Rather，hewasasnow-whitedove，thoughnonebutIrealisedthefact。Andnowhehasbeenwithdrawnfromthe’grievousbondageofPharaoh。’OnlyIamleft。Verily，aftermypassing，shallmysoultormentandvomitspittleuponhisadversaries！“
“Haveyouknownmuchsorrow？“
Thedeacondidnotreplyatonce。Whenhedidsohesaiddully:
“Allofushaveknownmuchsorrow。Insomecaseswehaveknownmorethanwasrightfullyourdue。Icertainly，haveknownmuch。
Butgotosleep，foronlyinsleepdowerecoverwhatisours。“
Andheaddedashetrippedoverhisownfeet，andlurchedheavilyagainstme:
“Ihavealongingtosingsomething。YetIfeelthatIhadbestnot，forsongatsuchanhourawakensfolk，andstartsthembawling……ButbeyondallthingswouldIgladlysing。“
Withwhichhebuzzedintomyear:
“TowhomshallIsingofmygrief？
Towhomresortforrelief？
TotheOneinwhoseha-a-and——“
Atthispointthesharpbristlesofhisbeardsotickledmyneckastocausemetoedgefurtheraway。
“Youdonotlikeme？“hequeried。“Thengotosleep，andtothedeviltoo！“
“Itwasyourbeardthatwasticklingme。“
“Indeed？OughtItohaveshavedforyourbenefitbeforeIcame？“
Hereflectedawhile——thensubsidedontothefloorwithasniffandanangryexclamationof:
“Read，you，whilstIsleep。Andseetoitthatyoudonotmakeoffwiththebook，foritbelongstothechurch，andisveryvaluable。Yes。Iknowyouhard-ups！Whydoyougoroamingaboutasyoudo——whatisityouhopetogainbyyourtramping？……
However，trampasmuchasyoulike。Yes，beoff，andtellpeoplethatadeaconhascomebymisfortune，andisinneedofsomegoodpersontotakepityuponhisplight……DiomidKubasovmynameis——thatofamanlostbeyondrecall。“
Withwhichhefellasleep。Openingthebookatrandom，Ireadthewords:
“Alandunapportionedthatshallproduceanourisherofhumanity，abeingthatshallputforththebountyofhishandtofeedeverycreature。“
“Anourisherofhumanity。“Beforemyeyesthat“nourisher“layoutspread，anourisheroverlaidwithdryandfragrantherbage。
AndasIgazed，inthehazeofavision，uponthatnourisher’sdarkandenigmaticalface，Isawalsothethousandsofmenwhohaveseamedthisearthwithfurrows，totheendthatdeadthingsshouldbecomethingsoflife。Andinparticular，thereuprosebeforemeapicturestrangeindeed。InthatpictureIsawmarchingoverthesteppe，wheretheexpanselaybareandvoid——yes，marchingincirclesthatincreasinglyembracedawideningarea——agigantic，thousand-handedbeinginwhosetrainthedeadsteppegathereduntoitselfvitality，andbecameswathedinjuicy，wavingverdure，andstuddedwithtownsandvillages。Andever，asthebeingrecededfurtherandfurtherintothedistance，couldI
seehimsowingwithtirelesshandsthatwhichhadinitlife，andwaspartofhimself，andhumanas，withthoughtsintentuponthebenefitingofhumanity，hesummonedallmentoputforththemysteriousforcethatisinthem，andthustoconquerdeath，andeternallyandinvinciblytoconvert，deadthingsintothingsoflife，whiletraversingincompanytheroadofdeathtowardsthatwhichhasnoknowledgeofdeath，andensuringthat，inswallowingupmankind，thejawsofdeathshouldnotcloseupondeath’svictims。
Andthiscausedmyhearttobeatwithemotionsthepulsingwingsofwhichatoncegladdenedme，andcooledmyfervour……Andhowgreatly，atthatmoment，didIfeeltheneedofsomeoneabletorespondtomyquestionswithoutpassion，yetwithtruth，andinthelanguageofsimplicity！Forbesidemetherelaybutamandeadandamandrunken，whilewithoutthethresholdtherewasstationedonewhohadfaroutlivedherspanofyears。Nomatter，however。Ifnottoday，thentomorrow，shouldIfindafellow-
creaturewithwhommysoulmightcommune。
MentallyIleftthehut，andpassedontothesteppe，thatI
mightcontemplatethencethelittledwellinginwhichalone，thoughlostamidtheearth’simmensity，thewindowswerenotblindandblackasinitsfellowhuts，butshowed，burningovertheheadofadeadhumanbeing，thefirewhichhumanityhadconqueredforhumanity’sbenefit。
Andthatheartwhichhadceasedtobeatinthedeadman——hadeverythingconceivedinlifebythatheartfounddueexpressioninaworldpoverty，strickenofheart-conceivedideas？Iknewthatthemanjustpassedawayhadbeenbutaplainandinsignificantmortal，yetasIreflecteduponeventhelittlethathehaddone，hislabourloomedbeforemeasgreaterthanprowessoflargermagnitude。Yes，tomymindthererecurredtheimmature，batteredearsofcornlyingintherutsofthesteppetrack，theswallowstraversingtheblueskyabovethegolden，brocadedgrain，thekitehoveringinthevoidoverthelandscape’svastperiphery。
Andalongwiththesethoughts，therestruckuponmyearsawhistlingofpinionsastheshadowofabirdflittedacrossthebrilliant，dew-bespangledgreenoftheforecourt，andfivecockscrowedinsuccession，andaflockofgeeseannouncedthefactoftheirawakening，andacowlowed，andthegateofthecattle-pencreaked。
AndwiththatIfelltothinkinghowIshouldlikereallytogooutontothesteppe，andtheretofallasleepunderawarm，drybank。
Asforthedeacon，hewasstillslumberingatmyfeet——slumberingwithhisbreast，thebreastofaprize-fighter，turneduppermost，andhisfine，goldenshockofhairfallinglikeanimbusaroundhishead，andhot，fat，flushedredfeaturesandgapingmouthandceaselesslytwitchingmoustache。Inpassing，Ihadnoticedthathishandswerelong，andthattheyweresetuponshovel-shapedwrists。
NextIfoundmyselfimaginingthesceneasthepowerfulfigureofthismanembracedawoman。Probablyherfacewouldbecomelosttosightinhisbeard，untilnothingofherfeaturesremainedvisible。Then，whenthebeardbegantotickleher，shewouldthrowbackherhead，andlaugh。Andthechildrenthatsuchamanmighthavebegotten！
Allthisonlymadeitthemorepainfulanddisagreeabletometoreflectthatthebreastofahumanbeingofsuchatypeshouldbebearingaburdenofsorrow。Surelynaughtbutjoyshouldhavebeenpresenttherein！
Meanwhile，theoldwoman’sgentlefacewasstillpeeringatmethroughthedoorway，andpresentlythefirstbeamofsunlightcameglancingthroughthewindow-space。Abovetherivulet’ssilkyglimmer，atransparentmistlaysteaming，whiletreesandherbagealikewerepassingthroughthatcuriouslyinertstagewhenatanymomentsoonefanciedtheymightgivethemselvesashake，andburstintosong，andinkeysintelligibletothesoulalone，setforththewondrousmysteryoftheirexistence。
“Whatagoodmanheis！“theoldwomanwhisperedplaintivelyasshegazedatthedeacon’sgiganticframe。Whereafter，asthoughreadingaloudfromabookinvisibletomysight，sheproceededquietlyandsimplytorelatethestoryofhiswife。
“Yousee，“shewenton“hisladycommittedacertainsinwithacertainman；andfolkremarkedthis，and，aftersettingthehusbandontothecouple，deridedhim——yes，him，ourDemid！——forthereasonthathepersistedinforgivingthewomanherfault。Atlengththejeersmadehertaketoherroomandhimtoliquor，andfortwoyearspasthehasbeendrinking，andsoonisgoingtobedeprivedofhisoffice。Onewhoscarcelydrankatall，mypoorhusband，usedtosay:’Ah，Demid，yieldnottothesefolk，butliveyourownlife，andlettheirsbetheirs，andyours，yours。’“
Withthewords，tearswelledfromtheoldwoman’sdim，smalleyes，andbecamemergedwiththefoldsandwrinklesonhergrief-
stainedcheeks。Andinthepresenceofthatlittlehead，aheadshakinglikeadeadleafintheautumntime，andofthosekindlyfeaturessowornwithageandsorrow，myeyesfell，andIfeltsmittenwithshametofindthat，onsearchingmysoulforatleastawordofconsolationtooffertothepoorfellow-mortalbeforeme，Icoulddiscovernonethatseemedsuitable。
ButatlengththererecurredtomymindsomestrangewordswhichIhadencounteredinIknownotwhatantiquevolume——wordswhichran:
“LetnottheservantsoftheGodslamentbut，rather，rejoice，inthatweepingandlamentationgrieveboththeGodsandmankind。“
Thereafter，Imutteredconfusedly:
“ItistimethatIwasgoing。“
“What？“washerhastyexclamation，anexclamationutteredasthoughthewordshadaffrightedher。Whereafter，withquiveringlips，shebeganhesitantlyanduncertainlytofumbleinherbodice。
“No，Ihavenoneedofmoney，“Iinterposed。“Only，ifyoushouldbesowilling，givemeapieceofbread。“
“Youhavenoneedofmoney？“shere-echoeddubiously。
“No，none。Forthatmatter，ofwhatusecoulditbetome？“
“Well，well！“shesaidafterathoughtfulpause。“Thenbeitasyouwish，and——andIthankyou。“
Thesun，asheroseandascendedtowardstheblueofthefirmament，wasspreadingovertheearthabraggart，peacock-liketailofbeams。Andashedidso，Iwinkedathim，forbyexperienceIknewthatsometwohourslaterhissmileswouldbescorchingmewithfire。YetforthetimebeingheandIhadnofaulttofindwithoneanother。Wherefore，IsetmyselftosearchforabankwhenceImightsingtohim，astotheLordofLife:
0hThouofintangiblesubstance，Revealnowthatsubstancetome！
EnwrapmewithinthegreatvestmentOflightwhichencompassethThee！
ThatwithThyuprising，mysubstanceMayComeall-prevailingtobe！
“Letusliveourlivesuntoourselves。Lettheirsbetheirs，andours，ours。“
End