Part One
Chapter II

We are introduced to old General Epanchin, who has a "flourishing family." It is revealed that his wife is actually related to Myshkin. He has three daughters, Alexandra, Adelaida, and Aglaya. Sounds like a fairy tale.

Myshkin introduces himself to one of  Epanchin's butlers or house serfs, and it is awkward. He is asked multiple times if he is who he says he is. Myshkin has no money, shabby clothes, and no place to stay, so the suspicion is natural. Prince is described as a "little fool" and amazed that he can still speak Russian. Alexander II's judicial reforms are mentioned, so it must be the 1860s - the height of literature in Russia!

Myshkin meets Gavrila Ardalionych, an odd individual who works in Epanchin's building. There is discussion of capital punishment and the guillotine. Prince Myshkin argues that it is far worse to be killed by the State, as "death is for certain." "To kill for killing is an immeasurably greater punishment than the crime itself. To be killed by legal sentence is immeasurably more terrible than to be killed by robbers."

"Maybe there's a man who has had the sentence read to him, has been allowed to suffer, and has then been told, 'Go, you're forgiven.' That man might be able to tell us something."
That man is Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Prince asserts that Ganya doesn't smile as he does toward the prince when he's alone, and "maybe never laughs." Epanchin invites Prince into his office.