Also，inthedarknessthehalf-slumberingseacouldbeheardsoughingasitcrepttowardstheshorewhileovertheskylayacanopyofmist，saveatthepointwherethemoon’sopal-likeblurcouldbedescriedoverthespotwherethatblur’scounterfeitimageglitteredandrockedonthesurfaceofthedarkwaters。
UnderthetreestherewassetabenchwhereonIcoulddiscerntheretoberestingahumanfigure。Approachingthefigure，I
seatedmyselfbesideit。
“Whence，comrade？“wasmyinquiry。
“FromVoronezh。Andyou？“
ARussianisneveradversetotalkingabouthimself。Itwouldseemasthoughheisneversureofhispersonality，asthoughheiseveryearningtohavethatpersonalityconfirmedfromsomesourceotherthan，extraneousto，hisownego。ThereasonforthismustbethatweRussianslivediffusedoveralandofsuchvastnessthat，themorewegrasptheimmensityofthesame，thesmallerdowecometoappearinourowneyes；wherefore，traversing，aswedo，roadsofalengthofathousandversts，andconstantlylosingourway，wecometoletslipnoopportunityofrestatingourselves，andsettingforthallthatwehaveseenandthoughtanddone。
Hence，too，mustitbethatinconversationsoneseemstohearlessofthenoteof“IamI“thanofthenoteof“AmIreallyandtrulymyself？“
“Whatmaybeyourname？“nextIinquiredofthefigureonthebench。
“Anameofabsolutesimplicity——thenameofAlexeiKalinin。“
“Youareanamesakeofmine，then。“
“Indeed？Isthatso？“
Withwhich，tappingmeontheknee，thefigureadded:
“Come，then，namesake。’Ihavemortar，andyouhavewater，sotogetherletuspaintthetown。’“
Murmuringamidthesilencecouldbeheardsmall，lightwavesthatwerenomorethanripples。Behindusthebusyclamourofthemonasteryhaddieddown，andevenKalinin’scheeryvoiceseemedsubduedbytheinfluenceofthenight——itseemedtohaveinitlessofthenoteofself-confidence。
“Mymotherwasawet-nurse，“hewentontovolunteer，andIheronlychild。WhenIwastwelveyearsofageIwas，owingtomyheight，convertedintoafootman。Ithappenedthus。Oneday，onGeneralStepanmymother’sthenemployerhappeningtocatchsightofme，heexclaimed:’Evgenia，goandtellFedor’theex-soldierwhowasthenservingtheGeneralasfootman’thatheistoteachyoursontowaitattable！Theboyisatleasttallenoughforthework。’AndfornineyearsIservedtheGeneralinthiscapacity。Andthen，andthen——oh，THENIwasseizedwithanillness……Next，Iobtainedapostunderamerchantwhowasthenmayorofourtown，andstayedwithhimtwenty-onemonths。
AndnextIobtainedasituationinanhotelatKharkov，andhelditforayear。AndafterthatIkeptchangingmyplaces，for，steadyandsoberthoughIwas，Iwasbeginningtolacktasteformyprofession，andtodevelopaspiritofthekindwhichdeemedallworktobebeneathme，andconsideredthatIhadbeencreatedtoserveonlymyself，notothers。“
AlongthehighroadtoSukhumwhichlaybehindustherewereproceedingsomeinvisibletravellerswhosescrapingoffeetastheywalkedproclaimedthefactthattheywerenotover-usedtojourneyingonfoot。Justasthepartydrewlevelwithus，amusicalvoicehummedoutsoftlytheline“AlonewillIsetforthupontheroad，“withtheword“alone“plaintivelystressed。
Next，aresonantbassvoicesaidwithasortofindolentincisiveness:
“Aphonoraphoniameanslossofspeechtotheextentof，totheextentof——oh，toWHATextent，mostlearnedVeraVasilievna？“
“Totheextentoftotallossofpowerofarticulation，“repliedavoicefeminineandyouthfuloftimbre。
Justatthatmomentwesawtwodark，blurredfigures，withapalerfigurebetweenthem，comeglidingintoview。
“Strangeindeedisitthat，that——“
“Thatwhat？“
“Thatsomanynamespropertothesepartsshouldalsobesosuggestive。Take，forinstance，MountNakopioba。Certainlyfolkhereaboutsseemtohave“amassed“things，andtohaveknownhowtodoso。“[Theverbnakopitmeanstoamass，toheapup。]
“Formypart，IalwaysfailtorememberthenameofSimontheCanaanite。ConstantlyIfindmyselfcallinghim’theCainite。’“
“Lookhere，“interruptedthemusicalvoiceinatoneofchastenedenthusiasm。“AsIcontemplateallthisbeauty，andinhalethisrestfulness，Ifindmyselfreflecting:’HowwoulditbeifIweretoleteverythinggotothedevil，andtakeupmyabodehereforever？’“
Atthispointallfurtherspeechbecamedrownedbythesoundofthemonastery’sbellasitstruckthehour。Theonlyutterancethatcamebornetomyearswasthemournfulfragment:
Oh，ifintoasinglewordIcouldpourmyinmostthoughts！
Totheforegoingdialoguemycompanionhadlistenedwithhisheadtiltedtooneside，muchasthoughthedialoguehaddeflecteditinthatdirection:andnow，asthevoicesdiedawayintothedistance，hesighed，straightenedhimself，andsaid:
“Clearlythosepeoplewereeducatedfolk。Andseetoohow，astheytalkedofonethingandanother，therecroppeduptheoldandever-persistentpoint。“
“Towhatpointareyoureferring？“
Mycompanionpausedamomentbeforehereplied。Thenhesaid:
“Canitbethatyoudidnothearit？Didyounothearoneofthosepeopleremark:’Ihaveamindtosurrendereverything’？“
Whereafter，bendingforward，andpeeringatmeasablindmanwoulddo，Kalininaddedinahalf-whisper:
“Moreandmorearefolkcomingtothinktothemselves:’NowmustIforsakeeverything。’IntheendImyselfcametothinkit。FormanyayeardidIincreasinglyreflect:’WhyshouldIbeaservant？Whatwilliteverprofitme？EvenifIshouldearntwelve，ortwenty，orfiftyroublesamonth，towhatwillsuchearningslead，andwherewillthemaninmecomein？Surelyitwouldbebettertodonothingatall，butjusttogazeintospaceasIamdoingnow，andletmyeyesstarestraightbeforeme？’“
“Bytheway，whatwereyoutalkingtothosepeopleabout？“
“Whichpeopledoyoumean？“
“Thebeardedmanandtherest，thecompanyintheguest-chamber？“
“Ah，THATmanIdidnotlike——Ihavenofancyatallforfellowswhostrewtheirgriefabouttheworld，andleaveittobetrampleduponbyeverychance-comer。Forhowcanthetearsofmyneighbourbenefitme？True，everymanhashistroubles；butalsohaseverymansuchapredilectionforhisparticularwoethatheendsbydeemingitthemostbitterandremarkablegriefintheuniverse——youmaytakemywordforthat。“
Suddenlythespeakerrosetohisfeet，atall，leanfigure。
“NowImustseekmybed，“heremarked。“Yousee，Ishallhavetoleavehereveryearlytomorrow。“
“Andforwhatpoint？“
“ForNovorossisk。“
Now，thedaybeingaSaturday，Ihaddrawnmyweek’searningsfromthemonastery’spay-officejustbeforethevigilservice。
Also，Novorossiskdidnotreallylieinmydirection。Thirdly，I
hadnoparticularwishtoexchangethemonasteryforanyotherlodging。Nevertheless，despiteallthis，themaninterestedmetosuchanextentofpersonswhogenuinelyinterestonethereneverexistbuttwo，and，ofthem，oneselfisalwaysonethatstraightwayIobserved:
“Itooshallbeleavingheretomorrow。“
“Thenletustraveltogether。“
Atdawn，therefore，wesetforthtofoottheroadincompany。AttimesImentallysoaredaloft，andviewedthescenefromthatvantage-point。WheneverIdidso，Ibeheldtwotallmentraversinganarrowtrackbyaseashore——theonecladinagreymilitaryovercoatandahatwithabrokencrown，andtheotherinadrabkaftanandaplushcap。Attheirfeettheboundlessseawassplashingwhitefoam，salt-driedribandsofseaweedwerestrewingthepath，goldenleavesweredancinghitherandthither，andthewindwashowlingat，andbuffeting，thetravellersascloudssailedovertheirheads。Also，totheirrighttherelaystretchedachainofmountainstowardswhichthecloudskeptwearily，nervelesslytending，whiletotheirlefttherelayspreadawhite-lacedexpanseoverthesurfaceofwhicharoaringwindkeptceaselesslydrivingtransparentcolumnsofspray。
Onsuchstormydaysinautumneverythingnearaseashorelooksparticularlycheerfulandvigorous，seeingthat，despitethesoughingofwindandwave，andtheswiftonrushofcloud，andthefactthatthesunisonlyoccasionallytobeseensuspendedinabyssesofblue，andresemblesadroopingflower，onefeelsthattheapparentchaoshaslurkinginitasecretharmonyofmundane，butimperishable，forces——somuchsothatintimeevenone’spunyhumanheartcomestoimbibetheprevalentspiritofrevolt，and，catchingfire，tocrytoalltheuniverse:“Iloveyou！“