Chapter 4 The Second Ordeal

Nikolay Parfenovitch and Ippolit Kirillovitch press Dmitri Karamazov to recount his movements, beginning with his pledge of pistols for ten roubles. Urged to proceed chronologically, Dmitri insists on mutual trust, yet refuses to name the creditor for a three-thousand-rouble debt, calling it a private matter.

Dmitri narrates his failed attempt to borrow from Samsonov, selling his watch to fund travel, and his humiliating journey to Lyagavy. Returning to town, he describes obsessive jealousy over Grushenka, his ambush point by Fyodor Pavlovitch’s garden, and Smerdyakov’s tip-offs. He details visiting Madame Hohlakov, confessing he felt ready to “murder someone” for the money, which the investigators note.

When shown the brass pestle, Dmitri admits seizing it before running to his father’s. Irritated by probing questions about motive, he explosively tells them to write that he took it to kill his father, then frames the outburst as exasperation, not a premeditated admission. The lawyers record his statements with icy care.

Wearied and ashamed, Dmitri compares the interrogation to a recurring nightmare of being hunted in the dark by someone who knows his hiding place and prolongs his terror. He regains some composure, asserts his honor, and, asked to continue, prepares to go on.