The Idiot — Part II — Chapter III

Near noon, Prince Myshkin forgoes calling on the Epanchins and seeks Rogojin’s house, drawn by anxiety over Nastasia. He finds Rogojin shocked by his arrival. Myshkin states he will not interfere if a new marriage is fixed, and proposes only that Nastasia go abroad for her health. He insists he loves her with pity, not passion.

Rogojin vacillates between hatred and affection for Myshkin, admitting months of loathing that vanish in Myshkin’s presence. He describes his jealousy, Nastasia’s mockery, and his fear she will turn him out. He confesses to beating her, then begging forgiveness, and recounts her erratic resolve—fixing dates, then fleeing. He says she told him she will marry him because ruin is “all the same” to her.

Rogojin relates Nastasia’s recent visit: she admired his mother respectfully, urged him to read Soloviev, and coolly assessed he’d become like his father without his passion. Myshkin argues Nastasia must see some good in Rogojin if she still considers marriage, but Rogojin counters that she loves Myshkin and chooses Rogojin out of spite and fatalism—“water or the knife.”

Tension spikes when Myshkin absentmindedly handles a broad-bladed knife; Rogojin twice snatches it away and hides it in a book, an ominous gesture that mirrors his violent impulses. Shaken, Myshkin reiterates he will not interfere and prepares to go. Rogojin, still agitated, directs him out by another way, leaving the threat to Nastasia and the men’s perilous bond unresolved.