Преступление и наказание

           Ratherclumsy,thatistosay,heisamanofpolishedmanners,butImeanclumsyinadifferentsense.Heisanintelligentfellow,verymuchsoindeed,buthehashisownrangeofideas....Heisincredulous,sceptical,cynical...helikestoimposeonpeople,orrathertomakefunofthem.Hisistheold,circumstantialmethod....Butheunderstandshiswork...thoroughly....Lastyearheclearedupacaseofmurderinwhichthepolicehadhardlyaclue.Heisvery,veryanxioustomakeyouracquaintance!”

           “Onwhatgroundsishesoanxious?”

           “Oh,it’snotexactly...yousee,sinceyou’vebeenillIhappentohavementionedyouseveraltimes....So,whenheheardaboutyou...aboutyourbeingalawstudentandnotabletofinishyourstudies,hesaid,‘Whatapity!’AndsoIconcluded...fromeverythingtogether,notonlythat;yesterdayZametov...youknow,Rodya,Italkedsomenonsenseonthewayhometoyouyesterday,whenIwasdrunk...Iamafraid,brother,ofyourexaggeratingit,yousee.”

           “What?ThattheythinkIamamadman?Maybetheyareright,”hesaidwithaconstrainedsmile.

           “Yes,yes....Thatis,pooh,no!...ButallthatIsaid(andtherewassomethingelsetoo)itwasallnonsense,drunkennonsense.”

           “Butwhyareyouapologising?Iamsosickofitall!”Raskolnikovcriedwithexaggeratedirritability.Itwaspartlyassumed,however.

           “Iknow,Iknow,Iunderstand.Believeme,Iunderstand.One’sashamedtospeakofit.”

           “Ifyouareashamed,thendon’tspeakofit.”

           Bothweresilent.