The Brothers Karamazov

 0 The Brothers Karamazov

As soon as signs of decomposition had begun to appear,
the whole aspect of the monks betrayed their secret mo-
tives in entering the cell. They went in, stayed a little while
and hastened out to confirm the news to the crowd of other
monks waiting outside. Some of the latter shook their heads
mournfully, but others did not even care to conceal the de-
light which gleamed unmistakably in their malignant eyes.
And now no one reproached them for it, no one raised his
voice in protest, which was strange, for the majority of the
monks had been devoted to the dead elder. But it seemed as
though God had in this case let the minority get the upper
hand for a time.
Visitors from outside, particularly of the educated class,
soon went into the cell, too, with the same spying intent.
Of the peasantry few went into the cell, though there were
crowds of them at the gates of the hermitage. After three
o’clock the rush of worldly visitors was greatly increased and
this was no doubt owing to the shocking news. People were
attracted who would not otherwise have come on that day
and had not intended to come, and among them were some
personages of high standing. But external decorum was still
preserved and Father Paissy, with a stern face, continued
firmly and distinctly reading aloud the Gospel, apparently
not noticing what was taking place around him, though he
had, in fact, observed something unusual long before. But
at last the murmurs, first subdued but gradually louder and
more confident, reached even him. ‘It shows God’s judg-
ment is not as man’s,’ Father Paissy heard suddenly. The first
to give utterance to this sentiment was a layman, an elderly