[263]You see, I learned ...: Maximov’s self-mockery; the sabotiereis a peasant clog-dance (French sabot,“clog”).
[264]Let this terrible cup...: see Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42; referring to Christ’s agony in Gethsemane.
[265]The piggy. . .: refrain of several Russian folksongs.
[266]Its legs...: from a riddle song.
[267]podlajdak:Mitya adds a Russian prefix meaning sub- to the Polish word for “scoundrel.”
[268]Ah, hallway...: another popular dance song, about a peasant girl who defies her father out of love for a young man (see Terras, p. 310).
[269]the Jurisprudence:the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in Petersburg.
[270]state councillor:see note 1 to page 99 in section 1.3.2.
[271]The Soul’s journey through Torments:according to a purely popular Christian notion, as a person’s soul ascends towards heaven after death, it meets evil spirits that try to force it down to hell. Only the souls of the righteous avoid these “torments” (there are said to be twenty of them) The point here is that Mitya’s soul, figuratively, is not merely suffering but rising; the “journey” is one of purification.
[272]Diogenes’lantern:Diogenes the Cynic (404-323? b.c.), a Greek philosopher, is said to have gone about with a lantern in broad daylight, “looking for a man.”
[273]Be patient ...an imprecise quotation from “Silentium” (1836), a famous poem by F. Tyutchev.
[274]of thetwelfth grade:one of the lowest grades (there were fourteen) of the imperial civil service.
[275]the thunder has struck:refers to a Russian proverb that Dostoevsky quotes in a letter to his publisher (see note 12 to page 426 in section 3.8.7) “Unless thunder strikes, a peasant won’t cross himself.”
[276]dry and sharp:from the poem “Before Rain” (1846) by Nikolai Nekrasov.
[277]Smaragdov: see note 5 to page 125 in section 1.3.6.
[278]Oh, children . . .:beginning of the fable “The Cock, the Cat, and the Mouse”(1802) by 1.1. Dmitriev (1760-1837).
[279]A Kinsman . . .:a book translated from the French, published in Moscow in 1785.
[280]who taughtyou all that:Kolya’s ideas throughout his harangue are drawn from the liberal press of the time. Again, as with Madame Khokhlakov, Dostoevsky is teasing his opponents, here by reflecting their ideas through a schoolboy’s mind. There is, of course, a serious point to it, connected with one of the major themes of B.K., the influence of the word.
[281]if there were no God . . .:see note 3 to page 24 in section 1.1.4 and note 5 to page 234 in 2.5.3.
[282]Candide:Voltaire’s satirical-philosophical tale (1759).
[283]Belinsky ... Onegin: refers to the “Ninth Essay on Pushkin” (1844-45) by the influential liberal critic Vissarion Belinsky (1811-48). Onegin and Tatiana are the hero and heroine of Pushkin’s novel in verse Evgeny Onegin (1823-31).
[284]Les femmes tricottent:“Women are knitters.”
[285]The Belclass="underline" the two lines of verse Kolya quotes are from an anti-government satire that appeared in the émigré magazine North Star(no. 6,1861) and elsewhere, but not in The Bell, published in London by Alexander Herzen (1812-70), where a sequel to it appeared. The “Third Department” was the imperial secret police, whose headquarters were near the Chain Bridge in Petersburg.
[286]If I forget thee . . .:see Psalm 137, “By the rivers of Babylon . . .”
[287]Skotoprigonyevsk: roughly “Cattle-roundup-ville.”
[288]They wantto setup ...:the question of a monument to Pushkin began to be discussed in the press in 1862; on 6 June 1880 the monument was finally unveiled. Dostoevsky gave a famous address on the occasion.
[289]vous comprenez . ..: “you know, this business and the terrible death of your papa.”
[290]like aSwede at Poltava:a common Russian saying; the original has “like a Swede,” the “at Poltava” being implied. Charles XII of Sweden was roundly defeated at Poltava in 1709 by Peter the Great.
[291]wisdom: in this context, the Old Slavonic word premudrost’ (wisdom) most likely refers to the Scriptures.
[292]Apocryphal Gospels: accounts of the life of Christ (such as the Gospels of Thomas or James) not accepted as canonical.
[293]Claude Bernard:French physiologist (1813-78), whose Introductionto the Study of Experimental Medicinedefined the basic principles of scientific research.
[294]de thoughtibus...: Mitya’s variation on the Latin saying de gustibus non est disputandum(“there is no arguing over taste”).
[295]image and likeness: see note 4 to page 239 in section 2.5.4.
[296]Ah, what acharming little foot . . .:Dostoevsky’s (not Rakitin’s) jesting response to D. D. Minaev’s parody of a poem by Pushkin. Minaev (1835-89) was a poet of civic themes.
[297]to the uttermost farthing: see Matthew 5:26.
[298]Alyosha was startled . . .:Katerina Ivanovna suddenly addresses Ivan in the familiar second person singular, indicating greater intimacy than social conventions would have allowed them.
[299]with obviouscoldness:here Ivan suddenly addresses Alyosha in the formal second person plural.
[300]Ah, Vanka’s gone....: Vanka is a diminutive of Ivan. The song must unconsciously remind Ivan of his departure on the eve of the catastrophe (see Terras, p. 381).
[301]Licharda:see note 2 to page 269 in section 2.5.6.
[302]The Homilies. . .: see note 7 to page 27 in section 1.1.5.
[303]qui frisait la cinquantaine:“who was pushing fifty.”
[304]Thomas believed...: see note 1 to page 26 in section 1.1.5.
[305]c’est noble ... c’est chivaleresque:“it’s noble, it’s delightful ... it’s chivalrous.”
[306]I donated ten roubles .... that is, to a fund to help liberate Slavs under Turkish domination in the Balkans.
[307]Satan sum...: the devil adapts a famous line from the Roman playwright Terence (190-159 b.c.): homosum, humani nihil a me alienum puto(“I am a man, nothing human is alien to me”).
[308]C’est de nouveau, n’est-ce pas?:“That’s something new, isn’t it?”
[309]the waters above the firmament: see Genesis 1:7.
[310]Gattsuk...: A. A. Gattsuk (1832-91) was a Moscow publisher who published a yearly almanac in the 1870s and 1880s.
[311]great ... beautifuclass="underline" see note 2 to page 71 in section 1.2.6.
[312]Lediable n’existe point:“The devil does not exist.”
[313]and various little vaudevilles ... Khlestakov:the quoted line is spoken by Khlestakov, the impostor-hero of Gogol’s comedy The Inspector-General(1836).
[314]Je pense donc je suis:“I think, therefore I am,” the well-known phrase of the philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650).
[315]a certain department.... see note 5 to page 555 in section 4.10.6.
[316]rejected all ...:the quoted words are spoken by Repetilov in Griboyedov’s Woe from Wit(see note 1 to page 221 in section 2.5.1)