Page 149 - the-brothers-karamazov

Chapter 1

In the Servants’ Quarters

HE Karamazovs’ house was far from being in the centre
Tof the town, but it was not quite outside it. It was a pleas-
ant-looking old house of two stories, painted grey, with a red
iron roof. It was roomy and snug, and might still last many
years. There were all sorts of unexpected little cupboards
and closets and staircases. There were rats in it, but Fyodor
Pavlovitch did not altogether dislike them. ‘One doesn’t feel
so solitary when one’s left alone in the evening,’ he used to
say. It was his habit to send the servants away to the lodge
for the night and to lock himself up alone. The lodge was
a roomy and solid building in the yard. Fyodor Pavlovitch
used to have the cooking done there, although there was a
kitchen in the house; he did not like the smell of cooking,
and, winter and summer alike, the dishes were carried in
across the courtyard. The house was built for a large family;
there was room for five times as many, with their servants.
But at the time of our story there was no one living in the
house but Fyodor Pavlovitch and his son Ivan. And in the
lodge there were only three servants: old Grigory, and his
old wife Marfa, and a young man called Smerdyakov. Of

1 The Brothers Karamazov