# Book Eight Chapter Two, 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, 24 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75073575/brotherskaramazov_48_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 48 of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Translated
[0:10] Speaker 1: by Constance Garnett This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
[0:16] Speaker 1: Recording by Tony Addison Chapter 2 Liagavi So he must
[0:26] Speaker 1: drive at full speed, and yet not the money for horses.
[0:31] Speaker 1: He had forty copecks, and that was all, all that
[0:34] Speaker 1: was left after so many years of prosperity. But he
[0:39] Speaker 1: had at home an old silver watch, which had long
[0:43] Speaker 1: ceased to go. He snatched it up and carried it
[0:47] Speaker 1: to a Jewish watchmaker who had a shop in the marketplace.
[0:50] Speaker 1: The Jew gave him six roubles for it.' And I
[0:53] Speaker 1: didn't expect that!' cried Mietje ecstatically. He was still in
[0:59] Speaker 1: a state of ecstasy. He seized his six roubles, and
[1:03] Speaker 1: ran home. At home he borrowed three roubles from the
[1:07] Speaker 1: people of the house, who loved him so much that
[1:09] Speaker 1: they were pleased to give it him, though it was
[1:12] Speaker 1: all they had. Mitya, in his excitement, told them on
[1:16] Speaker 1: the spot that his fate would be decided that day,
[1:20] Speaker 1: and he described in desperate haste the whole scheme he
[1:24] Speaker 1: had put before Samsonov, the latter's decision, his own hopes
[1:28] Speaker 1: for the future, and so on. These people had been
[1:32] Speaker 1: told many of their lodger's secrets before, and so looked
[1:37] Speaker 1: upon him as a gentleman who was not at all proud,
[1:40] Speaker 1: and almost one of themselves. Having thus collected nine roubles,
[1:46] Speaker 1: Mietje sent for posting-horses to take him to the Volovia station.
[1:52] Speaker 1: This was how the fact came to be remembered and
[1:55] Speaker 1: established that, at midday, on the day before the event,
[2:01] Speaker 1: had not a farthing and that he had sold his
[2:04] Speaker 1: watch to get money and had borrowed three roubles from
[2:08] Speaker 1: his landlord all in the presence of witnesses i note
[2:13] Speaker 1: this fact later on it will be apparent why i
[2:17] Speaker 1: do so though he was radiant with the joyful anticipation
[2:23] Speaker 1: that he would at last solve all his difficulties yet
[2:28] Speaker 1: as he drew near volovia station He trembled at the
[2:32] Speaker 1: thought of what Kushanka might be doing in his absence.
[2:37] Speaker 1: What if she made up her mind to-day to go
[2:40] Speaker 1: to Fyodor Pavlovich? This was why he had gone off
[2:44] Speaker 1: without telling her, and why he left orders with his
[2:47] Speaker 1: landlady not to let out where he had gone if
[2:50] Speaker 1: anyone came to inquire then. I must, I must get
[2:55] Speaker 1: back to-night, he repeated as he was jolted along in
[2:59] Speaker 1: the cart. and i dare say i shall have to
[3:02] Speaker 1: bring this leogabbe back here to draw up the deed
[3:07] Speaker 1: so mused micio with a throbbing heart but alas his
[3:13] Speaker 1: dreams were not fated to be carried out to begin
[3:18] Speaker 1: with he was late taking a short cut from volovia
[3:22] Speaker 1: station which turned out to be eighteen versts instead of
[3:27] Speaker 1: twelve secondly He did not find the priest at home,
[3:33] Speaker 1: at Ilyinsko. He had gone off to a neighbouring village.
[3:38] Speaker 1: While Mitya, setting off there with the same exhausted horses,
[3:44] Speaker 1: was looking for him, it was almost dark. The priest,
[3:50] Speaker 1: a shy and amiable-looking little man, informed him at once
[3:56] Speaker 1: that though Leogavi had been staying with him at first,
[4:01] Speaker 1: he was now at Suhoi Pasiolok, that he was staying
[4:06] Speaker 1: the night in the forester's cottage, as he was buying
[4:10] Speaker 1: timber there too, at Nietzsche's urgent request that he would
[4:16] Speaker 1: take him to Leogavi at once, and by so doing
[4:21] Speaker 1: save him, so to speak. The priest agreed, after some demur,
[4:29] Speaker 1: to conduct him to Suhoi Pasiolok. His curiosity was obviously aroused, but, unluckily,
[4:40] Speaker 1: he advised their going on foot, as it would not
[4:44] Speaker 1: be much over-averse. Mitya, of course, agreed, and marched off
[4:52] Speaker 1: with his yard-long strides, so that the poor priest almost
[4:57] Speaker 1: ran after him, He was a very cautious man, though
[5:01] Speaker 1: not old. Mietje at once began talking to him too
[5:06] Speaker 1: of his plans, nervously and excitedly, asking advice in regard
[5:13] Speaker 1: to Leogavi, and talking all the way. The priest listened attentively,
[5:20] Speaker 1: but gave little advice. He turned off Mietje's questions with,'
[5:24] Speaker 1: I don't know. Ah, I can't say.' how can i
[5:29] Speaker 1: tell and so on when micia began to speak of
[5:34] Speaker 1: his quarrel with his father over his inheritance the priest
[5:39] Speaker 1: was positively alarmed as he was in some way dependent
[5:44] Speaker 1: on feodo pavlovitch he inquired however with surprise why he
[5:52] Speaker 1: called the peasant trader and obligingly explained to Meecha that,
[6:02] Speaker 1: though the man's name really was Leogavi, he was never
[6:08] Speaker 1: called so, as he would be grievously offended at the name,
[6:14] Speaker 1: and that he must be sure to call him Gotskin.' Oh,
[6:19] Speaker 1: you'll do nothing with him. He won't even listen to you,'
[6:23] Speaker 1: said the priest in conclusion. Mitya was somewhat surprised for
[6:29] Speaker 1: a moment, and explained that that was what Samsonov had
[6:35] Speaker 1: called him. On hearing this fact, the priest dropped the subject,
[6:42] Speaker 1: though he would have done well to put into words
[6:45] Speaker 1: his doubt whether, if Samsonov had sent him to that peasant,
[6:51] Speaker 1: calling him Leogavi, there was not something wrong about it.
[6:56] Speaker 1: and he was turning him into ridicule. But Mitya had
[7:01] Speaker 1: no time to pause over such trifles. He hurried, striding along,
[7:07] Speaker 1: and only when he reached Suhoi Pasiolok did he realise
[7:12] Speaker 1: that there had come not one burst, nor one and
[7:15] Speaker 1: a half, but at least three. This annoyed him, but
[7:19] Speaker 1: he controlled himself. They went into the hut, The forester
[7:25] Speaker 1: lived in one half of the hut, and Gerstken was
[7:28] Speaker 1: lodging in the other, the better room, the other side
[7:32] Speaker 1: of the passage. They went into that room and lighted
[7:37] Speaker 1: a teller candle. The hut was extremely overheated. On the
[7:43] Speaker 1: table there was a samovar that had gone out, a
[7:47] Speaker 1: tray with cups, an empty rum bottle, a bottle of vodka,
[7:52] Speaker 1: partly full, and some half-eaten crusts of wheaten bread. The
[7:59] Speaker 1: visitor himself lay stretched at full length on the bench,
[8:03] Speaker 1: with his coat crushed up under his head for a pillow,
[8:07] Speaker 1: snoring heavily. Mitya stood in perplexity.' Of course I must
[8:14] Speaker 1: wake him. My business is too important. I've come in
[8:18] Speaker 1: such haste. I'm in a hurry to get back to-day,'
[8:21] Speaker 1: he said in great agitation. but the priest and the
[8:26] Speaker 1: forester stood in silence, not giving their opinion. Mitya went
[8:31] Speaker 1: up and began trying to wake him himself. He tried vigorously,
[8:36] Speaker 1: but the sleeper did not wake. He's drunk, Mitya decided.
[8:42] Speaker 1: Good Lord, what am I to do? What am I
[8:44] Speaker 1: to do? And terribly impatient, he began pulling him by
[8:49] Speaker 1: the arms, by the legs, shaking his head, lifting him up,
[8:54] Speaker 1: and making him sit on the bench yet after prolonged
[8:58] Speaker 1: exertions he could only succeed in getting the drunken man
[9:03] Speaker 1: to utter absurd grunts and violent but inarticulate oaths no
[9:11] Speaker 1: you'd better wait a little the priest pronounced at last
[9:15] Speaker 1: for he's obviously not in a fit state he's been
[9:19] Speaker 1: drinking the whole day the forester chimed him heavens cried
[9:25] Speaker 1: mitya if only you knew how important it is to
[9:30] Speaker 1: me and how desperate i am no you'd better wait
[9:36] Speaker 1: till morning the priest repeated till morning mercy that's impossible
[9:42] Speaker 1: and in his despair he was on the point of
[9:46] Speaker 1: attacking the sleeping man again but stopped short at once
[9:51] Speaker 1: realizing the uselessness of his efforts. The priest said nothing.
[9:57] Speaker 1: The sleepy forester looked gloomy. WHAT TERRIBLE TRAGEDIES REAL LIFE
[10:03] Speaker 1: CONTRIES FOR PEOPLE, SAID MITCHELL, IN COMPLETE DESPAIR. THE PERSPIRATION
[10:12] Speaker 1: WAS STREAMING DOWN HIS FACE. THE PRIEST SEIZED THE MOMENT
[10:17] Speaker 1: TO PUT BEFORE HIM very reasonably that, even if he
[10:21] Speaker 1: succeeded in wakening the man, he would still be drunk
[10:25] Speaker 1: and incapable of conversation. And your business is important, he said,
[10:31] Speaker 1: so you'd certainly better put it off till morning. With
[10:35] Speaker 1: a gesture of despair, Mitya agreed. Father, I will stay
[10:40] Speaker 1: here with the light and seize the favourable moment. As
[10:45] Speaker 1: soon as he wakes, I'll begin. i'll pay you for
[10:48] Speaker 1: the light he said to the forester for the night's
[10:51] Speaker 1: lodging too you'll remember dmitri karamazov only father i don't
[10:58] Speaker 1: know what we're to do with you where will you
[11:00] Speaker 1: sleep no i'm going home i'll take his horse and
[11:05] Speaker 1: get home he said indicating the forester and now i'll
[11:09] Speaker 1: say good-bye i wish you all success so it was
[11:12] Speaker 1: settled the priest rode off on the forester's horse delighted
[11:18] Speaker 1: to escape, though he shook his head uneasily, wondering whether
[11:22] Speaker 1: he ought not next day to inform his benefactor, Fyodor Pavlovich,
[11:28] Speaker 1: of this curious incident, or he may, in an unlucky
[11:32] Speaker 1: hour here of it, be angry and withdraw his favour.
[11:37] Speaker 1: The forester, scratching himself, went back to his room without
[11:42] Speaker 1: a word, and Mitya sat on the bench and to
[11:46] Speaker 1: catch the favourable moment, as he expressed it. Profound dejection
[11:52] Speaker 1: clung about his soul like a heavy mist. A profound,
[11:57] Speaker 1: intense dejection. He sat thinking, but could reach no conclusion.
[12:06] Speaker 1: The candle burnt dimly. A cricket chirped. It became insufferably
[12:12] Speaker 1: close in the overheated rooms. He suddenly pictured the garden,
[12:18] Speaker 1: the path behind the garden, the door of his father's
[12:22] Speaker 1: house mysteriously opening and Kushanka running in. He leapt up
[12:27] Speaker 1: from the bench. It's a tragedy, he said, grinding his tea. Mechanically,
[12:36] Speaker 1: he went up to the sleeping man and looked in
[12:39] Speaker 1: his face. He was a lean, middle-aged peasant, with a
[12:45] Speaker 1: very long face, flaxen curls, and a long, thin, reddish beard,
[12:51] Speaker 1: wearing a blue cotton shirt and a black waistcoat, from
[12:56] Speaker 1: the pocket of which peeped the chain of a silver watch.
[13:00] Speaker 1: Mitya looked at his face with intense hatred, and for
[13:05] Speaker 1: some unknown reason his curly hair particularly irritated him. What
[13:12] Speaker 1: was insufferably humiliating was that after leaving things of such
[13:19] Speaker 1: importance and making such sacrifices he meteor utterly worn out
[13:27] Speaker 1: should with business of such urgency be standing over this
[13:32] Speaker 1: dolt on whom his whole fate depended while he snored
[13:37] Speaker 1: as though there were nothing the matter as though he
[13:40] Speaker 1: dropped from another planet oh the irony of fate cried
[13:46] Speaker 1: mietje and quite losing his head he fell again to
[13:50] Speaker 1: rousing the tipsy peasant he roused him with a sort
[13:54] Speaker 1: of ferocity pulled at him pushed him even beat him
[13:58] Speaker 1: but after five minutes of vain exertions he returned to
[14:02] Speaker 1: his bench in helpless despair and sat down stupid stupid
[14:07] Speaker 1: cried mietje and how dishonourable it all is something made
[14:12] Speaker 1: him add his head began to ache horribly should he
[14:18] Speaker 1: fling it up and go away altogether he wondered no
[14:22] Speaker 1: wait till to-morrow now i'll stay on purpose what else
[14:26] Speaker 1: did i come for besides i've no means of going
[14:29] Speaker 1: how am i to get away from here now oh
[14:32] Speaker 1: the idiocy of it but his head ached more and
[14:37] Speaker 1: more he sat without moving and unconsciously dozed off and
[14:43] Speaker 1: fell asleep as he sat he seemed to have slept
[14:47] Speaker 1: for two hours or more he was waked up by
[14:51] Speaker 1: his head aching so unbearably that he could have screamed
[14:57] Speaker 1: there was a hammering in his temples and the top
[15:01] Speaker 1: of his head ached it was a long time before
[15:06] Speaker 1: he could wake up fully and understand what had happened
[15:10] Speaker 1: to him At last he realized that the room was
[15:16] Speaker 1: full of charcoal fumes from the stove, and that he
[15:20] Speaker 1: might die of suffocation. And the drunken peasant still lay snoring.
[15:29] Speaker 1: The candle guttered and was about to go out. Meecha
[15:33] Speaker 1: cried out and ran staggering across the passage into the
[15:38] Speaker 1: forester's room. The forester waked up at once, but hearing
[15:43] Speaker 1: that the other room was full of fumes, to meet
[15:46] Speaker 1: his surprise and annoyance, accepted the fact with strange unconcern,
[15:53] Speaker 1: though he did go to see to it. But he's dead!
[15:57] Speaker 2: He's dead!
[15:58] Speaker 1: And what am I to do then? cried Meechia frantically.
[16:03] Speaker 1: They threw open the doors, opened a window and the chimneys,
[16:08] Speaker 1: Mitya brought a pail of water from the passage. First
[16:12] Speaker 1: he wetted his own head, then, finding a rag of
[16:15] Speaker 1: some sort, dipped it into the water and put it
[16:19] Speaker 1: on Leogavi's head. The forester still treated the matter contemptuously,
[16:25] Speaker 1: and when he opened the window, said grumpily, It'll be
[16:30] Speaker 1: all right now. He went back to sleep, leaving Mitya
[16:36] Speaker 1: a lighted lantern. Mitya fussed about the drunken peasant for
[16:41] Speaker 1: half an hour, wetting his head, and gravely resolved not
[16:46] Speaker 1: to sleep all night. But he was so worn out,
[16:51] Speaker 1: that when he sat down for a moment to take breath,
[16:54] Speaker 1: he closed his eyes, unconsciously stretched himself full length on
[16:59] Speaker 1: the bench, and slept like the dead. It was dreadfully
[17:04] Speaker 1: late when he waked, It was somewhere about nine o'clock.
[17:09] Speaker 1: The sun was shining brightly in the two little windows
[17:13] Speaker 1: of the hut. The curly-headed peasant was sitting on the
[17:17] Speaker 1: bench and had his coat on. He had another samovar
[17:22] Speaker 1: and another bottle in front of him. Yesterday's bottle had
[17:27] Speaker 1: already been finished and the new one was more than
[17:30] Speaker 1: half empty. Meech had jumped up and saw at once
[17:35] Speaker 1: that the cursed peasant was drunk again, hopelessly and incurably.
[17:41] Speaker 1: He stared at him for a moment with wide-opened eyes.
[17:46] Speaker 1: The peasant was silently and slyly watching him, with insulting composure,
[17:52] Speaker 1: and even a sort of contemptuous condescension so meet you fancied.
[17:58] Speaker 1: He rushed up to him.' Excuse me, you see, I— you
[18:03] Speaker 1: most likely heard—' from the forester here in the hut.
[18:07] Speaker 1: I'm Lieutenant Dmitri Karamazov, the son of the old Karamazov,
[18:11] Speaker 1: whose cops you're buying. That's a lie, said the peasant,
[18:17] Speaker 1: calmly and confidently. A lie? You know Fyodor Pavlovich? I
[18:23] Speaker 1: don't know any of your Fyodor Pavloviches, said the peasant,
[18:28] Speaker 1: speaking thickly. You're bargaining with him for the cops, for
[18:32] Speaker 1: the cops. Do wake up and collect yourself. Father Favell
[18:37] Speaker 1: of Ilyinsko brought me here. You wrote to Samsonov, and
[18:41] Speaker 1: he has sent me to you. Mitya gasped breathlessly. You're lying.
[18:50] Speaker 2: Leogavi blurted out again. Mitya's legs went cold. For mercy's sake,
[19:00] Speaker 2: it isn't a joke. You're drunk, perhaps. yet you can
[19:04] Speaker 2: speak and understand or else i understand nothing you're a
[19:10] Speaker 2: painter for mercy's sake i'm karamazov dmitri karamazov i have
[19:22] Speaker 2: an offer to make you an advantageous offer very advantageous
[19:27] Speaker 2: offer concerning the cops the peasant stroked his beard importantly
[19:36] Speaker 2: no you've contracted for the job and turned out a
[19:39] Speaker 2: scamp you're a scoundrel i assure you you're mistaken cried
[19:45] Speaker 2: mitya wringing his hands in despair the peasant still stroked
[19:50] Speaker 2: his beard and suddenly screwed up his eyes cunningly no
[19:57] Speaker 2: you show me this you tell me the law that
[20:01] Speaker 2: allows roguery do you hear you're a scoundrel do you
[20:06] Speaker 2: understand that Meecher stepped back gloomily, and suddenly something seemed
[20:14] Speaker 2: to hit him on the head, as he said afterwards.
[20:18] Speaker 2: In an instant a light seemed to dawn in his mind.
[20:23] Speaker 1: A light was kindled, and I grasped it all. He stood, stupefied,
[20:29] Speaker 1: wondering how he, after all a man of intelligence, could
[20:33] Speaker 1: have yielded to such folly, have been led into such
[20:36] Speaker 1: an adventure. and have kept it up for almost twenty-four hours,
[20:41] Speaker 1: fussing round this Leogavi, wetting his head. Why, the man's drunk,
[20:48] Speaker 1: dead drunk, and he'll go on drinking now for a week.
[20:51] Speaker 1: What's the use of waiting here? And what if some
[20:54] Speaker 1: sauna sent me here on purpose? What if she— oh, God,
[20:58] Speaker 1: what have I done?' The peasant sat watching him and grinning.
[21:02] Speaker 1: Another time, Mitya might have killed the fool in a fury.
[21:07] Speaker 1: but now he felt as weak as a child. He
[21:09] Speaker 1: went quietly to the bench, took up his overcoat, put
[21:13] Speaker 1: it on without a word, and went out of the hut.
[21:17] Speaker 1: He did not find the forester in the next room.
[21:20] Speaker 1: There was no one there. He took fifty copecks in
[21:24] Speaker 1: small change out of his pocket, and put them on
[21:27] Speaker 1: the table for his night's lodging, the candle, and the
[21:31] Speaker 1: trouble he had given. Coming out of the hut, He
[21:35] Speaker 1: saw nothing but forest all round. He walked at hazard,
[21:39] Speaker 1: not knowing which way to turn out of the hut,
[21:42] Speaker 1: to the right or to the left. Hurrying there the
[21:46] Speaker 1: evening before with the priest, he had not noticed the road.
[21:50] Speaker 1: He had no revengeful feeling for anybody, even for Samsonov
[21:55] Speaker 1: in his heart. He strode along a narrow forest path, aimless, dazed,
[22:02] Speaker 1: without heeding where he was going. A child could have
[22:07] Speaker 1: knocked him down, So weak was he in body and soul.
[22:12] Speaker 1: He got out of the forest somehow, however, And a
[22:16] Speaker 1: vista of fields, bare after the harvest, Stretched as far
[22:21] Speaker 1: as the eye could see. What despair! What death all round!
[22:27] Speaker 1: He repeated, striding on and on. He was saved by
[22:33] Speaker 1: meeting an old merchant, who was being driven across country
[22:37] Speaker 1: in a hired trap. When he overtook him, Micce asked
[22:42] Speaker 1: the way, and it turned out that the old merchant, too,
[22:47] Speaker 1: was going to Volovia. After some discussion, Micce got into
[22:52] Speaker 1: the trap. Three hours later, they arrived. At Volovia, Micce
[22:59] Speaker 1: at once ordered posting horses to drive to the towns,
[23:04] Speaker 1: and suddenly realised that he was appallingly hungry. While the
[23:09] Speaker 1: horses were being harnessed, an omelette was prepared for him.
[23:13] Speaker 1: He ate it all in an instant, ate a huge
[23:17] Speaker 1: hunk of bread, ate a sausage, and swallowed three glasses
[23:21] Speaker 1: of vodka. After eating, his spirits and his heart grew lighter.
[23:28] Speaker 1: He flew towards the town, urging on the driver, and
[23:32] Speaker 1: suddenly made a new and unalterable plan to procure that
[23:38] Speaker 1: accursed money before evening and to think only to think
[23:44] Speaker 1: that a man's life should be ruined for the sake
[23:47] Speaker 1: of that paltry three thousand he cried contemptuously i'll settle
[23:52] Speaker 1: it to-day and if it had not been for the
[23:55] Speaker 1: thought of grushenka and of what might have happened to
[23:58] Speaker 1: her which never left him he would perhaps have become
[24:02] Speaker 1: quite cheerful again for the thought of her was stabbing
[24:05] Speaker 1: him to the heart every moment like a sharp knife
[24:10] Speaker 1: at last they arrived and mitya at once ran to
[24:13] Speaker 1: grushenka chapter forty eight

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