that they don't praise him. I will tell the truth, since he tells me to."

And the starosta plucked up courage, and began to speak :

They grumble, Mikhail Semyonovitch, they grumble."

"Yes; but what do they say? Tell me.

"They say one thing: He does not believe in God.'" The overseer laughed :

"Who says that?"

"They all say it. They say, 'He has sold himself to the devil.'"

The overseer laughed.

"That," says he, "is excellent; now tell me individually who says that. Does Vaska say so?"

The starosta did not want to tell on his own people, but there had been a quarrel between him and Vasili for a long time.

"Vasili," says he, "scolds "Yes; what does he say?

worse than any one else." Speak it out."

"But it is terrible even to tell it. He says, 'You won't escape a violent death.'” 1

"Ay! the smart fellow! Why does he wait - why does n't he kill me? He can't because his arms aren't long enough to reach me ! Just wait!" said he.

"Vaska! we'll be quits with you!

Tislika? That dog also, I suppose?" "Yes; they all speak bad."

"Yes; but what do they say?"

Now, how about

"Well, they say something abominable." "What was abominable?

Don't be afraid to tell."

"Well, they say that your belly will break open, and your bowels gush out."

Mikhail Semyonovitch was delighted; he burst into a laugh.

66 'We will see whose does first! Who says that? Tishka?"

"No one said anything good; all growl, all are full of threats."

1 Bezpokayannaya smert; literally, "an unrepentant death."

"Well, but how about Petrushka Mikheyef? What does he say? The gobbler! he reviles me, too, I

suppose?"

"No, Mikharlo Semyonovitch. Piotr does not revile you."

"What does he do?"

"He is the only one of all the muzhiks that says nothing. He is a clever muzhik. I wondered at him, Mikhail Semyonuitch."

"But why?"

"At what he did; and all the muzhiks wondered at him."

"But what did he do?"

"Yes, it was very queer. I tried to get near him. He is plowing the sloping field on Turkin height. As I came near him, I heard him singing; he was carrying something gingerly, carefully; and on his plow, between the handles, something was shining."

"Well?"

"It was exactly like a little fire, shining. I went nearer and looked; it was a little wax candle - cost five kopeks- was stuck on to the cross-bar, and was lighted; and the wind did n't blow it out. And he, in his clean shirt, went up and down, plowing, and singing Sunday songs. And he turned back, and shook, and still the candle did n't go out. He shook it as I stood there, shifted the plowshare, lifted the plow, and all the time the candle was burning, and it did not go out."

"And what did he say?"

"Well, he did n't say anything; he only looked at me, gave me the Easter salutation, and began to sing again."

'But what did you say to him?"

"I did not speak; but the muzhiks came up, and began to make sport of him; here they say, 'Mikhyeyitch, you will say enough prayers to atone for the sin of plowing on Easter Sunday.'"

1 Pokhristosovalsa; a kiss with the exclamation Khristos voskres, Christ has arisen.

"What did he say to that?"

"He only said, 'On earth, peace, good-will to men.' Then he took hold of the plow again, started up the horse, and sang in a low voice; but the candle burned, and did n't go out."

The overseer ceased to laugh, laid down the guitar, hung his head, and fell into thought.

He sat there, and sat there; then he sent out the cook and the starosta, and went behind the partition; lay down on the bed, and began to sigh, and groan, like a cart-load of sheaves going by. His wife came to him, began to talk with him; he gave her no reply. Only he said:

"He has conquered me. His wife said to him:

Now it's my turn."

"Yes, go and let them off. Perhaps no harm is done. No matter what you have done, you have never feared before; what is there to be afraid of now?"

"I am lost," he said; "he has conquered me;" and he kept repeating, "He has conquered, conquered!" His wife cried :

"You keep repeating: 'He has conquered me, he has conquered me.' Go on! let the muzhiks off, then it will be all right. Go on, I will have the horse saddled."

They brought the horse; and the overseer's wife persuaded her husband to go out to the field and let the muzhiks go.

Mikhail Semyonuitch mounted his horse, and rode out to the field. He came to the inclosure; a peasant woman opened the gate for him; he rode into the village. As soon as the people saw him, they all hid themselves from him, one in a yard, another behind a corner, another in an orchard.

The overseer rode through the whole village; he came to the gates at the farther end. The gates were shut, and he could not open them on horseback. He shouted and shouted for some one to open them for him, but no one came. Getting down from his horse, he opened the gates himself, and tried to mount again. from the gate-post. He lifted his foot to the stirrup,

lifted himself, and was just going to swing himself into the saddle, when the horse took fright at a pig, sprang against the paling; and the man was heavy; he did not reach the saddle, but was thrown on his belly against the paling. There was one sharp pole that stood out above the paling, and this was higher than the others. And he fell on his belly straight on this pole. And it ripped open his belly, and he fell on the ground.

The muzhiks were coming from the plowing; the horses snorted and refused to pass through the turn into the gates; the muzhiks looked to see what the matter was, and there Mikhail Semyonovitch was lying on his back, his arms stretched out, and his eyes fixed, and his insides had gushed out over the ground, and his blood made a pool- the earth would not drink it.

The muzhiks were frightened; they drove the horses in by another way; only Piotr Mikhyeyitch dismounted and went to the overseer, and, seeing that he was dead, closed his eyes, harnessed the telyega, helped the dead man's son to put him in a box, and carried him back to the manor-house.

The barin learned about all these things, and on account of the sin forgave the muzhiks their tax.

And the muzhiks learned that God's power works not by sin, but by goodness.

THE TWO OLD MEN

CHAPTER I

"The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say that in Jerusalem ts the place where men ought to worship.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

shall

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." -JOHN iv. 19–23.

Two

WO aged men resolved to worship God in old Jerusalem. One was a rich muzhik; his name was Yefim Tarasuitch Shevelef: the other - Yeliser Bodrof -was not a rich man.

Yefim was a sedate muzhik; he did not drink vodka, or smoke tobacco, or take snuff. All his life long he had never used a bad word, and he was a strict and upright man. He had served two terms as village elder1 and had come out without a deficit.

He had a large family, - two sons and a married grandson, and all lived together. As for himself, he was hale, long-bearded, erect, and, though he was in his seventh decade, his beard was only beginning to grow gray.

Yeliser was a little old man, neither rich nor poor; in former times he had gone about doing jobs in carpentry; but now, as he grew old, he began to stay at home, and took to raising bees. One of his sons had

1 The starosta, or starshina, is president of the village council, and is held accountable for the taxes levied on the mir, or commune.