1 The Brothers Karamazovthe sake of their own safety, enlightenment and civilisation.
Already we have heard voices of alarm from Europe, they
already begin to sound. Do not tempt them! Do not heap
up their growing hatred by a sentence justifying the murder
of a father by his son I
Though Ippolit Kirillovitch was genuinely moved, he
wound up his speech with this rhetorical appeal — and the
effect produced by him was extraordinary. When he had
finished his speech, he went out hurriedly and, as I have
mentioned before, almost fainted in the adjoining room.
There was no applause in the court, but serious persons were
pleased. The ladies were not so well satisfied, though even
they were pleased with his eloquence, especially as they had
no apprehensions as to the upshot of the trial and had full
trust in Fetyukovitch. ‘He will speak at last and of course
carry all before him.’
Everyone looked at Mitya; he sat silent through the
whole of the prosecutor’s speech, clenching his teeth, with
his hands clasped, and his head bowed. Only from time
to time he raised his head and listened, especially when
Grushenka was spoken of. When the prosecutor mentioned
Rakitin’s opinion of her, a smile of contempt and anger
passed over his face and he murmured rather audibly, ‘The
Bernards!’ When Ippolit Kirillovitch described how he had
questioned and tortured him at Mokroe, Mitya raised his
head and listened with intense curiosity. At one point he
seemed about to jump up and cry out, but controlled him-
self and only shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. People
talked afterwards of the end of the speech, of the prosecu-