Brothers -- Fiction; Didactic fiction; Fathers and sons -- Fiction; Russia -- Social life and customs -- 1533-1917 -- Fiction
Ivan turned suddenly and went his way without looking back. It was just
as Dmitri had left Alyosha the day before, though the parting had been
very different. The strange resemblance flashed like an arrow through
Alyosha’s mind in the distress and dejection of that moment. He waited
a little, looking after his brother. He suddenly noticed that Ivan
swayed as he walked and that his right shoulder looked lower than his
left. He had never noticed it before. But all at once he turned too,
and almost ran to the monastery. It was nearly dark, and he felt almost
frightened; something new was growing up in him for which he could not
account. The wind had risen again as on the previous evening, and the
ancient pines murmured gloomily about him when he entered the hermitage
copse. He almost ran. “Pater Seraphicus—he got that name from
somewhere—where from?” Alyosha wondered. “Ivan, poor Ivan, and when
shall I see you again?... Here is the hermitage. Yes, yes, that he is,
Pater Seraphicus, he will save me—from him and for ever!”
Several times afterwards he wondered how he could on leaving Ivan so
completely forget his brother Dmitri, though he had that morning, only
a few hours before, so firmly resolved to find him and not to give up
doing so, even should he be unable to return to the monastery that
night.
Chapter VI.
For Awhile A Very Obscure One
And Ivan, on parting from Alyosha, went home to Fyodor Pavlovitch’s
house. But, strange to say, he was overcome by insufferable depression,
which grew greater at every step he took towards the house. There was
nothing strange in his being depressed; what was strange was that Ivan
could not have said what was the cause of it. He had often been
depressed before, and there was nothing surprising at his feeling so at
such a moment, when he had broken off with everything that had brought
him here, and was preparing that day to make a new start and enter upon
a new, unknown future. He would again be as solitary as ever, and
though he had great hopes, and great—too great—expectations from life,
he could not have given any definite account of his hopes, his
expectations, or even his desires.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account