1 The Brothers Karamazov

Chapter 1

In the Servants’ Quarters

T

HE Karamazovs’ house was far from being in the centre

of the town, but it was not quite outside it. It was a pleas-

ant-looking old house of two stories, painted grey, with a red

iron roof. It was roomy and snug, and might still last many

years. There were all sorts of unexpected little cupboards

and closets and staircases. There were rats in it, but Fyodor

Pavlovitch did not altogether dislike them. ‘One doesn’t feel

so solitary when one’s left alone in the evening,’ he used to

say. It was his habit to send the servants away to the lodge

for the night and to lock himself up alone. The lodge was

a roomy and solid building in the yard. Fyodor Pavlovitch

used to have the cooking done there, although there was a

kitchen in the house; he did not like the smell of cooking,

and, winter and summer alike, the dishes were carried in

across the courtyard. The house was built for a large family;

there was room for five times as many, with their servants.

But at the time of our story there was no one living in the

house but Fyodor Pavlovitch and his son Ivan. And in the

lodge there were only three servants: old Grigory, and his

old wife Marfa, and a young man called Smerdyakov. Of