The Brothers Karamazovit likely — a pig like that? He considers I am... a blackguard.
They can’t understand a joke either, that’s the worst of such
people. They never understand a joke, and their souls are
dry, dry and flat; they remind me of prison walls when I was
first brought here. But he is a clever fellow, very clever. Well,
Alexey, it’s all over with me now.’
He sat down on the bench and made Alyosha sit down
beside him.
‘Yes, the trial’s to-morrow. Are you so hopeless, brother?’
Alyosha said, with an apprehensive feeling.
‘What are you talking about?’ said Mitya, looking at him
rather uncertainly. ‘Oh, you mean the trial! Damn it all! Till
now we’ve been talking of things that don’t matter, about
this trial, but I haven’t said a word to you about the chief
thing. Yes, the trial is to-morrow; but it wasn’t the trial I
meant, when I said it was all over with me. Why do you look
at me so critically?’
‘What do you mean, Mitya?’
‘Ideas, ideas, that’s all! Ethics! What is ethics?’
‘Ethics?’ asked Alyosha, wondering.
‘Yes; is it a science?’
‘Yes, there is such a science... but... I confess I can’t ex-
plain to you what sort of science it is.’
‘Rakitin knows. Rakitin knows a lot, damn him! He’s not
going to be a monk. He means to go to Petersburg. There
he’ll go in for criticism of an elevating tendency. Who knows,
he may be of use and make his own career, too. Ough! they
are first-rate, these people, at making a career! Damn eth-
ics, I am done for, Alexey, I am, you man of God! I love you