Page 441 - the-brothers-karamazov

ting enjoying the coolness of the evening, and at the first
glance at him Ivan knew that the valet Smerdyakov was on
his mind, and that it was this man that his soul loathed. It
all dawned upon him suddenly and became clear. just be-
fore, when Alyosha had been telling him of his meeting
with Smerdyakov, he had felt a sudden twinge of gloom and
loathing, which had immediately stirred responsive anger
in his heart. Afterwards, as he talked, Smerdyakov had been
forgotten for the time; but still he had been in his mind, and
as soon as Ivan parted with Alyosha and was walking home,
the forgotten sensation began to obtrude itself again. ‘Is it
possible that a miserable, contemptible creature like that
can worry me so much?’ he wondered, with insufferable ir-
ritation.
It was true that Ivan had come of late to feel an intense
dislike for the man, especially during the last few days. He
had even begun to notice in himself a growing feeling that
was almost of hatred for the creature. Perhaps this hatred
was accentuated by the fact that when Ivan first came to
the neighbourhood he had felt quite differently. Then he
had taken a marked interest in Smerdyakov, and had even
thought him very original. He had encouraged him to talk
to him, although he had always wondered at a certain inco-
herence, or rather restlessness, in his mind, and could not
understand what it was that so continually and insistently
worked upon the brain of ‘the contemplative.’ They dis-
cussed philosophical questions and even how there could
have been light on the first day when the sun, moon, and
stars were only created on the fourth day, and how that was

0 The Brothers Karamazov