Vindication



I don’t want to boast. But when Voldya hit me in the ear and spat in my eyes, I let him have it in a way he will never forget. It was then that I beat him with the little gas stove; yesterday I beat him with a flatiron. So he did not die right away. And where is the proof that I cut off his leg that day? He was still alive. And I beat Andryusha to death only because I was carried away by my momentum. I am not at all responsible for that. Why did Andryusha and Liza Antonovna come in there? Who was forcing them to come in that door?

 I’ve been accused of being bloodthirsty. It’s been said I drank the blood. That is a lie. I only lapped up the puddles and the spots. It’s natural to want to wipe off the traces of even the most innocent transgression. And I did not rape Liza Antonvna. First of all, she wasn’t a virgin any more.

  Secondly I was dealing with a corpse. So the accusation is beside the point. So what if she was about to have a baby! I took the child out of her. And if it wasn’t capable of living, that’s not my fault. I did not tear off its head .It’s the fault of the thin neck. It was simply unfit for life. Its’ true I stomped on the dog. But its simply cynical to accuse me of murdering a dog, when right alongside it three human lives had been lost. I’m not counting the baby. Let us say, and I might even agree, that there was certain amount of cruelty on my part. But to try me because I defecated on those, victims is, if you pardon me, absurd. Defecation is a natural human need. So how can it be something indecent? I do understand certain fears my defense attorney has, but I believe I shall be completely vindicated.