Book 5, Chapter 5: The Grand Inquisitor

⁠​​​‌​​​​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​​​​​​​​​⁠“Even this must have a preface—that is, a literary preface,” laughed Ivan, “and I am a poor hand at making one. You see, my action takes place in the sixteenth century, and at that time, as you probably learnt at school, it was customary in poetry to bring down heavenly powers on earth. Not to speak of Dante, in France, clerks, as well as the monks in the monasteries, used to give regular performa