Page 1287 - the-brothers-karamazov

Chapter 2

For a Moment the Lie

Becomes Truth

E hurried to the hospital where Mitya was lying now.
HThe day after his fate was determined, Mitya had fallen
ill with nervous fever, and was sent to the prison division
of the town hospital. But at the request of several persons
(Alyosha, Madame Hohlakov, Lise, etc.), Doctor Varvinsky
had put Mitya not with other prisoners, but in a separate
little room, the one where Smerdyakov had been. It is true
that there was a sentinel at the other end of the corridor,
and there was a grating over the window, so that Varvinsky
could be at ease about the indulgence he had shown, which
was not quite legal, indeed; but he was a kind-hearted and
compassionate young man. He knew how hard it would be
for a man like Mitya to pass at once so suddenly into the so-
ciety of robbers and murderers, and that he must get used
to it by degrees. The visits of relations and friends were in-
formally sanctioned by the doctor and overseer, and even
by the police captain. But only Alyosha and Grushenka had
visited Mitya. Rakitin had tried to force his way in twice,

1 The Brothers Karamazov