Then he said:
"I can even change the position of my words if the prosecuting
attorney deems it is not in the right place; but that will not
change the plan of my defense. However, I cannot understand the
excitement of the prosecuting attorney."
"Go for him!" said Sizov. "Go for him, tooth and nail! Pick him
open down to his soul, wherever that may be!"
The hall became animated; a fighting passion flared up; the defense
attacked from all sides, provoking and disturbing the judges,
driving away the cold haze that enveloped them, pricking the old
skin of the judges with sharp words. The judges had the air of
moving more closely to one another, or suddenly they would puff and
swell, repulsing the sharp, caustic raps with the mass of their
soft, mellow bodies. They acted as if they feared that the blow of
the opponent might call forth an echo in their empty bosoms, might
shake their resolution, which sprang not from their own will but
from a will strange to them. Feeling this conflict, the people on
the benches back of the mother sighed and whispered.
But suddenly Pavel arose; tense quiet prevailed. The mother
stretched her entire body forward.
"A party man, I recognize only the court of my party and will not
speak in my defense.
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