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 woman's 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 lizaveta's murder; described how koch and, after him, the student knocked, and repeated all they had said to one another; how he afterwards had run downstairs and heard nikolay and dmitri shouting; how he had hidden in the empty flat and afterwards gone home. he ended by indicating the stone in the yard off the voznesensky prospect under which the purse and the trinkets were found. the whole thing, in fact, was perfectly clear. the lawyers and the judges were very much struck, among other things, by the fact that he had hidden the trinkets and the purse under a stone, without making use of them, and that, what was more, he did not now remember what the trinkets were like, or even how many there were. the fact that he had never opened the purse and did not even know how much was in it seemed incredible. there turned out to be in the purse three hundred and seventeen roubles and sixty copecks. from being so long under the stone, some of the most valuable notes lying uppermost had suffered from the damp. they were a long while trying to discover why the accused man should tell a lie about this, when about everything else he had made a truthful and straightforward confession. finally some of the lawyers more versed in psychology admitted that it was possible he had really not looked into the purse, and so didn't know what was in it when he hid it under the stone. but they immediately drew the deduction that the crime could only have been committed through temporary mental derangement, through homicidal mania, without object or the pursuit of gain. this fell in with the most recent fashionable theory of temporary insanity, so often applied in our days in criminal cases. moreover raskolnikov's hypochondriacal condition was proved by many witnesses, by dr. zossimov, his former fellow students, his landlady and her servant. all this pointed strongly to the conclusion that raskolnikov was not quite like an ordinary murderer and robber, but that there was another element in the case.
to the intense annoyance of those who maintained this opinion, the criminal scarcely attempted to defend himself. to the decisive question as to what motive impelled him to the murder and the robbery, he answered very clearly with the coarsest frankness that the cause was his miserable position, his poverty and helplessness, and his desire to provide for his first steps in life by the help of the three thousand roubles he had reckoned on finding. he had been led to the murder through his shallow and cowardly nature, exasperated moreover by privation and failure. to the question what led him to confess, he answered that it was his heartfelt repentance. all this was almost coarse. . . .
the sentence however was more merciful than could have been expected, perhaps partly because the criminal had not tried to justify himself, but had rather shown a desire to exaggerate his guilt. all the strange and peculiar circumstances of the crime were taken into consideration. there could be no doubt of the abnormal and poverty-stricken condition of the criminal at the time. the fact that he had made no use of what he had stolen was put down partly to the effect of remorse, partly to his abnormal mental condition at the time of the crime. incidentally the murder of lizaveta served indeed to confirm the last hypothesis: a man commits two murders and forgets that the door is open! finally, the confession, at the very moment when the case was hopelessly muddled by the false evidence given by nikolay through melancholy and fanaticism, and when, moreover, there were no proofs against the real criminal, no suspicions even (porfiry petrovitch fully kept his word) --all this did much to soften the sentence. other circumstances, too, in the prisoner's favour came out quite unexpectedly. razumihin somehow discovered and proved that while raskolnikov was at the university he had helped a poor consumptive fellow student and had spent his last penny on supporting him for six months, and when this student died, leaving a decrepit old father whom he had maintained almost from his thirteenth year, raskolnikov had got the old man into a hospital and paid for his funeral when he died. raskolnikov's landlady bore witness, too, that when they had lived in another house at five corners, raskolnikov had rescued two little children from a house on fire and was burnt in doing so. this was investigated and fairly well confirmed by many witnesses. these facts made an impression in his favour.
and in the end the criminal was, in consideration of extenuating circumstances, condemned to penal servitude in the second class for a term of eight years only.
at the very beginning of the trial raskolnikov's mother fell ill. dounia and razumihin found it possible to get her out of petersburg during the trial. razumihin chose a town on the railway not far from petersburg, so as to be able to follow every step of the trial and at the same time to see avdotya romanovna as often as possible. pulcheria alexandrovna's illness was a strange nervous one and was accompanied by a partial derangement of her intellect.
when dounia returned from her last interview with her brother, she had found her mother already ill, in feverish delirium. that evening razumihin and she agreed what answers they must make to her mother's questions about raskolnikov and made up a complete story for her mother's benefit of his having to go away to a distant part of russia on a business commission, which would bring him in the end money and reputation.
but they were struck by the fact that pulcheria alexandrovna never asked them anything on the subject, neither then nor thereafter. on the contrary, she had her own version of her son's sudden departure; she told them with tears how he had come to say good-bye to her, hinting that she alone knew many mysterious and important facts, and that rodya had many very powerful enemies, so that it was necessary for him to be in hiding. as for his future career, she had no doubt that it would be brilliant when certain sinister influences could be removed. she assured razumihin that her son would be one day a great statesman, that his article and brilliant literary talent proved it. this article she was continually reading, she even read it aloud, almost took it to bed with her, but scarcely asked where rodya was, though the subject was obviously avoided by the others, which might have been enough to awaken her suspicions.
they began to be frightened at last at pulcheria alexandrovna's strange silence on certain subjects. she did not, for instance, complain of getting no letters from him, though in previous years she had only lived on the hope of letters from her beloved rodya. this was the cause of great uneasiness to dounia; the idea occurred to her that her mother suspected that there was something terrible in her son's fate and was afraid to ask, for fear of hearing something still more awful. in any case, dounia saw clearly that her mother was not in full possession of her faculties.
it happened once or twice, however, that pulcheria alexandrovna gave such a turn to the conversation that it was impossible to answer her without mentioning where rodya was, and on receiving unsatisfactory and suspicious answers she became at once gloomy and silent, and this mood lasted for a long time. dounia saw at last that it was hard to deceive her and came to the conclusion that it was better to be absolutely silent on certain points; but it became more and more evident that the poor mother suspected something terrible. dounia remembered her brother's telling her that her mother had overheard her talking in her sleep on the night after her interview with svidrigailov and before the fatal day of the confession: had not she made out something from that? sometimes days and even weeks of gloomy silence and tears would be succeeded by a period of hysterical animation, and the invalid would begin to talk almost incessantly of her son, of her hopes of his future. . . . her fancies were sometimes very strange. they humoured her, pretended to agree with her (she saw perhaps that they were pretending), but she still went on talking.
five months after raskolnikov's confession, he was sentenced. razumihin and sonia saw him in prison as often as it was possible. at last the moment of separation came. dounia swore to her brother that the separation should not be for ever, razumihin did the same. razumihin, in his youthful ardour, had firmly resolved to lay the foundations at least of a secure livelihood during the next three or four years, and saving up a certain sum, to emigrate to siberia, a country rich in every natural resource and in need of workers, active men and capital. there they would settle in the town where rodya was and all together would begin a new life. they all wept at parting.
raskolnikov had been very dreamy for a few days before. he asked a great deal about his mother and was constantly anxious about her. he worried so much about her that it alarmed dounia. when he heard about his mother's illness he became very gloomy. with sonia he was particularly reserved all the time. with the help of the money left to her by svidrigailov, sonia had long ago made her preparations to follow the party of convicts in which he was despatched to siberia. not a word passed between raskolnikov and her on the subject, but both knew it would be so. at the final leave-taking he smiled strangely at his sister's and razumihin's fervent anticipations of their happy future together when he should come out of prison. he predicted that their mother's illness would soon have a fatal ending. sonia and he at last set off.
two months later dounia was married to razumihin. it was a quiet and sorrowful wedding; porfiry petrovitch and zossimov were invited however. during all this period razumihin wore an air of resolute determination. dounia put implicit faith in his carrying out his plans and indeed she could not but believe in him. he displayed a rare strength of will. among other things he began attending university lectures again in order to take his degree. they were continually making plans for the future; both counted on settling in siberia within five years at least. till then they rested their hopes on sonia.
pulcheria alexandrovna was delighted to give her blessing to dounia's marriage with razumihin; but after the marriage she became even more melancholy and anxious. to give her pleasure razumihin told her how raskolnikov had looked after the poor student and his decrepit father and how a year ago he had been burnt and injured in rescuing two little children from a fire. these two pieces of news excited pulcheria alexandrovna's disordered imagination almost to ecstasy. she was continually talking about them, even entering into conversation with strangers in the street, though dounia always accompanied her. in public conveyances and shops, wherever she could capture a listener, she would begin the discourse about her son, his article, how he had helped the student, how he had been burnt at the fire, and so on! dounia did not know how to restrain her. apart from the danger of her morbid excitement, there was the risk of someone's recalling raskolnikov's name and speaking of the recent trial. pulcheria alexandrovna found out the address of the mother of the two children her son had saved and insisted on going to see her.
at last her restlessness reached an extreme point. she would sometimes begin to cry suddenly and was often ill and feverishly delirious. one morning she declared that by her reckoning rodya ought soon to be home, that she remembered when he said good-bye to her he said that they must expect him back in nine months. she began to prepare for his coming, began to do up her room for him, to clean the furniture, to wash and put up new hangings and so on. dounia was anxious, but said nothing and helped her to arrange the room. after a fatiguing day spent in continual fancies, in joyful day-dreams and tears, pulcheria alexandrovna was taken ill in the night and by morning she was feverish and delirious. it was brain fever. she died within a fortnight. in her delirium she dropped words which showed that she knew a great deal more about her son's terrible fate than they had supposed.
for a long time raskolnikov did not know of his mother's death, though a regular correspondence had been maintained from the time he reached siberia. it was carried on by means of sonia, who wrote every month to the razumihins and received an answer with unfailing regularity. at first they found sonia's letters dry and unsatisfactory, but later on they came to the conclusion that the letters could not be better, for from these letters they received a complete picture of their unfortunate brother's life. sonia's letters were full of the most matter-of-fact detail, the simplest and clearest description of all raskolnikov's surroundings as a convict. there was no word of her own hopes, no conjecture as to the future, no description of her feelings. instead of any attempt to interpret his state of mind and inner life, she gave the simple facts--that is, his own words, an exact account of his health, what he asked for at their interviews, what commission he gave her and so on. all these facts she gave with extraordinary minuteness. the picture of their unhappy brother stood out at last with great clearness and precision. there could be no mistake, because nothing was given but facts.
but dounia and her husband could get little comfort out of the news, especially at first. sonia wrote that he was constantly sullen and not ready to talk, that he scarcely seemed interested in the news she gave him from their letters, that he sometimes asked after his mother and that when, seeing that he had guessed the truth, she told him at last of her death, she was surprised to find that he did not seem greatly affected by it, not externally at any rate. she told them that, although he seemed so wrapped up in himself and, as it were, shut himself off from everyone--he took a very direct and simple view of his new life; that he understood his position, expected nothing better for the time, had no ill-founded hopes (as is so common in his position) and scarcely seemed surprised at anything in his surroundings, so unlike anything he had known before. she wrote that his health was satisfactory; he did his work without shirking or seeking to do more; he was almost indifferent about food, but except on sundays and holidays the food was so bad that at last he had been glad to accept some money from her, sonia, to have his own tea every day. he begged her not to trouble about anything else, declaring that all this fuss about him only annoyed him. sonia wrote further that in prison he shared the same room with the rest, that she had not seen the inside of their barracks, but concluded that they were crowded, miserable and unhealthy; that he slept on a plank bed with a rug under him and was unwilling to make any other arrangement. but that he lived so poorly and roughly, not from any plan or design, but simply from inattention and indifference.
sonia wrote simply that he had at first shown no interest in her visits, had almost been vexed with her indeed for coming, unwilling to talk and rude to her. but that in the end these visits had become a habit and almost a necessity for him, so that he was positively distressed when she was ill for some days and could not visit him. she used to see him on holidays at the prison gates or in the guard-room, to which he was brought for a few minutes to see her. on working days she would go to see him at work either at the workshops or at the brick kilns, or at the sheds on the banks of the irtish.
about herself, sonia wrote that she had succeeded in making some acquaintances in the town, that she did sewing, and, as there was scarcely a dressmaker in the town, she was looked upon as an indispensable person in many houses. but she did not mention that the authorities were, through her, interested in raskolnikov; that his task was lightened and so on.
at last the news came (dounia had indeed noticed signs of alarm and uneasiness in the preceding letters) that he held aloof from everyone, that his fellow prisoners did not like him, that he kept silent for days at a time and was becoming very pale. in the last letter sonia wrote that he had been taken very seriously ill and was in the convict ward of the hospital.
西伯利亚。一条宽阔、荒凉的河，河岸上矗立着一座城市1，这是俄罗斯的行政中心之一；城市里有一座要塞，要塞里面有座监狱。第二类流刑犯2罗季昂·拉斯科利尼科夫已经在这座监狱里给关了九个月。从他犯罪的那天起，差不多已经过了一年半了。
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1指额尔齐斯河畔的鄂木斯克。
2根据一八四五年颁布的俄国刑法典，被流放到西伯利亚服苦役的犯人分为三类：第一类在矿场劳动；第二类修建要塞、堡垒；第三类在工厂劳动，主要是在军工厂和熬盐的工场里。陀思妥耶夫斯基曾作为第二类流刑犯人，给关在鄂木斯克监狱里。
他这件案子的审讯过程没遇到多大困难。犯人坚决、确切、明白无误地坚持自己的口供，没有把案情搞乱，没有避重就轻，没有歪曲事实，也没有忘记一个最小的细节。他毫无遗漏地供述了谋杀的整个过程：他解释了在被害的老太婆手里发现的那件抵押品的秘密（一块有金属薄片的小木板）；详细供述了他是怎样从死者身上拿到了钥匙，描绘了那些钥匙的形状，描绘了那个小箱子，以及箱子里装着些什么；甚至列举了其中的几件东西；说明了杀害莉扎薇塔之谜；供述了科赫来敲门的情况，他来了以后，怎样又来了一个大学生，转述了他们两人谈话的全部内容；后来，他，犯人，是怎么跑下楼去，以及听到米科尔卡和米季卡尖叫的情况；他又是怎样藏进那套空房子里，怎样回家的，最后指出，那块石头是在沃兹涅先斯基大街上一个院子里，就在大门附近；在那块石头底下果然找到了东西和钱袋。总之，案情十分清楚。然而侦查员和法官们都对这一点感到惊讶：他把钱袋和东西都藏到了石头底下，而没有动用过；使他们更为惊讶的是：他不仅记不清他亲手偷来的东西究竟是些什么，就连究竟有几件，也搞不清楚。至于他连一次也没打开过钱袋，甚至不知道里面到底有多少钱，说实在的，这更好像是不可思议的了（钱袋里有三百十七个银卢布和三个二十戈比的钱币；因为长期藏在石头底下，最上面的几张票面最大的钞票已经破损得非常厉害了）。花了好长时间竭力想要弄清：既然被告对其他所有情况都老老实实自愿供认了，为什么独独在这一点上说谎？最后，某些人（特别是一些心理学家）甚至认为这是可能的，认为他的确没有看过钱袋，所以不知道里面有多少钱，还没弄清里面有什么，就这样把它拿去藏到石头底下了，但是由此立刻又得出结论，所以会犯这桩罪，一定是由于一时精神错乱，可以说是患了杀人狂和抢劫狂，而没有更进一步的目的和谋财的意图。正好赶上这时有一种关于一时精神错乱的、最新的时髦理论，在我们这个时代往往竭力用这个理论来解释某些罪犯的心理。加以许多证人都证明，拉斯科利尼科夫长期以来就有忧郁症的症状，并且作了详细说明，这些证人中有佐西莫夫医生，他以前的同学，女房东和一个女仆。这一切有充分根据促使得出这样的结论：拉斯科利尼科夫不完全像一般的杀人犯、强盗和抢劫犯，这儿准是有什么别的原因。使坚持这种意见的人感到极为遗憾的是，犯人本人几乎并不试图为自己辩护；对于最后几个问题：究竟是什么促使他杀人，是什么促使他抢劫，他的回答十分明确，话说得很粗鲁，然而符合实际，他说，这一切的原因是他境况恶劣，贫困，无依无靠，他期望在被害者那里至少能弄到三千卢布，指望靠这笔钱来保障他的生活，使他在初入社会的时候能够站稳脚跟。他决定杀人，是由于他轻率和缺乏毅力的性格，贫困和失意更促使他下了杀人的决心。对于这个问题：究竟是什么促使他来自首的，他直率地回答说，由于真诚地悔罪。这些话几乎都说得很粗鲁……
然而，就所犯的罪行来说，判决比所能期待的还要宽大，而且也许这正是因为犯人不仅不想为自己辩护，反而甚至似乎想夸大自己罪行的缘故。这一案件的所有奇怪和特殊的情况都被考虑到了。犯人犯罪时的病态心理和贫困境况都是丝毫不容置疑的。他没有动用抢劫来的财物，被认为，一部分是由于他萌发了悔悟之念，一部分是由于犯罪的时候，他的精神不完全正常。无意中杀死莉扎薇塔，这一情况甚至成为一个例证，使如下的假设更为可信：一个人杀了两个人，而同时却忘记了，房门还在开着！最后还有，正当一个精神沮丧的狂热信徒（尼古拉）自称有罪，以虚假的供词把案情弄得异常混乱的时候，此外，对真正的罪犯不仅没有掌握确凿的罪证，而且甚至几乎没有产生怀疑（波尔菲里·彼特罗维奇完全信守了自己的诺言），正是在这个时候，犯人前来自首了。这一切最终促使对被告从轻判刑。
此外，完全意料不到地又出现了另外一些对被告十分有利的情况。以前的大学生拉祖米欣不知从哪里找到了这样一些材料，而且提出证据：犯人拉斯科利尼科夫在大学里读书的时候，曾经用自己仅有的一点儿钱帮助一个害肺病的穷苦同学，维持他的生活几乎长达半年之久。那个同学死后，拉斯科利尼科夫又去照顾亡友（他几乎从十三岁起就靠自己的劳动赡养自己的父亲）仍然活着的、年迈体弱的父亲，最后还让这位老人住进了医院，老人死后，又为他安葬。所有这些材料对决定拉斯科利尼科夫的命运起了某些有利的作用。拉斯科利尼科夫以前的女房东，他已经病故的未婚妻的母亲，寡妇扎尔尼岑娜也作证说，他们还住在五角场附近另一幢房子里的时候，有一次夜里失火，拉斯科利尼科夫从一套已经着火的房子里救出了两个小孩子，因为救人，他自己被火烧伤了。对这一事实作了详细调查，许多证人都完全证实了这一情况。总之，结果是，考虑到犯人是投案自首以及某些可以减刑的情况，犯人被判服第二类苦役，刑期只有八年。
还在审讯一开始的时候，拉斯科利尼科夫的母亲就病了。杜尼娅和拉祖米欣认为，可以在开庭期间让她离开彼得堡。拉祖米欣挑了一个沿铁路线、离彼得堡也很近的城市。这样可以经常留心审讯的情况，同时又能尽可能经常与阿芙多季娅·罗曼诺芙娜见面。普莉赫里娅·亚历山德罗芙娜的病是一种奇怪的精神病，同时还有类似精神错乱的某种迹象，即使不是完全精神错乱，至少是有一部分。杜尼娅最后一次见到哥哥，回来以后，发觉母亲已经完全病倒了，她在发烧，在说胡话。就在这天晚上，她和拉祖米欣商量好，母亲问起哥哥来，他们该怎样回答，甚至和他一起为母亲编造了一套谎话，说是拉斯科利尼科夫受私人委托，到一个很远的地方，到俄国边疆去办一件事情去了，这项任务最终将会使他获得金钱和声誉。但是使他们深感惊讶的是：无论是当时，还是以后，普莉赫里娅·亚历山德罗芙娜都从未问起过这方面的事。恰恰相反，原来对于儿子突然远行，她自己早已有自己的解释；她流着泪述说，他是怎样来和她告别的；同时她还暗示，只有她一个人知道许多非常重要的秘密，暗示罗佳有许多很有势力的敌人，因此他甚至必须躲藏起来。至于说到他的前途，她也认为，只要敌视他的某些情况消失了，那么他的前途无疑将是光明的；她让拉祖米欣相信，随着时间的推移，她的儿子甚至会成为国家的栋梁，他的那篇文章和他杰出的文学天才就是明显的证据。她在不断地看那篇文章，有时甚至念出声来，几乎连睡觉的时候也拿着那篇文章，可是罗佳现在到底在什么地方，她却几乎从来也不问起，尽管看得出来，当着她的面，大家都避而不谈这个问题，——而单单是这一点，就足以引起她的怀疑了。普莉赫里娅·亚历山德罗芙娜对某些问题始终保持缄默，这一奇怪的现象终于使他们感到担心了。譬如说吧，她甚至从不抱怨他不来信，而从前，住在故乡县城里的时候，她唯一的精神寄托，就是希望和盼望着快点儿接到心爱的罗佳的信。现在她不再等信，这实在是太无法解释了，因此使杜尼娅十分担忧；她心里产生了这样的想法：大概母亲是预感到儿子发生了什么可怕的事，所以她不敢问，以免知道更可怕的事情。无论如何，杜尼娅已经清清楚楚看出，普莉赫里娅·亚历山德罗芙娜精神不大正常。
不过有两次她自己把话题转到了罗佳身上，以致回答她的时候，不可能不提到罗佳现在究竟在什么地方；他们迫不得已的回答当然不能使她满意，而且让她感到怀疑，这时她就突然变得非常伤心，忧愁，沉默寡言，这样一直持续很长时间。杜尼娅终于明白了，说谎和编造谎言是很难的，于是得出最后结论：对有些事情最好绝口不谈；不过可怜的母亲已经怀疑，准是发生了什么可怕的事情，这一点已经是越来越明显了。同时杜尼娅也想起了哥哥的话，在决定命运的头一天夜里，也就是在她和斯维德里盖洛夫发生了那一幕以后的那天夜里，母亲曾经听到过她在梦中呓语，那时母亲是不是听清了什么呢？往往，一连几天，甚至几个星期，母亲一直闷闷不乐，心情忧郁，一句话也不说，只是默默地流泪，可是在这之后，不知怎的，病人会歇斯底里地活跃起来，突然大声说话，几乎不住口地谈她的儿子，谈自己的希望和未来……她的幻想有时十分奇怪。他们安慰她，附和她（也许她自己看得很清楚，他们是在随声附和她，只不过是在安慰她），可她还是说个不停……
犯人自首以后过了五个月，判决下来了。只要一有可能，拉祖米欣就到狱中探望他。索尼娅也是一样。离别的时刻终于到了；杜尼娅对哥哥发誓说，这次离别不会是永诀；拉祖米欣也这么说。在拉祖米欣年轻、狂热的头脑里坚定不移地确定了这样一个计划：在三、四年内，尽可能至少为未来打下基础，至少攒一些钱，迁居到西伯利亚去，那里土地肥沃，资源丰富，缺少的是工人、创业的人和资本；他要到那里罗佳将要去的那个城市定居，……大家在一起开始新的生活。分别的时候大家都哭了。最后几天拉斯科利尼科夫陷入沉思，详细询问母亲的情况，经常为她感到担心。甚至为她感到十分痛苦，这使杜尼娅很不放心。得知母亲病态心情的详细情况以后，他的神情变得十分忧郁。不知为什么，这段时间里他特别不喜欢和索尼娅说话。索尼娅用斯维德里盖洛夫留给她的那笔钱，早已准备好了行装，打算跟随拉斯科利尼科夫也在其内的那批犯人一同上路。关于这一点，在她和拉斯科利尼科夫之间从来连一个字也没提起过；然而他们俩都知道，事情一定会是这样。临别时，妹妹和拉祖米欣都热烈地让他相信，等他服刑期满回来以后，他们的未来一定会十分幸福，对他们这些热情的话，他只是奇怪地笑了笑，并且预感到母亲的病情不久就会带来不幸的后果。他和索尼娅终于出发了。
两个月以后，杜涅奇卡和拉祖米欣结婚了。婚礼没有欢乐的气氛，而且冷冷清清。不过应邀前来的客人中有波尔菲里·彼特罗维奇和佐西莫夫。最近一个时期，拉祖米欣的神情像一个下定了决心的人。杜尼娅盲目地相信，他一定会实现自己的打算，而且也不能不相信：看得出来，这个人有钢铁般的意志。顺便说说，他又到大学去上课了，以便能够读完大学。他们俩不断地制订未来的计划；两人都对五年后迁居到西伯利亚抱有坚定的希望。在那以前，他们把一切希望都寄托在索尼娅身上……
普莉赫里娅·亚历山德罗芙娜很高兴地为女儿和拉祖米欣结婚祝福；可是举行过婚礼以后，她却似乎变得更加愁闷，更加忧虑了。为了让她高兴，拉祖米欣顺带讲给她听，罗佳曾经帮助过一个大学生和他年迈体弱的父亲，还讲了罗佳去年为了救两个小孩子的性命，自己给烧伤了，甚至还害了一场病。这两个消息使普莉赫里娅· 亚历山德罗芙娜本来就已经不正常的精神几乎达到了异常兴奋的状态。她不断地谈起这两件事，在街上也逢人就说（尽管杜尼娅经常伴随着她）。在公共马车上，在小铺里，只要能找到一个肯听她说话的人，她立刻就跟大家谈她的儿子，谈他的那篇文章，谈他怎样帮助那个大学生，怎样在失火的时候为了救人让火给烧伤，等等。杜涅奇卡甚至都不知道该怎样才能阻止她。这种异常兴奋的病态心情是危险的，此外，如果有人记起不久前审理的那件案子，因而想起拉斯科利尼科夫这个姓，谈论起来的话，那可就糟了。普莉赫里娅·亚历山德罗芙娜甚至打听到了那两个在火灾中给救出来的小孩子的母亲的地址。一定要去拜访她。最后她的不安达到了极点。有时她会突然放声大哭起来，经常生病，发烧，说胡话。有一天一清早，她直截了当地说，她计算着，罗佳不久就该回来了，说是她记得，他和她分手的时候曾经说过，正是过九个月以后，就该等着他回来。她把家里的一切都收拾了一下，准备迎接他，动手装饰打算给他住的那间房子（她自己住的那一间），把家具擦得干干净净，洗掉旧窗帘，换上新窗帘，等等。杜尼娅非常担心，可是什么也不说，甚至帮着她布置房子，来迎接哥哥。在不断的幻想、欢乐的梦中流着眼泪度过了令人忧虑不安的一天以后，当天夜里她病了，第二天早晨已经发起烧来，神智不清了。热病发作了。两个星期以后她死了。在她昏迷的时候，突然说了几句话，根据这些话可以得出结论，她一直怀疑儿子遭到了可怕的命运，她的猜疑甚至比他们所认为的要严重得多。
拉斯科利尼科夫很长时间都不知道母亲去世的消息，尽管从他在西伯利亚一安顿下来，就与彼得堡有书信来往了。通信关系是通过索尼娅建立起来的，索尼娅每月按时往彼得堡寄信，信写给拉祖米欣，也每月按时收到从彼得堡来的回信。起初杜尼娅和拉祖米欣觉得，索尼娅的信有点儿枯燥，不能令人满意；但最后两人都认为，不可能比她写得更好了，因为从这些信里，对他们不幸的哥哥的命运毕竟得出了一个全面、正确的概念。索尼娅在信上写的都是日常生活的真实情况，最简单明了地描写出了拉斯科利尼科夫苦役生活的全部情况。信上既没有谈她自己的希望，也没有对未来的推测，更没有叙述她自己的感情。她没有试图说明他的心情，或一般地说明他的内心生活，她的信上只有一些事实，也就是他自己说过的话，详细说明他的健康状况，以及和他见面的时候他有什么愿望，要求她做什么，托她办什么事情，等等。所有这一切都写得非常详细。不幸的哥哥的形象终于跃然纸上，给描写得十分确切而又清晰；这儿不会有什么差错，因为一切都是可靠的事实。
但是杜尼娅和她丈夫从这些消息中看不出有多少可以高兴的事情，尤其是在一开始的时候。索尼娅不断地告诉他们，他经常神情陰郁，不爱说话，每次她把接到的信中的消息告诉他的时候，他甚至几乎一点儿也不感兴趣；说是他有时问起母亲；而当她看出，他已经预料到事情的真相，终于告诉他，母亲已经去世的时候，使她感到惊讶的是，就连母亲去世的消息也似乎没有对他产生强烈的影响，至少她觉得，从表面来看是这样的。她顺带告诉他们，尽管看上去他总是陷入沉思，独自想得出神，仿佛与世隔绝，不和人来往，可是他对自己新生活的态度却很坦率，实事求是；她说，他很清楚自己的处境，并不期待最近会有什么改善，也不存任何不切实际的希望（处在他的情况下，自然是这样了），虽然他所处的新环境与以前的环境很少有相似之处，但他对周围的一切几乎从不感到惊讶。她说，他的健康状况是可以令人满意的。他去干活，既不逃避，也不硬要多做。伙食好坏，他几乎不感兴趣，但是，除了星期天和节日，平日的伙食简直令人难以下咽，所以他终于乐意接受她，索尼娅，给他的钱，好每天能自己烧点儿茶喝；至于其余的一切，他请她不要操心，让她相信，对他的一切关心只会使他感到苦恼。随后索尼娅写道，在监狱中，他和大家住在一间牢房里，他们的牢房她没看到过，不过她断定，里面很挤，不像样，也不卫生；她说，他睡在铺板上，只铺一条毛毡，别的什么东西他也不想置备。但是他过着这样恶劣和贫困的生活，完全不是按照什么偏执的计划或者是有什么意图，而只不过是由于对自己的命运漠不关心以及表面上的冷漠态度。索尼娅坦率地写道，他，特别是最初，对她去探望他不仅不感兴趣，甚至几乎是怨恨她，不爱说话，甚至粗暴地对待她，但这些会面终于使他习惯了，甚至几乎变成了他的要求，有一次她生了好几天病，没能去探望他，他甚至非常想念她。每逢节日，她都和他在监狱大门口或警卫室里见面，有时他给叫到警卫室去和她会见几分钟；平日他要去干活，她就到他干活的地方去看他，或者在工场，或者在砖厂里，或者在额尔齐斯河畔的板棚里。关于她自己，索尼娅告诉他们，在城里她甚至已经有了几个熟人和保护人；她说，她在做裁缝，因为城市里几乎没有做时装的女裁缝，所以，在许多家庭里，她甚至成为一个必不可少的人了；不过她没有提到，由于她的关系，拉斯科利尼科夫也得到了长官的照顾，让他去干比较轻的活，等等。最后，传来这样一个消息（杜尼娅甚至发觉，在她最近的几封来信里，流露出某种特别焦虑和担心的情绪），说他躲避所有的人，说监狱里的苦役犯人都不喜欢他；说他一连几天一句话也不说，脸色变得十分苍白。突然，在最近一封来信里，索尼娅写道，他病了，病情十分严重，躺在医院的囚犯病房里……