Page 349 - the-brothers-karamazov

pretended the other day. I have an old friend, a lawyer in K.
province, and I heard through a trustworthy man that if I
were to go he’d give me a place as clerk in his office, so, who
knows, maybe he would. So I’d just put mamma and Nina
in the cart, and Ilusha could drive, and I’d walk, I’d walk....
Why, if I only succeed in getting one debt paid that’s owing
me, I should have perhaps enough for that too!’
‘There would be enough!’ cried Alyosha. ‘Katerina Iva-
novna will send you as much more as you need, and you
know, I have money too, take what you want, as you would
from a brother, from a friend, you can give it back later....
(You’ll get rich. you’ll get rich!) And you know you couldn’t
have a better idea than to move to another province! It
would be the saving of you, especially of your boy and you
ought to go quickly, before the winter, before the cold. You
must write to us when you are there, and we will always be
brothers... No, it’s not a dream!’
Alyosha could have hugged him, he was so pleased. But
glancing at him he stopped short. The man was standing
with his neck outstretched and his lips protruding, with a
pale and frenzied face. His lips were moving as though try-
ing to articulate something; no sound came, but still his lips
moved. It was uncanny.
‘What is it?’ asked Alyosha, startled.
‘Alexey Fyodorovitch... I... you,’ muttered the captain, fal-
tering, looking at him with a strange, wild, fixed stare, and
an air of desperate resolution. At the same time there was a
sort of grin on his lips. ‘I... you, sir... wouldn’t you like me to
show you a little trick I know?’ he murmured, suddenly, in

The Brothers Karamazov