feat_summary_path: finished_summaries/cliffnotes/The Brothers Karamazov/section_8_part_0.txt
feat_book_id: The Brothers Karamazov.book 5.chapters 6-7
feat_summary_id: book 5 chapters 6-7
feat_summary: {"name": "Book V: Chapters 6-7", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201219142226/https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/b/the-brothers-karamazov/summary-and-analysis/part-2-book-v-chapters-67", "summary": "Ivan leaves Alyosha and feels greatly depressed. He cannot understand his depression until he realizes that perhaps it is because of his deep dread of meeting Smerdyakov. He does, however, go home, but seeing the cook sitting in the yard, hopes to pass him without speaking. Strangely, however, he cannot and finds himself greeting his half-brother with great cordiality. Smerdyakov confesses to Ivan that he too is troubled because of the rivalry between Fyodor and Dmitri for Grushenka. He also fears that the strain of worry might bring on an epileptic seizure. Furthermore, he says, he knows that Dmitri has learned the secret signals that Grushenka is to use if ever she decides to come to Fyodor. If such a meeting occurs, the results could well be tragic: both Grigory and Marfa are ill, and Smerdyakov fears that he is ripe for a seizure and Fyodor will be left alone to face Dmitri's wrath. Ivan wonders why Smerdyakov told Dmitri the secret signals and suggests that perhaps Smerdyakov has arranged matters so that Dmitri will have access to old Fyodor as soon as Ivan leaves for Moscow. Ivan, however, cannot be a watchdog for Karamazov, so he resolves to leave the next day for Moscow as planned. Smerdyakov insists that he not go to Moscow, that he go to a nearer town, but Ivan is firm and goes to bed without further discussion. The talk has left him exhausted, however, and he finds that he cannot sleep. Next day, Fyodor pleads with Ivan not to go to Moscow, but to a town close by to sell a copse of wood for the old man. Ivan finally agrees and, as he is leaving, admits to Smerdyakov that he is not going to Moscow. The servant whispers mysteriously that \"it's always worth while speaking to a clever man.\" Ivan is puzzled. A few hours later, Smerdyakov falls down the cellar steps and an attack of epilepsy seizes him. He is put to bed and, as predicted, Fyodor is alone. He locks all the doors and windows and then begins his wait for Grushenka. He is certain that she will come to him tonight.", "analysis": "Leaving Alyosha, Ivan feels morose and dejected, emotions probably related to the guilt that he feels by associating with Smerdyakov. For even though Ivan does not realize it, he is subconsciously beginning to feel a certain duplicity in his relationships with the servant; the last two chapters, in particular, show how certain actions on Ivan's part implicate him in the murder of old Fyodor. This fact is also important: Ivan feels a distinct loathing for Smerdyakov. He has entered into many philosophical discussions with him, and we learn that they have discussed such questions as how there \"could have been light on the first day when the sun, moon, and stars were only created on the fourth day.\" Smerdyakov, in turn, has discussed things that would impress Fyodor, hoping to make an impression on him and contradict old Grigory. However, he has, we discover, taken most of his ideas from Ivan. Even the idea of the murder came from Ivan. When Ivan meets the cook, he has planned to say to him, \"Get away, miserable idiot. What have I to do with you,\" but instead he says, \"Is my father still asleep?\" This reversal suggests that Ivan is repulsed by this creature but is drawn to him at the same time. By the same analogy, Ivan is repulsed by the idea that his father will be murdered but seems also to acquiesce in readying the scene for the hypothetical murder. In these last chapters, one can easily see how completely Smerdyakov has planned the homicide. We hear, first of all, that Dmitri has heard of the secret signals by which Grushenka is to come to the old man. There could, of course, be no reason for Smerdyakov to tell Dmitri about these signals except to lay suspicion on Dmitri when it is known that he was aware of such signals; furthermore, Ivan's ready acceptance of Smerdyakov's explanation indicates that Ivan is also eager to accept such an alibi. Second, Smerdyakov announces that he feels that he will have an epileptic seizure on the following day -- the day that Ivan will be absent from the house. Third, Smerdyakov announces that old Grigory will be doped with some strong medicine that Marfa gives him and always saves a bit of for herself; soon both will be in a heavy sleep. Consequently, Smerdyakov has conceived a perfect setting for murder; he has even created perfect alibis. As he announces later to Ivan, everything had to go just as he planned it; otherwise, the murder never could have been accomplished. Ivan even recognized this when he said earlier, \"But aren't you trying to arrange it so?\" and tried to remove himself from direct responsibility. But ultimately Ivan must take his share in the moral guilt for his father's death. At the end of Book V, most of the machinery is arranged for the murder. Smerdyakov pretends to have his seizure, old Grigory is laid up with illness, Marfa prepares the medicine for them both, and Fyodor anxiously awaits Grushenka."}
text: Chapter VI. For Awhile A Very Obscure One
  
  
  And Ivan, on parting from Alyosha, went home to Fyodor Pavlovitch's house.
  But, strange to say, he was overcome by insufferable depression, which
  grew greater at every step he took towards the house. There was nothing
  strange in his being depressed; what was strange was that Ivan could not
  have said what was the cause of it. He had often been depressed before,
  and there was nothing surprising at his feeling so at such a moment, when
  he had broken off with everything that had brought him here, and was
  preparing that day to make a new start and enter upon a new, unknown
  future. He would again be as solitary as ever, and though he had great
  hopes, and great--too great--expectations from life, he could not have given
  any definite account of his hopes, his expectations, or even his desires.
  
  Yet at that moment, though the apprehension of the new and unknown
  certainly found place in his heart, what was worrying him was something
  quite different. "Is it loathing for my father's house?" he wondered.
  "Quite likely; I am so sick of it; and though it's the last time I shall
  cross its hateful threshold, still I loathe it.... No, it's not that
  either. Is it the parting with Alyosha and the conversation I had with
  him? For so many years I've been silent with the whole world and not
  deigned to speak, and all of a sudden I reel off a rigmarole like that."
  It certainly might have been the youthful vexation of youthful
  inexperience and vanity--vexation at having failed to express himself,
  especially with such a being as Alyosha, on whom his heart had certainly
  been reckoning. No doubt that came in, that vexation, it must have done
  indeed; but yet that was not it, that was not it either. "I feel sick with
  depression and yet I can't tell what I want. Better not think, perhaps."
  
  Ivan tried "not to think," but that, too, was no use. What made his
  depression so vexatious and irritating was that it had a kind of casual,
  external character--he felt that. Some person or thing seemed to be
  standing out somewhere, just as something will sometimes obtrude itself
  upon the eye, and though one may be so busy with work or conversation that
  for a long time one does not notice it, yet it irritates and almost
  torments one till at last one realizes, and removes the offending object,
  often quite a trifling and ridiculous one--some article left about in the
  wrong place, a handkerchief on the floor, a book not replaced on the
  shelf, and so on.
  
  At last, feeling very cross and ill-humored, Ivan arrived home, and
  suddenly, about fifteen paces from the garden gate, he guessed what was
  fretting and worrying him.
  
  On a bench in the gateway the valet Smerdyakov was sitting enjoying the
  coolness of the evening, and at the first glance at him Ivan knew that the
  valet Smerdyakov was on his mind, and that it was this man that his soul
  loathed. It all dawned upon him suddenly and became clear. Just before,
  when Alyosha had been telling him of his meeting with Smerdyakov, he had
  felt a sudden twinge of gloom and loathing, which had immediately stirred
  responsive anger in his heart. Afterwards, as he talked, Smerdyakov had
  been forgotten for the time; but still he had been in his mind, and as
  soon as Ivan parted with Alyosha and was walking home, the forgotten
  sensation began to obtrude itself again. "Is it possible that a miserable,
  contemptible creature like that can worry me so much?" he wondered, with
  insufferable irritation.
  
  It was true that Ivan had come of late to feel an intense dislike for the
  man, especially during the last few days. He had even begun to notice in
  himself a growing feeling that was almost of hatred for the creature.
  Perhaps this hatred was accentuated by the fact that when Ivan first came
  to the neighborhood he had felt quite differently. Then he had taken a
  marked interest in Smerdyakov, and had even thought him very original. He
  had encouraged him to talk to him, although he had always wondered at a
  certain incoherence, or rather restlessness, in his mind, and could not
  understand what it was that so continually and insistently worked upon the
  brain of "the contemplative." They discussed philosophical questions and
  even how there could have been light on the first day when the sun, moon,
  and stars were only created on the fourth day, and how that was to be
  understood. But Ivan soon saw that, though the sun, moon, and stars might
  be an interesting subject, yet that it was quite secondary to Smerdyakov,
  and that he was looking for something altogether different. In one way and
  another, he began to betray a boundless vanity, and a wounded vanity, too,
  and that Ivan disliked. It had first given rise to his aversion. Later on,
  there had been trouble in the house. Grushenka had come on the scene, and
  there had been the scandals with his brother Dmitri--they discussed that,
  too. But though Smerdyakov always talked of that with great excitement, it
  was impossible to discover what he desired to come of it. There was, in
  fact, something surprising in the illogicality and incoherence of some of
  his desires, accidentally betrayed and always vaguely expressed.
  Smerdyakov was always inquiring, putting certain indirect but obviously
  premeditated questions, but what his object was he did not explain, and
  usually at the most important moment he would break off and relapse into
  silence or pass to another subject. But what finally irritated Ivan most
  and confirmed his dislike for him was the peculiar, revolting familiarity
  which Smerdyakov began to show more and more markedly. Not that he forgot
  himself and was rude; on the contrary, he always spoke very respectfully,
  yet he had obviously begun to consider--goodness knows why!--that there was
  some sort of understanding between him and Ivan Fyodorovitch. He always
  spoke in a tone that suggested that those two had some kind of compact,
  some secret between them, that had at some time been expressed on both
  sides, only known to them and beyond the comprehension of those around
  them. But for a long while Ivan did not recognize the real cause of his
  growing dislike and he had only lately realized what was at the root of
  it.
  
  With a feeling of disgust and irritation he tried to pass in at the gate
  without speaking or looking at Smerdyakov. But Smerdyakov rose from the
  bench, and from that action alone, Ivan knew instantly that he wanted
  particularly to talk to him. Ivan looked at him and stopped, and the fact
  that he did stop, instead of passing by, as he meant to the minute before,
  drove him to fury. With anger and repulsion he looked at Smerdyakov's
  emasculate, sickly face, with the little curls combed forward on his
  forehead. His left eye winked and he grinned as if to say, "Where are you
  going? You won't pass by; you see that we two clever people have something
  to say to each other."
  
  Ivan shook. "Get away, miserable idiot. What have I to do with you?" was
  on the tip of his tongue, but to his profound astonishment he heard
  himself say, "Is my father still asleep, or has he waked?"
  
  He asked the question softly and meekly, to his own surprise, and at once,
  again to his own surprise, sat down on the bench. For an instant he felt
  almost frightened; he remembered it afterwards. Smerdyakov stood facing
  him, his hands behind his back, looking at him with assurance and almost
  severity.
  
  "His honor is still asleep," he articulated deliberately ("You were the
  first to speak, not I," he seemed to say). "I am surprised at you, sir,"
  he added, after a pause, dropping his eyes affectedly, setting his right
  foot forward, and playing with the tip of his polished boot.
  
  "Why are you surprised at me?" Ivan asked abruptly and sullenly, doing his
  utmost to restrain himself, and suddenly realizing, with disgust, that he
  was feeling intense curiosity and would not, on any account, have gone
  away without satisfying it.
  
  "Why don't you go to Tchermashnya, sir?" Smerdyakov suddenly raised his
  eyes and smiled familiarly. "Why I smile you must understand of yourself,
  if you are a clever man," his screwed-up left eye seemed to say.
  
  "Why should I go to Tchermashnya?" Ivan asked in surprise.
  
  Smerdyakov was silent again.
  
  "Fyodor Pavlovitch himself has so begged you to," he said at last, slowly
  and apparently attaching no significance to his answer. "I put you off
  with a secondary reason," he seemed to suggest, "simply to say something."
  
  "Damn you! Speak out what you want!" Ivan cried angrily at last, passing
  from meekness to violence.
  
  Smerdyakov drew his right foot up to his left, pulled himself up, but
  still looked at him with the same serenity and the same little smile.
  
  "Substantially nothing--but just by way of conversation."
  
  Another silence followed. They did not speak for nearly a minute. Ivan
  knew that he ought to get up and show anger, and Smerdyakov stood before
  him and seemed to be waiting as though to see whether he would be angry or
  not. So at least it seemed to Ivan. At last he moved to get up. Smerdyakov
  seemed to seize the moment.
  
  "I'm in an awful position, Ivan Fyodorovitch. I don't know how to help
  myself," he said resolutely and distinctly, and at his last word he
  sighed. Ivan Fyodorovitch sat down again.
  
  "They are both utterly crazy, they are no better than little children,"
  Smerdyakov went on. "I am speaking of your parent and your brother Dmitri
  Fyodorovitch. Here Fyodor Pavlovitch will get up directly and begin
  worrying me every minute, 'Has she come? Why hasn't she come?' and so on
  up till midnight and even after midnight. And if Agrafena Alexandrovna
  doesn't come (for very likely she does not mean to come at all) then he
  will be at me again to-morrow morning, 'Why hasn't she come? When will she
  come?'--as though I were to blame for it. On the other side it's no better.
  As soon as it gets dark, or even before, your brother will appear with his
  gun in his hands: 'Look out, you rogue, you soup-maker. If you miss her
  and don't let me know she's been--I'll kill you before any one.' When the
  night's over, in the morning, he, too, like Fyodor Pavlovitch, begins
  worrying me to death. 'Why hasn't she come? Will she come soon?' And he,
  too, thinks me to blame because his lady hasn't come. And every day and
  every hour they get angrier and angrier, so that I sometimes think I shall
  kill myself in a fright. I can't depend upon them, sir."
  
  "And why have you meddled? Why did you begin to spy for Dmitri
  Fyodorovitch?" said Ivan irritably.
  
  "How could I help meddling? Though, indeed, I haven't meddled at all, if
  you want to know the truth of the matter. I kept quiet from the very
  beginning, not daring to answer; but he pitched on me to be his servant.
  He has had only one thing to say since: 'I'll kill you, you scoundrel, if
  you miss her,' I feel certain, sir, that I shall have a long fit to-
  morrow."
  
  "What do you mean by 'a long fit'?"
  
  "A long fit, lasting a long time--several hours, or perhaps a day or two.
  Once it went on for three days. I fell from the garret that time. The
  struggling ceased and then began again, and for three days I couldn't come
  back to my senses. Fyodor Pavlovitch sent for Herzenstube, the doctor
  here, and he put ice on my head and tried another remedy, too.... I might
  have died."
  
  "But they say one can't tell with epilepsy when a fit is coming. What
  makes you say you will have one to-morrow?" Ivan inquired, with a
  peculiar, irritable curiosity.
  
  "That's just so. You can't tell beforehand."
  
  "Besides, you fell from the garret then."
  
  "I climb up to the garret every day. I might fall from the garret again
  to-morrow. And, if not, I might fall down the cellar steps. I have to go
  into the cellar every day, too."
  
  Ivan took a long look at him.
  
  "You are talking nonsense, I see, and I don't quite understand you," he
  said softly, but with a sort of menace. "Do you mean to pretend to be ill
  to-morrow for three days, eh?"
  
  Smerdyakov, who was looking at the ground again, and playing with the toe
  of his right foot, set the foot down, moved the left one forward, and,
  grinning, articulated:
  
  "If I were able to play such a trick, that is, pretend to have a fit--and
  it would not be difficult for a man accustomed to them--I should have a
  perfect right to use such a means to save myself from death. For even if
  Agrafena Alexandrovna comes to see his father while I am ill, his honor
  can't blame a sick man for not telling him. He'd be ashamed to."
  
  "Hang it all!" Ivan cried, his face working with anger, "why are you
  always in such a funk for your life? All my brother Dmitri's threats are
  only hasty words and mean nothing. He won't kill you; it's not you he'll
  kill!"
  
  "He'd kill me first of all, like a fly. But even more than that, I am
  afraid I shall be taken for an accomplice of his when he does something
  crazy to his father."
  
  "Why should you be taken for an accomplice?"
  
  "They'll think I am an accomplice, because I let him know the signals as a
  great secret."
  
  "What signals? Whom did you tell? Confound you, speak more plainly."
  
  "I'm bound to admit the fact," Smerdyakov drawled with pedantic composure,
  "that I have a secret with Fyodor Pavlovitch in this business. As you know
  yourself (if only you do know it) he has for several days past locked
  himself in as soon as night or even evening comes on. Of late you've been
  going upstairs to your room early every evening, and yesterday you did not
  come down at all, and so perhaps you don't know how carefully he has begun
  to lock himself in at night, and even if Grigory Vassilyevitch comes to
  the door he won't open to him till he hears his voice. But Grigory
  Vassilyevitch does not come, because I wait upon him alone in his room
  now. That's the arrangement he made himself ever since this to-do with
  Agrafena Alexandrovna began. But at night, by his orders, I go away to the
  lodge so that I don't get to sleep till midnight, but am on the watch,
  getting up and walking about the yard, waiting for Agrafena Alexandrovna
  to come. For the last few days he's been perfectly frantic expecting her.
  What he argues is, she is afraid of him, Dmitri Fyodorovitch (Mitya, as he
  calls him), 'and so,' says he, 'she'll come the back-way, late at night,
  to me. You look out for her,' says he, 'till midnight and later; and if
  she does come, you run up and knock at my door or at the window from the
  garden. Knock at first twice, rather gently, and then three times more
  quickly, then,' says he, 'I shall understand at once that she has come,
  and will open the door to you quietly.' Another signal he gave me in case
  anything unexpected happens. At first, two knocks, and then, after an
  interval, another much louder. Then he will understand that something has
  happened suddenly and that I must see him, and he will open to me so that
  I can go and speak to him. That's all in case Agrafena Alexandrovna can't
  come herself, but sends a message. Besides, Dmitri Fyodorovitch might
  come, too, so I must let him know he is near. His honor is awfully afraid
  of Dmitri Fyodorovitch, so that even if Agrafena Alexandrovna had come and
  were locked in with him, and Dmitri Fyodorovitch were to turn up anywhere
  near at the time, I should be bound to let him know at once, knocking
  three times. So that the first signal of five knocks means Agrafena
  Alexandrovna has come, while the second signal of three knocks means
  'something important to tell you.' His honor has shown me them several
  times and explained them. And as in the whole universe no one knows of
  these signals but myself and his honor, so he'd open the door without the
  slightest hesitation and without calling out (he is awfully afraid of
  calling out aloud). Well, those signals are known to Dmitri Fyodorovitch
  too, now."
  
  "How are they known? Did you tell him? How dared you tell him?"
  
  "It was through fright I did it. How could I dare to keep it back from
  him? Dmitri Fyodorovitch kept persisting every day, 'You are deceiving me,
  you are hiding something from me! I'll break both your legs for you.' So I
  told him those secret signals that he might see my slavish devotion, and
  might be satisfied that I was not deceiving him, but was telling him all I
  could."
  
  "If you think that he'll make use of those signals and try to get in,
  don't let him in."
  
  "But if I should be laid up with a fit, how can I prevent him coming in
  then, even if I dared prevent him, knowing how desperate he is?"
  
  "Hang it! How can you be so sure you are going to have a fit, confound
  you? Are you laughing at me?"
  
  "How could I dare laugh at you? I am in no laughing humor with this fear
  on me. I feel I am going to have a fit. I have a presentiment. Fright
  alone will bring it on."
  
  "Confound it! If you are laid up, Grigory will be on the watch. Let
  Grigory know beforehand; he will be sure not to let him in."
  
  "I should never dare to tell Grigory Vassilyevitch about the signals
  without orders from my master. And as for Grigory Vassilyevitch hearing
  him and not admitting him, he has been ill ever since yesterday, and Marfa
  Ignatyevna intends to give him medicine to-morrow. They've just arranged
  it. It's a very strange remedy of hers. Marfa Ignatyevna knows of a
  preparation and always keeps it. It's a strong thing made from some herb.
  She has the secret of it, and she always gives it to Grigory Vassilyevitch
  three times a year when his lumbago's so bad he is almost paralyzed by it.
  Then she takes a towel, wets it with the stuff, and rubs his whole back
  for half an hour till it's quite red and swollen, and what's left in the
  bottle she gives him to drink with a special prayer; but not quite all,
  for on such occasions she leaves some for herself, and drinks it herself.
  And as they never take strong drink, I assure you they both drop asleep at
  once and sleep sound a very long time. And when Grigory Vassilyevitch
  wakes up he is perfectly well after it, but Marfa Ignatyevna always has a
  headache from it. So, if Marfa Ignatyevna carries out her intention to-
  morrow, they won't hear anything and hinder Dmitri Fyodorovitch. They'll
  be asleep."
  
  "What a rigmarole! And it all seems to happen at once, as though it were
  planned. You'll have a fit and they'll both be unconscious," cried Ivan.
  "But aren't you trying to arrange it so?" broke from him suddenly, and he
  frowned threateningly.
  
  "How could I?... And why should I, when it all depends on Dmitri
  Fyodorovitch and his plans?... If he means to do anything, he'll do it;
  but if not, I shan't be thrusting him upon his father."
  
  "And why should he go to father, especially on the sly, if, as you say
  yourself, Agrafena Alexandrovna won't come at all?" Ivan went on, turning
  white with anger. "You say that yourself, and all the while I've been
  here, I've felt sure it was all the old man's fancy, and the creature
  won't come to him. Why should Dmitri break in on him if she doesn't come?
  Speak, I want to know what you are thinking!"
  
  "You know yourself why he'll come. What's the use of what I think? His
  honor will come simply because he is in a rage or suspicious on account of
  my illness perhaps, and he'll dash in, as he did yesterday through
  impatience to search the rooms, to see whether she hasn't escaped him on
  the sly. He is perfectly well aware, too, that Fyodor Pavlovitch has a big
  envelope with three thousand roubles in it, tied up with ribbon and sealed
  with three seals. On it is written in his own hand, 'To my angel
  Grushenka, if she will come,' to which he added three days later, 'for my
  little chicken.' There's no knowing what that might do."
  
  "Nonsense!" cried Ivan, almost beside himself. "Dmitri won't come to steal
  money and kill my father to do it. He might have killed him yesterday on
  account of Grushenka, like the frantic, savage fool he is, but he won't
  steal."
  
  "He is in very great need of money now--the greatest need, Ivan
  Fyodorovitch. You don't know in what need he is," Smerdyakov explained,
  with perfect composure and remarkable distinctness. "He looks on that
  three thousand as his own, too. He said so to me himself. 'My father still
  owes me just three thousand,' he said. And besides that, consider, Ivan
  Fyodorovitch, there is something else perfectly true. It's as good as
  certain, so to say, that Agrafena Alexandrovna will force him, if only she
  cares to, to marry her--the master himself, I mean, Fyodor Pavlovitch--if
  only she cares to, and of course she may care to. All I've said is that
  she won't come, but maybe she's looking for more than that--I mean to be
  mistress here. I know myself that Samsonov, her merchant, was laughing
  with her about it, telling her quite openly that it would not be at all a
  stupid thing to do. And she's got plenty of sense. She wouldn't marry a
  beggar like Dmitri Fyodorovitch. So, taking that into consideration, Ivan
  Fyodorovitch, reflect that then neither Dmitri Fyodorovitch nor yourself
  and your brother, Alexey Fyodorovitch, would have anything after the
  master's death, not a rouble, for Agrafena Alexandrovna would marry him
  simply to get hold of the whole, all the money there is. But if your
  father were to die now, there'd be some forty thousand for sure, even for
  Dmitri Fyodorovitch whom he hates so, for he's made no will.... Dmitri
  Fyodorovitch knows all that very well."
  
  A sort of shudder passed over Ivan's face. He suddenly flushed.
  
  "Then why on earth," he suddenly interrupted Smerdyakov, "do you advise me
  to go to Tchermashnya? What did you mean by that? If I go away, you see
  what will happen here." Ivan drew his breath with difficulty.
  
  "Precisely so," said Smerdyakov, softly and reasonably, watching Ivan
  intently, however.
  
  "What do you mean by 'precisely so'?" Ivan questioned him, with a menacing
  light in his eyes, restraining himself with difficulty.
  
  "I spoke because I felt sorry for you. If I were in your place I should
  simply throw it all up ... rather than stay on in such a position,"
  answered Smerdyakov, with the most candid air looking at Ivan's flashing
  eyes. They were both silent.
  
  "You seem to be a perfect idiot, and what's more ... an awful scoundrel,
  too." Ivan rose suddenly from the bench. He was about to pass straight
  through the gate, but he stopped short and turned to Smerdyakov. Something
  strange followed. Ivan, in a sudden paroxysm, bit his lip, clenched his
  fists, and, in another minute, would have flung himself on Smerdyakov. The
  latter, anyway, noticed it at the same moment, started, and shrank back.
  But the moment passed without mischief to Smerdyakov, and Ivan turned in
  silence, as it seemed in perplexity, to the gate.
  
  "I am going away to Moscow to-morrow, if you care to know--early to-morrow
  morning. That's all!" he suddenly said aloud angrily, and wondered himself
  afterwards what need there was to say this then to Smerdyakov.
  
  "That's the best thing you can do," he responded, as though he had
  expected to hear it; "except that you can always be telegraphed for from
  Moscow, if anything should happen here."
  
  Ivan stopped again, and again turned quickly to Smerdyakov. But a change
  had passed over him, too. All his familiarity and carelessness had
  completely disappeared. His face expressed attention and expectation,
  intent but timid and cringing.
  
  "Haven't you something more to say--something to add?" could be read in the
  intent gaze he fixed on Ivan.
  
  "And couldn't I be sent for from Tchermashnya, too--in case anything
  happened?" Ivan shouted suddenly, for some unknown reason raising his
  voice.
  
  "From Tchermashnya, too ... you could be sent for," Smerdyakov muttered,
  almost in a whisper, looking disconcerted, but gazing intently into Ivan's
  eyes.
  
  "Only Moscow is farther and Tchermashnya is nearer. Is it to save my
  spending money on the fare, or to save my going so far out of my way, that
  you insist on Tchermashnya?"
  
  "Precisely so ..." muttered Smerdyakov, with a breaking voice. He looked
  at Ivan with a revolting smile, and again made ready to draw back. But to
  his astonishment Ivan broke into a laugh, and went through the gate still
  laughing. Any one who had seen his face at that moment would have known
  that he was not laughing from lightness of heart, and he could not have
  explained himself what he was feeling at that instant. He moved and walked
  as though in a nervous frenzy.
  
  
  
  
  Chapter VII. "It's Always Worth While Speaking To A Clever Man"
  
  
  And in the same nervous frenzy, too, he spoke. Meeting Fyodor Pavlovitch
  in the drawing-room directly he went in, he shouted to him, waving his
  hands, "I am going upstairs to my room, not in to you. Good-by!" and
  passed by, trying not even to look at his father. Very possibly the old
  man was too hateful to him at that moment; but such an unceremonious
  display of hostility was a surprise even to Fyodor Pavlovitch. And the old
  man evidently wanted to tell him something at once and had come to meet
  him in the drawing-room on purpose. Receiving this amiable greeting, he
  stood still in silence and with an ironical air watched his son going
  upstairs, till he passed out of sight.
  
  "What's the matter with him?" he promptly asked Smerdyakov, who had
  followed Ivan.
  
  "Angry about something. Who can tell?" the valet muttered evasively.
  
  "Confound him! Let him be angry then. Bring in the samovar, and get along
  with you. Look sharp! No news?"
  
  Then followed a series of questions such as Smerdyakov had just complained
  of to Ivan, all relating to his expected visitor, and these questions we
  will omit. Half an hour later the house was locked, and the crazy old man
  was wandering along through the rooms in excited expectation of hearing
  every minute the five knocks agreed upon. Now and then he peered out into
  the darkness, seeing nothing.
  
  It was very late, but Ivan was still awake and reflecting. He sat up late
  that night, till two o'clock. But we will not give an account of his
  thoughts, and this is not the place to look into that soul--its turn will
  come. And even if one tried, it would be very hard to give an account of
  them, for there were no thoughts in his brain, but something very vague,
  and, above all, intense excitement. He felt himself that he had lost his
  bearings. He was fretted, too, by all sorts of strange and almost
  surprising desires; for instance, after midnight he suddenly had an
  intense irresistible inclination to go down, open the door, go to the
  lodge and beat Smerdyakov. But if he had been asked why, he could not have
  given any exact reason, except perhaps that he loathed the valet as one
  who had insulted him more gravely than any one in the world. On the other
  hand, he was more than once that night overcome by a sort of inexplicable
  humiliating terror, which he felt positively paralyzed his physical
  powers. His head ached and he was giddy. A feeling of hatred was rankling
  in his heart, as though he meant to avenge himself on some one. He even
  hated Alyosha, recalling the conversation he had just had with him. At
  moments he hated himself intensely. Of Katerina Ivanovna he almost forgot
  to think, and wondered greatly at this afterwards, especially as he
  remembered perfectly that when he had protested so valiantly to Katerina
  Ivanovna that he would go away next day to Moscow, something had whispered
  in his heart, "That's nonsense, you are not going, and it won't be so easy
  to tear yourself away as you are boasting now."
  
  Remembering that night long afterwards, Ivan recalled with peculiar
  repulsion how he had suddenly got up from the sofa and had stealthily, as
  though he were afraid of being watched, opened the door, gone out on the
  staircase and listened to Fyodor Pavlovitch stirring down below, had
  listened a long while--some five minutes--with a sort of strange curiosity,
  holding his breath while his heart throbbed. And why he had done all this,
  why he was listening, he could not have said. That "action" all his life
  afterwards he called "infamous," and at the bottom of his heart, he
  thought of it as the basest action of his life. For Fyodor Pavlovitch
  himself he felt no hatred at that moment, but was simply intensely curious
  to know how he was walking down there below and what he must be doing now.
  He wondered and imagined how he must be peeping out of the dark windows
  and stopping in the middle of the room, listening, listening--for some one
  to knock. Ivan went out on to the stairs twice to listen like this.
  
  About two o'clock when everything was quiet, and even Fyodor Pavlovitch
  had gone to bed, Ivan had got into bed, firmly resolved to fall asleep at
  once, as he felt fearfully exhausted. And he did fall asleep at once, and
  slept soundly without dreams, but waked early, at seven o'clock, when it
  was broad daylight. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to feel himself
  extraordinarily vigorous. He jumped up at once and dressed quickly; then
  dragged out his trunk and began packing immediately. His linen had come
  back from the laundress the previous morning. Ivan positively smiled at
  the thought that everything was helping his sudden departure. And his
  departure certainly was sudden. Though Ivan had said the day before (to
  Katerina Ivanovna, Alyosha, and Smerdyakov) that he was leaving next day,
  yet he remembered that he had no thought of departure when he went to bed,
  or, at least, had not dreamed that his first act in the morning would be
  to pack his trunk. At last his trunk and bag were ready. It was about nine
  o'clock when Marfa Ignatyevna came in with her usual inquiry, "Where will
  your honor take your tea, in your own room or downstairs?" He looked
  almost cheerful, but there was about him, about his words and gestures,
  something hurried and scattered. Greeting his father affably, and even
  inquiring specially after his health, though he did not wait to hear his
  answer to the end, he announced that he was starting off in an hour to
  return to Moscow for good, and begged him to send for the horses. His
  father heard this announcement with no sign of surprise, and forgot in an
  unmannerly way to show regret at losing him. Instead of doing so, he flew
  into a great flutter at the recollection of some important business of his
  own.
  
  "What a fellow you are! Not to tell me yesterday! Never mind; we'll manage
  it all the same. Do me a great service, my dear boy. Go to Tchermashnya on
  the way. It's only to turn to the left from the station at Volovya, only
  another twelve versts and you come to Tchermashnya."
  
  "I'm sorry, I can't. It's eighty versts to the railway and the train
  starts for Moscow at seven o'clock to-night. I can only just catch it."
  
  "You'll catch it to-morrow or the day after, but to-day turn off to
  Tchermashnya. It won't put you out much to humor your father! If I hadn't
  had something to keep me here, I would have run over myself long ago, for
  I've some business there in a hurry. But here I ... it's not the time for
  me to go now.... You see, I've two pieces of copse land there. The
  Maslovs, an old merchant and his son, will give eight thousand for the
  timber. But last year I just missed a purchaser who would have given
  twelve. There's no getting any one about here to buy it. The Maslovs have
  it all their own way. One has to take what they'll give, for no one here
  dare bid against them. The priest at Ilyinskoe wrote to me last Thursday
  that a merchant called Gorstkin, a man I know, had turned up. What makes
  him valuable is that he is not from these parts, so he is not afraid of
  the Maslovs. He says he will give me eleven thousand for the copse. Do you
  hear? But he'll only be here, the priest writes, for a week altogether, so
  you must go at once and make a bargain with him."
  
  "Well, you write to the priest; he'll make the bargain."
  
  "He can't do it. He has no eye for business. He is a perfect treasure, I'd
  give him twenty thousand to take care of for me without a receipt; but he
  has no eye for business, he is a perfect child, a crow could deceive him.
  And yet he is a learned man, would you believe it? This Gorstkin looks
  like a peasant, he wears a blue kaftan, but he is a regular rogue. That's
  the common complaint. He is a liar. Sometimes he tells such lies that you
  wonder why he is doing it. He told me the year before last that his wife
  was dead and that he had married another, and would you believe it, there
  was not a word of truth in it? His wife has never died at all, she is
  alive to this day and gives him a beating twice a week. So what you have
  to find out is whether he is lying or speaking the truth, when he says he
  wants to buy it and would give eleven thousand."
  
  "I shall be no use in such a business. I have no eye either."
  
  "Stay, wait a bit! You will be of use, for I will tell you the signs by
  which you can judge about Gorstkin. I've done business with him a long
  time. You see, you must watch his beard; he has a nasty, thin, red beard.
  If his beard shakes when he talks and he gets cross, it's all right, he is
  saying what he means, he wants to do business. But if he strokes his beard
  with his left hand and grins--he is trying to cheat you. Don't watch his
  eyes, you won't find out anything from his eyes, he is a deep one, a
  rogue--but watch his beard! I'll give you a note and you show it to him.
  He's called Gorstkin, though his real name is Lyagavy(4); but don't call
  him so, he will be offended. If you come to an understanding with him, and
  see it's all right, write here at once. You need only write: 'He's not
  lying.' Stand out for eleven thousand; one thousand you can knock off, but
  not more. Just think! there's a difference between eight thousand and
  eleven thousand. It's as good as picking up three thousand; it's not so
  easy to find a purchaser, and I'm in desperate need of money. Only let me
  know it's serious, and I'll run over and fix it up. I'll snatch the time
  somehow. But what's the good of my galloping over, if it's all a notion of
  the priest's? Come, will you go?"
  
  "Oh, I can't spare the time. You must excuse me."
  
  "Come, you might oblige your father. I shan't forget it. You've no heart,
  any of you--that's what it is? What's a day or two to you? Where are you
  going now--to Venice? Your Venice will keep another two days. I would have
  sent Alyosha, but what use is Alyosha in a thing like that? I send you
  just because you are a clever fellow. Do you suppose I don't see that? You
  know nothing about timber, but you've got an eye. All that is wanted is to
  see whether the man is in earnest. I tell you, watch his beard--if his
  beard shakes you know he is in earnest."
  
  "You force me to go to that damned Tchermashnya yourself, then?" cried
  Ivan, with a malignant smile.
  
  Fyodor Pavlovitch did not catch, or would not catch, the malignancy, but
  he caught the smile.
  
  "Then you'll go, you'll go? I'll scribble the note for you at once."
  
  "I don't know whether I shall go. I don't know. I'll decide on the way."
  
  "Nonsense! Decide at once. My dear fellow, decide! If you settle the
  matter, write me a line; give it to the priest and he'll send it on to me
  at once. And I won't delay you more than that. You can go to Venice. The
  priest will give you horses back to Volovya station."
  
  The old man was quite delighted. He wrote the note, and sent for the
  horses. A light lunch was brought in, with brandy. When Fyodor Pavlovitch
  was pleased, he usually became expansive, but to-day he seemed to restrain
  himself. Of Dmitri, for instance, he did not say a word. He was quite
  unmoved by the parting, and seemed, in fact, at a loss for something to
  say. Ivan noticed this particularly. "He must be bored with me," he
  thought. Only when accompanying his son out on to the steps, the old man
  began to fuss about. He would have kissed him, but Ivan made haste to hold
  out his hand, obviously avoiding the kiss. His father saw it at once, and
  instantly pulled himself up.
  
  "Well, good luck to you, good luck to you!" he repeated from the steps.
  "You'll come again some time or other? Mind you do come. I shall always be
  glad to see you. Well, Christ be with you!"
  
  Ivan got into the carriage.
  
  "Good-by, Ivan! Don't be too hard on me!" the father called for the last
  time.
  
  The whole household came out to take leave--Smerdyakov, Marfa and Grigory.
  Ivan gave them ten roubles each. When he had seated himself in the
  carriage, Smerdyakov jumped up to arrange the rug.
  
  "You see ... I am going to Tchermashnya," broke suddenly from Ivan. Again,
  as the day before, the words seemed to drop of themselves, and he laughed,
  too, a peculiar, nervous laugh. He remembered it long after.
  
  "It's a true saying then, that 'it's always worth while speaking to a
  clever man,' " answered Smerdyakov firmly, looking significantly at Ivan.
  
  The carriage rolled away. Nothing was clear in Ivan's soul, but he looked
  eagerly around him at the fields, at the hills, at the trees, at a flock
  of geese flying high overhead in the bright sky. And all of a sudden he
  felt very happy. He tried to talk to the driver, and he felt intensely
  interested in an answer the peasant made him; but a minute later he
  realized that he was not catching anything, and that he had not really
  even taken in the peasant's answer. He was silent, and it was pleasant
  even so. The air was fresh, pure and cool, the sky bright. The images of
  Alyosha and Katerina Ivanovna floated into his mind. But he softly smiled,
  blew softly on the friendly phantoms, and they flew away. "There's plenty
  of time for them," he thought. They reached the station quickly, changed
  horses, and galloped to Volovya. "Why is it worth while speaking to a
  clever man? What did he mean by that?" The thought seemed suddenly to
  clutch at his breathing. "And why did I tell him I was going to
  Tchermashnya?" They reached Volovya station. Ivan got out of the carriage,
  and the drivers stood round him bargaining over the journey of twelve
  versts to Tchermashnya. He told them to harness the horses. He went into
  the station house, looked round, glanced at the overseer's wife, and
  suddenly went back to the entrance.
  
  "I won't go to Tchermashnya. Am I too late to reach the railway by seven,
  brothers?"
  
  "We shall just do it. Shall we get the carriage out?"
  
  "At once. Will any one of you be going to the town to-morrow?"
  
  "To be sure. Mitri here will."
  
  "Can you do me a service, Mitri? Go to my father's, to Fyodor Pavlovitch
  Karamazov, and tell him I haven't gone to Tchermashnya. Can you?"
  
  "Of course I can. I've known Fyodor Pavlovitch a long time."
  
  "And here's something for you, for I dare say he won't give you anything,"
  said Ivan, laughing gayly.
  
  "You may depend on it he won't." Mitya laughed too. "Thank you, sir. I'll
  be sure to do it."
  
  At seven o'clock Ivan got into the train and set off to Moscow "Away with
  the past. I've done with the old world for ever, and may I have no news,
  no echo, from it. To a new life, new places and no looking back!" But
  instead of delight his soul was filled with such gloom, and his heart
  ached with such anguish, as he had never known in his life before. He was
  thinking all the night. The train flew on, and only at daybreak, when he
  was approaching Moscow, he suddenly roused himself from his meditation.
  
  "I am a scoundrel," he whispered to himself.
  
  Fyodor Pavlovitch remained well satisfied at having seen his son off. For
  two hours afterwards he felt almost happy, and sat drinking brandy. But
  suddenly something happened which was very annoying and unpleasant for
  every one in the house, and completely upset Fyodor Pavlovitch's
  equanimity at once. Smerdyakov went to the cellar for something and fell
  down from the top of the steps. Fortunately, Marfa Ignatyevna was in the
  yard and heard him in time. She did not see the fall, but heard his
  scream--the strange, peculiar scream, long familiar to her--the scream of
  the epileptic falling in a fit. They could not tell whether the fit had
  come on him at the moment he was descending the steps, so that he must
  have fallen unconscious, or whether it was the fall and the shock that had
  caused the fit in Smerdyakov, who was known to be liable to them. They
  found him at the bottom of the cellar steps, writhing in convulsions and
  foaming at the mouth. It was thought at first that he must have broken
  something--an arm or a leg--and hurt himself, but "God had preserved him,"
  as Marfa Ignatyevna expressed it--nothing of the kind had happened. But it
  was difficult to get him out of the cellar. They asked the neighbors to
  help and managed it somehow. Fyodor Pavlovitch himself was present at the
  whole ceremony. He helped, evidently alarmed and upset. The sick man did
  not regain consciousness; the convulsions ceased for a time, but then
  began again, and every one concluded that the same thing would happen, as
  had happened a year before, when he accidentally fell from the garret.
  They remembered that ice had been put on his head then. There was still
  ice in the cellar, and Marfa Ignatyevna had some brought up. In the
  evening, Fyodor Pavlovitch sent for Doctor Herzenstube, who arrived at
  once. He was a most estimable old man, and the most careful and
  conscientious doctor in the province. After careful examination, he
  concluded that the fit was a very violent one and might have serious
  consequences; that meanwhile he, Herzenstube, did not fully understand it,
  but that by to-morrow morning, if the present remedies were unavailing, he
  would venture to try something else. The invalid was taken to the lodge,
  to a room next to Grigory's and Marfa Ignatyevna's.
  
  Then Fyodor Pavlovitch had one misfortune after another to put up with
  that day. Marfa Ignatyevna cooked the dinner, and the soup, compared with
  Smerdyakov's, was "no better than dish-water," and the fowl was so dried
  up that it was impossible to masticate it. To her master's bitter, though
  deserved, reproaches, Marfa Ignatyevna replied that the fowl was a very
  old one to begin with, and that she had never been trained as a cook. In
  the evening there was another trouble in store for Fyodor Pavlovitch; he
  was informed that Grigory, who had not been well for the last three days,
  was completely laid up by his lumbago. Fyodor Pavlovitch finished his tea
  as early as possible and locked himself up alone in the house. He was in
  terrible excitement and suspense. That evening he reckoned on Grushenka's
  coming almost as a certainty. He had received from Smerdyakov that morning
  an assurance "that she had promised to come without fail." The
  incorrigible old man's heart throbbed with excitement; he paced up and
  down his empty rooms listening. He had to be on the alert. Dmitri might be
  on the watch for her somewhere, and when she knocked on the window
  (Smerdyakov had informed him two days before that he had told her where
  and how to knock) the door must be opened at once. She must not be a
  second in the passage, for fear--which God forbid!--that she should be
  frightened and run away. Fyodor Pavlovitch had much to think of, but never
  had his heart been steeped in such voluptuous hopes. This time he could
  say almost certainly that she would come!
  
  
  
  
  
  
feat_summary_name: Book V: Chapters 6-7
target: Ivan leaves Alyosha and feels greatly depressed. He cannot understand his depression until he realizes that perhaps it is because of his deep dread of meeting Smerdyakov. He does, however, go home, but seeing the cook sitting in the yard, hopes to pass him without speaking. Strangely, however, he cannot and finds himself greeting his half-brother with great cordiality. Smerdyakov confesses to Ivan that he too is troubled because of the rivalry between Fyodor and Dmitri for Grushenka. He also fears that the strain of worry might bring on an epileptic seizure. Furthermore, he says, he knows that Dmitri has learned the secret signals that Grushenka is to use if ever she decides to come to Fyodor. If such a meeting occurs, the results could well be tragic: both Grigory and Marfa are ill, and Smerdyakov fears that he is ripe for a seizure and Fyodor will be left alone to face Dmitri's wrath. Ivan wonders why Smerdyakov told Dmitri the secret signals and suggests that perhaps Smerdyakov has arranged matters so that Dmitri will have access to old Fyodor as soon as Ivan leaves for Moscow. Ivan, however, cannot be a watchdog for Karamazov, so he resolves to leave the next day for Moscow as planned. Smerdyakov insists that he not go to Moscow, that he go to a nearer town, but Ivan is firm and goes to bed without further discussion. The talk has left him exhausted, however, and he finds that he cannot sleep. Next day, Fyodor pleads with Ivan not to go to Moscow, but to a town close by to sell a copse of wood for the old man. Ivan finally agrees and, as he is leaving, admits to Smerdyakov that he is not going to Moscow. The servant whispers mysteriously that "it's always worth while speaking to a clever man." Ivan is puzzled. A few hours later, Smerdyakov falls down the cellar steps and an attack of epilepsy seizes him. He is put to bed and, as predicted, Fyodor is alone. He locks all the doors and windows and then begins his wait for Grushenka. He is certain that she will come to him tonight.
feat_summary_analysis: Leaving Alyosha, Ivan feels morose and dejected, emotions probably related to the guilt that he feels by associating with Smerdyakov. For even though Ivan does not realize it, he is subconsciously beginning to feel a certain duplicity in his relationships with the servant; the last two chapters, in particular, show how certain actions on Ivan's part implicate him in the murder of old Fyodor. This fact is also important: Ivan feels a distinct loathing for Smerdyakov. He has entered into many philosophical discussions with him, and we learn that they have discussed such questions as how there "could have been light on the first day when the sun, moon, and stars were only created on the fourth day." Smerdyakov, in turn, has discussed things that would impress Fyodor, hoping to make an impression on him and contradict old Grigory. However, he has, we discover, taken most of his ideas from Ivan. Even the idea of the murder came from Ivan. When Ivan meets the cook, he has planned to say to him, "Get away, miserable idiot. What have I to do with you," but instead he says, "Is my father still asleep?" This reversal suggests that Ivan is repulsed by this creature but is drawn to him at the same time. By the same analogy, Ivan is repulsed by the idea that his father will be murdered but seems also to acquiesce in readying the scene for the hypothetical murder. In these last chapters, one can easily see how completely Smerdyakov has planned the homicide. We hear, first of all, that Dmitri has heard of the secret signals by which Grushenka is to come to the old man. There could, of course, be no reason for Smerdyakov to tell Dmitri about these signals except to lay suspicion on Dmitri when it is known that he was aware of such signals; furthermore, Ivan's ready acceptance of Smerdyakov's explanation indicates that Ivan is also eager to accept such an alibi. Second, Smerdyakov announces that he feels that he will have an epileptic seizure on the following day -- the day that Ivan will be absent from the house. Third, Smerdyakov announces that old Grigory will be doped with some strong medicine that Marfa gives him and always saves a bit of for herself; soon both will be in a heavy sleep. Consequently, Smerdyakov has conceived a perfect setting for murder; he has even created perfect alibis. As he announces later to Ivan, everything had to go just as he planned it; otherwise, the murder never could have been accomplished. Ivan even recognized this when he said earlier, "But aren't you trying to arrange it so?" and tried to remove himself from direct responsibility. But ultimately Ivan must take his share in the moral guilt for his father's death. At the end of Book V, most of the machinery is arranged for the murder. Smerdyakov pretends to have his seizure, old Grigory is laid up with illness, Marfa prepares the medicine for them both, and Fyodor anxiously awaits Grushenka.