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"Why, you thrashed Katerina Ivanovna a month ago. I heard so

yesterday... so that's what your convictions amount to... and the

woman question, too, wasn't quite sound, he-he-he!" and Pyotr

Petrovitch, as though comforted, went back to clicking his beads.

"It's all slander and nonsense!" cried Lebeziatnikov, who was

always afraid of allusions to the subject. "It was not like that

at all, it was quite different. You've heard it wrong; it's a

libel. I was simply defending myself. She rushed at me first with

her nails, she pulled out all my whiskers.... It's permissable

for anyone, I should hope, to defend himself and I never allow

anyone to use violence to me on principle, for it's an act of

despotism. What was I to do? I simply pushed her back."

"He-he-he!" Luzhin went on laughing maliciously.