» + genitive: «Сошла… со ступенек» ('came down off the steps') is the perfective «сойти» (с- 'down/off' + идти), with «со» + genitive «ступенек» marking movement off a surface. The fronted «робко сошла она» keeps timidity in focus.
> Short passive participle «отворена»: «Отворена» is the short past passive participle of «отворить» ('opened'), predicate in the «что»-clause — 'that the gate stood open.' The short form names the resulting state of the gate.
> «калитка» — a garden wicket-gate: A «калитка» is a small gate for people set into a fence or beside the larger «ворота» (carriage gate). The open «калитка» — the way into the garden — is a quiet, ominous clue at the murder scene.

«Верно, он, сердечный, там», — подумала она, подошла к калитке и вдруг явственно услышала, что ее зовет Григорий, кличет: «Марфа, Марфа!» — слабым, стенящим, страшным голосом.  
"He must be there, the poor dear," she thought, and went up to the gate, when suddenly she distinctly heard Grigory calling her, crying out, "Marfa, Marfa!" in a weak, moaning, dreadful voice.
> «сердечный» — poor dear (term of pity): «Сердечный» (from «сердце», heart) as a substantive is an affectionate-pitying epithet, 'the poor dear, the dear soul.' Marfa's «он, сердечный» wraps her fright for her husband in tenderness.
> «кликать» — to call out (folk register): «Кличет» (from «кликать») is a folk-coloured verb for calling or hailing someone by name, warmer and more rustic than «звать». Doubling «зовёт… кличет» heightens Grigory's desperate cries from the dark.
> Instrumental of manner + present active participle: «Слабым, стенящим, страшным голосом» ('in a weak, moaning, dreadful voice') is the instrumental of manner; «стенящим» is a present active participle ('moaning,' from «стенать»), agreeing in the instrumental with «голосом».

«Господи, сохрани нас от беды», — прошептала Марфа Игнатьевна и бросилась на зов и вот таким-то образом и нашла Григория.  
"Lord, keep us from harm," Marfa Ignatyevna whispered, and rushed toward the call — and that was how she came upon Grigory.
> Imperative «сохрани»: «Сохрани» is the perfective imperative of «сохранить» ('preserve, keep') — addressed to God. The bare, stressed «-и» imperative befits the urgency of a one-off plea.
> Emphatic «вот таким-то образом… и»: «Вот таким-то образом и нашла» ('and that was just how she came upon [him]') uses the demonstrative-of-manner «таким образом» with the topicalising «-то» and the focusing «и» — a chatty narrative seam clinching the little episode.

Но нашла не у забора, не на том месте, где он был повержен, а шагов уже за двадцать от забора.  
But she found him not by the fence, not on the spot where he had been struck down, but already some twenty paces from the fence.
> Repeated «не» and short passive «повержен»: The anaphoric «не у забора, не на том месте» ('not by the fence, not on the spot') sharpens the surprise of where she found him. «Повержен» is a bookish short past passive participle ('struck down'), continuing the elevated register around Grigory's wounding.
> Approximation by inversion: «шагов за двадцать»: Putting the counted noun before the numeral — «шагов за двадцать» instead of «за двадцать шагов» — signals approximation ('some twenty paces or so'). «Шагов» is genitive plural after the numeral. A neat idiomatic word-order trick.

Потом оказалось, что, очнувшись, он пополз и, вероятно, полз долго, теряя по нескольку раз сознание и вновь впадая в беспамятство.  
It came out afterward that, on coming to, he had crawled — and probably crawled a long while, losing consciousness several times and sinking again into oblivion.
> Perfective gerund «очнувшись» + ingressive «пополз»: «Очнувшись» ('having come to') is a perfective past gerund marking the action just before; «пополз» (по- + ползти) is the ingressive perfective 'began to crawl / crawled off.' The prefix «по-» on a motion verb often means 'set off / do for a while.'
> Two imperfective gerunds of accompanying action: «Теряя… сознание» and «впадая в беспамятство» are imperfective gerunds ('losing… and sinking [again]'), naming the repeated attendant circumstances of his long crawl. «Впадать в» + accusative is the idiom for falling into a state.
> Impersonal «оказалось, что»: «Оказалось, что» ('it turned out that') is an impersonal reporting frame — neuter «-ся» verb with no subject, introducing the «что»-clause. Common for delivering after-the-fact narration.

Она тотчас заметила, что он весь в крови и тут уж закричала благим матом.  
She noticed at once that he was all covered in blood, and then she screamed at the top of her lungs.
> «благим матом» — at the top of one's lungs: «Кричать благим матом» is a fixed idiom for screaming desperately, frantically, 'at the top of one's lungs.' «Благим матом» (an instrumental of manner) is opaque and archaic-folk in origin — best learned whole, as the set phrase it is.
> Verbless predicate «весь в крови»: «Он весь в крови» ('he [was] all covered in blood') states a condition with no copula and no verb — «весь» ('all of him') plus «в крови» («в» + prepositional, 'in blood'). The zero-verb construction makes the horror immediate.

Григорий же лепетал тихо и бессвязно: «Убил… отца убил… чего кричишь, дура… беги, зови…»  
Grigory, meanwhile, was babbling softly and incoherently: "He's killed him… killed his father… what are you screaming for, you fool… run, call someone…"
> Subjectless perfective and accusative «отца»: Grigory's gasped «убил… отца убил» ('killed… killed [his] father') drops the subject entirely, leaving only the perfective verb «убил» — the bare report of a completed deed. «Отца» is the animate accusative (= genitive) of «отец».
> Imperatives and «чего» for «почему»: «Беги, зови» are imperfective imperatives ('run! call!'), urging immediate action. «Чего кричишь» uses colloquial «чего» ('why, what for') in place of «почему», and «дура» ('you fool,' fem.) is rough vocative-style address — the raw speech of a dying man.
> «лепетать» — to babble: «Лепетать» is to babble, prattle, or mutter brokenly — used of infants' first sounds and, here, of a half-conscious man's incoherent words. «Тихо и бессвязно» ('softly and incoherently') reinforces the failing, fragmentary speech.

Но Марфа Игнатьевна не унималась и всё кричала и вдруг, завидев, что у барина отворено окно и в окне свет, побежала к нему и начала звать Федора Павловича.  
But Marfa Ignatyevna would not let up and kept on screaming, until suddenly, spotting that the master's window stood open and there was light in it, she ran to it and began calling Fyodor Pavlovich.
> «униматься» — to grow quiet, calm down: The reflexive «униматься/уняться» means to subside, calm oneself, leave off. The imperfective past «не унималась» pictures Marfa as continuing, unstoppable — she 'would not let up'. The verb recurs of Smerdyakov below («не унимается»).
> Perfective gerund «завидев»: «завидев» is a perfective past adverbial participle («деепричастие») from «завидеть» (to catch sight of): 'having caught sight that…'. It compresses a prior, completed action sharing Marfa's subject before the main verb «побежала».
> Possessive «у» + short passive participle: «у барина» ('at the master's') is the genitive-of-possession construction with «у»; «отворено» is the neuter short passive participle of «отворить» — 'the window stands opened'. The two together state the master's window as a fixed, perceived result.

Но, взглянув в окно, увидала страшное зрелище: барин лежал навзничь на полу, без движения.  
But, looking in at the window, she saw a terrible sight: the master lay on his back on the floor, motionless.
> Gerund chained to perfective verb: «взглянув» (perfective gerund of «взглянуть», to glance) again gives the prior act — 'having glanced in' — before the perfective «увидала» pushes the story forward to the discovery. This gerund-then-verb rhythm drives the whole paragraph.
> «навзничь» — flat on one's back: An old adverb meaning supine, face-up (its opposite is «ничком», face-down). It is vivid and slightly bookish; it tells us Fyodor Pavlovich was struck from behind and fell backward.
> «зрелище» — a sight, spectacle: A bookish noun for something beheld, often dramatic or terrible. «страшное зрелище» — a 'terrible sight' — raises the register to match the horror of what Marfa sees.

Светлый халат и белая рубашка на груди были залиты кровью.  
His light dressing gown and the white shirt over his chest were drenched in blood.
> Periphrastic passive in the instrumental: «были залиты» is «быть» + the short past passive participle of «залить» (to flood, drench): 'were drenched'. The flooding agent, blood, stands in the instrumental «кровью» — the case that names the means by which the gown was soaked.
> «халат» — dressing gown / robe: A loose house robe worn indoors. The detail of Fyodor Pavlovich in his «светлый халат» fixes the domestic, off-guard moment in which he was killed.

Свечка на столе ярко освещала кровь и неподвижное мертвое лицо Федора Павловича.  
The candle on the table lit up brightly the blood and the still, dead face of Fyodor Pavlovich.
> Diminutive «свечка» — a candle: «свечка» is the everyday diminutive of «свеча» (candle). The suffix here is not emotional but simply colloquial — the small homely candle that lights the murder scene.
> Imperfective «освещала» as standing background: The imperfective past «освещала» (was lighting up) holds the candle's glow as a steady, ongoing state — the lit tableau against which the perfective events move. «кровь … лицо» are its accusative direct objects.

Тут уж в последней степени ужаса Марфа Игнатьевна бросилась от окна, выбежала из сада, отворила воротный запор и побежала сломя голову на зады к соседке Марье Кондратьевне.  
At this, in the last extremity of horror, Marfa Ignatyevna flung herself away from the window, ran out of the garden, threw open the gate bolt, and dashed headlong around to the back, to the neighbor woman Marya Kondratyevna.
> A chain of perfective verbs: Four perfective past verbs fire in sequence — flung herself, ran out, threw open, dashed — each a single completed act advancing the panic moment by moment. This staccato of perfectives is the narrative engine of the scene.
> «сломя голову» — headlong, at breakneck speed: A fixed idiom, literally 'having broken one's head', meaning to rush recklessly and fast. «сломя» is a fossilised gerund surviving only in this expression.
> «на зады» — round to the back: «зады» (plural) are the back parts — the rear yards and lanes behind the houses. «побежала … на зады к соседке» means she ran round behind to the neighbour's.
> Relational adjective «воротный»: «воротный» is an adjective built from «ворота» (gate), agreeing with «запор» (bolt): the 'gate-bolt'. Russian readily turns a noun into such a classifying adjective rather than stacking two nouns.

Обе соседки, мать и дочь, тогда уже започивали, но на усиленный и неистовый стук в ставни и крики Марфы Игнатьевны проснулись и подскочили к окну.  
Both neighbors, mother and daughter, had already gone to bed, but at the violent, frantic banging on the shutters and Marfa Ignatyevna's cries they woke and ran up to the window.
> «започивать» — to have settled down to sleep: A folksy, slightly elevated verb: «почивать» is a deferential 'to rest/sleep', and the prefix за- gives the inceptive 'had already gone to rest'. The whole register is gently old-fashioned, fitting the peasant-women household.
> «на» + accusative as cause/response: Here «на» with the accusative («на стук … и крики») names the stimulus the women respond to — 'at the banging and cries they woke'. The preposition's accusative government marks the trigger, not motion toward.
> «неистовый» — frantic, frenzied: A strong literary adjective for uncontrolled, raging intensity. Paired with «усиленный» (redoubled), it conveys how violently Marfa pounded the shutters.

Марфа Игнатьевна бессвязно, визжа и крича, передала, однако, главное и звала на помощь.  
Marfa Ignatyevna, incoherently, shrieking and crying out, managed nonetheless to get the main thing across and was calling for help.
> Two present gerunds of manner: «визжа» (squealing) and «крича» (shouting) are imperfective present gerunds describing the simultaneous manner of Marfa's report — she conveyed the news 'shrieking and crying'. They share her subject with «передала».
> Concessive «однако»: «однако» ('however, nonetheless'), set mid-clause, concedes against «бессвязно» (incoherently): garbled though she was, she nonetheless got the main thing across. It is a more bookish hinge than «но».

Как раз в эту ночь заночевал у них скитающийся Фома.  
It so happened that the wandering Foma had stayed the night with them that very night.
> Topic-comment inversion: The new figure 'the wandering Foma' lands in subject-final position, the stressed news of the clause, after the verb and place. Russian's free word order lets the sentence build up to the freshly introduced character.
> Present active participle «скитающийся»: From the reflexive «скитаться» (to wander, roam), this -щийся present active participle means 'wandering', characterising Foma as a vagrant pilgrim. It carries the reflexive -ся and declines as an adjective before «Фома».

Мигом подняли его, и все трое побежали на место преступления.  
They roused him in an instant, and all three ran to the scene of the crime.
> «мигом» — in a flash: An instrumental-adverb from «миг» (an instant) meaning 'in a trice, instantly'. Fronted for emphasis, it conveys how fast they roused Foma.
> Collective numeral «трое»: «трое» is a collective numeral used for groups of people (especially mixed company), distinct from cardinal «три». «все трое» means 'all three of them' as a set.
> «место преступления» — the scene of the crime: A set legal-narrative phrase, 'the place of the crime'. Its formal ring quietly shifts the chapter into the register of investigation that now takes over.

Дорогою Марья Кондратьевна успела припомнить, что давеча, в девятом часу, слышала страшный и пронзительный вопль на всю окрестность из их сада — и это именно был, конечно, тот самый крик Григория, когда он, вцепившись руками в ногу сидевшего уже на заборе Дмитрия Федоровича, прокричал: «Отцеубивец!»  
On the way Marya Kondratyevna managed to recall that earlier that evening, around nine o'clock, she had heard a terrible, piercing shriek across the whole neighborhood from their garden — and that, of course, had been precisely that very cry of Grigory's, when he, clutching with his hands at the leg of Dmitri Fyodorovich, who was already astride the fence, had shouted, "Parricide!"
> «давеча» — a little while ago, earlier today: A colloquial, slightly rustic adverb meaning 'earlier (today)'. It belongs to peasant speech and is just right in Marya Kondratyevna's recollection.
> Ordinal time: «в девятом часу»: Russian tells the hour by the ordinal of the hour-in-progress: «в девятом часу» is literally 'in the ninth hour', i.e. some time after eight, 'around nine'. The ordinal «девятом» is prepositional after «в».
> Gerund + embedded past participle: «вцепившись» is a perfective gerund (having clung), with «руками» instrumental of means. Inside it sits the past active participle «сидевшего» ('who was already sitting'), agreeing in genitive with «Дмитрия Федоровича» — a dense participial nesting typical of Dostoevsky.
> «вопль» — a wail, scream: An expressive, high-pitched word for a cry of anguish or terror. «страшный и пронзительный вопль на всю окрестность» — a shriek heard across the whole neighbourhood — is Grigory's death-cry of the previous chapter.
> «отцеубивец» — parricide: A heavy compound: «отец» (father) + «убивец» (an old, charged variant of «убийца», killer). 'Father-killer' — Grigory's accusation hurled at Dmitri, and the moral keyword of the whole novel.

«Завопил кто-то один и вдруг перестал», — показывала, бежа, Марья Кондратьевна.  
"Somebody let out one yell and then suddenly stopped," Marya Kondratyevna testified later, running as she spoke.
> «завопить» — to let out a yell: The prefix за- gives the inceptive, 'began to wail / let out a yell'. «кто-то один» = 'someone, just one person' — the indefinite «кто-то» pins a specific but unidentified crier.
> «показывать» (legal) + the gerund «бежа»: Here «показывала» means 'testified, gave evidence' — the report shifts to her later deposition. «бежа», a rare present gerund of «бежать» (running), describes the manner — she testified 'as she ran'.

Прибежав на место, где лежал Григорий, обе женщины с помощью Фомы перенесли его во флигель.  
Reaching the spot where Grigory lay, the two women, with Foma's help, carried him into the lodge.
> Perfective gerund + relative clause: «Прибежав» (having run up) is a prefixed perfective gerund of motion, the prior action before «перенесли». It heads a «где»-relative clause locating the spot 'where Grigory lay'.
> «с помощью» + genitive: «с помощью» ('with the help of') governs the genitive «Фомы» — a fixed prepositional phrase of means. «перенесли» is perfective: they carried him across, completed.

Зажгли огонь и увидали, что Смердяков всё еще не унимается и бьется в своей каморке, скосил глаза, а с губ его текла пена.  
They lit a lamp and saw that Smerdyakov still would not be quieted and was thrashing in his cubbyhole, his eyes turned crooked and foam trickling from his lips.
> Present-tense vividness in past narration: After perfective pasts «зажгли … увидали», the report slips into the present «не унимается … бьется … скосил … текла» — a free-indirect 'narrative present' rendering what they saw as if before our eyes. The reflexives -ся (will not be quieted, thrashes) are middle/intransitive.
> «каморка» — a tiny cramped room: A diminutive of «камора», meaning a cramped little closet or cubbyhole. The pejorative-tinged smallness suits Smerdyakov's mean servant's quarters.
> «скосить глаза»; «пена»: «скосил глаза» — his eyes went crooked / squinted askew; «пена» is foam. The detail paints the epileptic fit, the «падучая» (falling sickness) that will become a crux of the investigation.

Голову Григория обмыли водой с уксусом, и от воды он совсем уже опамятовался и тотчас спросил: «Убит аль нет барин?»  
They bathed Grigory's head with water and vinegar, and the water brought him fully to his senses, so that he at once asked: "Is the master killed or not?"
> Indefinite-personal plural + instrumental of means: «обмыли» has no stated subject — an indefinite-personal 'they/people washed', common in narration. «водой с уксусом» is instrumental: the means by which they bathed the head. «Голову» is fronted as the topic.
> «опамятоваться» — to come to one's senses: A folksy, slightly archaic reflexive from «память» (memory/wits): to regain consciousness and presence of mind. It belongs to the same homely register as Grigory's own speech.
> «аль» — dialectal 'or': «аль» is a colloquial, peasant variant of «или» / «или нет» ('or'). Grigory's first words on waking — 'Is the master killed or not?' — are marked by this rustic particle, characterising his plain old-servant voice.
> Short passive participle «убит»: «убит» is the masculine short form of the past passive participle «убитый» (killed), used predicatively: 'is the master killed?'. The short form states a result-state and is the natural predicative of such participles.

Обе женщины и Фома пошли тогда к барину и, войдя в сад, увидали на этот раз, что не только окно, но и дверь из дома в сад стояла настежь отпертою, тогда как барин накрепко запирался сам с вечера каждую ночь вот уже всю неделю и даже Григорию ни под каким видом не позволял стучать к себе.  
The two women and Foma then went to the master, and entering the garden they saw this time that not only the window but the door from the house into the garden stood wide open — whereas the master had locked himself fast every night for a whole week now, and would not even allow Grigory, on any account, to knock at his door.
> Gerund + «что»-clause + instrumental predicative: «войдя» (having entered) is a perfective gerund; it leads to «увидали, что…», a reported «что»-clause. Inside, «дверь … стояла … отпертою» uses the instrumental short-of-long participle «отпертою» as predicate after «стояла» — 'the door stood (in an) unlocked (state)'.
> «тогда как» + habitual imperfective: «тогда как» ('whereas') sets a contrast; «запирался» is imperfective past, the habitual middle reflexive 'he used to lock himself up' every night for a week — the repeated background against which tonight's open door is the shocking exception.
> Negative concord «ни … не»: «ни под каким видом» ('on no account whatever') pairs with the verbal «не позволял» in obligatory negative concord — Russian piles ни-phrase and не together for a single emphatic negation: he absolutely would not permit it.
> «настежь» — wide open: A fixed adverb meaning 'all the way open' (of doors, windows, gates). «дверь … стояла настежь» — the door stood wide open, the ominous detail of the whole passage.

Увидав отворенною эту дверь, все они тотчас же, обе женщины и Фома, забоялись идти к барину, «чтобы не вышло чего потом».  
Seeing that door open, all of them — the two women and Foma — at once grew afraid to go in to the master, "in case something should come of it later."
> Gerund + object + instrumental predicative: «Увидав» (having seen) is a perfective gerund taking «эту дверь» as object and «отворенною» (instrumental of the participle 'opened') as a predicative complement — 'having seen this door as open'. The instrumental marks the perceived state of the object.
> «забояться» — to take fright: The reflexive «бояться» (to fear) with inceptive за-: 'grew afraid, took fright'. The colloquial prefix marks the sudden onset of dread.
> «чтобы» + irrealis past + genitive of negation: The peasant fear is voiced as «чтобы не вышло чего потом» — 'lest something come of it later'. «чтобы» governs the irrealis past «вышло»; under negation the indefinite subject appears as genitive «чего» (= 'anything') rather than nominative.

А Григорий, когда воротились они, велел тотчас же бежать к самому исправнику.  
And Grigory, when they came back, ordered them to run at once to the police captain himself.
> «велеть» + dative-implied infinitive: «велеть» (to order) takes an infinitive complement, «бежать» — Grigory ordered (them) to run. «к … исправнику» is «к» + dative of direction; «самому» intensifies — 'to the captain himself'.

Тут-то вот Марья Кондратьевна и побежала и всполошила всех у исправника.  
And so it was that Marya Kondratyevna ran and threw the whole household at the captain's into an uproar.
> Emphatic «тут-то вот»: A cluster of emphatic particles: «тут» (here/then) + the clitic «-то» (highlighting the known topic) + «вот» (deictic 'precisely this'). Together they single out this very moment — 'and so it was just then that…'.
> «всполошить» — to throw into alarm: To startle into commotion, set in an uproar. «всполошила всех у исправника» — she threw the whole household at the captain's into a panic. An expressive, colloquial verb.

Прибытие же Петра Ильича упредила всего только пятью минутами, так что тот явился уже не с одними своими догадками и заключениями, а как очевидный свидетель, еще более рассказом своим подтвердивший общую догадку о том, кто преступник (чему, впрочем, он, в глубине души, до самой этой последней минуты, всё еще отказывался верить).  
She forestalled Pyotr Ilyich's arrival by only five minutes, so that he turned up not merely with his own guesses and conclusions, but as an eyewitness who, by his account, lent still further weight to the general surmise as to who the criminal was (which, however, in the depths of his soul, up to this very last minute, he still refused to believe).
> Instrumental of measure/difference: «упредить» (to forestall, anticipate) takes the instrumental «пятью минутами» to express the measure of the margin — she got there 'by only five minutes'. The instrumental routinely marks such differences.
> Past active participle «подтвердивший»: From perfective «подтвердить» (to confirm), this -вший participle agrees with «свидетель» — 'an eyewitness who had confirmed'. It packs a whole который-clause ('who confirmed the general surmise') into one adjective.
> Imperfective «отказывался» of ongoing refusal: «отказывался верить» (kept refusing to believe) is imperfective past — a sustained, repeated inner act, fitting 'up to this very last minute he still refused'. The aspect keeps his disbelief continuous, not a one-time event.

Решили действовать энергически.  
They resolved to act energetically.
> Indefinite-personal «решили»: Subjectless 3rd-plural «решили» ('they/it was decided') — the indefinite-personal construction. The perfective fixes a single decision; «действовать» is the imperfective infinitive of the manner of acting.

Помощнику городового пристава тотчас же поручили набрать штук до четырех понятых и по всем правилам, которых уже я здесь не описываю, проникли в дом Федора Павловича и следствие произвели на месте.  
They at once charged the assistant to the town police inspector to gather up some four witnesses, and, observing all the formalities — which I will not describe here — they made their way into Fyodor Pavlovich's house and conducted the inquiry on the spot.
> «до» + genitive of approximation: «до четырех» here means 'up to about four', an approximation; «понятых» is genitive plural after the numeral, and the filler «штук» ('items') is a colloquial counter. «поручили … набрать» = they charged (him) to gather.
> Genitive object under negation in a который-clause: «который» here is genitive plural «которых» — its case set by «не описываю»: under negation the object 'rules' (which I do not describe) goes into the genitive. The relative agrees with «правилам» in number but takes its own clause-case.

Земский врач, человек горячий и новый, сам почти напросился сопровождать исправника, прокурора и следователя.  
The district doctor, an eager man and new to the place, all but volunteered himself to accompany the police captain, the prosecutor, and the magistrate.
> «напроситься» — to invite oneself, foist oneself: The reflexive «напроситься» means to angle for an invitation, push to be included. «сам почти напросился» — he all but volunteered himself, eager to tag along.
> Animate accusative = genitive: All three objects are animate masculines, so their accusative borrows the genitive ending: «исправника, прокурора, следователя». This is how Russian keeps the doctor (subject) distinct from the officials he accompanies (objects).

Намечу лишь вкратце: Федор Павлович оказался убитым вполне, с проломленною головой, но чем? — вероятнее всего тем же самым оружием, которым поражен был потом и Григорий.  
I will sketch it only in brief: Fyodor Pavlovich proved to have been thoroughly murdered, his skull battered in — but with what? Most likely with the very same weapon by which Grigory too was struck down afterward.
> Perfective future «намечу» as 'I will sketch': «намечу» is the perfective simple future (1sg) of «наметить» (to sketch, outline). The narrator's authorial 'I will outline only briefly' — a single completed promise, present-shaped ending with future sense.
> «оказаться» + instrumental predicate: «оказаться» (to turn out, prove to be) governs an instrumental predicate: «убитым» — 'proved to be murdered'. The participle takes the instrumental, not nominative, because the linking verb assigns a role/result.
> Instrumental relative «которым» = agent/means: «которым» (instrumental of «который») names the weapon as the means — 'the weapon by which Grigory too was struck'. «поражен был» is a periphrastic short-participle passive; «и» before «Григорий» means 'also Grigory'.
> «проломленною головой» — with a battered-in skull: «проломленный» is the past passive participle of «проломить» (to smash/stave in); the long instrumental form «проломленною» (older -ою ending) qualifies «головой». 'With a skull broken in' — the cause of death stated grimly.

И вот как раз отыскали и оружие, выслушав от Григория, которому подана была возможная медицинская помощь, довольно связный, хотя слабым и прерывающимся голосом переданный рассказ о том, как он был повержен.  
And the weapon was duly found, after they had heard from Grigory — to whom what medical aid was possible had been given — a fairly coherent account, though delivered in a weak and faltering voice, of how he had been struck down.
> Perfective gerund «выслушав»: «выслушав» (having heard out) is a perfective gerund giving the prior circumstance — the weapon was found after they had heard Grigory's account. «рассказ» is its accusative object, buried under heavy modifiers.
> Dative relative «которому» — indirect object: «которому» (dative of «который», agreeing with «Григория») is the recipient — 'to whom what aid was possible had been given'. «подана была» is a short-participle passive, with «помощь» as its subject.
> Participle phrase + present participle «прерывающимся»: The whole phrase modifies «рассказ»: «переданный» (delivered) is a past passive participle, «слабым … голосом» its instrumental of manner, and «прерывающимся» a present active participle ('faltering, breaking off') from the reflexive «прерываться».

Стали искать с фонарем у забора и нашли брошенный прямо на садовую дорожку, на самом виду, медный пестик.  
They began searching with a lantern by the fence and found, flung right onto the garden path, in plain sight, a brass pestle.
> «стать» + infinitive; aspect contrast: «стали искать» — «стать» (here 'to begin') + imperfective infinitive, the ongoing searching; then perfective «нашли» (found) clinches the result. The pair stages process giving way to discovery.
> Past passive participle «брошенный»: «брошенный» (from perfective «бросить», to throw) is a past passive participle modifying «пестик» — 'a pestle flung onto the path'. «на … дорожку» is accusative of motion (where it was thrown to). «медный» = brass/copper.
> «пестик» — pestle: A pestle, the heavy rod for crushing in a mortar. The «медный пестик» — Grushenka's brass pestle that Dmitri snatched up — is the murder weapon, a humble household object turned to violence.

В комнате, в которой лежал Федор Павлович, никакого особенного беспорядка не заметили, но за ширмами, у кровати его, подняли на полу большой, из толстой бумаги, канцелярских размеров конверт с надписью: «Гостинчик в три тысячи рублей ангелу моему Грушеньке, если захочет прийти», а внизу было приписано, вероятно уже потом, самим Федором Павловичем: «и цыпленочку».  
In the room where Fyodor Pavlovich lay they noticed no particular disorder, but behind the screens, by his bed, they picked up from the floor a large envelope of stiff, office-sized paper, inscribed: "A little present of three thousand rubles for my angel Grushenka, if she should care to come," and below it had been added, probably later, in Fyodor Pavlovich's own hand: "and for my little chick."
> Genitive of negation + «никакого»: Under «не заметили», the object goes genitive: «никакого … беспорядка» ('no disorder at all'). «никакого» is the negative adjective in concord with «не» — they noticed no disorder whatever.
> Stacked attributes around one noun: «конверт» is hemmed by several modifiers — adjective «большой», a «из»+genitive material phrase ('of stiff paper'), a genitive-of-quality «канцелярских размеров' (of office size), and a «с»+instrumental tag «с надписью' (with an inscription). Such layering is characteristic forensic precision.
> «гостинчик» — a little gift/treat: An affectionate diminutive of «гостинец» (a small present brought to someone). On the murder envelope it drips with Fyodor Pavlovich's lechery — his coaxing 'little present' of three thousand for Grushenka.
> «цыплёночек» — 'little chick' (term of endearment): A double diminutive of «цыплёнок» (chick), dative «цыплёночку» — 'for my little chick'. Fyodor Pavlovich's added pet-name for Grushenka, lewd and doting at once; the diminutive carries all the lecherous tenderness.
> Perfective future in the «если»-clause: «захочет» is the perfective simple future of «захотеть» (to come to want) — 'if she should wish'. Russian uses the real future here (not a subjunctive) in an open «если»-condition: 'if she will/does want to come'.

На конверте были три большие печати красного сургуча, но конверт был уже разорван и пуст: деньги были унесены.  
On the envelope were three large seals of red sealing wax, but the envelope had already been torn open and was empty: the money had been carried off.
> Short passive participle + short adjective: Two predicatives after «был»: the short past passive participle «разорван» (torn open) and the short adjective «пуст» (empty). Both are the bookish predicative forms that state the envelope's resulting condition.
> Periphrastic passive «были унесены»: «быть» + short past passive participle of «унести» (to carry off): 'the money had been carried off'. The agentless passive leaves the thief unnamed — the very gap the investigation must fill.

Нашли на полу и тоненькую розовую ленточку, которою был обвязан конверт.  
They also found on the floor a thin pink ribbon with which the envelope had been tied.
> Double diminutives «тоненькая ленточка»: Both words are diminutive-affectionate: «ленточка» (little ribbon, from «лента») and «тоненькая» (the -еньк- expressive of «тонкий», nice and thin). The dainty pink ribbon stands out tenderly amid the gore.
> Instrumental relative «которою»: «которою» is the (older -ою) instrumental of «который», the means by which the envelope «был обвязан» (was tied round) — 'the ribbon with which the envelope had been bound'. Again a short-participle passive.

В показаниях Петра Ильича одно обстоятельство между прочими произвело чрезвычайное впечатление на прокурора и следователя, а именно: догадка о том, что Дмитрий Федорович непременно к рассвету застрелится, что он сам порешил это, сам говорил об этом Петру Ильичу, пистолет зарядил при нем, записочку написал, в карман положил и проч., и проч.  
Among Pyotr Ilyich's testimony, one circumstance in particular made an extraordinary impression on the prosecutor and the magistrate, namely: the inference that Dmitri Fyodorovich would, without fail, shoot himself by daybreak — that he had resolved upon it himself, had said so himself to Pyotr Ilyich, had loaded the pistol in his presence, written a little note, put it in his pocket, and so on, and so on.
> «произвести впечатление на» + accusative: The set collocation «произвести впечатление на кого» = 'to make an impression on someone'; «на прокурора и следователя» is «на» + animate accusative. «произвело» is perfective: a single decisive impression.
> Perfective future «застрелится» (reflexive): «застрелится» is the perfective simple future of the reflexive «застрелиться» (to shoot oneself) — 'he will, without fail, shoot himself by daybreak'. The -ся makes the act reflexive; the perfective frames it as a single completed deed to come.
> «записочка» — a little note: Diminutive of «записка» (a note). 'Wrote a little note' — the suffix softens it to something slight and intimate, the suicide note Dmitri tucked away.

Когда же де Петр Ильич, всё еще не хотевший верить ему, пригрозил, что он пойдет и кому-нибудь расскажет, чтобы пресечь самоубийство, то сам-де Митя, осклабляясь, ответил ему: «Не успеешь».  
And when Pyotr Ilyich, still unwilling to believe him, had threatened that he would go and tell someone, so as to forestall the suicide, Mitya himself, baring his teeth in a grin, had answered him: "You won't have time."
> Reportive particle «де»: «де» (with «-де» on «сам-де» below) is an archaic/colloquial reportative particle marking second-hand speech — 'so they say', 'reportedly'. It flags this whole sentence as the investigators' relayed version of Pyotr Ilyich's testimony.
> «чтобы» of purpose + infinitive: «чтобы пресечь» — 'in order to cut short / forestall'. With a same-subject purpose, «чтобы» takes a bare infinitive «пресечь» (perfective, the completed prevention) rather than a past-form clause.
> Present gerund «осклабляясь»: «осклабляясь» is an imperfective present gerund of the reflexive «осклабляться» (to bare the teeth in a grin), simultaneous with «ответил» — 'baring his teeth, he answered'. A characteristically Dostoevskian sneer-detail.
> «не успеешь» — 'you won't have time': «успеть» (perfective: to manage in time) in the 2sg future — Mitya's grim retort, 'You won't be in time (to stop me)'. The bare perfective future carries the whole menace.

Стало быть, надо было спешить на место, в Мокрое, чтобы накрыть преступника прежде, чем он, пожалуй, и в самом деле вздумал бы застрелиться.  
It followed that they must hurry to the spot, to Mokroye, in order to seize the criminal before he might perhaps really and truly take it into his head to shoot himself.
> Impersonal «надо было» + infinitive: «надо было спешить» is the impersonal-necessity construction: invariable «надо» (must) + past «было» + imperfective infinitive, with no nominative subject. 'It was necessary to hurry' — the experiencer (they) is only implied.
> «бы» of the hypothetical after «прежде чем»: «вздумал бы» — past form + «бы» giving an irrealis tinge: 'before he might take it into his head to shoot himself'. The particle «бы» colours the forestalled action as merely possible, not certain.

«Это ясно, это ясно! — повторял прокурор в чрезвычайном возбуждении, — это точь-в-точь у подобных сорванцов так и делается: завтра убью себя, а пред смертью кутеж»  
"It's clear, it's clear!" the prosecutor kept repeating in extraordinary excitement, "that's exactly how it goes with rogues of that stamp: tomorrow I'll kill myself, but before death, a spree."
> «сорванец» — a young scapegrace, hellion: «сорванец» (genitive plural «сорванцов») is a half-affectionate, half-scornful word for a wild, reckless young rascal. The prosecutor lumps Dmitri with 'rogues of that stamp'.
> Reflexive-passive «делается» + emphatic «так и»: «делается» is the imperfective reflexive used as a generalising passive — 'is done, happens'. «так и» ('that's exactly how') intensifies: with such rascals 'it goes precisely so'. A vivid generic present.
> Perfective future + reflexive «себя»: «убью себя» — perfective future of «убить» (to kill) + the reflexive object pronoun «себя» (oneself): 'tomorrow I'll kill myself'. Note «себя» is a full pronoun here, distinct from the verbal -ся.
> «кутёж» — a spree, debauch: A bout of riotous drinking and revelry. «пред смертью кутеж» — 'before death, a spree' — captures the prosecutor's theory of the dissolute killer, and «пред» is the bookish form of «перед» (before).

История, как он забрал в лавке вина и товару, только разгорячила еще больше прокурора.  
The story of how he had carried off wine and provisions from the shop only inflamed the prosecutor all the more.
> Partitive genitive «вина … товару»: «вина» and «товару» are partitive genitives — 'some wine and goods' (an indefinite quantity), not the whole. «товару» shows the old masculine partitive -у ending (beside «товара»). «забрал» = carried off, took.
> «разгорячить» — to inflame, work up: From «горячий» (hot): to heat up, excite, inflame. The story 'only inflamed the prosecutor all the more' — the same heat-imagery that called the doctor «горячий» runs through the chapter.

«Помните того парня, господа, что убил купца Олсуфьева, ограбил на полторы тысячи и тотчас же пошел, завился, а потом, не припрятав даже хорошенько денег, тоже почти в руках неся, отправился к девицам».  
"Do you remember that fellow, gentlemen, who killed the merchant Olsufyev, robbed him of fifteen hundred, and went off at once to get his hair curled, and then, without even hiding the money away properly, carrying it almost in his hands, set off to the girls?"
> Colloquial relative «что» after «тот»: In speech «что» often replaces «который» as an invariable relative: «того парня, что убил» — 'that fellow who killed'. «того парня» and «купца Олсуфьева» are animate accusatives (= genitive form). The prosecutor's spoken register.
> Negated gerund + genitive of negation: «не припрятав» is a negated perfective gerund ('without having hidden away'); under its negation the object «денег» (money) stands in the genitive. «хорошенько» is the diminutive-softened adverb 'nice and properly'.
> «завиться» — to get one's hair curled: The reflexive «завиться» = to have one's hair curled/done. The grotesque vanity of a murderer pausing to primp 'и тотчас же пошёл, завился' sharpens the prosecutor's portrait of careless guilt.
> «девицы» — the girls (euphemism): Literally 'maidens/girls', but «отправился к девицам» is a coy euphemism — he set off to the women, i.e. to a brothel. The dative «к» marks the destination.

Задерживало, однако, всех следствие, обыск в доме Федора Павловича, формы и проч.  
What held them all up, however, was the inquiry, the search of Fyodor Pavlovich's house, the formalities, and so forth.
> Fronted verb, subject last: The verb «Задерживало» opens, the objects «всех» (everyone) follow, and the real subject — «следствие, обыск … формы» (the inquiry, search, formalities) — lands at the end as the stressed news of what was holding them up. Pure topic-comment ordering.
> «обыск» — a (legal) search: «обыск» is specifically an official search of premises by the authorities. With «следствие» (the inquiry) and «формы» (the formalities), it names the bureaucratic machinery now grinding into motion.

Всё это требовало времени, а потому и отправили часа за два прежде себя в Мокрое станового Маврикия Маврикиевича Шмерцова, как раз накануне поутру прибывшего в город за жалованьем.  
All this took time, and so, a couple of hours ahead of themselves, they dispatched to Mokroye the rural constable Mavriky Mavrikievich Shmertsov, who had come into town that very morning, the day before, for his salary.
> Approximative inversion «часа за два»: «часа за два» inverts numeral and noun to mean 'about two hours' — putting the counter before «два» signals approximation. «прежде себя» = 'ahead of themselves', with the reflexive «себя».
> Past active participle «прибывшего»: «прибывшего» (from perfective «прибыть», to arrive) is a -вший past active participle in the genitive, agreeing with «Маврикия» — 'who had arrived in town for his salary'. «за жалованьем» is «за» + instrumental of purpose ('to fetch').

Маврикию Маврикиевичу дали инструкцию: прибыв в Мокрое и, не поднимая никакой тревоги, следить за «преступником» неустанно до прибытия надлежащих властей, равно как изготовить понятых, сотских и проч., и проч.  
Mavriky Mavrikievich was given his instructions: to arrive at Mokroye and, without raising any alarm, to keep an unflagging watch on "the criminal" until the arrival of the proper authorities, and likewise to make ready witnesses, village constables, and so on, and so on.
> Dative recipient «Маврикию Маврикиевичу»: «дать кому инструкцию» — the person instructed stands in the dative: «Маврикию Маврикиевичу» (note both name and patronymic decline). Subjectless «дали» = 'they gave / he was given his instructions'.
> Mixed gerunds + negated gerund: The instruction strings a perfective gerund «прибыв» (having arrived), a negated imperfective gerund «не поднимая … тревоги» (without raising any alarm — with genitive «тревоги» under negation), and the infinitive «следить» (to keep watch). Compact bureaucratic syntax.

Так Маврикий Маврикиевич и поступил, сохранил incognito и лишь одного только Трифона Борисовича, старого своего знакомого, отчасти лишь посвятил в тайну дела.  
And so Mavriky Mavrikievich did, preserving his incognito and only partly letting one man alone — Trifon Borisovich, his old acquaintance — into the secret of the matter.
> Confirmatory «так … и»: «так и поступил» — 'and so he did do, just as instructed'. The frame «так … и» before a verb confirms that the action matched expectation: Mavriky carried out his orders exactly.
> Animate accusative + restrictive «лишь … только»: «одного только Трифона Борисовича» is animate accusative (genitive-shaped) — the sole man let in on the secret — doubly restricted by «лишь» and «только». «посвятить в тайну» = to let into a secret.

Время это именно совпадало с тем, когда Митя встретил в темноте на галерейке разыскивавшего его хозяина, причем тут же заметил, что у Трифона Борисовича какая-то в лице и в речах вдруг перемена.  
This was precisely the time when Mitya, out on the gallery in the dark, ran into the landlord, who was hunting for him, and at once noticed that there was some sudden change in Trifon Borisovich's face and in his speech.
> Correlative «с тем, когда»: «совпадать с» (to coincide with) takes the instrumental; here «с тем» (with that [time]) sets up a correlative clause «когда…». The demonstrative «тот» points forward to the moment the «когда»-clause defines.
> Past active participle «разыскивавшего»: An imperfective -вший participle from «разыскивать» (to search for), genitive agreeing with «хозяина» — 'the landlord who was looking for him'. The imperfective stem keeps the searching ongoing in past time.
> «галерейка» — little gallery/porch: Diminutive of «галерея»: a small open veranda or covered walkway of the inn at Mokroye. The cozy diminutive locates Mitya's uneasy encounter with the landlord in the dark.

Таким образом, ни Митя и никто не знали, что за ними наблюдают; ящик же его с пистолетами был давно уже похищен Трифоном Борисовичем и припрятан в укромное место.  
Thus neither Mitya nor anyone else knew that they were being watched; while his box of pistols had long since been spirited away by Trifon Borisovich and hidden in some secluded spot.
> Negative concord «ни … никто … не»: «ни Митя и никто … не знали» piles negatives — 'neither Mitya nor anyone knew'. Russian's obligatory negative concord keeps the verb «не знали» even with «ни» and «никто» present; English collapses them to one negation.
> Indefinite-personal «наблюдают» = 'they are being watched': «за ними наблюдают» — subjectless 3rd-plural with «за» + instrumental ('observe over them') — conveys the agentless passive sense 'they were being watched'. «же» on «ящик» below softly shifts the topic.
> Periphrastic passive + instrumental agent: «был … похищен» (был + short past passive participle of «похитить', to steal/abduct) is a full agentive passive — and the agent stands in the instrumental: «Трифоном Борисовичем», 'by Trifon Borisovich'. A textbook passive-with-agent.

И только уже в пятом часу утра, почти на рассвете, прибыло всё начальство, исправник, прокурор и следователь, в двух экипажах и на двух тройках.  
And it was only well past four in the morning, almost at daybreak, that all the authorities arrived — the police captain, the prosecutor, and the magistrate — in two carriages and two troikas.
> Ordinal-hour time again: «в пятом часу утра» = 'in the fifth hour of the morning', i.e. some time after four. As earlier with «в девятом часу», Russian counts by the hour-in-progress, with the ordinal in the prepositional.
> Collective subject + delayed apposition: The neuter collective «всё начальство» (all the authorities) governs neuter singular «прибыло», then is unpacked in apposition — «исправник, прокурор и следователь». Russian agrees with the collective noun, not the listed individuals.

Доктор же остался в доме Федора Павловича, имея в предмете сделать наутро вскрытие трупа убитого, но, главное, заинтересовался именно состоянием больного слуги Смердякова: «Такие ожесточенные и такие длинные припадки падучей, повторяющиеся беспрерывно в течение двух суток, редко встретишь, и это принадлежит науке», — проговорил он в возбуждении отъезжавшим своим партнерам, и те его поздравили, смеясь, с находкой.  
The doctor, for his part, stayed behind in Fyodor Pavlovich's house, meaning to perform the autopsy of the murdered man's body in the morning, but chiefly he had become interested precisely in the condition of the sick servant Smerdyakov: "Such ferocious and such prolonged fits of the falling sickness, recurring without interruption over two days running, you rarely come across, and it is a matter for science," he said in his excitement to his departing partners, and they, laughing, congratulated him on his find.
> Present gerund «имея» + bookish idiom: «имея в предмете» is a present gerund of «иметь» in a formal idiom 'having (it) in view / intending', followed by the perfective infinitive «сделать вскрытие» (to perform the autopsy). The phrasing is officialese, fitting the doctor's professional purpose.
> «падучая» — the falling sickness: «падучая» (болезнь), literally 'the falling (illness)', is the old popular name for epilepsy — «припадки падучей», 'fits of the falling sickness'. Smerdyakov's epilepsy, real or feigned, is central to the mystery, and the doctor's scientific fascination is darkly ironic.
> Generalising 2sg «встретишь»: «редко встретишь» uses the 2nd-person-singular perfective future as an impersonal generic — 'you rarely come across', meaning 'one seldom meets'. This generalising 'you' is a common idiom for a general truth.
> Past active participle «отъезжавшим» in the dative: «отъезжавшим» (past active participle of «отъезжать», to drive off) agrees in the dative with «партнерам» — 'to his departing partners', the indirect object of «проговорил». «своим» is the reflexive possessive ('his own').

При сем прокурор и следователь очень хорошо запомнили, что доктор прибавил самым решительным тоном, что Смердяков до утра не доживет.  
On this point the prosecutor and the magistrate remembered very well that the doctor had added, in the most decided tone, that Smerdyakov would not live to see the morning.
> «при сем» — archaic 'hereupon, on this point': «сем» is the prepositional of the bookish demonstrative «сей» ('this'). «При сем» — 'on this occasion / hereupon' — is an elevated, officialese turn, period-flavoured rather than ordinary «при этом».
> Perfective future «не доживёт»: «доживёт» is the perfective simple future of «дожить» (to live until): negated, 'will not live to (see) morning'. «до утра» is «до» + genitive of the limit. The doctor's grimly confident forecast.

Теперь, после долгого, но, кажется, необходимого объяснения мы возвратились именно к тому моменту нашего рассказа, на котором остановили его в предыдущей книге.  
Now, after this long but, I think, necessary explanation, we have come back precisely to that moment of our narrative at which we left off in the previous book.
> Correlative «тот … на котором»: «к тому моменту … на котором» — the demonstrative «тот» (dative «тому») is picked up by the relative «который» (prepositional «на котором»), 'that moment … at which'. The relative takes its own case from «на» while agreeing in gender/number with «моменту».
> «после» + genitive across a parenthesis: «после» governs the genitive «объяснения», whose adjectives «долгого … необходимого» agree in genitive, with the parenthetical «но, кажется» ('but, it seems') wedged between. The narrator's self-aware authorial aside closes the digression.
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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.