# Book 8 Chapter 4 - In the Dark, 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, 14 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75073525/brotherskaramazov_49_dostoyevsky_64kb.mp3

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

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: CHAPTER FOUR IN THE DARK Where was he running? Where
[0:32] Speaker 1: could she be except at Fyodor Pavlovich's? She must have
[0:35] Speaker 1: run straight to him from Samsonov's. That was clear now.
[0:39] Speaker 1: The whole intrigue, the whole deceit was evident. It all
[0:43] Speaker 1: rushed whirling through his mind. He did not run to
[0:46] Speaker 1: Maria Kondratyevna's. There was no need to go there. Not
[0:50] Speaker 1: the slightest need. He must raise no alarm. They would
[0:54] Speaker 1: run and tell directly. Maria Kondratyevna was clearly in the plot.
[0:59] Speaker 1: smerdyakov too he too all had been bought over he
[1:04] Speaker 1: formed another plan of action he ran a long way
[1:07] Speaker 1: round feodor pavlovitch's house crossing the lane running down to
[1:11] Speaker 1: metrovsky street then over the little bridge and so came
[1:15] Speaker 1: straight to the deserted alley at the back which was
[1:18] Speaker 1: empty and uninhabited with on one side the hurdle fence
[1:21] Speaker 1: of the neighbor's kitchen garden on the other side the
[1:24] Speaker 1: strong high fence that ran all around feodor pavlovitch's garden
[1:28] Speaker 1: Here he chose a spot, apparently the very place where,
[1:31] Speaker 1: according to the tradition, he knew Lizaveta had once climbed
[1:35] Speaker 1: over it. If she could climb over it, the thought,
[1:38] Speaker 1: God knows why, occurred to him, surely I can. He did,
[1:42] Speaker 1: in fact, jump up, and instantly contrived to catch hold
[1:45] Speaker 1: of the top of the fence. Then he vigorously pulled
[1:47] Speaker 1: himself up and sat astride on it. Close by, in
[1:51] Speaker 1: the garden, stood the bath-house, but from the fence he
[1:54] Speaker 1: could see the lighted windows of the house, too. Yes,
[1:57] Speaker 1: the old man's bedroom is lighted up. She's there. And
[2:01] Speaker 1: he leapt from the fence into the garden. Though he
[2:04] Speaker 1: knew Grigory was ill, and very likely Smerdyakov too, and
[2:08] Speaker 1: that there was no one to hear him, he instinctively
[2:11] Speaker 1: hid himself, stood still, and began to listen. But there
[2:15] Speaker 1: was dead silence on all sides, and as though of
[2:18] Speaker 1: design complete stillness, not the slightest breath of wind. And
[2:23] Speaker 1: not but the whispering silence, the line for some reason
[2:26] Speaker 1: rose to his mind. If only no one heard me
[2:29] Speaker 1: jump over the fence. I think not. Standing still for
[2:33] Speaker 1: a minute, he walked softly over the grass in the garden,
[2:36] Speaker 1: avoiding the trees and shrubs. He walked slowly, creeping stealthily
[2:40] Speaker 1: at every step, listening to his own footsteps. It took
[2:44] Speaker 1: him five minutes to reach the lighted window. He remembered
[2:47] Speaker 1: that just under the window there were several thick and
[2:50] Speaker 1: high bushes of elder and whitebeam, The door from the
[2:53] Speaker 1: house into the garden on the left-hand side was shut.
[2:56] Speaker 1: He had carefully looked on purpose to see in passing.
[3:00] Speaker 1: At last he reached the bushes and hid behind them.
[3:03] Speaker 1: He held his breath. I must wait now, he thought,
[3:06] Speaker 1: to reassure them in case they heard my footsteps and
[3:08] Speaker 1: are listening. If only I don't cough or sneeze. He
[3:13] Speaker 1: waited two minutes. His heart was beating violently, and at
[3:17] Speaker 1: moments he could scarcely breathe. No, this throbbing at my
[3:20] Speaker 1: heart won't stop, he thought. I can't wait any longer.
[3:24] Speaker 1: He was standing behind a bush in the shadow. The
[3:27] Speaker 1: light of the window fell on the front part of
[3:29] Speaker 1: the bush. How red the whitebeam berries are, he murmured,
[3:33] Speaker 1: not knowing why. Softly and noiselessly, step by step, he
[3:37] Speaker 1: approached the window and raised himself on tiptoe. All of
[3:41] Speaker 1: Fyodor Pavlovich's bedroom lay open before him. It was not
[3:46] Speaker 1: a large room, and was divided in two parts by
[3:48] Speaker 1: a red screen. Chinese, as Fyodor Pavlovich used to call it.
[3:53] Speaker 1: The word Chinese flashed into Mitya's mind, and behind the
[3:57] Speaker 1: screen is Grushenka, thought Mitya. He began watching Fyodor Pavlovich,
[4:02] Speaker 1: who was wearing his new striped silk dressing gown, which
[4:05] Speaker 1: Mitya had never seen, and a silk cord with tassels
[4:09] Speaker 1: round the waist. A clean, dandified shirt of fine linen
[4:13] Speaker 1: with gold studs peeped out under the collar of the
[4:16] Speaker 1: dressing gown. On his head, Fyodor Pavlovich had the same
[4:20] Speaker 1: red bandage which Alyosha had seen. He has got himself up,
[4:24] Speaker 1: thought Mitya. His father was standing near the window, apparently
[4:28] Speaker 1: lost in thought. Suddenly he jerked up his head, listened
[4:32] Speaker 1: a moment, and hearing nothing, went up to the table,
[4:35] Speaker 1: poured out half a glass of brandy from a decanter,
[4:37] Speaker 1: and drank it off. THEN HE UTTERED A DEEP SIGH,
[4:41] Speaker 1: AGAIN STOOD STILL A MOMENT, WALKED CARELESSLY UP TO THE
[4:44] Speaker 1: LOOKING-GLASS ON THE WALL, WITH HIS RIGHT HAND RAISED THE
[4:47] Speaker 1: RED BANDAGE ON HIS FOREHEAD A LITTLE, AND BEGAN EXAMINING
[4:50] Speaker 1: HIS BRUISES AND SCARS, WHICH HAD NOT YET DISAPPEARED. HE'S ALONE,
[4:55] Speaker 1: THOUGHT MITYA. IN ALL PROBABILITY HE'S ALONE. Fyodor Pavlovich moved
[5:01] Speaker 1: away from the looking-glass, turned suddenly to the window and
[5:04] Speaker 1: looked out. MITYA INSTANTLY SLIPPED AWAY INTO THE SHADOW. She
[5:08] Speaker 1: may be there behind the screen. Perhaps she's asleep by now,
[5:12] Speaker 1: he thought with a pang at his heart. Fyodor Pavlovich
[5:15] Speaker 1: moved away from the window. He's looking for her out
[5:18] Speaker 1: of the window, so she's not there. Why should he
[5:21] Speaker 1: stare out into the dark? He's wild with impatience. Mitya
[5:25] Speaker 1: slipped back at once and fell to gazing in at
[5:28] Speaker 1: the window again. The old man was sitting down at
[5:31] Speaker 1: the table, apparently disappointed. At last he put his elbow
[5:34] Speaker 1: on the table and laid his right cheek against his hand.
[5:37] Speaker 1: Mitya watched him eagerly. He's alone, he's alone, he repeated again.
[5:42] Speaker 1: If she were here, his face would be different. Strange
[5:46] Speaker 1: to say, a queer, irrational vexation rose up in his
[5:49] Speaker 1: heart that she was not here. It's not that she's
[5:51] Speaker 1: not here, he explained to himself immediately, but that I
[5:54] Speaker 1: can't tell for certain whether she is or not. Mitya
[5:58] Speaker 1: remembered afterwards that his mind was at that moment exceptionally clear,
[6:02] Speaker 1: that he took in everything to the slightest detail and
[6:05] Speaker 1: missed no point. but a feeling of misery the misery
[6:08] Speaker 1: of uncertainty and indecision was growing in his heart with
[6:10] Speaker 1: every instant is she here or not the angry doubt
[6:14] Speaker 1: filled his heart and suddenly making up his mind he
[6:17] Speaker 1: put out his hand and softly knocked on the window-frame
[6:20] Speaker 1: he knocked the signal the old man had agreed upon
[6:22] Speaker 1: with smerdyakov twice slowly and then three times more quickly
[6:27] Speaker 1: the signal that meant grushenka is here the old man
[6:30] Speaker 1: started jerked up his head and jumping up quickly ran
[6:33] Speaker 1: to the window Mitya slipped away into the shadow. Fyodor
[6:37] Speaker 1: Pavlovich opened the window and thrust his whole head out. Grushenka,
[6:42] Speaker 1: is it you? Is it you, he said, in a
[6:44] Speaker 1: sort of trembling half-whisper. Where are you, my angel, where
[6:48] Speaker 1: are you? He was fearfully agitated and breathless. He's alone,
[6:53] Speaker 1: Mitya decided. Where are you, cried the old man again,
[6:56] Speaker 1: and he thrust his head out farther, thrust it out
[6:59] Speaker 1: to the shoulders, gazing in all directions, right and left.
[7:03] Speaker 1: Come here, I've a little present for you. Come, I'll
[7:06] Speaker 1: show you. He means the three thousand, thought Mitya. But
[7:10] Speaker 1: where are you? Are you at the door? I'll open
[7:14] Speaker 1: it directly. And the old man almost climbed out of
[7:17] Speaker 1: the window, peering out to the right where there was
[7:20] Speaker 1: a door into the garden, trying to see into the darkness.
[7:23] Speaker 1: In another second he would certainly have run out to
[7:26] Speaker 1: open the door without waiting for Grishenka's answer. Mitya looked
[7:30] Speaker 1: at him from the side without stirring. The old man's
[7:33] Speaker 1: profile that he loathed so, his pendant Adam's apple, his
[7:36] Speaker 1: hooked nose, his lips that smiled in greedy expectation, were
[7:40] Speaker 1: all brightly lighted up by the slanting lamplight falling on
[7:43] Speaker 1: the left from the room. A horrible fury of hatred
[7:47] Speaker 1: suddenly surged up in Mitya's heart. There he was, his rival,
[7:51] Speaker 1: the man who had tormented him, had ruined his life.
[7:55] Speaker 1: It was a rush of that sudden furious, revengeful anger
[7:58] Speaker 1: of which he had spoken as though foreseeing it to
[8:00] Speaker 1: Aloysia forty days ago in the arbor, when in answer
[8:04] Speaker 1: to Aloysia's question, How can you say you'll kill our father?
[8:08] Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know, he had said then.
[8:11] Speaker 1: Perhaps I shall not kill him, perhaps I shall. I'm
[8:15] Speaker 1: afraid he'll suddenly be so loathsome to me at that moment.
[8:19] Speaker 1: I hate his double chin, his nose, his eyes, his
[8:22] Speaker 1: shameless grin. I feel a personal repulsion. That's what I'm
[8:27] Speaker 1: afraid of. That's what may be too much for me.
[8:30] Speaker 1: This personal repulsion was growing unendurable. Mitya was beside himself.
[8:35] Speaker 1: He suddenly pulled the brass pestle out of his pocket.
[8:38] Speaker 1: God was watching over me then, Mitya himself said afterwards.
[8:43] Speaker 1: At that very moment Grigory waked up on his bed
[8:46] Speaker 1: of sickness. Earlier in the evening he had undergone the
[8:49] Speaker 1: treatment which Smirnyakov had described to Ivan. He had rubbed
[8:54] Speaker 1: himself all over with vodka, mixed with a secret very
[8:57] Speaker 1: strong decoction, had drunk what was left of the mixture
[9:00] Speaker 1: while his wife repeated a certain prayer over him after
[9:03] Speaker 1: which he had gone to bed. Marfa Ignatyevna had tasted
[9:08] Speaker 1: the stuff too, and being unused to strong drink, slept
[9:12] Speaker 1: like the dead beside her husband. But Grigory waked up
[9:16] Speaker 1: in the night, quite suddenly, and after a moment's reflection,
[9:19] Speaker 1: though he immediately felt a sharp pain in his back,
[9:22] Speaker 1: he sat up in bed. He deliberated again, got up,
[9:26] Speaker 1: and dressed hurriedly. Perhaps his conscience was uneasy at the
[9:29] Speaker 1: thought of sleeping while the house was unguarded in such
[9:32] Speaker 1: perilous times. Smirnyakov, exhausted by his fit, lay motionless in
[9:37] Speaker 1: the next room. Marfa Ignatievna did not stir. The stuff's
[9:42] Speaker 1: been too much for the woman, Grigori thought. Glancing at
[9:45] Speaker 1: her and groaning, he went out on the steps. No
[9:49] Speaker 1: doubt he only intended to look out from the steps,
[9:51] Speaker 1: for he was hardly able to walk. The pain in
[9:54] Speaker 1: his back and his right leg was intolerable. But he
[9:56] Speaker 1: suddenly remembered that he had not locked the little gate
[9:59] Speaker 1: into the garden that evening he was the most punctual
[10:02] Speaker 1: and precise of men a man who adhered to an
[10:05] Speaker 1: unchangeable routine and habits that lasted for years limping and
[10:09] Speaker 1: writhing with pain he went down the steps and towards
[10:12] Speaker 1: the garden yes the gate stood wide open mechanically he
[10:16] Speaker 1: stepped into the garden PERHAPS HE FANCYED SOMETHING, PERHAPS CAUGHT
[10:20] Speaker 1: SOME SOUND, AND GLANCING TO THE LEFT HE SAW HIS
[10:23] Speaker 1: MASTER'S WINDOW OPEN. NO ONE WAS LOOKING OUT OF IT THEN.
[10:27] Speaker 1: WHAT'S IT OPEN FOR? IT'S NOT SUMMER NOW, THOUGHT GREGORY,
[10:31] Speaker 1: AND SUDDENLY AT THAT VERY INSTANT HE CAUGHT A GLIMPSE
[10:33] Speaker 1: OF SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY BEFORE HIM IN THE GARDEN. FORTY PACES
[10:37] Speaker 1: IN FRONT OF HIM A MAN SEEMED TO BE RUNNING
[10:39] Speaker 1: IN THE DARK. A SORT OF SHADOW WAS MOVING VERY FAST.
[10:44] Speaker 1: good lord cried gregory beside himself and forgetting the pain
[10:47] Speaker 1: in his back he hurried to intercept the running figure
[10:50] Speaker 1: he took a short cut evidently he knew the garden
[10:53] Speaker 1: better the flying figure went towards the bath-house ran behind
[10:56] Speaker 1: it and rushed to the garden fence gregory followed not
[11:00] Speaker 1: losing sight of him and ran forgetting everything he reached
[11:04] Speaker 1: the fence at the very moment the man was climbing
[11:06] Speaker 1: over it gregory cried out beside himself pounced on him
[11:10] Speaker 1: and clutched his leg in his two hands His foreboding
[11:14] Speaker 1: had not deceived him. He recognized him. It was he,
[11:18] Speaker 1: the monster, the Parasite. Parasite, the old man shouted, so
[11:22] Speaker 1: that the whole neighborhood could hear. But he had not
[11:25] Speaker 1: time to shout more. He fell at once, as though
[11:28] Speaker 1: struck by lightning. Mitya jumped back into the garden and
[11:32] Speaker 1: bent over the fallen man. In Mitya's hands was a
[11:35] Speaker 1: brass pestle, and he flung it mechanically in the grass.
[11:39] Speaker 1: The pestle fell two paces from Grigory. not in the
[11:42] Speaker 1: grass but on the path, in a most conspicuous place.
[11:46] Speaker 1: For some seconds he examined the prostate figure before him.
[11:50] Speaker 1: The old man's head was covered with blood. Mitya put
[11:53] Speaker 1: out his hand and began feeling it. He remembered afterwards
[11:57] Speaker 1: clearly that he had been awfully anxious to make sure
[12:00] Speaker 1: whether he had broken the old man's skull or simply
[12:03] Speaker 1: stunned him with the pestle. But the blood was flowing horribly,
[12:07] Speaker 1: and in a moment Mitya's fingers were drenched with the
[12:10] Speaker 1: hot stream. He remembered taking out of his pocket the
[12:13] Speaker 1: clean white handkerchief, with which he had provided himself for
[12:16] Speaker 1: his visit to Madame Holokov, and putting it to the
[12:20] Speaker 1: old man's head, senselessly trying to wipe the blood from
[12:23] Speaker 1: his face and temples. But the handkerchief was instantly soaked
[12:27] Speaker 1: with blood. Good heavens! What am I doing it for?
[12:30] Speaker 1: thought Mitya, suddenly pulling himself together. If I have broken
[12:34] Speaker 1: his skull, how can I find out now? And what
[12:37] Speaker 1: difference does it make now? he added, hopelessly. If I've
[12:40] Speaker 1: killed him, I've killed him. You've suddenly come to grief,
[12:43] Speaker 1: old man, so there you must lie, he said aloud,
[12:46] Speaker 1: and suddenly turning to the fence he vaulted over it
[12:49] Speaker 1: into the lane and fell to running. The handkerchief soaked
[12:52] Speaker 1: with blood he held, crushed up in his right fist,
[12:55] Speaker 1: and as he ran he thrust it into the back
[12:57] Speaker 1: pocket of his coat. He ran headlong, and the few
[13:01] Speaker 1: passers-by who he met in the dark in the streets
[13:04] Speaker 1: remembered afterwards that they had met a man running that night,
[13:08] Speaker 1: he flew back again to the widow Morozov's house. Immediately
[13:12] Speaker 1: after he had left it that evening, Fenya had rushed
[13:15] Speaker 1: to the chief porter, Nazar Ivanovich, and besought him, for
[13:19] Speaker 1: Christ's sake, not to let the captain in again today
[13:22] Speaker 1: or tomorrow. Nazar Ivanovich promised, but went upstairs to his mistress,
[13:26] Speaker 1: who had suddenly sent for him, and meeting his nephew,
[13:29] Speaker 1: a boy of twenty, who had recently come from the
[13:31] Speaker 1: country on the way up, told him to take his place,
[13:34] Speaker 1: but forgot to mention the captain. Mitya, running up to
[13:38] Speaker 1: the gate, knocked. The lad instantly recognized him, for Mitya
[13:42] Speaker 1: had more than once tipped him. Opening the gate at once,
[13:45] Speaker 1: he let him in, and hastened to inform him with
[13:47] Speaker 1: a good-humoured smile that Agriphania Alexandrovna is not at home now,
[13:53] Speaker 1: you know.' Where is she, then, prohor?' asked Mitya, stopping short.'
[13:57] Speaker 1: She set off this evening, some two hours ago, with Timofey,
[14:00] Speaker 1: to Mokro.'' What for?' cried Mitya. That I can't say.
[14:05] Speaker 1: To see some officer. Someone invited her, and horses were
[14:08] Speaker 1: sent to fetch her. Mitya left him, and ran like
[14:12] Speaker 1: a madman to Fenya. End of chapter 4 of book
[14:17] Speaker 1: 8

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