The Brothers Karamazovfalling in a fit. They could not tell whether the fit had come
on him at the moment he was decending the steps, so that he
must have fallen unconscious, or whether it was the fall and
the shock that had caused the fit in Smerdyakov, who was
known to be liable to them. They found him at the bottom
of the cellar steps, writhing in convulsions and foaming at
the mouth. It was thought at first that he must have broken
something- an arm or a leg — and hurt himself, but ‘God
had preserved him,’ as Marfa Ignatyevna expressed it —
nothing of the kind had happened. But it was difficult to get
him out of the cellar. They asked the neighbours to help and
managed it somehow. Fyodor Pavlovitch himself was pres-
ent at the whole ceremony. He helped, evidently alarmed
and upset. The sick man did not regain consciousness; the
convulsions ceased for a time, but then began again, and ev-
eryone concluded that the same thing would happen, as had
happened a year before, when he accidently fell from the
garret. They remembered that ice been put on his head then.
There was still ice in the cellar, and Marfa Ignatyevna had
some brought up. In the evening, Fyodor Pavlovitch sent for
Doctor Herzenstube, who arrived at once. He was a most
estimable old man, and the most careful and conscientious
doctor in the province. After careful examination, he con-
cluded that the fit was a very violent one and might have
serious consequences; that meanwhile he, Herzenstube, did
not fully understand it, but that by to-morrow morning, if
the present remedies were unavailing, he would venture to
try something else. The invalid was taken to the lodge, to a
room next to Grigory’s and Marfa Ignatyevna’s.