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The Brothers Karamazov FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV A Nouel in Four Parts witb Epilogae Translated and Annotated by Richard Peaear and Larissa Volokbonsky FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX New Yorh TheGrandlnquisitor 247 716 TheBrothersKsramazov the birth of the French dau- {br whom you are building t)amede Paris.in the Parisof Louis XI, to honor 'And can you admit the idea that the people blood of a tortured phin, an edifying performance is given free of charge for the people in the city io accept tt'"i' huppi""ss onthe unjustified *o;il;gr;" lrall, entitled Le bon jugement de la trls sainteet gracieuseYierge Marie ,' in it, to remain forever happy?" chitd, anl having accepted pronouncesher bonjugement.With suddenly' his eyesbeginning which sheherself appears in personand "No, l cannot admit it' Brother'''Alyosha said a being who could rrsin Moscow, in pre-Petrineantiquity,'zmuch the samekind o[dramatic per- "you to* if ttrere is in the whole world to flash, urk.a i,,,t from the Old Testament,were given from time to time; there is such a being' and he can for' Iormances,especially and would have the right to forgive' But gavehis innocent but, besidesdramatic performances,there were many stories and 'verses' ing, forgive all andjor dt"'because he himself g;" lloating around the world in which saints, angels,and all the powers of """ry,t VouVe forgotten about him' but it is on him blood for all and for everything' poemswere translated, theywill cry out: Just art lrcaventook part asneeded. In our monasteriessuch rtr.,.ture is beingbuili, and it is to him that thut th" rr:copied, even composed-and when?-under the Tartars.There is, for ex- ways have been revealed!' " thou,- O Lord, for thy (from of course):TheMother of No' I have not forgotten ,rnrple,one little monasterypoem the Greek, lntr, yes, the'only sinless One"' and his bloodl (;odfisits theTormentslwith scenesof a boldnessnot inferior to Dante's.The beenwondering all the while wtry youhadn't about him; on tt .orrt l've 'the " "ry, people usually trot Mother of God visits hell and the Archangel Michael guides her through tp for so long' becausein discussionsyour ilrorrgt, hi* seessinners and their sufferings.Among them, by the way, you laugh!-l composed a poem r()rments.'She him out first thing. knlw, Alyosha-don't on me' I'll tell it to rhere is a most amusingclass of sinnersin a burning lake:some of them sink a year ago. If you can waste ten more minutes once, about ,,t'far down into the lake that they can no longer come up again,and'these vou." t,od forgets'-an expressionof extraordinary depth and force. And so the "You wrote a Poem?" and asks ..1\e composed two lines o[ Motherof God, shockedandweeping, falls before the throne of God ..Oh, no, l didn t write it,,, Ivan laughed, never I made it for everyonein hell, everyoneshe has seen there, without distinction. BurI made up this poem and memorized it' ;,rrrdon lr"rr" in my whole life. pleads,she won't go listener' Why' indeed' I lcr conversationwith God is immenselyinteresting. She great fervor. You'll be my first readti-I *""" up in ,rway,and when God points out to her the nail-piercedhands and feetof her shouldanauthorloseevenonelistener?''Ivangrinned...Shallltellitornot?'' son and asks:'How canI forgivehis tormentors?'shebids all thesaints, all the said Alyosha' "l'm listening carefully," together with her and absurd thing' but I want nrartyrs,all the angelsand archangelsto fall down "My poem is called'ihe Grand tnquisitor'-an plcadfor the pardon of all without discrimination.In theend she extorts from it." you to hear t,od a cessationof torments everyyear, from Holy Friday to Pentecost,and rlrcsinners in hell at once thank the Lord and cry out to him: Just art thou' O I trrd,who hastjudged so.'Well, my little poem would havebeen of the same Chapter5 l<indif it had appearedback then. He comesonstage in it; actually,he says rrothingin the poem, he just appearsand passeson. Fifteen centurieshave centuries TheGrandlnquisitor lioneb) sincehe gavethe promise to come in his Kingdom, fifteen ',rncehis prophet wrote: 'Behold,I come quicklyr'"'Of that day and that hour Itnowethnot even the Son, but only my heavenlyFather,'' as he himself de- , llred while still on earth. But mankind awaitshim with the samefaith and "Buthere,too,it'simpossibletodowithoutapreface'aliterarypreface'that see' my action rlrc same tender emotion. Oh, even with greaterfaith, for fifteen centuries laughed, "and what sort of w-riter am ll You ir-f"fti" Ivan lr.rve sincemen ceasedto receivepledges from heaven: back then-by the way' you must goneby takes place in the sixteenth century, and was customary in poetic works to you, have learned this in school-back then it Believewhat the hearttells t need to mention Dante' ln France' heavenoffers no pledge." U.i"g t tgtt* powers down to earth' I don For whole performances as well as monks in the monasteries,gave court clerks, orrly faith in what the heart tells you! frue, there were also many miracles inwhichtheybroughttheMadonna'angels'saints'Christ'andGodhimself rlrt'n. who performed miraculous healings;to some righ- artlessly' ln Victor Hugo's Notre There were saints on stage. At ihe time it was all done quite r 248 TheBrothersKaram*zoY TheGrandlnquisitor 249 teousmen, accordingto their biographies,the Queenof Heavenherselfcame I rri." He appearedquietly, inconspicuously,but, strangeto say,everyone rec- , down. But the devil never rests, and there had already arisen in mankind 'linizedhim. This could be one of the bestpassages in the poem,I mean,why somedoubt asto the authenticity of thesemiracles.Just then, in the north, in rr is exactly that they recognize him. Peopleare drawn to him by an invincible Germany,a horrible new heresyappeared'' A greatstar, 'like a lamp' (that is, Lrrce,they flock to him, surround him, followhim. He passessilentlyamong the Church) , 'fell upon the fountains of waters,and they were made bitter.'u rlrcm with a quiet smile of infinite compassion.The sun of love shines in Theseheretics began blasphemously denying miracles.But those who still lris heart, rays of Light, Enlightenment, and Power stream from his eyes believedbecame all the more ardent in their belief.The tearsof mankind rose ,rnd,pouring over the people,shake their heartswith responding love. He up to himasbefore, theywaited forhim, lovedhim, hopedinhim, yearnedto ',rrctchesforth his hands to them, blessesthem, and from the touch of him, suffer and die for him asbefore . And for so many centuries mankind had , vcn oDly of his garments,comes a healing power. Here an old man, blind beenpleading with faith and fire: 'God our Lord, revealthyself to us,'nfor so lrom childhood, callsout from the crowd:'Lord, healme so thatI, roo,cansee many centuriesthey had beencalling out to him, that he in his immeasurable r','rr,'andit is as if the scalesfell from his eyes,and the blind man seeshim. compassion desired to descend to those who were pleading. He had de' l\'ople weep and kiss the earth he walks upon. Children throw down flowers scendedeven before then, he had visited somerighteous men' martyrs, and l,r'lirrehim, singand cry'Hosanna!'to him. 'It'she, it's really he,'everyone re, holy hermis while they were still on earth, as is written in their'lives.'Our grr':rts,'itmust be he,it canbe no onebut he.'Hestops at the porch of the Se- own Tyutchev, who deeply believed in the truth of his words, proclaimed urllt:cathedral at the very moment when a child's little, open,white coffin is that: l','rngbroughtin with weeping:in itlies a seven-year-oldgirl, the only daugh- r{'rof a noble citizen. The dead child is coveredwith flowers.'He will raise Bentunder the burdenof the Cross, 1, child,'people in the crowd shout to the weepingmother. The cathedral The King of Heavenin the form of a slave 'rrr 1'.rrlre,whohas comeout to meetthe coffrn,looks perplexedand frowns.Sud- Walked the length and breadthof you, ,1,'rrlya wail comesfrom the deadchild's mother. Shethrows herself Blessingyou, my nativeland.'o down at lrr' Ieet:'If it is you, then raisemy child!'she exclaims,stretching her hands It must needshave been so, let me tell you. And so he desired to appearto ,rrrtto hiil]. The processionhalts, the little coffin is lowered down onto the people if only for a moment-to his tormented,suffering people, rank with ;r.r'r'hat his feet.He looks with compassionand his lips onceagain softly ut- sin but loving him like children. My action is set in Spain,in Seville,in the r, r 'Talithacurmi'-'and the damselarose."t The girl risesin her coffin,sits up mosrhorrible time of the lnquisition, when firesblazed every day to the glory ,rrrtl,smiling, looks around her in wide-eyedastonishment. She is still hold- ofGod, and rrrplthe bunch of white roseswith which she had been lying in the coffin. i lrr'reis a commotion among the people,cries, weeping, and at this very mo- In the splendidauto-da-f6 rrrtntth€ Cardinal Grand Inquisitor himself crossesthe squarein front of the Evil heretics were burnt." , ,rtlrcdral. He is an old rnan,almost ninety, tall and straight,with a gaunt face ,, I sunken Oh, of course,this was not that coming in which he will appear,according to ", eyes,from which a glitter still shineslike a fiery spark. Oh, he is his promise, at the end of time, in all his heavenlyglory, and which will be as rrr,rvgnling his magnificentcardinal's robes in which he had displayedhim- sudden'as the lightning that shineth out of the eastunto the west."'No, he ,, ll to the people the day before,when the enemiesof the Roman faith were desiredto visit his children if only for a moment, and preciselywherethe fires I'rr111gd-ns,at thismoment he iswearing only his old,coarse monastic cas- of the heretics had begun to crackle.
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