l, not simply your fancy, as you persisted in declaring last
time--"

"Never for one minute have I taken you for reality," Ivan cried with a
sort of fury. "You are a lie, you are my illness, you are a phantom. It's
only that I don't know how to destroy you and I see I must suffer for a
time. You are my hallucination. You are the incarnation of myself, but
only of one side of me ... of my thoughts and feelings, but only the
nastiest and stupidest of them. From that point of view you might be of
interest to me, if only I had time to waste on you--"

"Excuse me, excuse me, I'll catch you. When you flew out at Alyosha under
the lamp-post this evening and shouted to him, 'You learnt it from _him_!
How do you know that _he_ visits me?' you were thinking of me then. So for
one brief moment you did believe that I really exist," the gentleman
laughed blandly.

"Yes, that was a moment of weakness ... but I couldn't believe in you. I
don't know whether I was asleep or awake last time. Perhaps I was only
dreaming then and didn't see you really at all--"

"And why were you so surly with Alyosha just now? He is a dear; I've
treated him badly over Father Zossima."

"Don't talk of Alyosha! How dare you, you flunkey!" Ivan laughed again.

"You scold me, but you laugh--that's a good sign. But you are ever so much
more polite than you were last time and I know why: that great resolution
of yours--"

"Don't speak of my resolution," cried Ivan, savagely.

"I understand, I understand, _c'est noble, c'est charmant_, you are going
to defend your brother and to sacrifice yourself ... _C'est
chevaleresque_."

"Hold your tongue, I'll kick you!"

"I shan't be altogether sorry, for then my object will be attained. If you
kick me, you must believe in my reality, for people don't kick ghosts.
Joking apart, it doesn't matter to me, scold if you like, though it's
better to be a trifle more polite even to me. 'Fool, flunkey!' what
words!"

"Scolding you, I scold myself," Ivan laughed again, "you are myself,
myself, only with a different face. You just say what I am thinking ...
and are incapable of saying anything new!"

"If I am like you in my way of thinking, it's all to my credit," the
gentleman declared, with delicacy and dignity.

"You choose out only my worst thoughts, and what's more, the stupid ones.
You are stupid and vulgar. You are awfully stupid. No, I can't put up with
you! What am I to do, what am I to do?" Ivan said throug