For a moment she believed he had left, but as she shifted away from the wall she sensed him there beside the bed. He was very close. Wretched curiosity! But she would fight it and not look. “ Katherine, ” he whispered, his breath rolling in a warm wave across her cheek. A traitor tear spilled out, the humiliation was too much to contain. Gently, a finger dabbed the wetness from her skin. He said it again, softly, as though it pleased him just to say it, “Katherine.” “Viktor! ” the accented voice bellowed from below. And then the shadow was gone. Darkness overwhelmed her then and carried her away to a land of crows and mocking strangers. .Gwenn Wright
About This Quote
The quote above is from "The Brothers Karamazov." It's part of a chapter called "The Grand Inquisitor," in which Dostoevsky tells the story of a poor peasant girl whose brother is arrested for being part of a secret underground movement that is working to overthrow the tsar. The girl believes her brother is dead. But when she tries to leave her room to see him, she finds that he has actually gone to his death in the dungeons, and she knows that if she stays by herself, she will come to the same end. So she goes to find her brother's friend, who is described as being so calm and gentle that everyone loves him.
He takes the girl to meet with the man who has arrested her brother. They talk about their beliefs, and then suddenly the grand inquisitor gets angry at the friend, saying that he doesn't believe in anything. The friend responds by saying that he believes in his friend.
And then the grand inquisitor says that his friend should believe in him instead. The two men bargain with each other like this for some time until finally they both agree to try to die at the same time...
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