Chapter 24 Part 1 - Twenty One

After the examination of physical evidence was completed, the chief judge announced the conclusion of the court investigation.He hoped to finish this case quickly, so he asked the deputy prosecutor who filed the public prosecution to speak without rest, thinking that he is also a human being, and he also smokes and eats, so he will take care of them.Unexpectedly, the Deputy Prosecutor cared neither for himself nor for others.He was naturally stupid, plus he was awarded a gold medal at the end of high school and a prize money at the university for a dissertation on Roman law easements, so he was pretentious and headstrong (his success with women makes him more self-satisfied), and becomes more and more stupid as a result.The president asked him to speak, and he stood up slowly, showing a graceful figure in a uniform embroidered with patterns, put his hands on the desk, lowered his head slightly, glanced at the court, but avoided the defendants, and began to speak.

"Gentlemen of the jury, the case before you," he began the speech he had just prepared in reading his report, "is a typical—if it may be called that—criminal case." The Deputy Attorney thought his speeches should have a social impact, like those lawyers gave their famous speeches.It is true that there were only three women in the gallery—a seamstress, a cook, Simon's sister, and a coachman, but this did not affect his speech.So do celebrities.The deputy prosecutor's principle of action is to always look ahead, in other words, to explore the mysteries of criminal psychology and expose social ulcers.

"Gentlemen of the jury, you see before you this typical - if it may be called that - crime of the end of the century. It is characterized by a deplorable depravity, and in our time certain elements of our society are subjected to The serious effects of this depraved climate..." The Deputy Public Prosecutor spoke for a long time, on the one hand, trying to think of all the epigrams he had thought up, and on the other hand, the main thing was to keep his speech going on for an hour and a quarter of an hour without a break.He paused only once, and swallowed for a long time, but immediately picked up his spirits and continued to speak more eloquently to make up for the interval.Now he stood on the other foot, staring at the jurors and flattering them; now he looked at his notebook, his voice calm and sophisticated; member.Only the three defendants did not look at him, although they all looked at him with wide-eyed eyes.His lectures cite the latest theories that were popular in their circles at the time.This kind of theory was not only very fashionable at that time, but it is still regarded as a new academic thing today, including genetics, congenital crime theory, Lombroso ①, Tarde ②, evolutionary theory, survival competition, hypnotism, Hints, Charcot, decadence.

-------- ①Gobrosso (1836-1909)—an Italian psychiatrist and representative of the criminal anthropology school, believed that "crime" is the result of long-term inheritance since the existence of human beings, and proposed a reactionary "innate crime theory". ② Tarde (1843-1904) - French sociologist, criminologist. ③ Charcot (1825-1893) - French neuropathologist, who wrote a book on hypnosis. According to the Deputy Public Prosecutor, the merchant Smerikov was a strong, simple Russian with a good-natured, magnanimous disposition, and a credulous nature which led to his death at the hands of shameless men and women.

Simon Karzinkin was a product of the atavistic inheritance of serfdom. He had been oppressed all his life, lacked education, had no principles, and even did not believe in religion.Yefimiya, his mistress, was a victim of heredity, with all the symptoms of mental deterioration.But the main driving force of the crime is Maslova, the worst representative of the decadent. "This woman," said the deputy prosecutor, without looking at her, "is educated, as we have just heard her steward testify in this courtroom. She can not only read and write, but also French. She was an orphan and spent most of her life. Came with the embryo of crime. She was born of an educated noble family, and could have lived by honest labor, but she abandoned her benefactor and indulged in lust. Luckily. But, gentlemen of the jury, as you have just heard her steward say here, it is mainly due to her mysterious ability to control the clients of whores, which has recently been discovered by science, especially the Sarco school. It's called 'suggestion'. It's what she used to control that kind, gullible, wealthy Russian warrior, using his trust in her to steal money and then kill him with all his innocence. .”

"Well, he's talking nonsense," said the president, laughing, turning sideways to the stern judge. "A complete fool," replied the stern judge. "Gentlemen of the jury," continued the Deputy Prosecutor at this moment, twisting his slender waist gracefully, "the fate of these people is now in your hands, but the fate of society is more or less in your hands, because you The verdict will have an impact on society. You must pay close attention to the harmfulness of this crime and the threat posed to society by sick people like Maslova. You must protect society from their infection and protect the purity of society in this society. Healthy members do not suffer the usual demise."

The Deputy Public Prosecutor seemed overwhelmed by the importance of the present sentence, and at the same time intoxicated by his own speech, finally sat down feebly in his chair. His speech was stripped of gorgeous words, and the central idea was that Maslova hypnotized the businessman, deceived his trust, took the key to the hotel room to withdraw money, and wanted to keep the money alone, but was caught by Simon and Yefimiya met them and had to share the spoils with them.After this, in order to cover up the traces of the crime, she went back to the hotel with the merchant and poisoned him there.

After the Deputy Prosecutor had spoken, a middle-aged man in a tuxedo with a half-circle of undercoat exposed stood up from the lawyer's table and defiantly defended Karzinkin and Bochkova.This was the defense attorney they had hired for three hundred rubles.He excused them both, laying all the blame on Maslova. The lawyer rejected Maslova's statement that both Bouchkova and Karzinkin were present when she withdrew the money, insisting that since she was an exposed poisoner, her statement was worthless.He also said that as for two thousand five hundred rubles, two hardworking and honest waiters could earn it, and they sometimes got three or five rubles a day from travelers.As for the merchant's money, it was stolen by Maslova, who may have given it to someone else, or even lost it, because she was not in a normal state of mind at the time.The poisoning of the merchant was done by Maslova alone.

So he asked the jurors to acquit Karzinkin and Bauchkova of the theft; if the jurors found them guilty of the theft, then at least they were not involved in the poisoning or conspiracy. The lawyer stabbed the deputy public prosecutor at the end, saying that Mr. deputy public prosecutor's grand remarks on genetic science, although brilliant, did not apply to the case, because the identities of Bochkova's parents were unknown. Gritting his teeth with hatred, the deputy prosecutor wrote something on a piece of paper and shrugged his shoulders in contemptuous surprise. Maslova's lawyer then stood up to defend her.He stuttered and was obviously timid.He did not deny that Maslova was involved in the theft of money, but insisted that she did not deliberately poison Smerikov, but gave him the powder just to put him to sleep.Wanting to show off his eloquence, he outlined how Maslova had been seduced and raped by a man who was still at large, while she had to bear the full burden of her depravity.But the lawyer's psychological analysis was unsuccessful, because everyone was ashamed of him.When he talked about the brutality of men and the misery of women, he was already incoherent, and the judge wanted to help him out, so he asked him not to stray too far from the subject.

After the lawyer finished speaking, the deputy prosecutor stood up again, contradicting the first lawyer's words, defending his genetics argument.He said that even if the identity of Baochikova's parents is unknown, the correctness of genetic theory will not be damaged at all, because the law of inheritance has been fully confirmed by science, we can not only infer crime through inheritance, but also infer inheritance through crime.As for the claim of the other defender that Maslova was corrupted by an imaginary (he said "imaginary" in a particularly vicious tone) seducer, the facts are rather that she seduced her. Many, many men have fallen into her hands, innocent victims.After saying this, he sat down triumphantly.The court then left the defendants to represent themselves.

Efimya Bochkova kept saying that she knew nothing and had no part in anything, and insisted that Maslova alone had committed all the crimes.Simon just said repeatedly: "You can do whatever you want. Anyway, I am not guilty, and I am wronged." Maslova said nothing.The president told her that she had the right to defend herself, but she raised her eyes like a wild beast, looked up at him, then at the others, then lowered her eyes, and burst into tears. "What's the matter with you?" asked the merchant sitting next to Nekhludoff, hearing Nekhludoff suddenly make a strange sound.It turned out that Nekhludoff was trying to suppress his sobs. Nekhludoff, not yet quite clear about his present situation, regarded the forced sobs and tears in his eyes as signs of nervous weakness.To conceal it, he put on his pince-nez, then took out his handkerchief and blew his nose. He thought that if everyone in the courtroom knew of his crime, he would be humiliated.This fear overwhelmed his inner struggle, more than anything else at this initial stage.