The Brothers KaramazovThe carriage rolled away. Nothing was clear in Ivan’s
soul, but he looked eagerly around him at the fields, at the
hills, at the trees, at a flock of geese flying high overhead in
the bright sky. And all of a sudden he felt very happy. He
tried to talk to the driver, and he felt intensely interested
in an answer the peasant made him; but a minute later he
realised that he was not catching anything, and that he had
not really even taken in the peasant’s answer. He was silent,
and it was pleasant even so. The air was pure and cool, sky
bright. The images of Alyosha and Katerina Ivanovna float-
ed into his mind. But he softly smiled, blew softly on the
friendly phantoms, and they flew away. ‘There’s plenty of
time for them,’ he thought. They reached the station quickly,
changed horses, and galloped to Volovya ‘Why is it worth
while speaking to a clever man? What did he mean by that?’
The thought seemed suddenly to clutch at his breathing.
‘And why did I tell him I was going to Tchermashnya?’ They
reached Volovya station. Ivan got out of the carriage, and
the drivers stood round him bargaining over the journey
of twelve versts to Tchermashnya. He told them to harness
the horses. He went into the station house, looked round,
glanced at the overseer’s wife, and suddenly went back to
the entrance.
‘I won’t go to Tchermashnya. Am I too late to reach the
railway by seven, brothers?’
‘We shall just do it. Shall we get the carriage out?’
‘At once. Will any one of you be going to the town to-
morrow?’
‘To be sure. Mitri here will.’