“Youarefondoffighting？”heaskedcarelessly。
“No，notvery，”Svidrigailovanswered，calmly。“AndMarfaPetrovnaandIscarcelyeverfought。Welivedveryharmoniously，andshewasalwayspleasedwithme。Ionlyusedthewhiptwiceinalloursevenyearsnotcountingathirdoccasionofaveryambiguouscharacter。Thefirsttime，twomonthsafterourmarriage，immediatelyafterwearrivedinthecountry，andthelasttimewasthatofwhichwearespeaking。DidyousupposeIwassuchamonster，suchareactionary，suchaslavedriver？Ha，ha！Bytheway，doyouremember，RodionRomanovitch，howafewyearsago，inthosedaysofbeneficentpublicity，anobleman，I’veforgottenhisname，wasputtoshameeverywhere，inallthepapers，forhavingthrashedaGermanwomanintherailwaytrain。Youremember？Itwasinthosedays，thatveryyearIbelieve，the‘disgracefulactionoftheAge’tookplaceyouknow，‘TheEgyptianNights，’thatpublicreading，youremember？Thedarkeyes，youknow！Ah，thegoldendaysofouryouth，wherearethey？。Well，asforthegentlemanwhothrashedtheGerman，Ifeelnosympathywithhim，becauseafterallwhatneedisthereforsympathy？ButImustsaythattherearesometimessuchprovoking‘Germans’thatIdon’tbelievethereisaprogressivewhocouldquiteanswerforhimself。Noonelookedatthesubjectfromthatpointofviewthen，butthat’sthetrulyhumanepointofview，Iassureyou。”
Aftersayingthis，Svidrigailovbrokeintoasuddenlaughagain。Raskolnikovsawclearlythatthiswasamanwithafirmpurposeinhismindandabletokeepittohimself。
“Iexpectyou’venottalkedtoanyoneforsomedays？”heasked。
“Scarcelyanyone。Isupposeyouarewonderingatmybeingsuchanadaptableman？”