Page 1223 - the-brothers-karamazov
P. 1223

the sake of their own safety, enlightenment and civilisation.
           Already we have heard voices of alarm from Europe, they
            already begin to sound. Do not tempt them! Do not heap
           up their growing hatred by a sentence justifying the murder
            of a father by his son I
              Though  Ippolit  Kirillovitch  was  genuinely  moved,  he
           wound up his speech with this rhetorical appeal — and the
            effect produced by him was extraordinary. When he had
           finished his speech, he went out hurriedly and, as I have
           mentioned  before,  almost  fainted  in  the  adjoining  room.
           There was no applause in the court, but serious persons were
           pleased. The ladies were not so well satisfied, though even
           they were pleased with his eloquence, especially as they had
           no apprehensions as to the upshot of the trial and had full
           trust in Fetyukovitch. ‘He will speak at last and of course
            carry all before him.’
              Everyone  looked  at  Mitya;  he  sat  silent  through  the
           whole of the prosecutor’s speech, clenching his teeth, with
           his  hands  clasped,  and  his  head  bowed.  Only  from  time
           to  time  he  raised  his  head  and  listened,  especially  when
           Grushenka was spoken of. When the prosecutor mentioned
           Rakitin’s  opinion  of  her,  a  smile  of  contempt  and  anger
           passed over his face and he murmured rather audibly, ‘The
           Bernards!’ When Ippolit Kirillovitch described how he had
            questioned and tortured him at Mokroe, Mitya raised his
           head and listened with intense curiosity. At one point he
            seemed about to jump up and cry out, but controlled him-
            self and only shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. People
           talked afterwards of the end of the speech, of the prosecu-

           1                               The Brothers Karamazov
   1218   1219   1220   1221   1222   1223   1224   1225   1226   1227   1228