Page 93 - the-brothers-karamazov

Chapter 5

So Be It! So Be It!

HE elder’s absence from his cell had lasted for about
Ttwenty-five minutes. It was more than half-past twelve,
but Dmitri, on whose account they had all met there, had
still not appeared. But he seemed almost to be forgotten, and
when the elder entered the cell again, he found his guests
engaged in eager conversation. Ivan and the two monks
took the leading share in it. Miusov, too, was trying to take
a part, and apparently very eagerly, in the conversation. But
he was unsuccessful in this also. He was evidently in the
background, and his remarks were treated with neglect,
which increased his irritability. He had had intellectual en-
counters with Ivan before and he could not endure a certain
carelessness Ivan showed him.
‘Hitherto at least I have stood in the front ranks of all that
is progressive in Europe, and here the new generation posi-
tively ignores us,’ he thought.
Fyodor Pavlovitch, who had given his word to sit still
and be quiet, had actually been quiet for some time, but he
watched his neighbour Miusov with an ironical little smile,
obviously enjoying his discomfiture. He had been waiting

The Brothers Karamazov