# Book Eight Chapter Four, 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, 21 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75073583/brotherskaramazov_50_dostoyevsky_64kb.mp3

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## Transcript

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

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