# Book Eleven Chapter Three, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Librivox Audiobook

An episode of [Brothers Karamazov, The by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1795736404), 11 Sep 2026, 18 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75073573/brotherskaramazov_73_dostoyevsky_64kb.mp3

All Episodes/Chapters included in this Podcast are taken fron Librivox.org and are in the Public Domain.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Chapter 73 of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Translated
[0:10] Speaker 1: by Constance Garnett This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
[0:17] Speaker 1: Recording by Tony Addison Chapter 3 A Little Demon Going
[0:26] Speaker 1: into Lysak He found her half reclining in the invalid
[0:30] Speaker 1: chair in which she had been wheeled when she was
[0:33] Speaker 1: unable to walk. She did not move to meet him,
[0:37] Speaker 1: but her sharp, keen eyes were simply riveted on his face.
[0:42] Speaker 1: There was a feverish look in her eyes. Her face
[0:45] Speaker 1: was pale and yellow. Alyosha was amazed at the change
[0:49] Speaker 1: that had taken place in her in three days. She
[0:53] Speaker 1: was positively thinner. She did not hold out her hand
[0:56] Speaker 1: to him. He touched the thin, long fingers which lay
[1:01] Speaker 1: motionless on her dress. Then he sat down facing her,
[1:05] Speaker 1: without a word. I know you are in a hurry
[1:08] Speaker 1: to get to the prison, Lisa said curtly, and Mama's
[1:13] Speaker 1: kept you there for hours. She's just been telling you
[1:16] Speaker 1: about me and Juliet. How do you know? asked Alyosha.
[1:20] Speaker 1: I've been listening. Why do you stare at me? I
[1:23] Speaker 1: want to listen, and I do listen. There's no harm
[1:26] Speaker 1: in that. I don't apologise. You are upset about something?
[1:31] Speaker 1: On the contrary, I am very happy. I've only just
[1:35] Speaker 1: been reflecting for the thirtieth time what a good thing
[1:38] Speaker 1: it is I refused you and shall not be your wife.
[1:42] Speaker 1: You are not fit to be a husband. If I
[1:44] Speaker 1: were to marry you and give you a note to
[1:46] Speaker 1: take to the man I loved after you, you'd take
[1:48] Speaker 1: it and be sure to give it to him and
[1:50] Speaker 1: bring an answer back too. If you were forty, you
[1:54] Speaker 1: would still go on taking my love letters for me.
[1:57] Speaker 1: She suddenly laughed. There is something spiteful and yet open-hearted
[2:03] Speaker 1: about you. Alyosha smiled to her. The open-heartedness consists in
[2:09] Speaker 1: my not being ashamed of myself with you. What's more,
[2:13] Speaker 1: I don't want to feel ashamed with you, just with you. Alyosha,
[2:18] Speaker 1: why is it I don't respect you? I am very
[2:20] Speaker 1: fond of you, but I don't respect you. If I
[2:23] Speaker 1: respected you, I shouldn't talk to you without shame, should I? No.
[2:29] Speaker 1: But do you believe that I am not ashamed with you? No,
[2:34] Speaker 1: I don't believe it. Lisa laughed nervously again. She spoke rapidly.
[2:40] Speaker 1: I sent your brother, Dmitri Fyodorovich, some sweets in prison. Halyosha,
[2:45] Speaker 1: you know you are quite pretty. I shall love you
[2:48] Speaker 1: awfully for having so quickly allowed me not to love you.
[2:52] Speaker 1: Why did you send for me today, Lisa? I wanted
[2:55] Speaker 1: to tell you of a longing I have I should
[2:58] Speaker 1: like someone to torture me, marry me, and then torture me,
[3:01] Speaker 1: deceive me, and go away. I don't want to be happy.
[3:05] Speaker 1: You are in love with disorder. Yes, I want disorder.
[3:10] Speaker 1: I keep wanting to set fire to the house. I
[3:12] Speaker 1: keep imagining how I'll creep up and set fire to
[3:15] Speaker 1: the house on the sly. It must be on the sly.
[3:18] Speaker 1: They'll try to put it out, but it'll go on burning,
[3:21] Speaker 1: and I shall know and say nothing. Oh, what silliness,
[3:24] Speaker 1: and how bored I am. She waved her hand with
[3:28] Speaker 1: a look of repulsion. It's your luxurious life, said Alyosha softly.
[3:35] Speaker 1: Is it better than to be poor? Yes, it is better.
[3:40] Speaker 1: That's what your monk taught you. That's not true. Let
[3:43] Speaker 1: me be rich and all the rest poor. I'll eat
[3:45] Speaker 1: sweets and drink cream and not give any to anyone else. Ah,
[3:50] Speaker 1: don't speak, don't say anything. She shook her hand at him.
[3:54] Speaker 1: though Alyosha had not opened his mouth. You've told me
[3:58] Speaker 1: all that before. I know it all by heart. It
[4:01] Speaker 1: bores me. If I am ever poor, I shall murder somebody,
[4:05] Speaker 1: and even if I am rich, I may murder someone, perhaps.
[4:09] Speaker 1: Why do nothing? But do you know, I should like
[4:12] Speaker 1: to reap, cut the rye. I'll marry you, and you
[4:15] Speaker 1: shall become a peasant, a real peasant. We'll keep a colt,
[4:19] Speaker 1: shall we? Do you know Karganov? Yes. He is always
[4:24] Speaker 1: wondering about dreaming. He says, why live in real life?
[4:29] Speaker 1: It's better to dream. One can dream the most delightful things,
[4:33] Speaker 1: but real life is a ball. But he'll be married
[4:36] Speaker 1: soon for all that. He's been making love to me already.
[4:40] Speaker 1: Can you spin toms? Yes. Well, he's just like a top.
[4:45] Speaker 1: He wants to be wound up and set spinning, and
[4:48] Speaker 1: then to be lashed, lashed, lashed with a whip. If
[4:52] Speaker 1: I marry him, I'll keep him spending all his life.
[4:56] Speaker 1: You are not ashamed to be with me? No. You
[5:00] Speaker 1: are awfully cross because I don't talk about holy things.
[5:05] Speaker 1: I don't want to be holy. What will they do
[5:07] Speaker 1: to one in the next world for the greatest sin?
[5:10] Speaker 1: You must know all about that. God will censure you.
[5:14] Speaker 1: Halyosha was watching her steadily. That's just what I should like.
[5:20] Speaker 1: I would go up and they would censure me, and
[5:24] Speaker 1: I would burst out laughing in their faces. I should
[5:27] Speaker 1: dreadfully like to set fire to the house, Alyosha, to
[5:30] Speaker 1: our house. You still don't believe me? Why, are there
[5:34] Speaker 1: a children of twelve years old who have a longing
[5:38] Speaker 1: to set fire to something? And they do set things
[5:41] Speaker 1: on fire too. It's a sort of disease. That's not true,
[5:46] Speaker 1: that's not true. There may be children, but that's not
[5:48] Speaker 1: what I mean. You take evil for good. It's a
[5:53] Speaker 1: passing crisis. It's the result of your illness, perhaps. You
[5:57] Speaker 1: do despise me, though. It's simply that I don't want
[6:01] Speaker 1: to do good. I want to do evil. And it
[6:04] Speaker 1: has nothing to do with illness. Why do evil? So
[6:09] Speaker 1: that everything might be destroyed. Oh, how nice it would
[6:14] Speaker 1: be if everything were destroyed. You know, Aljoyshev, I sometimes
[6:21] Speaker 1: think of doing a fearful lot of harm and everything bad,
[6:25] Speaker 1: and I should do it for a long while on
[6:27] Speaker 1: the sly, and suddenly everyone would find it out. Everyone
[6:32] Speaker 1: would stand round and point their fingers at me, and
[6:35] Speaker 1: I would look at them all. That would be awfully nice.
[6:39] Speaker 1: Why would it be so nice, Alyosha? I don't know.
[6:45] Speaker 1: It's a craving to destroy something good, or, as you say,
[6:48] Speaker 1: to set fire to something. It happens sometimes. I not
[6:53] Speaker 1: only say it, I shall do it. I believe you. Oh,
[6:58] Speaker 1: how I love you for saying you believe me. And
[7:01] Speaker 1: you are not lying one little bit. But perhaps you
[7:04] Speaker 1: think that I am saying all this on purpose to
[7:07] Speaker 1: annoy you? No, I don't think that. Though perhaps there
[7:13] Speaker 1: is a little desire to do that in it too.
[7:18] Speaker 1: There is a little desire. I never can tell lies
[7:21] Speaker 1: to you, she declared, with a strange fire in her eyes.
[7:27] Speaker 1: What struck Alyosha above everything was her earnestness. There was
[7:32] Speaker 1: not a trace of humour or jesting in her face now,
[7:36] Speaker 1: though in old days fun and gaiety never deserted her,
[7:41] Speaker 1: even at her most earnest moments. There are moments when
[7:46] Speaker 1: people love crimes. said Alyosha thoughtfully. Yes, yes, you have
[7:52] Speaker 1: uttered my thought. They love crime. Everyone loves crime. They
[7:56] Speaker 1: love it always, not at some moments. You know, it's
[8:01] Speaker 1: as though people have made an agreement to lie about it,
[8:04] Speaker 1: and have lied about it ever since. They all declare
[8:08] Speaker 1: that they hate evil, but secretly they all love it.
[8:12] Speaker 1: And are you still reading nasty books? Yes, I am.
[8:17] Speaker 1: Mama reads them and hides them under her pillow and
[8:20] Speaker 1: I steal them. Aren't you ashamed to destroy yourself? I
[8:26] Speaker 1: want to destroy myself. There's a boy here who lay
[8:31] Speaker 1: down between the railway lines when the train was passing.
[8:35] Speaker 1: Lucky fellow. Listen, your brother is being tried now for
[8:40] Speaker 1: murdering his father and everyone loves his having killed his father.
[8:45] Speaker 1: loves his having killed his father yes loves it everyone
[8:51] Speaker 1: loves it everybody says it's so awful but secretly they
[8:56] Speaker 1: simply love it i for one love it there is
[9:02] Speaker 1: some truth in what you say about everyone said aloysia
[9:06] Speaker 1: softly oh what ideas you have liza shrieked in delight
[9:12] Speaker 1: and you a monk too You wouldn't believe how I
[9:15] Speaker 1: respect you, Al-Yusha, for never telling lies. Oh, I must
[9:18] Speaker 1: tell you a funny dream of mine. I sometimes dream
[9:22] Speaker 1: of devils. It's night. I'm in my room with a candle,
[9:27] Speaker 1: and suddenly there are devils all over the place, in
[9:30] Speaker 1: all the corners, under the table, and they open the doors.
[9:33] Speaker 1: There's a crowd of them behind the doors, and they
[9:36] Speaker 1: want to come and seize me. And they are just coming,
[9:39] Speaker 1: just seizing me. But I suddenly cross myself, and they
[9:42] Speaker 1: all draw back. though they don't go away altogether they
[9:46] Speaker 1: stand at the doors and in the corners waiting and
[9:49] Speaker 1: suddenly i have a frightful longing to revile god aloud
[9:53] Speaker 1: and so i begin and then they come crowding back
[9:56] Speaker 1: to me delighted and seize me again and i cross
[9:59] Speaker 1: myself again, and they all draw back. It's awful fun.
[10:03] Speaker 1: It takes one's breath away. I've had the same dream too,
[10:08] Speaker 1: said Alyosha suddenly. Really? cried Lisa, surprised. I say, Alyosha,
[10:15] Speaker 1: don't laugh. That's awfully important. Could two different people have
[10:21] Speaker 1: the same dream? It seems they can. Aljoisha, I tell you,
[10:28] Speaker 1: it's awfully important. Lisa went on with really excessive amazement.
[10:35] Speaker 1: It's not the dream that's important, but you're having the
[10:39] Speaker 1: same dream as me. You never lied to me. Don't
[10:42] Speaker 1: lie now. Is it true? You are not laughing. It's true.
[10:47] Speaker 1: Lisa seemed extraordinarily impressed, and for half a minute she
[10:52] Speaker 1: was silent. Alyosha, come and see me. Come and see
[10:56] Speaker 1: me more often, she said suddenly, in a supplicating voice.
[11:01] Speaker 1: I'll always come to see you, all my life, answered
[11:05] Speaker 1: Alyosha firmly. You are the only person I can talk to,
[11:09] Speaker 1: you know, Lisa began again. I talk to no one
[11:13] Speaker 1: but myself and you. Only you in the whole world,
[11:18] Speaker 1: and to you more readily than to myself. And I'm
[11:22] Speaker 1: not a bit ashamed with you, not a bit. Al-Yosha,
[11:27] Speaker 1: why am I not ashamed with you, not a bit? Al-Yosha,
[11:31] Speaker 1: is it true that at Easter the Jews steal a
[11:34] Speaker 1: child and kill it? I don't know. There's a book
[11:39] Speaker 1: here in which I read about the trial of a
[11:41] Speaker 1: Jew who took a child of four years old and
[11:44] Speaker 1: cut off the fingers from both hands, and then crucified
[11:47] Speaker 1: him on the wall, hammered nails into him and crucified him,
[11:51] Speaker 1: and afterwards, when he was tried, he said that the
[11:54] Speaker 1: child died soon, within four hours. That was soon. He
[11:58] Speaker 1: said the child moaned, kept on moaning, and he stood
[12:02] Speaker 1: admiring it. That's nice. Nice? Nice. I sometimes imagine that
[12:09] Speaker 1: it was I who crucified him. He would hang there moaning.
[12:13] Speaker 1: and I would sit opposite him eating pineapple compote. I'm
[12:17] Speaker 1: awfully fond of pineapple compote. Do you like it? Alyosha
[12:22] Speaker 1: looked at her in silence. Her pale, sallow face was
[12:26] Speaker 1: suddenly contorted. Her eyes burned. You know, when I read
[12:31] Speaker 1: about that Jew, I shook with sobs all night. I
[12:35] Speaker 1: kept fancying how the little thing cried and moaned. A
[12:38] Speaker 1: child of four years old understands, you know. and all
[12:42] Speaker 1: the while the thought of pineapple compote haunted me. In
[12:46] Speaker 1: the morning, I wrote a letter to a certain person,
[12:49] Speaker 1: begging him particularly to come and see me. He came,
[12:53] Speaker 1: and I suddenly told him all about the child and
[12:56] Speaker 1: the pineapple compote, all about it, all, and said that
[13:00] Speaker 1: it was nice. He laughed, and said it really was nice.
[13:05] Speaker 1: Then he got up and went away. He was only
[13:08] Speaker 1: here five minutes. Did he despise me? did he despise
[13:12] Speaker 1: me tell me tell me Alyosha did he despise me
[13:16] Speaker 1: or not she sat up on the couch with flashing
[13:20] Speaker 1: eyes tell me Alyosha asked anxiously did you send for
[13:27] Speaker 1: that person yes i did did you send him a
[13:30] Speaker 1: letter yes simply to ask about that about that child
[13:35] Speaker 1: no not about that at all but when he came
[13:38] Speaker 1: i asked him about that at once He answered, laughed,
[13:42] Speaker 1: got up and went away. That person behaved honourably, Alyosha murmured.
[13:50] Speaker 1: And did he despise me? Did he laugh at me? No,
[13:55] Speaker 1: for perhaps he believes in the pineapple compote himself. He
[14:00] Speaker 1: is very ill now too, Liza. Yes, he does believe
[14:05] Speaker 1: in it, said Liza with flashing eyes. He doesn't despise anyone,
[14:11] Speaker 1: Alyosha went on. Only he does not believe anyone. If
[14:16] Speaker 1: he doesn't believe in people, of course, he does despise them.
[14:20] Speaker 1: Then he despises me. Me? You too. Good. Lisa seemed
[14:27] Speaker 1: to grind her teeth. When he went out laughing, I
[14:30] Speaker 1: felt that it was nice to be despised. The child
[14:34] Speaker 1: with fingers cut off is nice, and to be despised
[14:37] Speaker 1: is nice. and she laughed in Alyosha's face, a feverish,
[14:42] Speaker 1: malicious laugh. Do you know, Alyosha, do you know I
[14:47] Speaker 1: should lie? Alyosha, save me! She suddenly jumped from the couch,
[14:53] Speaker 1: rushed to him, and seized him with both hands. Save me!
[14:58] Speaker 1: She almost groaned. Is there anyone in the world I
[15:02] Speaker 1: could tell what I've told you? I've told you the truth,
[15:06] Speaker 1: the truth. I shall kill myself because I loathe everything.
[15:10] Speaker 1: I don't want to live because I loathe everything. I
[15:14] Speaker 1: loathe everything, everything, Alyosha. Why don't you love me in
[15:18] Speaker 1: the least? She finished in a frenzy. But I do
[15:23] Speaker 1: love you, answered Alyosha warmly. And will you weep over me,
[15:27] Speaker 1: will you? Yes. Not because I won't be your wife,
[15:31] Speaker 1: but simply weep for me. Yes. Thank you. It's only
[15:36] Speaker 1: your tears I want. Everyone else may punish me and
[15:40] Speaker 1: trample me underfoot. Everyone, everyone, not accepting anyone. For I
[15:45] Speaker 1: don't love anyone. Do you hear? Not anyone. On the contrary,
[15:50] Speaker 1: I hate him. Go, Alyosha. It's time you went to
[15:54] Speaker 1: your brother. She tore herself away from him suddenly. How
[15:58] Speaker 1: can I leave you like this? said Alyosha, almost in alarm.
[16:03] Speaker 1: Go to your brother. The prison will be shut. Go.
[16:07] Speaker 1: Here's your hat. Give my love to meet you. Go, go.
[16:12] Speaker 1: And she almost forcibly pushed Alyosha out of the door.
[16:16] Speaker 1: He looked at her with pained surprise when he was
[16:19] Speaker 1: suddenly aware of a letter in his right hand, a
[16:22] Speaker 1: tiny letter folded up tight and sealed. He glanced at
[16:27] Speaker 1: it and instantly read the address. To Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov.
[16:35] Speaker 1: He looked quickly at Lisa. Her face had become almost menacing.
[16:40] Speaker 1: Give it to him! You must give it to him!
[16:42] Speaker 1: She ordered him, trembling, and beside herself. Today, at once,
[16:47] Speaker 1: or I'll poison myself! That's why I sent for you!
[16:52] Speaker 1: And she slammed the door quickly. The bolt clicked. Aljosha
[16:58] Speaker 1: put the note in his pocket and went straight downstairs,
[17:01] Speaker 1: without going back to Madame Holokov, forgetting her, in fact,
[17:05] Speaker 1: As soon as Alyosha had gone, Liza unbolted the door,
[17:10] Speaker 1: opened it a little, put her finger in the crack,
[17:13] Speaker 1: and slammed the door with all her might, pinching her finger.
[17:17] Speaker 1: Ten seconds after releasing her finger, she walked softly slowly
[17:22] Speaker 1: to her chair, sat up straight in it, and looked
[17:26] Speaker 1: intently at her blackened finger, and at the blood that
[17:29] Speaker 1: oozed from under the nail. Her lips were quivering. and
[17:33] Speaker 1: she kept whispering rapidly to herself i am a wretch
[17:37] Speaker 1: wretch wretch wretch end of chapter seventy three

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