Page 379 - the-brothers-karamazov

Chapter 3

The Brothers Make Friends

VAN was not, however, in a separate room, but only in a
Iplace shut off by a screen, so that it was unseen by other
people in the room. It was the first room from the entrance
with a buffet along the wall. Waiters were continually dart-
ing to and fro in it. The only customer in the room was an
old retired military man drinking tea in a corner. But there
was the usual bustle going on in the other rooms of the tav-
ern; there were shouts for the waiters, the sound of popping
corks, the click of billiard balls, the drone of the organ. Aly-
osha knew that Ivan did not usually visit this tavern and
disliked taverns in general. So he must have come here, he
reflected, simply to meet Dmitri by arrangement. Yet Dmi-
tri was not there.
‘Shall I order you fish, soup, or anything. You don’t live
on tea alone, I suppose,’ cried Ivan, apparently delighted at
having got hold of Alyosha. He had finished dinner and was
drinking tea.
‘Let me have soup, and tea afterwards, I am hungry,’ said
Alyosha gaily.
‘And cherry jam? They have it here. You remember how

The Brothers Karamazov