Crime and Punishment — Part II — Chapter II

Raskolnikov rushes home fearing a search, retrieves the stolen trinkets from their hiding place in his room, and heads out to dispose of them. Crowds deter him from the canal, so he wanders anxiously until finding a secluded yard. There he lifts a heavy stone and conceals the purse and items beneath it, convincing himself he has erased all traces.

His euphoria fades into loathing and confusion as he walks, questioning why he never checked the purse if his crime had a rational goal. Feeling ill and estranged, he drifts to Razumihin’s lodgings, asks vaguely for help, then abruptly rejects both companionship and a paid translation job, returning the money and pages without explanation.

On the bridge, a coachman lashes Raskolnikov for stumbling into traffic, and bystanders mock him. An elderly woman presses a coin into his hand, but after gazing at the bright Neva and recalling past detachment, he flings the alms into the river, sensing he has cut himself off from everyone.

Toward evening he returns home and collapses. He wakes to what seems a brutal beating of his landlady by Ilya Petrovitch on the stairs, with neighbors crowding the landings. Terror grips him until the uproar subsides. Nastasya enters with soup and water; when Raskolnikov asks about the beating, she firmly insists no one came and attributes the sounds to his fever and “the blood,” before he sinks back into forgetfulness.