The Brothers Karamazov
Chapter 7
“It’s Always Worth While
Speaking to a Clever Man”
A
ND in the same nervous frenzy, too, he spoke. Meet-
ing Fyodor Pavlovitch in the drawing-room directly he
went in, he shouted to him, waving his hands, ‘I am going
upstairs to my room, not in to you. Good-bye!’ and passed
by, trying not even to look at his father. Very possibly the
old man was too hateful to him at that moment; but such
an unceremonious display of hostility was a surprise even
to Fyodor Pavlovitch. And the old man evidently wanted
to tell him something at once and had come to meet him
in the drawing-room on purpose. Receiving this amiable
greeting, he stood still in silence and with an ironical air
watched his son going upstairs, till he passed out of sight.
‘What’s the matter with him?’ he promptly asked
Smerdyakov, who had followed Ivan.
‘Angry about something. Who can tell?’ the valet mut-
tered evasively.
‘Confound him! Let him be angry then. Bring in the
samovar, and get along with you. Look sharp! No news?’