600
PARTISAN REVIEW
sentl y toy in g with a knife-the one with whi ch Rogozhin will later
mu rder Nas tasya.
T hroughout the day Myshkin is to rmented by the feeling of a
tho ught pressin g fo r con sciousness. His a ttenti on is frequentl y fixed in
a peculi a r way on bi zarre and appa rently unrela ted impress iolJ s, such
as the vi sion of a pa ir o f "strange, g low in g eyes" - evidentl y
Rogozhin 's -foll ow ing him intermittentl y. At Rogozhin 's house he
no ti ces a sho p on the g round fl oo r owned by th e Skoptsy, a sect who
p ract ice self- cas tra ti on . In Rogozhin 's rooms hi s a ttenti on is captu red
by a picture-Ho lbein 's pa intin g of the brui sed bod y of the dead
Chri st. Thi s picture prompts Myshkin to tell a story tha t fo r him
defines th e essence of Russ ian reli g ious feelin g. The sto ry is a bo ut two
peasants who are prepa rin g to go to bed in an inn , when one is
suddenl y seized with a des ire fo r the o ther's sil ver wa tch. Pray in g
"God, forgive me fo r Chri st's sa ke!" he cuts hi s fri end 's throa t.
After leaving Rogozhin , Myshkin return s to his ho tel in a state of
growing confusion . Just befo re the ho tel gat e, he thinks of Rogozhin 's
knife. At th a t moment the thunderstorm whi ch has been building up
a ll clay breaks, there is a downpou r, and the tension tha t has accumu–
lated th ro ughout thi s lon g ha llucin a to ry sequ ence comes to a climax.
Mys hkin sees a man standing in th e ha lf-darkn ess under the a rched
ga teway; he tri es
to
overtake him , but the man va ni shes.
Th e staircase up whi ch Myshkin ran from the ga teway led to the
corridors of the first and second fl oors, on whi ch were th e rooms of
the hotel. As in all old hou ses, the staircase was of ston e, da rk and
n arrow, and it turn ed round a thi ck stone column . On th e firsl half–
landing lh ere was a holl ow like a niche in th e column , no t more lhan
half a yard wide and nin e inches deep. Yet lh ere was room for a man
to stand lhere. Dark as it was, Myshkin , on reaching th e half–
landing, at once di scovered tha t a man was hiding in th e ni che.
Myshkin suddenl y wanted lO pass by withoul lookin g to the right.
He had taken one step already, but he could not resist turning round .
Those two eyes,
the same two eyes,
met hi s own . The man
hidden in th e ni ch e h ad already moved on e slep from it. For one
second they stood facing one anoth er and almosllouching. Suddenl y
Myshkin seized him by the sho ulders and lurned him back towards
th e staircase, nearer to the li ght ; he wanled lO see hi s face more
clearl y.
Ro gozhin 's eyes fl ashed and a smil e of fury con toned hi s face.
Hi s ri ghl hand was ra ised and somelhing gleamed in il; Myshkin did
nOl lhink of ch ecking it. He onl y remembered th at he th oughl he
cri ed o ut , " Parfyon , I don'l believe it !" Then suddenl y something
seemed torn asunder before him; hi s soul was fl ooded with inten se
