0 The Brothers Karamazov‘Yes. They both deceived me a little bit at the time, and
concealed it. I thought she was hopping; she kept hopping....
I thought it was for fun.’
‘So pleased she was going to marry you!’ yelled Kalganov,
in a ringing, childish voice.
‘Yes, so pleased. But it turned out to be quite a different
cause. Afterwards, when we were married, after the wed-
ding, that very evening, she confessed, and very touchingly
asked forgiveness. ‘I once jumped over a puddle when I was
a child,’ she said, ‘and injured my leg.’ He he!’
Kalgonov went off into the most childish laughter, al-
most falling on the sofa. Grushenka, too, laughed. Mitya
was at the pinnacle of happiness.
‘Do you know, that’s the truth, he’s not lying now,’ ex-
claimed Kalganov, turning to Mitya; ‘and do you know, he’s
been married twice; it’s his first wife he’s talking about. But
his second wife, do you know, ran away, and is alive now.’
‘Is it possible?’ said Mitya, turning quickly to Maximov
with an expression of the utmost astonishment.
‘Yes. She did run away. I’ve had that unpleasant experi-
ence,’ Maximov modestly assented, ‘with a monsieur. And
what was worse, she’d had all my little property transferred
to her beforehand. ‘You’re an educated man,’ she said to me.
‘You can always get your living.’ She settled my business
with that. A venerable bishop once said to me: ‘One of your
wives was lame, but the other was too light-footed.’ He he!
‘Listen, listen!’ cried Kalganov, bubbling over, ‘if he’s tell-
ing lies — and he often is — he’s only doing it to amuse us
all. There’s no harm in that, is there? You know, I some-