II + 

Near Dmitry Parfentyevich were the knots of passengers, some on benches by the table, others on the deck and sitting on bundles. + 

There were several raftsmen from Unzha, a fat and good-natured country woman, and an old man, probably also a small farmer. The centre of the group at this moment was a steward for the third class passengers. He was still young and was dressed in a worn and dirty frock coat, with the number “2” on the left side. A napkin hung over his shoulder and with this he attained remarkable success in rubbing the wet tables and the glasses. He had just brought to the deck a tray of dishes with his arms wide open and with his eyes looking ahead and at his feet at the same instant. He had put the tray on the table, wiped off the dust around it with his napkin, and then joining this group of his countrymen sat down on the end of the bench and at once assumed a leading role in the conversation which they had already commenced. + 

“I’ll tell you,” he said in a wholly confident tone, “if I cross myself with my fist, it works. This way: in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. It really works just the same. What do you think?” + 

He looked at the others with the air of a man who had just propounded a very clever riddle. + 

“The fist, you say?” asked one of the peasants from Unzha in surprise. + 

“Yes, the fist.” + 

The listeners shook their heads as a mark of doubt and reproof. The farmer turned sternly to the young fellow: + 

“N-now, stop that! You claim to be above God.⁠ ⁠…” + 

“What do you mean?” + 

“Why, you are a foo-fool to make the sign of the cross with your fist. Impossible. It never works.” + 

“It does!” + 

The young fellow looked round upon his auditors with a joyously radiant face and was about to give the answer to the riddle when he heard at one of the tables the impatient tapping of a spoon on a glass. + 

The fellow jumped up as if he had been shot. In an instant he was at the other end of the deck, grabbed the teapots, ran to the machinery and back, set the table, shook himself, ran below again, put up the orders and passed them around the tables, and all the while the conversation continued before an enchanted audience. + 

“He’s beside himself!” said the farmer. + 

“Due to a stupid mind,” added the old woman pityingly. + 

“The little fellow was a liar, that’s all!” + 

“How can you do it with your fist?⁠ ⁠… That never works.⁠ ⁠…” + 

The general opinion was evidently very definite. + 

“Impossible,” said several voices suddenly. “It’s impudence and nothing else.⁠ ⁠…” + 

“What⁠—?” + 

“Where did you get that notion?” + 

“It’s impudence.⁠ ⁠…” + 

“Just you listen,” interrupted the young waiter, suddenly coming up the hatch, “and you may not think it impudent.⁠ ⁠… In the linen factory in the place where I lived there was a fellow and a machine caught all his fingers and slash bang! That’s all! He didn’t have a finger left! And his right hand too.⁠ ⁠… Just imagine: being a man with nothing but his palm left.⁠ ⁠…” + 

The audience was charmed. + 

“What are you driving at?” + 

“You see the question.⁠ ⁠… What would you do, brothers?⁠ ⁠… Could he cross himself with his left hand?⁠ ⁠…” + 

“What, what?” The farmer waved his hand. “You can’t use the left hand.⁠ ⁠… That’s for Satan.⁠ ⁠…” + 

“But he’d lost the fingers on the right, so he couldn’t join them.⁠ ⁠… Had only the palm left!⁠ ⁠…” + 

“That’s so.⁠ ⁠…” + 

The riddle became more popular. The passengers nearby listened; those further off got up and walked nearer to the speaker. Even the young merchant who was talking very authoritatively about politics at the tea table with a fat gentleman, deigned to turn his benevolent attention to the all-ingrossing riddle. He tapped with his spoon and beckoned to the waiter. + 

“Waiter, how much?⁠ ⁠… O-oh! What did you say: with the fist?” + 

“Yes, your excellency, among ourselves.⁠ ⁠… It doesn’t interest you.⁠ ⁠…” + 

“No, but it’s really clever, isn’t it?” remarked the merchant to his fat friend. + 

The latter’s answer was unintelligible, for the man was struggling with a slice of bread and butter. + 

But the Tatars sat in the stern without taking any part in the general conversation. They were silent, but once in a while they made brief remarks to one another in their own language. + 