pay attention: he is a paltry, pitiful devil," he
added suddenly. He ceased laughing and spoke as it were, confidentially.
"He is here somewhere, no doubt--under that table with the material
evidence on it, perhaps. Where should he sit if not there? You see, listen
to me. I told him I don't want to keep quiet, and he talked about the
geological cataclysm ... idiocy! Come, release the monster ... he's been
singing a hymn. That's because his heart is light! It's like a drunken man
in the street bawling how 'Vanka went to Petersburg,' and I would give a
quadrillion quadrillions for two seconds of joy. You don't know me! Oh,
how stupid all this business is! Come, take me instead of him! I didn't
come for nothing.... Why, why is everything so stupid?..."

And he began slowly, and as it were reflectively, looking round him again.
But the court was all excitement by now. Alyosha rushed towards him, but
the court usher had already seized Ivan by the arm.

"What are you about?" he cried, staring into the man's face, and suddenly
seizing him by the shoulders, he flung him violently to the floor. But the
police were on the spot and he was seized. He screamed furiously. And all
the time he was being removed, he yelled and screamed something
incoherent.

The whole court was thrown into confusion. I don't remember everything as
it happened. I was excited myself and could not follow. I only know that
afterwards, when everything was quiet again and every one understood what
had happened, the court usher came in for a reprimand, though he very
reasonably explained that the witness had been quite well, that the doctor
had seen him an hour ago, when he had a slight attack of giddiness, but
that, until he had come into the court, he had talked quite consecutively,
so that nothing could have been foreseen--that he had, in fact, insisted on
giving evidence. But before every one had completely regained their
composure and recovered from this scene, it was followed by another.
Katerina Ivanovna had an attack of hysterics. She sobbed, shrieking
loudly, but refused to leave the court, struggled, and besought them not
to remove her. Suddenly she cried to the President:

"There is more evidence I must give at once ... at once! Here is a
document, a letter ... take it, read it quickly, quickly! It's a letter
from that monster ... that man there, there!" she pointed to Mitya. "It
was he killed his father, you will see that directly. He wrote to m