The impulse was so strong that he got up from his seat to carry it out.

"Hadn't I better think a minute ?" flashed through his mind.

"No, better cast off the burden without thinking." But all at once he stood still, rooted to the spot.

Nikodim Fomitch was talking eagerly with Ilya Petrovitch, and the words reached him: "It's impossible, they'll both be released.

To begin with, the whole story contradicts itself.