Fyodor Dostoevsky (18211881). Crime and Punishment. The Harvard
Classics Shelf of Fiction. 1917. SIBERIA. On the banks of a
broad solitary river stands a town, one of the administrative
centres of Russia; in the town there is a fortress, in the
fortress there is a prison. In the prison the second-class
convict Rodion Raskolnikov has been confined for nine months.
Almost a year and a half has passed since his crime. There had
been little difficulty about his trial. The criminal adhered
exactly, firmly, and clearly to his statement. He did not
confuse nor misrepresent the facts, nor soften them in his own
interest, nor omit the smallest detail. He explained every
incident of the murder, the secret of the pledge (the piece of
wood with a strip of metal) which was found in the murdered
womans hand. He described minutely how he had taken her keys,
what they were like, as well as the chest and its contents; he
explained the mystery of Lizavetas murder; described how Koch
and, after him, the student knocked, and rep