Military theme in Russian poetry. Start in science. The concept of a theme in literary criticism

Crime and Punishment

Poor district of St. Petersburg in the 60s. XIX century, adjacent to Sennaya Square and the Catherine Canal. Summer evening. Former student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov leaves his closet in the attic and pledges the last valuable thing to the old pawnbroker Alena Ivanovna, whom he is preparing to kill. On the way back, he goes into one of the cheap taverns, where he accidentally meets the drunken official Marmeladov who has lost his job. He tells how consumption, poverty and drunkenness of her husband pushed his wife, Katerina Ivanovna, to a cruel act - to send his daughter from his first marriage Sonya to earn money on the panel.

The next morning, Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother from the provinces describing the troubles suffered by his younger sister Dunya in the house of the depraved landowner Svidrigailov. He learns about the imminent arrival of his mother and sister in St. Petersburg in connection with the upcoming marriage of Dunya. The groom is a prudent businessman Luzhin, who wants to build a marriage not on love, but on poverty and the dependence of the bride. The mother hopes that Luzhin will financially help her son finish his course at the university. Reflecting on the sacrifices that Sonya and Dunya make for the sake of their loved ones, Raskolnikov strengthens his intention to kill the pawnbroker - a useless evil "louse". After all, thanks to her money, "hundreds, thousands" of girls and boys will be spared from undeserved suffering. However, disgust for the bloody violence rises again in the hero's soul after he saw a dream-memories of childhood: the boy's heart is torn from pity for the nag being beaten to death.

And yet, Raskolnikov kills with an ax not only the "ugly old woman", but also her kind, meek sister Lizaveta, who unexpectedly returned to the apartment. Having miraculously left unnoticed, he hides the stolen goods in a random place, without even estimating its value.

Soon Raskolnikov is horrified to discover alienation between himself and other people. Sick from the experience, he, however, is not able to reject the burdensome worries of his comrade at the university, Razumikhin. From the conversation of the latter with the doctor, Raskolnikov learns that the painter Mikolka, a simple village boy, was arrested on suspicion of the murder of an old woman. Painfully reacting to talk about a crime, he himself also arouses suspicion among others.

Luzhin, who came on a visit, is shocked by the squalor of the hero's closet; their conversation turns into a quarrel and ends in a breakup. Raskolnikov is especially offended by the proximity of practical conclusions from Luzhin's "reasonable egoism" (which seems vulgar to him) and his own "theory": "people can be cut ..."

Wandering around St. Petersburg, the sick young man suffers from his alienation from the world and is already ready to confess his crime to the authorities, as he sees a man crushed by a carriage. This is Marmeladov. Out of compassion, Raskolnikov spends the last money on the dying man: he is transferred to the house, the doctor is called. Rodion meets Katerina Ivanovna and Sonya, who is saying goodbye to her father in an inappropriately bright prostitute outfit. Thanks to good deed the hero briefly felt a community with people. However, having met his mother and sister who arrived at his apartment, he suddenly realizes that he is "dead" for their love and rudely drives them away. He is alone again, but he has a hope of getting closer to Sonya, who, like him, "stepped over", the absolute commandment.

Raskolnikov's relatives are taken care of by Razumikhin, who almost at first sight fell in love with the beautiful Dunya. Meanwhile, the offended Luzhin puts the bride before a choice: either he or his brother.

In order to find out about the fate of the things pledged by the murdered woman, and in fact, to dispel the suspicions of some acquaintances, Rodion himself asks for a meeting with Porfiry Petrovich, the investigator in the case of the murder of the old pawnbroker. The latter recalls Raskolnikov's recently published article "On Crime", inviting the author to explain his "theory" about "two categories of people." It turns out that the "ordinary" ("lower") majority is just material for the reproduction of their own kind, it is they who need a strict moral law and must be obedient. These are "creatures trembling". "In fact, people" ("higher") have a different nature, possessing the gift of a "new word", they destroy the present in the name of the best, even if it is necessary to "step over" the moral norms previously established for the "lower" majority, for example, shed someone else's blood. These "criminals" then become the "new legislators". Thus, not recognizing the biblical commandments ("thou shalt not kill", "thou shalt not steal", etc.), Raskolnikov "permits" those who have the right - "blood according to conscience." Clever and insightful Porfiry unravels in the hero an ideological killer who claims to be the new Napoleon. However, the investigator has no evidence against Rodion - and he releases the young man in the hope that a good nature will defeat the delusions of the mind in him and will herself lead him to a confession of what he has done.

Indeed, the hero becomes more and more convinced that he made a mistake in himself: "the real ruler<...>smashes Toulon, makes a massacre in Paris, forgets the army in Egypt, spends half a million people in the Moscow campaign, "and he, Raskolnikov, is tormented by the" vulgarity "and" meanness "of a single murder. Clearly, he is a" trembling creature ": even killing The very motives of the crime are twofold in the mind of the hero: this is both a test of oneself for the "highest level", and an act of "justice", according to revolutionary socialist teachings, transferring the property of "predators" to their victims.

Svidrigailov, who arrived after Dunya in St. Petersburg, apparently guilty of the recent death of his wife, meets Raskolnikov and notices that they are "of the same field," although the latter did not completely defeat "Schiller" in himself. With all the disgust towards the offender, Rodion's sister is attracted by his seeming ability to enjoy life, despite the crimes committed ..

During dinner in cheap rooms, where Luzhin settled Dunya and his mother out of economy, a decisive explanation takes place. Luzhin is convicted of slandering Raskolnikov and Sonya, to whom he allegedly gave money for base services selflessly collected by a poor mother for his studies. Relatives are convinced of the purity and nobility of the young man and sympathize with Sonya's fate. Exiled in disgrace, Luzhin is looking for a way to discredit Raskolnikov in the eyes of his sister and mother.

The latter, meanwhile, again feeling the painful alienation from loved ones, comes to Sonya. She, who "crossed" the commandment "do not commit adultery," he seeks salvation from unbearable loneliness. But Sonya is not alone. She sacrificed herself for the sake of others (hungry brothers and sisters), and not others for herself, as her interlocutor. Love and compassion for loved ones, faith in the mercy of God never left her. She reads to Rodion the gospel lines about the resurrection of Lazarus by Christ, hoping for a miracle in her life. The hero fails to captivate the girl with the "Napoleonic" plan of power over "the whole anthill."

Tortured at the same time by fear and a desire to be exposed, Raskolnikov again comes to Porfiry, as if worrying about his mortgage. A seemingly abstract conversation about the psychology of criminals eventually brings the young man to a nervous breakdown, and he almost betrays himself to the investigator. He is saved by an unexpected confession to everyone in the murder of the pawnbroker painter Mikolka.

In the passage room of the Marmeladovs, a wake was arranged for her husband and father, during which Katerina Ivanovna, in a fit of morbid pride, insults the landlady of the apartment. She tells her and her children to leave immediately. Suddenly, Luzhin, who lives in the same house, enters and accuses Sonya of stealing a hundred-ruble banknote. The "guilt" of the girl is proven: the money is found in the pocket of her apron. Now, in the eyes of those around her, she is also a thief. But unexpectedly there is a witness that Luzhin himself imperceptibly slipped Sonya a piece of paper. The slanderer is put to shame, and Raskolnikov explains to those present the reasons for his act: having humiliated his brother and Sonya in the eyes of Dunya, he hoped to return the favor of the bride.

Rodion and Sonya go to her apartment, where the hero confesses to the girl in the murder of the old woman and Lizaveta. She pities him for the moral torments to which he condemned himself, and offers to atone for his guilt by voluntary confession and hard labor. Raskolnikov laments only that he turned out to be a "trembling creature", with a conscience and a need for human love. "I'll still fight," he disagrees with Sonya.

Meanwhile, Katerina Ivanovna with the children finds herself on the street. She begins to bleed from the throat and dies after refusing the services of a priest. Svidrigailov, who is present here, undertakes to pay for the funeral and provide for the children and Sonya.

At home, Raskolnikov finds Porfiry, who convinces the young man to turn himself in: the "theory", which denies the absoluteness of the moral law, rejects sole source life - God, the creator of humanity, one in nature - and thereby dooms his captive to death. "you now<...>air is needed, air, air!" Porfiry does not believe in the guilt of Mikolka, who "accepted suffering" for the primordial people's need: to atone for the sin of inconsistency with the ideal - Christ.

But Raskolnikov still hopes to "transcend" morality as well. Before him is the example of Svidrigailov. Their meeting in a tavern reveals to the hero a sad truth: the life of this "insignificant villain" is empty and painful for him.

The reciprocity of Dunya is the only hope for Svidrigailov to return to the source of being. Convinced of her irrevocable dislike of himself during a heated conversation in his apartment, he shoots himself a few hours later.

Meanwhile, Raskolnikov, driven by the lack of "air", says goodbye to his family and Sonya before confessing. He is still convinced of the correctness of the "theory" and full of contempt for himself. However, at the insistence of Sonya, before the eyes of the people, he repentantly kisses the ground, before which he "sinned." In the police office, he learns about Svidrigailov's suicide and makes an official confession.

Raskolnikov ends up in Siberia, in a prison camp. Mother died of grief, Dunya married Razumikhin. Sonya settled near Raskolnikov and visits the hero, patiently enduring his gloom and indifference. The nightmare of alienation continues here too: the convicts from the common people hate him as a "godless man". On the contrary, Sonya is treated with tenderness and love. Once in the prison hospital, Rodion sees a dream reminiscent of pictures from the Apocalypse: the mysterious "trichins", instilling in people, give rise in everyone to a fanatical conviction that they are right and intolerant of the "truths" of others. "People killed each other in<...>senseless malice," until the entire human race was exterminated, except for a few "pure and chosen ones." It is finally revealed to him that the pride of the mind leads to discord and destruction, and the humility of the heart leads to unity in love and to the fullness of life. "Infinite love" for Sonya. On the threshold of "resurrection in new life Raskolnikov takes the gospel in his hands.

Clicking on the chapter numbers leads to the full text of each chapter. Click on the links See in more detail ”- to a more detailed presentation of the content of a particular chapter.

Our brief retelling"Crimes and Punishments" can be used to reader's diary. Read the full text of "Crime and Punishment" chapter by chapter with a summary of each chapter, "Crime and Punishment", a summary of the chapters of the novel "Idiot" and a biography of F. M. Dostoevsky. Links to other articles about the writer's work - see below in the block "More on the topic ..."

Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", part 1 - summary

Crime and Punishment. Feature Film 1969 1 episode

The next day he sleeps long and uneasily, waking up late in the evening - and excited by the fact that convenient time leaves, imperceptibly takes an ax in the janitor's closet and hurries to commit a crime. (Cm. .)

Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", part 2 - summary

Having reached home, Raskolnikov soon falls into unconsciousness. (Cm. .)

On the threshold of the tavern, he meets Razumikhin, but rudely gets rid of him, not wanting to talk. Climbing one bridge, Raskolnikov barely resists the desire to drown himself. Unable to endure the spiritual oppression further, he decides to go to confess "to the office", but on the way he suddenly sees the old woman's house in front of him.

Obeying an irresistible craving, he rises to toy apartment. Before the eyes of two workers gluing new wallpaper there, he silently walks around the rooms, pulls the doorbell, listening to then sound, then descends to the entrance. People standing on the street near the house look at Raskolnikov with suspicion. He again goes to the police, but suddenly pays attention to the crowd gathered a little further away, near the carriage. (Cm. .)

Raskolnikov gives his last money for the funeral. As he leaves, he is overtaken by the little daughter of Marmeladov Field, whom Sonya sent to ask for the benefactor's name and address. Raskolnikov calls them and asks Polya: "Pray for me!" (See Sonya Marmeladova's appearance.)

He suddenly feels with amazement that disinterested concern for his neighbor has evoked in him the feeling of a surging full, powerful life. There is a bright hope that he will overcome the guilt of the murder and regain his spiritual strength. In this excitement, Raskolnikov comes to Razumikhin. He goes to see him off, telling: the incident in the tavern affected Zametov in such a way that he completely rejected the idea that the police had pecked at his involvement in the murder, because the criminal would never have been so frank.

Entering with Razumikhin into his closet, Raskolnikov suddenly sees his mother and sister, Dunya and Pulcheria Alexandrovna, who have arrived there. They rush to hug him, and he, realizing that for the first time he appears before the closest people weighed down by murder, faints. (Cm. .)

Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", part 3 - summary

Raskolnikov's theory

Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", part 4 - summary

Crime and Punishment. Feature film 1969 episode 2

Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", part 5 - summary

Having laid out money on the table in Lebezyatnikov's room, supposedly for counting, Luzhin asks to call Sonya and gives her ten rubles for the family that has lost its breadwinner. (Cm. .)

Raskolnikov is confused in explanations: at first he says that he "was going to help his sister and mother," then that he "wanted to become Napoleon." But in the end he comes to the truth himself: “I’m just proud, envious, angry, vengeful, I didn’t want to work. And decided to find out: whether I am a trembling creature or have the right ...(See full text of this monologue.)

“What should I do now!” he exclaims in despair. - “Stand at the crossroads,” says Sonya, “kiss the land that you desecrated and tell everyone out loud: “I killed!” Accept suffering and redeem yourself with it!” Rodion refuses: “No, I will still fight!” Pushes away the cross that Sonya wants to hang on him. (Cm. .)

standing here but the neighbor Svidrigailov promises Raskolnikov to provide Sonya and the children with his own money - and winks picaresquely: “After all, Katerina Ivanovna was not a harmful louse, like an old pawnbroker.” Raskolnikov is stupefied. Svidrigailov explains: he heard through the wall all his conversations with Sonya. (Cm. .)

Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", part 6 - summary

In the office, he immediately runs into Lieutenant Gunpowder. He good-naturedly makes excuses for the last quarrel, scolds the nihilists, from whom there are more and more suicides. "So today one shot himself ... Svidrigailov." The news of Svidrigailov's suicide shakes Raskolnikov and knocks him down. Without making a confession, Rodion descends the stairs to the street, but there he sees Sonya, clasping her hands in sorrow. He returns to the office and, having made a terrible effort on himself, confesses everything. (See the full text of the excerpt "Raskolnikov's confession of a crime (at the police station)".)

In early July, Rodion Raskolnikov, a young man living in extreme poverty, expelled from the university students, left his closet on the street and slowly, trying to avoid meeting with the hostess, went to the bridge. His closet was located under the very roof of a five-story building and looked more like a closet than a room. The landlady, from whom he rented a room, lived on the floor below, in a separate apartment. Each time, passing by the mistress of the kitchen, Raskolnikov experienced a "painful and cowardly" sensation, from which he became ashamed. He was not a downtrodden and cowardly person, but for some time he was in an irritable state, went deep into himself and did not want to see anyone. His depressed mood was caused by poverty.

IN last days his condition worsened even more.

However, this time the fear of meeting his creditor struck even him as he went out into the street.

“What business do I want to encroach on and at the same time what trifles I am afraid of!” he thought with a strange smile. - Hm... yes... everything is in the hands of a man, and he carries everything past his nose, only from sheer cowardice... that's an axiom...

It was terribly hot outside. The unbearable stuffiness, the smell of bricks and dust further shocked the young man's frustrated nerves. An unpleasant smell from the taverns and now and then drunks that came across his way completed the gloomy picture. On the face of Rodion Raskolnikov, interesting, thin and slender young man“with beautiful dark eyes,” a feeling of deep disgust was reflected, and he, falling into deep thought, walked, not noticing anything around him. Only occasionally did he "mutter something to himself." At that moment, the young man realized that Lately he was very weak and had not eaten anything for the second day.

He was so badly dressed that another, even a familiar person, would be ashamed to go out into the street in such tatters during the day. However, the quarter was such that it was difficult to surprise anyone here with a suit ... But so much vicious contempt had already accumulated in the young man’s soul that, despite all his sometimes very young ticklishness, he was least of all ashamed of his rags on the street ...

And meanwhile, when a drunken man, who was being driven down the street for no reason or where at that time in a huge cart drawn by a huge draft horse, suddenly shouted to him, driving by: “Hey, you German hatter!” - and yelled at the top of his voice, pointing at him with his hand - the young man suddenly stopped and convulsively grabbed his hat ... But not shame, but a completely different feeling, similar even to fright, seized him. - I knew it! he muttered in embarrassment, “I thought so! This is the worst of all! Here's some kind of stupidity, some kind of vulgar trifle, the whole plan can spoil! Yes, the hat is too conspicuous... Funny, and therefore conspicuous...

Raskolnikov went to the usurer to take money on bail. But that was not his only goal. A plan was ripening in his head, he mentally and mentally prepared for its implementation. He went "to test his enterprise", and his excitement increased every minute. The young man even knew how many steps separated his house from the usurer's house.

Climbing up the dark and narrow stairs to the pawnbroker's apartment, he noticed that an apartment on her floor was being vacated, therefore, only one occupied one would remain ...

"That's good ... just in case ...", he thought again and called the old woman's apartment ...

He shuddered, his nerves too weak this time. A little later, the door opened a tiny crack: the tenant looked from the crack at the newcomer with visible distrust, and only her eyes sparkling from the darkness could be seen. But seeing a lot of people on the platform, she cheered up and opened it completely ... The old woman stood in front of him silently and looked at him inquiringly ... ...

Distrust flickered in the old woman's eyes. Raskolnikov greeted her kindly, introduced himself and reminded her that he had been to her a month ago. The old pawnbroker led him into another room with yellow wallpaper, brightly lit by the sun. Entering it, the young man noticed that “then the sun will shine in the same way,” and with a quick glance looked around the whole room, trying to remember the location of all objects to the smallest detail. At the same time, Raskolnikov noted that there was nothing special in the apartment and everything was very clean.

Raskolnikov left a silver watch on a steel chain as a pledge. The old woman reminded him that the old mortgage had already expired, and the young man promised her to pay interest for another month. When Alena Ivanovna went out for money, Rodion began to think about how she opens the chest of drawers, where her keys are, etc.

I’ll bring you, Alena Ivanovna, maybe one of these days, I’ll bring one more thing ... a silver ... good ... one cigarette box ... that’s how I turn back from a friend ... - He was embarrassed and fell silent.

Well then, let's talk, father.

Farewell, sir... Are you all sitting at home alone, is your sister not around? he asked as casually as possible, going out into the hall.

And what do you care about her, father?

Nothing special. That's what I asked. You are now... Farewell, Alena Ivanovna!

Raskolnikov left the old woman in confusion. As he descended the stairs, he paused several times to ponder the questions that preoccupied him. Going out into the street, he realized that all his thoughts and intentions are vile, vile and vile. Everything conceived seemed to him so disgusting that he was horrified. But the mood in which he was in the morning became even worse. The feeling of disgust that pressed on his heart when he was just about to go to the old money-lender became even stronger, and he went along the road like a drunk, bumping into passers-by and not noticing anything around.

He woke up already on the next street, near the tavern. Two drunks came out of the door, supporting each other. Raskolnikov had never been in a tavern before, but he really wanted a cold beer, and without hesitation he went downstairs.

Rodion sat down in a dark and dirty corner, at a sticky table, asked for a beer and greedily drank the first glass. Immediately everything was relieved, and his thoughts cleared up. “All this is nonsense,” he said hopefully, “and there was nothing to be embarrassed about! Just a physical disorder! ..” There were few people left in the tavern by this time. One of those present, "a man who looks like a retired official," attracted the attention of Raskolnikov.

He sat apart, in front of his bowl, occasionally drinking and looking around. He, too, seemed to be in some agitation.

Recently, Raskolnikov avoided society, but at that moment he wanted to talk to someone.

Something was happening in him, as it were new, and at the same time, some kind of thirst for people was felt. He was so tired from a whole month of this concentrated anguish of his own and gloomy excitement that even for a moment he wanted to breathe in another world, at least in any, and, despite all the dirt of the situation, he now remained with pleasure in the drinking-room.

Raskolnikov and the man who looked like a retired official looked at each other for a while. It was clear that they wanted to talk.

The official looked somehow habitually and even with boredom, and at the same time with a hint of some arrogant disdain, as if at people of a lower position and development, with whom he had nothing to talk about. He was a man already in his fifties, of medium height and solid build, with gray hair and a large bald head, with a yellow, even greenish face swollen from constant drunkenness, and with swollen eyelids, because of which tiny, like slits, but animated reddish eyes shone. . But there was something very strange about him; in his eyes even rapture seemed to glow—perhaps there was both sense and intelligence—but at the same time, it was as if madness flickered.

The official was the first to speak to Raskolnikov. He introduced himself as Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, a titular adviser.

With a kind of even greed, he attacked Raskolnikov, as if he had not spoken to anyone for a whole month ... His conversation seemed to arouse general, albeit lazy, attention ... Obviously, Marmeladov had been known here for a long time. Yes, and he acquired a tendency to ornate speech, probably as a result of the habit of frequent conversations in taverns with various strangers ...

Marmeladov told Raskolnikov the story of his life: his wife, Katerina Ivanovna, the daughter of a staff officer, the widow of an officer, an educated woman with a noble upbringing, has three children from her first marriage. After the death of her gambler husband, she was left without any means of subsistence and out of hopelessness she married Marmeladov, an official who soon lost his job, took to drink and has not stopped drinking since. Marmeladov's daughter from her first marriage, Sonya, was forced to go to the panel, because there was nothing to feed the children of Katerina Ivanovna. Marmeladov himself lived on money that he begged from his daughter and stole from his wife.

Katerina Ivanovna, Marmeladov's wife, was in the service of a certain Mr. Lebezyatnikov, who treated her rudely and even beat her. From beatings and disrespectful attitude, Katerina Ivanovna fell seriously ill. Sonya, who earned a living with a "yellow ticket", was forced to rent a separate apartment, because she was kicked out of her former apartment for indecent behavior.

Talking about his family, Marmeladov kept getting distracted, indulging in useless arguments and self-flagellation.

Yes! no pity for me! I need to be crucified, crucified on the cross, and not to be pitied! But crucify, Judge, crucify, and having crucified, have pity on him! And then I myself will go to you to be crucified, for I do not thirst for fun, but for sorrow and tears!.. Do you think, seller, that this half-damask of yours has gone to my sweetness? Sorrow, sorrow, I was looking for at the bottom of it, sorrow and tears, and tasted, and found; but the one who took pity on everyone and who understood everyone and everything, he is the only one, he is the judge. He will come that day and ask: “Where is the daughter, that she was an evil and consumptive stepmother, that she betrayed herself to strangers and minor children? Where is the daughter that she took pity on her earthly father, an indecent drunkard, not horrified by his atrocities? And he will say: “Come! I have already forgiven you once... I have forgiven you once... And now your many sins are forgiven, for having loved much...” And he will forgive my Sonya, forgive me, I already know that he will forgive...

Marmeladov was very drunk, and Raskolnikov, realizing that he could not get home on his own, decided to see him off. Marmeladov's wife opened the door for them.

Raskolnikov immediately recognized Katerina Ivanovna. She was a terribly thin woman, thin, rather tall and slender, with beautiful dark blond hair and her cheeks, indeed, reddened to blotches. She paced up and down her small room, her hands clenched on her chest, her lips parched, and her breathing was uneven and ragged. Her eyes shone as if in a fever, but her gaze was sharp and immovable, and that consumptive and agitated face produced a painful impression, in the last illumination of the burning candle trembling on her face. She seemed to Raskolnikov about thirty years old, and really was not a match for Marmeladov ... She did not listen to those entering and did not see ...

The youngest girl, about six years old, was sleeping. A boy, about a year older than her, sat in a corner and cried, and the older girl, tall and thin, about nine years old, stood next to him and comforted him. The drunken Marmeladov knelt at the entrance, and pushed Raskolnikov forward. Seeing him, Katerina Ivanovna guessed that he had drunk away the last of his savings, and began to scream. She grabbed her husband by the head and dragged him into the room. Marmeladov meekly crawled after her on his knees. Having scolded her husband, Katerina Ivanovna began to shout at Raskolnikov. The neighbors, who heard the noise, began to enter the room one by one, and then the hostess herself, Amalia Lippevechsel, came to the room, who ordered the unfortunate woman to vacate the room tomorrow. Raskolnikov quietly left, leaving a few coins on the windowsill.

“Well, what kind of nonsense have I done,” he thought, “they have Sonya here, but I need it myself.” But judging that it was no longer possible to take it back and that he still wouldn't have taken it anyway, he waved his hand and went to his apartment.

“Sonia needs fudge, too,” he continued, walking down the street, and grinned caustically, “this cleanliness costs money ... Hm! But Sonechka, perhaps, will go bankrupt herself today, because the same risk, hunting for the red beast ... the gold industry ... here they are all, therefore, on beans tomorrow without my money ... Oh, yes Sonya! What a well, however, they managed to dig! and enjoy! That's because they use it! And got used to it. We cried and got used to it. A scoundrel-man gets used to everything!

He considered.

Well, if I lied, - he suddenly exclaimed involuntarily, - if a person is really not a scoundrel, the whole in general, the whole race, that is, the human race, then it means that everything else is prejudice, only fears cast on, and there are no barriers, and so on and should be!

Waking up the next morning, Raskolnikov looked around his "closet" with hatred and irritation. It was a very small room with yellow tattered wallpaper and old furniture, which consisted of three old chairs, a painted table in the corner, and a large sofa that took up almost half the width of the room. This sofa served as Raskolnikov's bed, on which he slept, often without undressing. Raskolnikov understood that he had sunk and turned into a sloppy man, but in the mood in which he had been lately, it was even pleasant for him. He fenced himself off from people, everything caused anger and irritation in him.

The landlady had not given him food for two days, but he did not even think of explaining himself to her. One Nastasya, the mistress of the maid, was glad of the mood of the young man - now she did not need to clean up with him. That morning she brought tea to Raskolnikov and offered yesterday's cabbage soup. While Rodion ate, Nastasya sat next to him and chatted. She said that the hostess was going to complain about him to the police because he did not pay money for the room and did not move out. After a while, Nastasya remembered that he had received a letter yesterday. She quickly brought it and Raskolnikov, after a while, opened it up and began to read. It was a letter from his mother, in which she explained why she could not send him money before: she herself and Raskolnikov's sister Dunya, trying to provide him with everything he needed, got into big debts. Dunya had to enter the service of the Svidrigailovs and take a hundred rubles in advance to send to his brother. For this reason, when Svidrigailov began to harass Dunya, she could not immediately leave there. Svidrigailov's wife, Marfa Petrovna, mistakenly blamed Dunya for everything and kicked her out of the house, disgracing the whole city. But after a while, a conscience woke up in Svidrigailov, and he gave his wife Dunya's letter, in which she angrily rejected his harassment and stood up for his wife.

Regretting her act, Marfa Petrovna decided to restore the girl's reputation and began to go around all the city houses. Thus, she managed to return the girl's good name, and Dunya was even invited to give private lessons, but she refused. Soon, a groom was found for Dunya - court adviser Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, a distant relative of Marfa Petrovna, who was going to go to St. Petersburg in the near future to open a public law office.

Reading a letter from her mother, who tried in vain to discover at least some positive traits with the man whom Dunya agreed to marry, Raskolnikov understood that his sister was selling herself to help him finish his studies and get (she hoped so) in a law office that her future husband was going to open in St. Petersburg. Rodion's mother considered Luzhin a straightforward person. As proof of this, she cited his words that he wants to marry an honest girl, but certainly a poor one and survived a disaster, because, in his opinion, a husband should not owe anything to his wife, on the contrary, the wife should see her benefactor in her husband . At the end of the letter, the mother expressed the hope that Dunya, having married, would be happy, and her husband might be useful to him, Rodion (Dunya was already making plans for Rodion to become her husband’s companion), and announced that she and Dunya were in soon leave for St. Petersburg. According to her, Pyotr Petrovich, having settled in St. Petersburg, wanted to seal their relationship with Dunya as soon as possible by marriage and get married.

Almost all the time that Raskolnikov read, from the very beginning of the letter, his face was wet with tears; but when he had finished, it was pale, twisted by convulsions, and a heavy, bilious, evil smile snaked across his lips. He lay his head down on his skinny and worn pillow and thought, thought for a long time. His heart was beating strongly, and his thoughts were greatly agitated. At last he felt stuffy and cramped in that yellow closet, which looked like a cupboard or chest. Look and thought asked for space.

The young man went out into the street and walked forward, talking to himself and not noticing the road. He was under the impression of reading the letter, and made a firm decision not to allow his sister's marriage to Luzhin. Raskolnikov was convinced that Dunya was getting married only to help him, that is, she sacrificed herself.

“No, Dunechka, I see everything and I know what you are going to talk to me about a lot; I also know what you thought about all night, walking around the room, and about what you prayed before the Mother of God of Kazan, who is standing in your mother’s bedroom. It's hard to climb Golgotha. Hm ... So, it means that it has been finally decided: you are kind enough to marry a businesslike and rational person, Avdotya Romanovna, who has his own capital (already having his own capital, this is more solid, more impressive), serving in two places and sharing the convictions of our newest generations (as writes mother) and, “seems to be kind,” as Dunechka herself remarks. This seems to be the best! And this same Dunya seems to be getting married for the same! .. Magnificent! Fabulous!.."

“It’s expensive, it’s expensive, Dunechka, this purity!” Well, if then you can’t do it, will you repent? How much sorrow, sadness, curses, tears, hidden from everyone, how much, because you are not Marfa Petrovna? What will happen to the mother then? After all, even now she is restless, tormented; And then, when all clearly will see? And with me?.. But what did you really think of me? I don't want your sacrifice, Dunechka, I don't want it, mother! Not to be while I'm alive, not to be, not to be! Do not accept!"

He suddenly woke up and stopped...

Rodion understood that before he finished his studies, got a job and could help his mother and sister, a lot of time would pass. “And what will happen to your mother and sister during this time?” he thought. Asking himself endless questions that tormented his heart, he realized that there was no time to wait. The decisive moment had come and a decision had to be made.

Long ago, all this present anguish was born in him, grew, accumulated and recently matured and concentrated, taking the form of a terrible, wild and fantastic question that tormented his heart and mind, irresistibly demanding permission. Now his mother's letter suddenly hit him like a thunderbolt. It is clear that now it was necessary not to grieve, not to suffer passively, only by reasoning that the questions were insoluble, but by all means to do something, and now, and as soon as possible. By all means, you must decide, at least for something, or ...

“Or give up life altogether! he suddenly cried out in a frenzy, “obediently accept fate as it is, once for all, and strangle everything in yourself, renouncing any right to act, live and love! ..”

Raskolnikov again visited the idea of ​​a pawnbroker. Suddenly he noticed a drunken girl walking along the boulevard, almost a girl, in a torn dress. Swinging in all directions, she reached the bench and sat down on it. Raskolnikov stood opposite the girl, looking at her in bewilderment and considering how he could help her. A fat “dandy” stopped a few steps from the bench, who was about to approach the girl with obviously dirty intentions. Raskolnikov drove him away and called a policeman, to whom he gave money for a cab to take the girl home. They came to the conclusion that the girl was deceived, drunk, dishonored and thrown out into the street. The policeman tried to find out from the girl where she lives, but she, thinking that she was being pestered, got up from the bench and walked unsteadily forward. The fat gentleman followed her.

“And let! This, they say, is as it should be. Such a percentage, they say, should go every year ... somewhere ... to hell, it must be, in order to refresh the rest and not interfere with them. Percent! Glorious, really, they have these words: they are so soothing, scientific. It has been said: the percentage, therefore, is nothing to worry about. Now, if there were another word, well then ... it would, perhaps, be more restless ... But what if Dunechka somehow gets into the percentage! .. If not in that one, then in the other?

Reflecting on the future fate of the girl, Raskolnikov caught himself thinking that, leaving the house, he was going to go to his university friend Razumikhin. When Raskolnikov attended classes at the university, he had almost no friends. He avoided his fellow students, and soon everyone turned their backs on him. He was not loved, but respected for what he did, not sparing himself. Many felt that he looked down on them. Raskolnikov was more sociable and frank with Razumikhin than with others.

He was an unusually cheerful and sociable fellow, kind to the point of simplicity. However, under this simplicity lurked both depth and dignity. The best of his comrades understood this, everyone loved him. He was very clever, although indeed sometimes rustic. His appearance was expressive - tall, thin, always poorly shaven, black-haired ... Raskolnikov had not been with him for four months, and Razumikhin did not even know his apartment. Once, about two months ago, they were about to meet in the street, but Raskolnikov turned away and even crossed over to the other side so that he would not notice him. And although Razumikhin noticed, he passed by, not wanting to disturb his friend.

But unexpectedly for himself, Rodion decided to go to Razumikhin not now, but "after, when it is already over ..." Raskolnikov was horrified by his own decision. He walked aimlessly, wandered around the city for a long time, then turned towards the house and, completely exhausted, went off the road, fell on the grass and fell asleep.

Raskolnikov had a terrible dream. He dreamed of his childhood, still in their town. He is about seven years old and walks on a holiday, in the evening, with his father outside the city ...

And now he dreams: they are walking with their father along the road to the cemetery and pass by a tavern; he holds his father by the hand and looks around fearfully at the tavern. Near the porch of the tavern there is a cart, but a strange cart...

Harnessed to such a large wagon was a small, skinny, savage peasant nag, one of those who - he often saw it - sometimes tear themselves with some tall load of firewood or hay ...

But then suddenly it becomes very noisy: they come out of the tavern with shouts, with songs, with balalaikas, drunk, drunk, big, drunken men in red and blue shirts, with Armenians on the back. “Sit down, everyone sit down! - shouts one, still young, with such a thick neck and with a fleshy, red, like a carrot face, - I'll take everyone, get in! But immediately there is laughter and exclamations...

Everyone climbs into Mikolkin's cart with laughter and witticisms. Six people climbed in, and more can be planted. They take with them one woman, fat and ruddy. She is in kumachs, in a beaded kichka, cats on her legs, clicks nuts and chuckles.

Two guys in the cart immediately take a whip to help Mikolka. It is heard: “Well!”, the nag jerks with all her might, but not only jumping, but even a little bit can manage with a step, she only minces her feet, grunts and crouches from the blows of three whips that fall on her like peas. Laughter doubles in the cart and in the crowd, but Mikolka becomes angry and in a rage flogs the mare with rapid blows, as if she really believes that she will gallop ...

Daddy, daddy, - he shouts to his father, - daddy, what are they doing? Daddy, the poor horse is being beaten!

Let's go, let's go! - says the father, - drunk, naughty, fools: let's go, don't look! - and wants to take him away, but he breaks out of his hands and, not remembering himself, runs to the horse. But it's bad for the poor horse. She gasps, stops, jerks again, almost falls.

Seki to death! - shouts Mikolka, - for that matter. I'll catch!..

Two guys from the crowd take out another whip and run to the horse to flog it from the sides. Everyone runs on their own side...

He runs beside the horse, he runs ahead, he sees how she is whipped in the eyes, in the very eyes! He is crying. His heart rises, tears flow ... She is already with her last efforts, but once again begins to kick ...

And to those goblin! Mikolka screams in rage. He throws the whip, bends down and pulls out a long and thick shaft from the bottom of the cart, takes it by the end in both hands and with an effort swings over the savraska...

There is a heavy blow...

And Mikolka swings another time, and another blow from all over falls on the back of the unfortunate nag. She settles all over her backside, but jumps up and pulls, pulls from all last strength in different directions to take out; but from all sides they take it in six whips, and the shaft rises again and falls for the third time, then for the fourth, measuredly, with a swing. Mikolka is furious that he cannot kill with one blow...

Eh, eat those mosquitoes! Make way! - Mikolka screams furiously, throws the shaft, again bends down into the cart and pulls out the iron crowbar. - Watch out! - he shouts and with all his strength he stuns his poor horse with a flourish. The blow collapsed; the filly staggered, sank down, was about to pull, but the crowbar again fell on her back with all his might, and she fell to the ground, as if all four legs had been cut at once ...

Mikolka stands on the side and begins to beat in vain on the back with a crowbar. The nag stretches its muzzle, sighs heavily and dies...

But the poor boy no longer remembers himself. With a cry, he makes his way through the crowd to Savraska, grabs her dead, bloodied muzzle and kisses her, kisses her in the eyes, on the lips ... Then he suddenly jumps up and in a frenzy rushes with his little fists at Mikolka. At this moment, his father, who had been chasing him for a long time, finally grabs him and carries him out of the crowd.

Let's go to! let's go to! - he says to him, - let's go home!

Daddy! Why did they...poor horse...kill! he sobs, but his breath is taken away, and the words scream out from his tight chest.

Drunk, naughty, none of our business, let's go! - says the father. He wraps his arms around his father, but his chest is tight, tight. He wants to catch his breath, scream, and wakes up...

He woke up covered in sweat, his hair wet with sweat, gasping for breath, and he sat up in horror.

Thank God it's only a dream! he said, sitting down under a tree and taking a deep breath. - But what is it? Is it possible that a fever is beginning in me: such an ugly dream!

His whole body was, as it were, broken; vague and dark at heart. He rested his elbows on his knees and propped his head on both hands.

"God! he exclaimed; hide, all covered in blood ... with an ax ... Lord, really?

He trembled like a leaf as he said this.

No, I can't stand it, I can't stand it! Even if there are no doubts in all these calculations, be it all that is decided this month, clear as day, fair as arithmetic. God! After all, I still do not dare! I won’t endure, I won’t endure!

Reflecting, Rodion came to the conclusion that he would not be able to take an ax and hit him on the head, that he was not capable of this. That thought made his heart feel a lot better.

Passing through the bridge, he quietly and calmly looked at the Neva, at the bright sunset of the bright, red sun. Despite his weakness, he did not even feel tired in himself. It was as if an abscess in his heart, which had been abscessing for the whole month, suddenly burst. Freedom, freedom! He is now free from these charms, from sorcery, charm, from obsession!

Later, when Rodion recalled this time and everything that happened to him, he could not understand why he, tired and exhausted, needed to return home through Sennaya Square, although it was possible to take a shorter route. And this circumstance seemed to Raskolnikov "the predestination of his fate."

He passed near Sennaya Square at about ten o'clock in the evening. All the merchants closed their establishments and hurried home, ignoring the young man in rags. At one of the lanes, a tradesman and his wife, who traded in threads, scarves, ribbons, etc., were talking with a friend - Lizaveta Ivanovna, the younger sister of Alena Ivanovna, the same old pawnbroker, to whom Raskolnikov came to pawn his things and whom he so often remembered.

She was a tall, clumsy, timid and humble girl, almost an idiot, thirty-five years old, who was in complete slavery to her sister, worked for her day and night, trembled before her and even suffered beatings from her. She stood in thought with a bundle in front of the tradesman and woman and listened attentively to them. They were interpreting something to her with particular fervor. When Raskolnikov suddenly saw her, some strange feeling, similar to the deepest amazement, seized him, although there was nothing amazing in this meeting.

The tradesman and his wife invited Lizaveta to come to them tomorrow evening to discuss some profitable business. Lizaveta hesitated for a long time, but then agreed.

For Raskolnikov, her consent was of particular importance. This meant that tomorrow at seven o'clock in the evening the old pawnbroker would be left at home alone. Rodion came home “as if sentenced to death” ... He could not think or reason about anything, and realized that everything had been finally decided - he had a chance, better than which one could not wish.

Later, Raskolnikov accidentally found out that the tradesman and his wife invited Lizaveta to their place for the most ordinary business: one poor family was selling things, and since it was unprofitable to trade in the market, they were looking for a merchant. For Lizaveta, this was a common activity. But for Raskolnikov, who has recently become superstitious, this was a special event, a sign from above. Even in winter, one of the fellow students told Rodion the address of the old pawnbroker. Raskolnikov did not go to her right away, because he gave lessons and he had something to live on. But after a while he remembered the address of the old woman and decided to pawn her father's silver watch and a ring with pebbles, which his sister had given him as a keepsake. Having found the old woman, Rodion at first sight "felt an irresistible disgust for her."

On the way home, he went into a tavern, where he heard a conversation between an officer and a student about this same old woman and her half-sister. The student said that Lizaveta was very kind and meek, she worked for the old woman day and night, she sewed clothes to order and even hired to wash the floors, she gave all the money to her sister, and the old woman, according to her will, was not going to leave her a penny.

“I would have killed and robbed this old woman ... without any backlash of conscience,” he added. So many people disappear without support, how much good can be done with the old woman's money! What does the life of this ... evil old woman mean on the general scales?

The main thing that the student was surprised and laughed at was that Lizaveta was pregnant every minute ...

However, when the officer asked the interlocutor if he himself could kill the old woman, he answered "no." That tavern conversation had a strong effect on Raskolnikov - "as if there really was some kind of predestination, an indication."

When Raskolnikov returned home, he sat on the sofa and sat in one position for an hour. It was already dark outside. After some time, the young man felt chills, lay down on the sofa and fell asleep. Nastasya, who came in to see him the next morning, could hardly wake him up. She brought him tea and bread. Rodion tried to get up, but feeling weak and headache fell on the sofa. After dinner, Nastasya brought him soup and found him in the same state. Left alone, he ate some soup, lay down on the sofa and, with his face buried in the pillow, lay for a while without moving. Vague pictures appeared in his morbid imagination: that he was in Africa, in an oasis where palm trees grow; drinking from the stream clean clear water that runs on the sand...

Suddenly he distinctly heard the clock strike. He shuddered, came to himself, raised his head, looked out the window, realized the time, and suddenly jumped up, completely coming to his senses, as if someone had torn him off the sofa. On tiptoe he approached the door, opened it softly, and began listening down the stairs...

However, there were few preparations... Firstly, it was necessary to make a noose and sew it to the coat - a matter of minutes. He reached under the pillow and found in the linen stuffed under it one, completely fallen apart, old, unwashed shirt. From her rags he tore out a braid, a vershok wide and eight vershoks long. He folded this braid in half, took off his wide, strong summer coat made of some thick paper material (his only outer dress) and began to sew both ends of the braid under his left armpit from the inside. His hands were shaking while sewing, but he prevailed, and so that nothing could be seen from the outside when he again put on his coat. The needle and thread had already been prepared for a long time and lay in the table, in a piece of paper. As for the noose, it was a very clever invention of his own: the noose was assigned to the axe.

Having finished with this, he put his fingers into a small gap between his "Turkish" sofa and the floor, rummaged around the left corner and pulled out a pawn that had long been prepared and hidden there. This pawn, however, was not a pawn at all, but simply a wooden, smoothly planed plank, no larger and thicker than a silver cigarette box could be ... This was in order to distract the old woman's attention for a while, when she began to fiddle with the bundle , and thus seize a minute. The iron plate was added for weight, so that the old woman, at least for the first minute, would not guess that the “thing” was wooden. All this was kept by him until the time under the sofa ...

He rushed to the door, listened, grabbed his hat and began to go down his thirteen steps, carefully, inaudibly, like a cat. The most important thing was to steal an ax from the kitchen. The fact that the matter must be done with an ax was decided by him a long time ago ...

So, it was only necessary to slowly enter, when the time came, into the kitchen and take the ax, and then, an hour later (when everything was already over), go in and put it back ...

Coming level with the hostess’s kitchen, which was wide open as always, he cautiously squinted into it with his eyes in order to look first: whether the hostess herself was there, in the absence of Nastasya, and if not, whether the doors in her room were well locked, so that she, too, would like to didn’t she look out from there when he came in for an ax? But what was his astonishment when he suddenly saw that Nastasya was not only at home this time, in her kitchen, but was also busy taking out laundry from the basket and hanging it on the clothesline! Seeing him, she stopped hanging, turned to him and looked at him all the time as he passed. He averted his eyes and walked on as if not noticing anything. But it was over: no ax! He was terribly amazed.

“And where did I get the idea,” he thought, going under the gate, “why did I get the idea that she would certainly not be at home at that moment? Why, why, why did I so surely decide this? He was crushed, even somehow humiliated. He wanted to laugh at himself with anger... Dumb, bestial malice boiled in him.

He paused in thought under the gate. To go out into the street, so, for the sake of appearance, to walk, he was disgusted; going back home is even more disgusting. "And what a chance forever lost!" he muttered, standing aimlessly under the gate, directly opposite the porter's dark closet, also open. Suddenly he started. From the janitor's closet, which was two steps away from him, from under the bench to the right, something flashed into his eyes... He looked around - no one. On tiptoe he approached the porter's room, descended two steps, and called out to the porter in a feeble voice. “So it is, no home! Somewhere close, however, in the yard, because the door is wide open. He rushed headlong to the ax (it was an ax) and pulled it out from under the bench, where it lay between two logs; immediately, without leaving, he fastened it to the noose, thrust both hands into his pockets, and left the porter's room; nobody noticed! "Not reason, so demon!" he thought, smiling strangely. This incident cheered him up tremendously...

But here is the fourth floor, here is the door, here is the apartment opposite; that empty. On the third floor, according to all signs, the apartment, which is directly under the old woman, is also empty: the visiting card, nailed to the door with nails, has been removed - they have left! .. He was suffocating. For a moment, the thought flashed through his mind: “Should I leave?” But he did not give himself an answer and began to listen in the old woman's apartment: dead silence. Then he listened once more down the stairs, listened for a long time, attentively... He could not restrain himself, slowly stretched out his hand to the bell and rang. Half a minute later he rang again, louder.

No answer. There was nothing to call in vain, and he didn’t suit the figure. The old woman, of course, was at home, but she was suspicious and alone. He partly knew her habits... and once again put his ear firmly against the door. Whether his feelings were so sophisticated (which is generally difficult to imagine), or it was really very audible, but suddenly he distinguished, as it were, a careful rustle of his hand at the lock handle and, as it were, the rustle of a dress against the very door. Someone was standing inconspicuously at the very castle and, just as he was here, outside, listening, hiding from the inside and, it seems, also putting his ear to the door ...

A moment later, I heard that the constipation was being relieved. The door, as then, opened by a tiny crack, and again two sharp and incredulous glances stared at him from the darkness. Seeing that she was standing across the door and not letting him pass, he went straight for her. She jumped back in fright, wanted to say something, but seemed unable and looked at him with all her eyes.

Hello, Alena Ivanovna,” he began as freely as possible, but his voice did not obey him, broke off and trembled, “I ... brought you a thing ... yes, it’s better to come here ... to the light ... - And, leaving her, he went straight into the room without invitation. The old woman ran after him; her tongue loosened.

God! What do you want? .. Who is this? What do you want?

Excuse me, Alena Ivanovna ... your friend ... Raskolnikov ... here, he brought the pawn that he promised the other day ... - And he held out the pawn to her.

The old woman looked at the pawn, but immediately fixed her eyes straight into the eyes of the intruder. She looked attentively, viciously and incredulously.

What are you looking at, don't you know? he said suddenly, also with malice. - If you want to take it, but not - I'll go to others, I have no time.

The old woman came to her senses, and the resolute tone of the guest evidently encouraged her.

Why are you, father, so suddenly ... what is it? she asked, looking at the pawn.

Silver Cigarette: I told you last time.

She held out her hand.

Yes something you what pale? Here are the hands trembling! Did you bathe, or what, father?

Fever, he answered curtly. “Involuntarily you will become pale ... if there is nothing to eat,” he added, barely uttering the words. Strength again left him. But the answer seemed plausible; the old woman took the bet.

What's happened? she asked, once more intently examining Raskolnikov and weighing the pawn on her hand.

Thing... cigarette case... silver... look...

Trying to untie the cord and turning towards the window, towards the light (all her windows were locked, in spite of the closeness), she left him completely for a few seconds and stood back to him. He unbuttoned his overcoat and released the ax from its noose, but he did not yet take it out completely, but only held it with his right hand under his clothes. His arms were terribly weak; he himself heard how they, with every moment, became more and more dumb and stiff. He was afraid that he would release and drop the ax ... suddenly his head seemed to be spinning.

What is he up to here! the old woman exclaimed in annoyance and moved in his direction.

There was not a single moment to be lost. He took out the ax completely, waved it with both hands, hardly feeling himself, and almost without effort, almost mechanically, lowered the butt on his head. It was as if his strength was not there. But as soon as he once lowered the ax, then strength was born in him. The old woman, as always, was fair-haired. Her blond, grizzled, thin hair, oiled as usual, was plaited into a rat's pigtail and tucked under a fragment of a horn comb sticking out at the back of her head. The blow fell on the very top of the head, which was facilitated by her small stature. She screamed, but very weakly, and suddenly she sank down to the floor, although she still had time to raise both hands to her head. In one hand she still continued to hold the “mortgage”. Then he struck with all his strength once and twice, all with the butt and all on the crown of the head. Blood gushed out as if from an overturned glass, and the body fell backwards. He stepped back, let her fall, and immediately bent down to her face; she was already dead. The eyes were bulging, as if they wanted to jump out, and the forehead and the whole face were wrinkled and contorted by a spasm.

Putting the ax near the dead, Raskolnikov reached into her pocket, from which she usually took out the keys. Trying not to get dirty with blood, with trembling hands he took out the keys and ran with them into the bedroom. When he tried to open the chest of drawers against the wall with the keys, the thought flashed through his mind that he needed to drop everything and leave. Then he suddenly thought that Alena Ivanovna might be alive, ran up to her and made sure that she was dead.

Suddenly he noticed a cord on her neck, pulled it, but the cord was strong and did not break ... After a two-minute fuss, he cut the cord, without touching the body with an ax, and took it off; he was not mistaken - a wallet. On the cord were two crosses, cypress and copper, and, in addition, an enamel scapular; and right there with them hung a small, suede, greasy purse, with a steel rim and a ring. The purse was very tightly stuffed; Raskolnikov put it in his pocket without examining it, dropped the crosses on the old woman's chest, and, this time seizing the ax as well, rushed back into the bedroom.

He was in a terrible hurry, grabbed the keys and again began to fiddle with them. But somehow everything was unsuccessful: they did not invest in locks ... He threw the chest of drawers and immediately crawled under the bed, knowing that old women usually put stacks under the beds. And so it is: there was a significant stack, more than a arshin in length, with a convex roof, upholstered in red morocco, with steel carnations stuck on it. The toothed key just fell in and unlocked ... Between the rags were mixed golden things - probably all the mortgages, redeemed and not redeemed - bracelets, chains, earrings, pins and so on. Without any hesitation, he began stuffing the pockets of his trousers and overcoat with them, without dismantling or opening the bundles and cases; but he didn't get much...

Suddenly it was heard that people were walking in the room where the old woman was. He stopped and fell silent as if dead. But everything was quiet, so it seemed like a dream. Suddenly, a slight cry was distinctly heard, or as if someone groaned softly and abruptly and fell silent. Then dead silence again, for a minute or two. He was squatting by the chest and waiting, barely taking a breath, but suddenly jumped up, grabbed an ax and ran out of the bedroom. In the middle of the room stood Lizaveta, with a large bundle in her hands, and looked in a daze at her murdered sister, all white as a sheet and as if unable to scream. Seeing him run out, she trembled like a leaf, with a slight shudder, and convulsions ran over her whole face; she raised her hand, opened her mouth, but still did not scream, and slowly, backwards, began to move away from him into a corner, intently, point-blank, looking at him, but still without screaming, as if she did not have enough air to scream. He rushed at her with an axe; her lips twisted so plaintively, like those of very young children, when they begin to be frightened of something, stare intently at an object that frightens them and are about to scream ... She only slightly raised her free left hand, far from the face, and slowly extended it forward to him, as if pushing him away. The blow fell directly on the skull, with a point, and immediately cut through the entire upper part of the forehead, almost to the crown of the head. She collapsed like that. Raskolnikov was completely at a loss, grabbed her bundle, threw it again and ran into the hallway.

Fear seized him more and more, especially after this second, completely unexpected murder. He wanted to run away from here as soon as possible... His hands were bloody and sticky. He lowered the ax with its blade straight into the water, grabbed a piece of soap lying on the window, on a broken saucer, and began, right in the bucket, to wash his hands. Having washed them, he pulled out the ax, washed the iron, and for a long time, about three minutes, washed the tree where it was bleeding, even tasting the blood with soap. Then he wiped everything off with linen, which was immediately dried on a rope stretched across the kitchen, and then for a long time, with attention, he examined the ax by the window. There were no traces left, only the shaft was still damp. Carefully he put the ax in the loop, under the coat. Then, as far as the light in the dim kitchen allowed, he examined the coat, trousers, boots ...

He stood, staring, and could not believe his eyes: the door, the outer door, from the hallway to the stairs, the very one into which he had just rung and entered, stood open, even half open by a whole hand: no lock, no lock, all the time, in all this time... He rushed to the door and locked it.

“But no, not that again! Gotta go, go..."

He was about to take a step onto the stairs, when suddenly someone's new steps were heard again ... The steps were heavy, even, unhurried. Now he passed the first floor, now he went up again; more and more heard! I heard a heavy shortness of breath entering. So the third one has begun ... Here! And suddenly it seemed to him that he was as if ossified, that it was as if in a dream, when he dreamed that they were catching up, close, they wanted to kill, but he himself seemed to be rooted to the spot and it was impossible to move his hands.

When the guest had already begun to go up to the fourth floor, it was only then that he all of a sudden started up and managed to quickly and deftly slip back from the entrance into the apartment and close the door behind him. Then he grabbed the lock and quietly, inaudibly, planted it on the noose. The instinct helped. Having finished everything, he hid without breathing, right now at the door. The uninvited guest was already at the door too...

The guest rested heavily several times... As soon as the tinny sound of a bell tinkled, it suddenly seemed to him that there was a stir in the room. For a few seconds he even listened seriously. The stranger tinkled again, waited some more, and suddenly, impatiently, with all his strength began to pull the handle at the door. Raskolnikov looked in horror at the hook of the lock jumping in the loop and waited with dull fear that the lock was about to jump out ...

Why are they there, are they sleeping or who strangled them? Damned! he roared like a barrel. - Hey, Alena Ivanovna, old witch! Lizaveta Ivanovna, beauty indescribable! Open up! Damn, are they sleeping, or what?

And again, in a frenzy, he pulled the bell ten times at once, with all his urine. Of course, he was a powerful man and short in the house.

At that very moment, suddenly small, hasty footsteps were heard not far away on the stairs. Someone else came up. Raskolnikov did not hear at first.

Is there no one? - the newcomer shouted loudly and cheerfully, directly addressing the first visitor, who still continued to pull the bell. Hello Koh!

The visitors began to discuss why the door was not opened, because the old woman rarely left the house. When they decided to turn to the janitor to find out where the old woman might be, one of the visitors noticed that the door was locked from the inside. They came to the conclusion that something was wrong, and one of them ran downstairs for the janitor. The second visitor, after waiting for some time, also left.

Raskolnikov left the apartment, hid in an empty apartment on the third floor, waited until the visitors with the janitor climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and ran out of the house into the street. Dying with fear, he walked "in a fuzzy memory", not understanding what was happening around. Approaching his house, he remembered the ax, put it in its place in the janitor's room, where again there was no one. Once in his room, Raskolnikov threw himself exhausted on the sofa and fell into oblivion.

"Crime and Punishment" F.M. Dostoevsky is a voluminous classical work that raises questions about the moral nature of man, his relationship with the outside world, the existence of moral values ​​and norms.

At the end of the story about the life of Rodion Raskolnikov, the thought is heard that no ideas can justify the murder of a person. This is exactly what is displayed in the article with the shortest content of the great novel.

You can check out summary chapters and parts of the novel "Crime and Punishment".

Part 1

1. Student Rodion Raskolnikov owed the landlady a large amount of money for housing. In order to find funds to pay off the debt, Raskolnikov decides to kill the old woman, the pawnbroker Alena Ivanovna.

   He ponders the “mysterious case”, trying to answer the question “Am I a trembling creature or have a right?”. Taking things with him for bail, Raskolnikov goes up to the old woman's apartment and carefully looks around, trying to remember the situation.

   Tormented by thoughts that what he had planned is “dirty and disgusting,” the young man goes to the tavern.

2. Raskolnikov's drinking buddy becomes the official Marmeladov. He complains to the student about his position, but clarifies that “poverty is not a vice”, but poverty is “poverty is a vice”, for which they are “expelled from society with a broom”.

   The official talks about his family life- about his wife, who has three children from a previous marriage and went to Marmeladov out of hopelessness, and about her own daughter Sonechka, who was forced to earn money on the panel due to lack of livelihood.

   Marmeladov gets drunk, and Rodion takes him home, where he becomes an involuntary witness to a family scandal.

3. Raskolnikov is in his room, a "tiny closet", where he reads a letter from his mother. In it, a woman complains that Rodion's sister Dunya was groundlessly insulted and fired by Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova, for whom she worked as a governess.

   However, after Arkady Svidrigailov's honest confession to his wife, the former mistress apologized to Dunya and introduced her to everyone as an honest and prudent girl. This story attracted the attention of adviser Pyotr Luzhin, who wooed Dunya.

   There is no love between them, and the difference in age is great (Luzhin is 45 years old), but the fact that he has a “small capital” decides the matter. Mother writes that she will soon arrive with Dunya in St. Petersburg to prepare for the wedding.

4. The mother's letter makes a strong impression on Rodion. He wanders aimlessly through the streets, contemplating the fate of his sister. He understands that the reason for the marriage is only the plight of his relatives and is looking for ways to help Dunya.

   His thoughts again lead him to the idea of ​​killing the pawnbroker. During a walk, the student sees a disgusting scene - a young drunk girl - a teenager is molested by some boor.

   Raskolnikov stands up for her, but he does not let go of the thought that such a fate awaits many poor girls. The student goes to his university friend Razumikhin for advice and help.

5. Razumikhin promises to help Raskolnikov find private lessons. But Rodion decides to do this after, "when it's already over and when everything goes in a new way."

   On the way home, the young man goes into a tavern to have a bite to eat and drink a glass of vodka, because of which he gets drunk and falls asleep right on the street under a bush. Further, "Raskolnikov's Dream about the Horse" is described.

   Waking up in a cold sweat, the student decides that he is not ready to kill - this was once again proved by his nightmare. But on the way he meets Lizaveta, the unhealthy sister of Alena Ivanovna, with whom they live together.

   Raskolnikov hears Lizaveta being called to visit and realizes that tomorrow she will not be at home. This leads him to think that a good moment is coming for the execution of his "secret business" and that "everything is suddenly decided completely."

6. The chapter tells about the history of Raskolnikov's acquaintance with the pawnbroker. His friend Pokorev once gave him the old woman's address in case he needed to pawn something for money.

   From the very first meeting, the pawnbroker disgusts Raskolnikov, because she profits from people who are in trouble. Moreover, he learns about the unfair attitude of the old woman towards her sister, who is not sane in mind.

   Sitting in a tavern, a student hears a conversation where one of the strangers declares that he is ready to kill the “old witch”, but not for profit, but “for justice”, and that such people are not worthy to live on earth.

   Returning to his closet, Rodion ponders his decision and falls asleep. In the morning he gets up with full readiness to fulfill his plan. The young man sews a loop to the inside of his coat so that the ax can be hidden.

   He steals the ax himself in the janitor's room. He takes out a hidden “mortgage”, which should become a pretext for going to the old woman, and resolutely sets off on his way.

7. Raskolnikov at the old woman's house. The pawnbroker, unaware of anything, is trying to examine the cigarette that the student brought for a mortgage and is getting closer to the light, with her back to her killer. At this time, Raskolnikov raises an ax and hits her on the head with it.

   The old woman falls, and the student searches the pockets of her clothes. He gets the keys to the chest in the bedroom, opens it, and begins collecting "wealth" by stuffing the pockets of his jacket and coat. Suddenly, Lizaveta returns. Raskolnikov, without hesitation, rushes at her with an ax.

   Only after this, the young man is horrified by what he has done. He tries to destroy the traces, washes away the blood, but he hears someone approaching the apartment. The doorbell is ringing. Raskolnikov does not answer. Those who came understand that something happened to the old woman and leave for the janitor.

   After waiting until no one is left on the stairs, Raskolnikov heads home, where he leaves the ax in its original place, and he himself throws himself on the bed and falls into unconsciousness.

Part 2

• Only at three o'clock in the afternoon Raskolnikov comes to his senses. He is close to insanity. Noticing that drops of blood remained on it, Rodion washes the soiled boot and meticulously examines himself. After that, he hides the stolen things, and he falls asleep again.

  He is awakened by the janitor's knock on the door - the young man is called to the police. Panicked by the expectation of being charged with murder, the student heads to the department, but it turns out that he was called on the complaint of the landlady because of the housing debt.

  At this time, there is a conversation nearby about the murder of a pawnbroker. Hearing the details, Rodion faints.

• Returning home, Raskolnikov decides to get rid of the old woman's jewelry, "loads his pockets with them" and goes towards the Neva. However, fearing witnesses, he does not throw them into the water, but finds a deaf courtyard and hides everything under a stone.

  At the same time, the young man does not take a penny from his wallet, considering it "nasty." Raskolnikov goes to visit Razumikhin. He notices that a friend is sick, is in an excited state and offers help.

  But Rodion refuses and returns home delirious, almost falling under a carriage.

• After spending several days delirious, Rodion comes to his senses and sees Razumikhin, the landlady's cook Nastasya and an unfamiliar guy in a caftan in his room. The guy turns out to be an artel worker who brought a transfer from his mother - 35 rubles.

  Razumikhin says that during Raskolnikov's illness, a medical student Zosimov examined him, but did not find anything serious. The young man worries if he said something superfluous in delirium and makes his friend retell his statements.

  Realizing that no one guessed anything, Raskolnikov falls asleep again, and Razumikhin decides to buy new clothes for a friend with the money received.

• For the next examination of the patient comes Zosimov. During the visit, it comes to the murder of an old woman and her sister. Raskolnikov reacts very badly to these conversations, but tries to hide it by turning his back to the wall.

  Meanwhile, it turns out that the dyer Nikolai, who worked on the renovation of a neighbor's apartment, has been arrested. He brought gold earrings from the old woman's chest for payback in the tavern.

  Nikolay is detained on suspicion of the murder of a pawnbroker, but the police have no reliable evidence.

• Luzhin, the fiancé of Dunya's sister, comes to visit Rodion. Raskolnikov reproaches the man for wanting to take advantage of the girl's plight and forcibly marries her to himself.

  Luzhin is trying to justify himself. During the conversation, the topic of crime is also raised. There is a quarrel. Luzhin leaves, and friends notice that Rodion doesn’t really care about anything, “except for one point that makes him lose his temper: murder ...”.

• Left alone, Raskolnikov decides to go outside. Putting on a new dress, the young man wanders the streets, enters a tavern and meets Zametov there, the clerk at the police station, who was present when Rodion fainted.

  Raskolnikov behaves very strangely, laughs, grimaces and almost directly confesses to the murder of the old woman. Leaving the tavern, the student continues his aimless walk around the city.

  Without noticing it, the young man approaches the old woman's house, where he begins to talk about what happened and leaves only after the janitor shouts.

• Raskolnikov sees the crowd - the horse crushed the man. Rodion recognizes old Marmeladov in the victim. Finding himself at the official's house, Raskolnikov sends for a doctor and meets Sonechka.

  The doctor cannot help in any way and, having asked for forgiveness from his daughter, Marmeladov dies. Raskolnikov gives the widow all the remaining money and returns home, where he is met by his mother and sister who came to visit. At the sight of them, the young man loses consciousness.

Part 3

1. The mother, worried about her son's condition, wants to stay to look after him. But Rodion does not allow and begins to persuade Dunya not to marry Luzhin.

   Razumikhin, who was visiting all this time, was captivated by the beauty and grace of Dunya. He promises good care for their son and brother and persuades the women to return to the inn.

2. Razumikhin cannot forget Dunya and goes to their rooms. During his visit, a conversation about Luzhin comes up. The mother shows a letter in which the future groom asks for a meeting, insisting that Rodion is not there.

   Luzhin also complains that he gave all the money to his mother Sonechka Marmeladova, "a girl of notorious behavior." The women, together with Razumikhin, go to Raskolnikov.

3. The young man feels better. He himself tells the story of the deceased Marmeladov and his daughter, and his mother shows him Luzhin's letter.

   Rodion is offended by this attitude of Pyotr Petrovich, but he advises his relatives to act according to their own understanding. Dunya confesses his sympathy for Razumikhin and insists on the presence of him and his brother at a meeting with Luzhin.

4. Sonya Marmeladova comes to Raskolnikov's room to thank him for his help and invite him to his father's funeral. Mother and Dunya meet a girl. Sonya looks pathetic and feels embarrassed.

   Raskolnikov agrees to come and offers to take the girl home. An unfamiliar man, who turns out to be her neighbor Svidrigailov, is watching all this. Raskolnikov returns home and, together with Razumikhin, goes to the investigator Porfiry Petrovich.

   His friends want to know about the fate of Razumikhin's silver watch, which was pawned by the murdered old woman. Raskolnikov, knowing full well where the clock is, again falls into nervous excitement, laughs out loud and behaves strangely.

5. At the investigator's friends find Zosimov. He is confused by something and looks at Raskolnikov in confusion. During the conversation, it turns out that Rodion is also among the suspects, since he was a client of the pawnbroker.

   The investigator is trying to find out when Rodion last visited the old woman's apartment. Razumikhin replies that he was with her three days ago and her friends are leaving. Raskolnikov took a deep breath...

6. Returning home, friends discuss the meeting with the investigator and his accusations against Rodion. Razumikhin is outraged. Raskolnikov understands that Porfiry is "not so stupid." After parting, Razumikhin went to the hotel to Dunya, and Rodion went home.

   He decides to check whether he hid everything exactly and whether there is anything left of the stolen things. Near the house, he meets a stranger who suddenly shouts “Killer!” and hides.

   Raskolnikov goes up to the room, where he begins to reflect on what he has done and falls ill again. Waking up, he finds a man in the room who introduces himself to him as Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov.

Part 4

1. Svidrigailov tells about the death of his wife, and that she bequeathed three thousand to Dunya.

   Arkady Ivanovich asks Raskolnikov to help meet his sister, as he wants to offer her his hand and compensation for the unrest caused. Raskolnikov refuses the request, and Svidrigailov leaves.

2. Raskolnikov and Razumikhin go to a meeting at the hotel. Luzhin also arrives there. He is outraged that the women did not heed his request, refuses to discuss the wedding with Rodion and reproaches Dunya for ingratitude.

   There is also talk about Svidrigailov. Luzhin tells an ugly story in which a young girl died because of this. Calls Svidrigailov "the most depraved and perished in vices man of all such people."

   After, the speech again turns to Dunya, whom Luzhin forces to choose between himself and his brother. They quarrel, and Luzhin leaves.

3. After Luzhin left, everyone is in high spirits. Razumikhin is frankly happy and is already making plans for a happy life together with Dunya, especially since she now has the means.

   Dunya doesn't mind. Rodion will forgive his friend to look after his mother and sister and goes to Sonechka.

4. Sonya lives very poorly, but Rodion notices the "New Testament" on the table in her room. The girl and the boy are talking about the future that awaits Sonya. Her self-sacrifice, meek disposition and faith in good are so striking to Raskolnikov that he bows at her feet.

   The act confuses the girl, but Rodion explains that "I bowed to all human suffering." Before leaving, Raskolnikov promises next time to tell about the murder of the old woman. These words are heard by Svidrigailov.

5. In the morning, Raskolnikov goes to the police station and demands a meeting with Porfiry Petrovich - he wants to return his things that were pledged to the old woman.

   The investigator again tries to interrogate the young man, which infuriates him. Raskolnikov demands to stop his persecution or present evidence of guilt.

6. A strange man enters the office. This is the dyer Nikolay. It can be seen that he is exhausted and intimidated and immediately confesses to the murder of Alena Ivanovna and Lizaveta. Raskolnikov decides to go to the wake of the Marmeladovs.

Part 5

• Luzhin is angry with Rodion and blames him for disrupting the wedding. His pride is wounded, and he decides to take revenge on the young man at all costs.

  Through his neighbor Lebezyatnikov, Luzhin meets Sonechka and offers her money - a gold piece. So far, his plan is unclear, but it is clear that he is up to something dastardly.

• The commemoration at Katerina Ivanovna's was restless. The widow quarreled with the landlady because of the "wrong guests" and she demands that the Marmeladovs move out of the apartment. Luzhin appears during the quarrel.
• Pyotr Petrovich declares that Sonechka stole a hundred rubles from him, and his neighbor Lebezyatnikov will testify to this. The girl is embarrassed and shows the money, trying to explain that Luzhin himself gave her money and not a hundred, but only ten rubles.

  However, the girl is searched and a hundred is found in her pocket. A scandal erupts. Lebezyatnikov assures that Luzhin himself slipped the banknote to the girl, the widow is crying, Luzhin is angry, the hostess demands the immediate release of the apartment.

  Raskolnikov explains Luzhin's act with a desire to quarrel with his mother and sister and, thereby, force Dunya to marry him.

• Raskolnikov is torn between the desire to open up to Sonya and the fear of punishment. In the end, he says that he knows the killer and that everything happened by accident.

  The girl guesses everything, but promises never to leave Raskolnikov and, if necessary, even follow him to hard labor. Sonya says that Rodion needs to "accept suffering and redeem himself with it" - that is, to confess everything. At this time there is a knock on the door.

• This is Lebezyatnikov. He says that Katerina Ivanovna was refused help, she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and is going to beg on the street with her children. Everyone runs out into the street, where they find the widow in an agitated state.

  She does not listen to anyone's persuasion, screams, runs and, as a result, falls with throat bleeding. Katerina Ivanovna is taken to Sonya's room, where she dies. Svidrigailov promises custody of the orphaned children, and Rodion admits that he heard his conversation with Sonya.

Part 6

1. Raskolnikov understands that a catastrophe is coming. His whole life passes in a blur. Katerina Ivanovna was buried, Svidrigailov kept his word and paid for everything. Razumikhin asks Rodion to explain his relationship with his mother and sister, but he lives only with thoughts of his exposure.
2. The investigator pays a visit to Raskolnikov. He bluntly states that he suspects the young man of the murder, but gives him a chance to come with a confession. It turns out that it was precisely at the instigation of Porfiry Petrovich that the stranger shouted “Killer!” in Raskolnikov’s face.

   The investigator wanted to test the suspect's reaction. Leaving, Porfiry gives him two days to think.

3. Raskolnikov meets Svidrigailov in a tavern. The conversation turns to Svidrigailov's late wife, Dunya and the fact that he already has another - a young girl, almost a teenager.

   Immediately, Arkady Ivanovich boasts of a connection with another girl, which causes Raskolnikov to be bewildered and disgusted. Raskolnikov decides to follow Svidrigailov.

4. Having caught up with Arkady, Raskolnikov finds out that he was eavesdropping at Sonechka's door and knows who the killer is. Svidrigailov advises Rodion to run away, even offers money for the journey. They break up. On the street, Svidrigailov meets Dunya and calls her to him under the pretext of telling her something interesting.

   Entering the apartment, Arkady directly tells Duna that her brother is a killer, but he can save him in exchange for love and relationships. Avdotya does not believe Svidrigailov and tries to leave.

   He intimidates the girl and locks the room with a key. Dunya pulls out a gun and shoots the man. A misfire occurs, Svidrigailov gives the girl the key, takes her revolver and leaves.

5. Svidrigailov spent the whole night in taverns, and in the morning he turned up to Sonya. He gives the girl three thousand rubles so that she arranges her life and says that now Raskolnikov is either death or hard labor.

   Sonechka takes the money and asks Arkady not to talk about his suspicions. Svidrigailov goes to the hotel, drinks and falls into a semi-delusional state, where he sees a girl who committed suicide through his fault and the rest of the unfortunate people whom he corrupted.

   Arkady wakes up, goes outside and fires from Dunya's pistol.

6. Raskolnikov visits his sister and mother, asks their forgiveness, confesses his love and says goodbye to them. Dunya agrees that it is necessary to confess to the murder and, thereby, "wash away the sin."

   However, Rodion does not believe that he committed a crime, as he acted in justice. Raskolnikov asks his sister not to leave her mother and be with Razumikhin and leaves.

7. Sonya has been waiting for Rodion all day, worrying that he might do something to himself. In the evening the young man comes to her. He asks for a pectoral cross and Sonechka puts her simple, rustic cross around his neck. She is going to accompany him on his journey.

   However, Raskolnikov does not want this and goes alone. He goes to the crossroads, mingles with the crowd, falls to the ground, cries and kisses her, as Sonya advised him. After that, the young man goes to the police station and confesses to the double murder.

Epilogue