Polish for “sirs” or “gentlemen,” the panie are two Polish officers with whom Grushenka and Kalganov are keeping company at Plastunov’s inn when Dmitri Fyodorovich arrives. One is short, “plumpish,” and “broad-faced.” He is Pan Mussyalovich, the Polish officer to whom Grushenka is supposedly engaged. He is a retired official of the twelfth grade, which is one of the lowest-ranking grades of the imperial civil service, and served in Siberia as a veterinarian. Grushenka has been in love with him for five years, though the officer ultimately dumped her and married another woman. His companion is Pan Vrublevsky, a freelance dentist who is described as “exceedingly tall.” Trifon Borisovich exposes the men for cheating during a card game with a marked deck. The panie leave and the Polish officer breaks his engagement with Grushenka. The panie later run out of money and end up living in abject poverty.