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