0 The Brothers Karamazov
to the steps, and hearing a noise in the garden, he made up
his mind to go into it through the little gate which stood
open, before he noticed you running, as you have told us
already, in the dark from the open window where you saw
your father, he, Grigory, glanced to the left, and, while no-
ticing the open window, observed at the same time, much
nearer to him, the door, standing wide open- that door
which you have stated to have been shut the whole time you
were in the garden. I will not conceal from you that Grig-
ory himself confidently affirms and bears witness that you
must have run from that door, though, of course, he did not
see you do so with his own eyes, since he only noticed you
first some distance away in the garden, running towards the
fence.’
Mitya had leapt up from his chair half-way through this
speech.
‘Nonsense!’ he yelled, in a sudden frenzy, ‘it’s a barefaced
lie. He couldn’t have seen the door open because it was shut.
He’s lying!’
‘I consider it my duty to repeat that he is firm in his
statement. He does not waver. He adheres to it. We’ve cross-
examined him several times.’
‘Precisely. I have cross-examined him several times,’
Nikolay Parfenovitch confirmed warmly.
‘It’s false, false! It’s either an attempt to slander me, or
the hallucination of a madman,’ Mitya still shouted. ‘He’s
simply raving, from loss of blood, from the wound. He must
have fancied it when he came to.... He’s raving.’
‘Yes, but he noticed the open door, not when he came to