XIV + 

The Butters baby had proved to be twins, and there was so much extra sewing for Anna to do that she was obliged to take some home. Her stitching was poor; she did not mind; she was tired of other peopleтАЩs children. She did not mind if every garment she made should fall to pieces on their superfluous bodies. She resented, too, being obliged to remain so much in the presence of her husband, whose melancholy and arid figure seemed to her now little more than a tiresomely deathless reminder of her disappointed motherhood. She said that her son was dead, she imagined him dead, but she knew that he was not dead. At the very root of her mind was the sane admission that there was no practical reason why he should not return in safety to Chi-tao-kou, with or without a wife. This root of common sense was planted deeply out of sight in her heart, however; aboveground flourished the branching growth of silly premonition and apprehensionтБатАФa growth which she saw no reason to prune; and from this tangle had lately blossomed her entirely senseless determination to see her sonтАЩs bride through the distorting eyes of the dead AlexanderтБатАФto call her Death, and to have no hope. This superficial, yet ardently nourished, hopelessness did not prevent her from taking her sewing every afternoon out on to the ramshackle porch of their house, which commanded a view of the street along which her son, if he returned, must come. The despair which ached continually, like a cramp, in her brain did not prevent her from thinking тАЬIтАЩll make curd cakes the first evening, I think, and IтАЩll kill one of the last two chicks out of Old SpecklyтАЩs last brood but one.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Old Sergei was obscurely glad that his wifeтАЩs work now obliged her to spend more time in the house. Her presence was tempestuous, her words hardly ever kind. Nineteen years of marriage had made her so wary and contrary a bird that the little snares he spread to trip her into a complaisant word of approval or an appropriate and flattering grunt of agreement were always futile. He was never allowed to complete his sporadic gestures of preening himself. Still, even humiliation was better than silenceтБатАФespecially as there was no mocker at hand to witness his frequent humiliations. Somehow, in spite of AnnaтАЩs impatience, he felt safe with her, as one feels safe even in a rough straw bed after groping in a dark room. Wherever she sat, sewing, he sat near her, trying not to notice that she often moved petulantly away. From the porch, however, as he soon discovered, she would not move away; there, heтБатАФsitting just inside the windowтБатАФhad his companion pinned down. + 

тАЬI suppose you sit out here so as to see Seryozha coming round the corner, when at last he comes,тАЭ said Old Sergei one day. + 

тАЬNothing of the kind,тАЭ said Anna. тАЬI know now that Seryozha will never come back.тАЭ + 

To his teasing, тАЬWell then, why sit out there in the dust?тАЭ she made no reply. + 

But presently she said something that so much surprised him that the sense of it fell back from his mind, as a wave falls back from a rock, leaving its surface dark, glossy, and wet, but its shape unchanged. He listened to the low unloving tone of her voice, rather than to the words she uttered, and the tone conveyed to his slow mind nothing but the usual reproach. Immediately, the house shook and he realized that she had jumped off the porch. Then he found, printed on his hearing, as clearly as the shape of a windowpane is printed on suddenly closed eyes, her words: тАЬAs a matter of fact, here he comesтБатАФyour sonтБатАФand the man that went with him.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnnitchka! Annitchka!тАЭ he cried, absurdly confused by the discrepancy between her tone and her words. But, as he feared, she was gone from the porch. What could she have meantтБатАФhere he comesтБатАФyour son? As he rose, trembling, from his chair, he sought foolishly in his mind for some other possible meaning of those disquietingly simple wordsтБатАФhere he comesтБатАФyour son.тБатАКтБатАж So deeply astonished was he that his sense of directionтБатАФhis homely familiarity with every objectтБатАФevery wrinkleтБатАФevery dint in the room, was on the instant lost. He shuffled wildly up and down, hitting his knee painfully against a ledge that seemed to have sprung like a fungus from a smooth wall, rapping his flying knuckles against an anonymous piece of furniture that could not be the ordinary reliable dresser that had for so long acted as signpost to his gropings. + 

тАЬAnnitchka! Annitchka!тАЭ he quavered. And as he stumbled to and fro, round and round, lost in a quivering jungle of bewilderment, he heard, fined and diminished by the accurate perspective-sense of the hearing, SeryozhaтАЩs far-off shout. + 

тАЬMamma! mamma! mamma!тАЭ + 

At the sound of his sonтАЩs voice, Old Sergei, in a frenzy of exaltation and desire, saw the dim oblong of the door, and his own upheld hand silhouetted like a blurred crab against that incredible squat pillar of light. He was at once extravagantly dizzyтБатАФreeled, swung, moaned, clung to the dresser, shut his new eyes for a few seconds and opened them again. There was a roaring of readjustment in his brain; his whole habit of concentration rushed from all his senses to that one lost and found sense of sight. He leaned his numb hands against the wall and planted his incredulous feet, as though they were wooden blocks, one before the otherтБатАФthe other before the oneтБатАФforcing his half-paralyzed body to walk along a new pathтБатАФa path that his feet had forgottenтБатАФa path that his eyes could see. + 

He had lost his power of estimating space by sight; his feet reached the threshold of the door before his eyes expected. Daylight towered round him, as though he tottered in a fountain of terrifying flame. He felt wholly defeated. The light pressed in on him; he was buried alive in an avalanche of light. Weighed down by light, he fell to his knees. As he did so, SeryozhaтАЩs voice, from somewhere very near, broke through the roar of his forgotten sense of hearing. It was as if the blood rushed into a limb that had been for a moment numb. + 

He lifted his face, raised his lids. This smear of smoke in the core of a flame, thenтБатАФwas this all that Old Sergei was to see of his son? Better to be blind, thought Old Sergei, wildly, than to seek in vain through this terrifying new world of fire for the lost face of his son. More lost than ever before, it seemed, for now the promise of returning sight was a broken promise. тАЬAh! ah! I canтАЩt see you! I canтАЩt see you!тАЭ wailed the old man. + 

тАЬYou shall! You shall!тАЭ cried Seryozha, giggling with excitement. тАЬJust be hopeful, papa darlingтБатАФjust be hopeful for a minute.тАЭ + 

An appalling smell now awoke to consciousness another of Old SergeiтАЩs momentarily neglected senses. Something of revolting texture was rubbed against his eyes. тАЬWhatтАЩs this? WhatтАЩs this?тАЭ he screamed in a fury. + 

тАЬJust be hopefulтБатАФbe hopeful,тАЭ SeryozhaтАЩs voice went on. His father could feel the boyтАЩs breath on his brow. What was this filthy, stinking pad over his eyes that shuttered away his son? + 

тАЬTake it away, boy, take it away. Let me see your face.тАЭ + 

тАЬCan you see my face?тАЭ asked Seryozha, withdrawing his magic poultice. + 

And it seemed to Old Sergei as if that urgent creating young voice cut like a knife through the thin crumbling texture of his limitations. Something that felt like a dark doubt in himself was pushed away from his heart and from his eyes, as the blinds of the house of a dead man run up to admit the sun when the coffin is at last carried away. He felt like a man who, in a dream, finds that he can fly. The voice of his son created before his eyesтБатАФa faceтБатАФa huge, shimmering gray turnip close to his eyes, much bigger than the sky, with features like clouds. It was like an Olympian practical joke, that faceтБатАФa mask, with blurred craters for eyes, crooked streak for nose, broad black scratch for mouth. Yet, imperfect and grotesque as was the geography of this globe within six inches of his eyes, it was obscurely but surely the face of Seryozha. Every second brought in partial focus some new identifying blur on one plane or another of this refound world that was his sonтАЩs face. + 

тАЬI can see,тАЭ whispered Old Sergei, and he could not speak again. Tears ran out of his eyes and trickled past the corners of his trembling mouth. His cheeks were sucked in with the breath drawn to utter words he could find no voice to say. He leaned toward his son and put his arms round his neck, hanging against him, dizzily swaying. + 

Seryozha, snorting and snuffling with emotion, almost carried him back into the living-room, seated him in the armchair, and knelt at his feet, stroking the old twitching, tear-smeared cheeks. тАЬPapa, papaтБатАФmy papa,тАЭ said Seryozha in a soft voice, feeling that there was nobody he loved so much in the world. + 

Anna, panting behind her son (who had run to his father), arrived in the doorway. She came and leaned over the back of her husbandтАЩs chair, feeling so full of delight that even the narrow wispy skull of the old manтБатАФacross which she saw SeryozhaтАЩs faceтБатАФlooked lovely to her. + 

тАЬAnd he looks so well,тАЭ she said, ardently describing the boy to her husband. тАЬThinner, perhapsтБатАФbut so well.тБатАКтБатАж Tschah! thereтАЩs no doubt about it, heтАЩs a fine boy, our boy,тАЭ she added with a deafening hiccup, as she shook her husbandтАЩs shoulder. Neither the old man nor the young one acknowledged her remarks. Seryozha went on saying, тАЬPapaтБатАФpapaтБатАФpapa,тАЭ stroking inquiringly with gentle blunt fingers the skin round his fatherтАЩs eye-sockets. Seryozha felt a creatorтАЩs prideтБатАФalmost a paternal pride, as if he had begotten a new papa. тАЬLet there be light,тАЭ he had said, he was the god of a new genesis. + 

The dog was not being welcomed home at all, but it did not mind. It wandered about the room, sniffing deeply, welcoming itself home. A dogтАЩs nose may be said to do something more for it than simply reconstruct the past, since the word reconstruct implies a certain effort of the imaginationтБатАФan element of guesswork. A dog, I think, smelling a smell, does not guess what has happened, it takes for grantedтБатАФjust as we, hearing a friend calling us, a horse neighing, or a clock striking, have no need for guesswork; our sense has told us something, not hinted at something. The dog, smelling traces of a past event, is a witness of that event; time is no obstacle; as long as a smell clings, so long is yesterdayтБатАФto a dogтБатАФcurrent news. A dog could surely make some contribution to the theory of relativity. тАЬHere,тАЭ mused SeryozhaтАЩs dog, тАЬthat horrid little goat lay downтБатАКтБатАж here, the old woman dropped an eggтБатАКтБатАж here stood that Korean water-carrier whom I always biteтБатАКтБатАж in this chair a missionary sat, carrying a parcel of clothes the paper of which once had something to do with dried raisins.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ The room confessed its past to the dog, reserving nothing that a smell could tell. Presently the dog had a piece of luckтБатАФa pleasure of the present interrupted inquiry into the past. Near the threshold it found a piece of fish offal in such a condition of delicious decay as even the dogтБатАФa connoisseur in putrescenceтБатАФseldom had the good fortune to unearth. It stood warily half in and half out of the door, fearing to have its treasure snatched from it, masticating hastily with a breathy sound like ga-haowтБатАФga-haowтБатАФga-haow. + 

Anna began to feel a little offended with her family for being so preoccupied. тАЬAnd where is the bride?тАЭ she said, a little less sweetly, straightening herself. тАЬHave you dropped her somewhere on the road?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes,тАЭ said Seryozha, dreamily, and then, as if ceasing to murmur the word тАЬpapaтАЭ had broken a spell, he pulled himself together and rose from his knees. With a lighthearted leap backward, using his arms as crutches, he sat on the table. + 

тАЬOh, papa,тАЭ he began in his natural, noisy, indifferent young voice, тАЬeverything went so beautifully. I got your moneyтБатАФor rather, Mr.┬аChew got itтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬWhere have you left Mr.┬аChew?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe was here. I expect he went back to show Tanya the way. But, papa, Olga Ivanovna wasтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬYes, but where isтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬWell, but, papa, how much dтАЩyou think we got? Guess. Well, your two hundred yen had swelled to three hundred and fifty! Worth going for, wasnтАЩt it? And, papa, I saw a mare give birth to a foal. YouтАЩve no ideaтБатАФOh, but listen, papa, at Mi-san they have eighteen horses, counting the three yearlingsтБатАФтАЭ + 

Anna stood looking along the table at his broad back and shoulders, feeling injury swelling in her heart, like the hot assembling blood in a pinched finger. тАЬWhatтАЩs thisтБатАФpapaтБатАФpapaтБатАФpapaтБатАФno mamma at all?тАЭ Was it for this she had counted the days, rolled her curl-papers on a tear-wet pillow through long nights? She made a difficult effort to keep her voice sweet. тАЬBegin at the beginning, darling boy, and tell us everything. It isnтАЩt really true that youтАЩre married, is it?тАЭ Perhaps the bride called Death was a dream, she thought, or SeryozhaтАЩs letter a joke. She had the unphilosophical habit of challenging proven facts to prove themselves againтБатАФand yet againтБатАФand even then of blotting out those twice-proven facts like hated dreams, daring them to materialize again. + 

тАЬYes, I am married,тАЭ said Seryozha, checked in his boisterousness, but still looking at his father as if he shared a secret with him. + 

тАЬSuch nonsense!тАЭ said Anna, vehemently, almost glad to have an excuse to sharpen her voice. тАЬIf you could see the child,тАЭ she added to her husband, nudging him to remind him that he should join in the reproach, тАЬyou would say like me that for such a baby to marry without his parentsтАЩ consent is worse than nonsenseтБатАФitтАЩs wicked, undutiful nonsense.тАЭ + 

тАЬPapa can see me,тАЭ said Seryozha, and Anna had once more the impotent sense of speaking to unhearing spaceтБатАФas a diverтАЩs voice, under the sea, is swallowed up, reabsorbed, by his own imprisoned hearing. + 

тАЬSuch nonsense!тАЭ she said again, more bitterly, and then, realizing what Seryozha had said, she looked rather sharply at her husband to see what the boy could mean. Although it seemed to her that there was a look of vision in the old manтАЩs eyes, she discounted the remark as nonsense, for the present, for she had no attention to spare for her husband. тАЬGet off the table, Seryozha, and let me get tea ready.тАЭ She would not try to make curd cakes today, she thought, wearily. + 

тАЬAnd, papa,тАЭ resumed Seryozha without moving. тАЬWhat do you think? Gavril IlitchтАЩs wife beat him in the street, because he paid up your money. Mr.┬аChew told me. Beat himтБатАФthink of that! You remember Gavril IlitchтБатАФlike a great dumplingтБатАФyou can imagine how funny it must have looked.тБатАКтБатАж Oi!тБатАФI did regret not being thereтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Anna, thwarted in her hopes of spreading the tablecloth, stood grimly watching him. In spite of her feeling of injury, she gloried in the sight of himтБатАФhis size, his straightness, his independence. + 

тАЬAi, that old clock,тАЭ said Seryozha, interrupting himself. тАЬI often thought of its ugly old face while I was away.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd your motherтАЩs ugly old face?тАЭ asked Anna. + 

тАЬI often thought of that, too,тАЭ cried Seryozha, jumping off the table and throwing his arms about her. But she hardly had time to feel delight, for he spoke to his father over her shoulder. тАЬPapa, in a field in Korea we saw a plough worked like a motorcarтБатАФno bullocks at all. The furrow it made was so straight and deep.тАЭ + 

He was sitting on the table again, his hand descriptively ploughing the air in front of him. + 

тАЬFor GodтАЩs sake, where is this wife of yours?тАЭ grumbled Anna, in a softened voice. тАЬWhere have you left her?тАЭ + 

тАЬIn the new temple,тАЭ said Seryozha, the smile that belonged to the marvelous plough still parting his lips. тАЬMr.┬аChew suggested our coming on ahead, and she seemed quite pleased. She is not like other girlsтБатАФalways asking for attention.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut is she there alone?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo. With KatyaтАЩs niece.тАЭ + 

тАЬWho is Katya and who is her niece? For GodтАЩs sake, donтАЩt talk so foolishly, boy.тАЭ + 

тАЬKatya is Varvara AlexeievnaтАЩs servant.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ And as Seryozha said this his eye fell on the tablecloth on her armтБатАФstill torn and stained, still not mended or washed, just as he had seen it the day he went away. And the words in his mouthтБатАФтАЬVarvara AlexeievnaтАЩs servantтАЭтБатАФsent his mind back to his mother-in-lawтАЩs neat house and orderly possessionsтБатАФthe sunlight, through clean panes, lying patterned on a clean floor; the pressed linen that clothed VarvaraтАЩs awkward yet leisured body; the busy effectiveness of Katya. He remembered the departure from Mi-san, which, owing to PavelтАЩs dramatic sense, had appeased that craving that was in Seryozha, as in all young creatures, for the dignified conduct of great affairs of sentiment. There had been the panting Ford at the door, and in it a large crate of unfamiliar shape. тАЬWhose package is that?тАЭ тАЬYours,тАЭ said Pavel, superbly. тАЬHalf the Ostapenko family silver for Pavel OstapenkoтАЩs only child. And IтАЩll send her mare up by road as soon as I can arrange it, and the black gelding for you, my dear boy. And here is my daughterтАЩs maid, Marfa, KatyaтАЩs niece, for I want the child to be well looked after. And here, Seryozha, is the childтАЩs dowry.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ He handed him a draft for two thousand yen. Seryozha had felt ideally well treated for the first time in his life. All that was needed was a grave and literary blessing, and this Pavel at once supplied. тАЬThe God of Heaven give you a prosperous journey, my children. Tanya, youтАЩre a married woman now. You must honor a new father and mother; they are your parents now, and from them let me hear a good account of you.тАЭ He kissed his daughter on the forehead. And then Varvara rather spoiled the noble austerity of it all by crying wildly: тАЬTake care of her, SeryozhaтБатАФthereтАЩs no one like her.тБатАКтБатАж SheтАЩs differentтБатАФsheтАЩs special. I commit her to you as a special trust.тБатАКтБатАж Be very good to her.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ Then she gasped, with a rush of tears, тАЬIf there are babies, Seryozha, let me be thereтБатАФI must be there.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ A scene to make a man of a boy indeed, thought Seryozha. Even VarvaraтАЩs tears, though awkwardly shed, had been a tribute to his grown-up dignity. And nowтБатАФhome to this threadbare muddleтБатАФto be reinfected with the virus of childishness by his incurable mother. For a few seconds Seryozha saw his home, and all his longing for home turned sour. + 

His mother watched his expression change and a sullenness come into his eyes. тАЬAh, tschah!тАЭ she said, hurt by this result of his glance in her direction. тАЬI wonтАЩt bother you with questions, then. IтАЩll leave you to talk to your father. IтАЩll go to the new temple to meet your Tanya.тАЭ + 

She felt like a horseman whose unmanageable mount suddenly kicks out at a friend standing by, to whom he has been trying to talk charmingly. Here was her warm heartтБатАФits warmth all in vainтБатАФmounted on this clumsy steed of manners and body. + 

But Seryozha was still imbedded in his past. He could not yet bear to let the then dissolve into the now. тАЬWe had such a journey,тАЭ he said, dreamily. тАЬBy motorcar from Mi-san to Choanji, and we let Mr.┬аChew take the car and luggage from there to Gensan while Tanya and I walked through the Kongo-sanтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬBut the expenseтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ quavered Old Sergei. + 

тАЬTschah! We are rich now. Expense is nothing. Why, papa, we have brought a huge box full of family silver.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Anna went out, patting SeryozhaтАЩs wrist wistfully as she passed him. He smiled at her as she did so. тАЬMamma darling, we must live quite differently now.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

The new temple was so new that it was not yet finished. The molded mud gods were already enthroned, but they were not colored yet. To make up for this rather ungodlike nakedness, somebody had put a fresh hollyhock in each godтАЩs hand. They looked like ladies trying on their engagement rings in their baths. + 

On a ledge between one god and another sat Tatiana. Anna was quite shocked to see how light and small and beautiful her sonтАЩs bride was. + 

Wilfred Chew was standing in the middle of the courtyard, looking contemptuously up at the dolphin-bristling roof-ridge and the curly, dragony eaves. + 

тАЬAh Mrs.┬аMalinin,тАЭ said Wilfred, brightly. тАЬI see I am to have the pleasure of introducing your daughter-in-law to you. Mrs.┬аMalinin senior, I beg to present to you Mrs.┬аMalinin junior.тАЭ He rubbed his hands together cheerfully, expecting some kind of outburst of womanly cackle. But neither Mrs.┬аMalinin cackled at all. Anna, feeling stout, hot, and suspicious, sat down on the same ledge as Tatiana, two gods away from her. + 

тАЬWhy do you stay here all alone, daughter?тАЭ asked Anna, after huskily beginning to say several other things. тАЬWhy donтАЩt you come to our home?тАЭ + 

Tatiana looked at her kindly and warily, as a deer, knowing its retreat safe, looks between the trees of a forest at some strange visitor. тАЬAi!тАЭ she said. тАЬSeryozha isnтАЩt such a very married man, dear Anna Semionovna, that he canтАЩt have his first few minutes at home without his wife. Besides,тАЭ she added, тАЬpoor Marfa has a sore heel.тАЭ + 

From another chapel of the temple, across the courtyard, Anna could hear a heavy and vulgar groaningтБатАФтАЬO God! O God!тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ Going forward a few steps, she saw KatyaтАЩs nieceтБатАФa fat, flushed, straw-haired girl, sitting in a lump on a low step at the foot of an unfurnished altar, soaking one gross foot in a basin full of warm water. Beside her stood two kind Chinese priests, dressed like coolies (for they had been interrupted in masonтАЩs work), except for their priestly pillbox hats. The priests, in producing the warm water, had obviously exhausted their resources for dealing with blistered female Big-noses. They looked kind, helpless, and depressed, and Marfa, who was not of martyr stuff, did nothing to spare their sympathetic feelings. тАЬO God!тАЭ she groaned, vigorously. тАЬO God! O God!тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat is itтБатАФa blister?тАЭ asked Anna. + 

тАЬO God!тАЭ replied Marfa. + 

Anna, leaning over it, saw that there was indeed a big broken blister on the heel. But she did not care. Her heart was quite hard just now. Not knowing what to do about any of these problems, she resented all of them; she did not know what to do for MarfaтАЩs heel, what to do about welcoming Tatiana, whether to make curd cakes or not, how to find a double bed for Seryozha, whether to tip these kind priests.тБатАКтБатАж Her imagination, usually so ingenious, had come to the end of its supply of ingenuities. Nothing occurred to her for MarfaтАЩs relief except uncompromising amputation of that ugly foot, or immediate strangling of the sufferer. She therefore turned in silence toward Tatiana again. + 

тАЬI ought to kiss her, I suppose,тАЭ thought Anna, desperately. тАЬAnd she is certainly a most beautiful little creature.тАЭ Her thoughts added, тАЬBut she is called Death.тАЭ + 

TatianaтАЩs lack of precedents showing her what to do in these circumstances was even more complete than her mother-in-lawтАЩs. Anna had temporarily lost her social resources, but Tatiana had never found hers. TatianaтАЩs quick heart never prompted her in the solution of personal problems. She kept her heart for other purposes; her heartтАЩs eyes were incurably longsighted. She would never have been at a loss with a trapped mouse, but a trapped mother-in-law seemed to need some subtlety of treatment, the nature of which did not occur to Tatiana at all. She realized that a mouse and a mother-in-law have, in these circumstances, something in commonтБатАФshe saw this in AnnaтАЩs eyes, and felt most tenderly sorry. Animals, she knew, were not comforted by touch, but people, she believed, sometimes were. So she leaned forward, round the intervening gods, and lightly stroked AnnaтАЩs arm. Then she sat back to watch the result. Anna watched her, without moving. + 

тАЬSheтАЩll be shaking hands with me next,тАЭ thought Anna, remembering things that Alexander Weber had said. + 

Tatiana, trembling a little, decided to talk. If she were careful to be polite, talk could do no harm, thought poor Tatiana. + 

тАЬI do think your Manchuria is beautiful,тАЭ she said. тАЬNot like land at allтБатАФreal land is always so surprising round the cornerтБатАФbut like the sea which has no surprises and no corners. But it is a winter country, this, Anna Semionovna, isnтАЩt itтБатАФalthough the sun is so hot now. It looks to me as if winter really lives here, and just sleeps half the year, like a snake.тАЭ + 

тАЬIt is a winter country,тАЭ admitted Anna, moodily, anxious at once to make the worst of it. тАЬRemembering Manchuria from far off, one would never remember sweating in green still weather, or seeing the coolies in their big straw hats, or fetching water from rivers that run toward the sea.тБатАКтБатАж Smelly furs and cracking black rivers and wind and endlessly sore fingers and melting the water to boil the tea in the dark morningтБатАФthatтАЩs Manchuria as youтАЩll remember it some day. A winter country indeed.тАЭ + 

тАЬSome day you must come home with me, dear Anna Semionovna, and see our Korea. Especially our Kongo-san. Ai! ai! you should see the sunny cliffs come forward through the mist to bow, and then go back.тАЭ And she began to talk with a tense, trembling enthusiasm about such things as mountains, mists, cascades like stringed harps. It seemed to the surprised Anna that the childтАЩs ardor had no flame in it, but only the stinging quality of ice. + 

These flowers of sight were furled in TatianaтАЩs sight like those Japanese toy water-flowers that lie disguised and secret like flakes of sawdust in the hand, but, tossed into water, expand into lilies and roses and orchids. The secret miles flowered in TatianaтАЩs mind, as she drew them one by one out of silence into this fresh element of words. The path across the Diamond Mountains opened before her, arched with sunlight. + 

тАЬIt was a path through the air,тАЭ said Tatiana. тАЬWe jumped from rock to rock; we scarcely trod on soil.тАЭ She remembered their course with the glowing, almost theatrical, exaggeration characteristic of herтБатАФoveremphasis of memory combined with under-emphasis of tone. She remembered their flying course from brow to brow of tall boulders, like the course of two clouds from peak to peak, over waters choked and knotted by these bowling bouldersтБатАФwaters jerked this way and that, foaming like horses violently checked in their courseтБатАФwaters dammed into peacock-green pools, to spill over paradoxically, in the wrong direction, by secret exits. тАЬSeryozha swam in a pool; I saw him like a white frog from the top of a round rock.тБатАКтБатАж Yes, we were like the chipmunks and the kingfishers, Anna Semionovna, our paths were all through the air or through the water. One could bite the red maple leaves as one jumped from rock to rockтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

While she talked in her clear soft voice, Anna watched her doubtfully, her mind half-consciously echoing her own last wordsтБатАФтАЬa winter country indeed.тАЭ She felt dimly a little flattered by the childтАЩs cool wariness; it seemed a tribute to the definite, un-Anna-like impression she was making, thought Anna. Inside this pink bewildered body was no confidently mature criticтБатАФno mother-in-law at all, really, if Tatiana had only known. But Tatiana, luckily, did not know. Tatiana fixed her alert, wild-fawn stare on the outer Anna and tried, with cautious words, to propitiate that outer Anna, that apparently solid symbol of authority. тАЬShe thinks my hands know how to do thingsтБатАФmy mouth knows how to say things,тАЭ thought Anna, feeling proud and surprised, smoothing down her miscontrived, mis-cut apron over her stomach and feeling that it was being gloriously mistaken for a real, bought, mother-in-lawтАЩs apron. But still she was not sure. Still that fading illusory glitter of icy ruthlessness hung about TatianaтБатАФa last gleam of the witch-glare thrown on her name by poor Alexander. + 

тАЬтАж┬аa little meadow where the abbots were buried,тАЭ Tatiana was saying. тАЬThe grass was as green asтБатАФas a squirrelтАЩs fur is redтБатАКтБатАж and each grave was of black marble, and its throne was a tortoise and its crown was a bandage of twisted dragons.тБатАКтБатАж Even the rough common stones round that place had crowns on, like the roofs of little pagodas. Tame marble tombstones for the tame saints, I suppose, and wild stones over the wild mountain saints. There was a praying mantis on one dragonтАЩs claw, and SeryozhaтАЩs dog came sniffingтБатАФsoтБатАФand the praying mantis prayed, тАШO God, make this dog ashamed,тАЩ so God didтБатАКтБатАж the dog sneezed for shame.тБатАКтБатАж We saw the sea and a great thin waterfall from a high path.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ She remembered the silver wire of sea strung across a gorge, hooked tautly from a maple to a pine, and another wire of waterтБатАФjointed and vertical this timeтБатАФleaning up a broken precipice across which a frayed intermittent smoke of clouds blew lightly. + 

тАЬSurely there is nothing to be afraid of here,тАЭ thought Anna, hardly listening to the words of this strange, cloudy talk. + 

But Tatiana, though she realized faintly now that she was not quite so safe as she had hoped, in talking of clouds and cascades to a new mother-in-law, could not forget the clouds. Clouds raced across her eyes, especially those last clouds that had dragged the dwindling mountains from her sightтБатАКтБатАж two strata of cloudsтБатАФhardly to be called by the same nameтБатАФcloudтБатАФso far apart were they.тБатАКтБатАж There was the still, cushioned world of clouds from which the mountains grew (for the mountains had no roots in the earth).тБатАКтБатАж And in front of the faces of the mountains, adding incredibly to their stature, shreds and skeins of stormlit clouds, torn across the pinnacled air, white on steel-blue, silver on whiteтБатАФclouds rent and raveled on sharp peaks like wool on needles. Somewhere Tatiana had heard GodтАЩs beard likened to white wool. тАЬAh, those mountains are held down by clouds,тАЭ said Tatiana, тАЬnot held up by earth. You have to believe in clouds when you see them like thatтБатАФas you have to believe in that beeтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

A big bee on a level with their eyes was pushing her bullying way into a chrysanthemumтАЩs heart, irritably elbowing petals right and left, her furry muscles trembling with rough strength. + 

тАЬDo you always talk about clouds?тАЭ asked Anna. + 

тАЬClouds? No. Why should I talk always about clouds? It is so seldom one sees the live bodies of clouds. Generally talk about clouds would be like talk about dead saintsтБатАФgenerally they are so still and so high. Who could talk about them then?тАЭ + 

тАЬCanтАЩt you talk about my Seryozha?тАЭ asked Anna. тАЬYouтАЩre his wife and IтАЩm his mother. HeтАЩs more interesting than a cloud, isnтАЩt he?тАЭ + 

Tatiana thought for a minute and then said, тАЬYes,тАЭ in a shamed voice. She was never safe from a sense of guilt, because she had no standard of behavior. She had talked unsuitably to this unknown ear, she now realized. She would not have been surprised if Anna had told her to go back at once to her parentsтБатАФa wife found wanting, a disgraced daughter-in-law. It would not have occurred to her to assert her rights. The command to turn the other cheek, even, would have been wasted on TatianaтБатАФshe knew of no right not to have her cheek slappedтБатАФshe knew of no rights at all except the right to see out of her eyes. + 

тАЬHe has a little rash on the back of his neck, I see,тАЭ said Anna. тАЬHow did he get that?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, and also on his behind,тАЭ said Tatiana, gravely. тАЬIt came after he swam in a mountain pool and lay in the sun on a rock.тАЭ She turned her accurate mindтАЩs eye on SeryozhaтАЩs rash and considered it; she could see the shape of the patch of pinkness on SeryozhaтАЩs skin as clearly as, a minute ago, she had seen the shapes of the clouds. + 

тАЬIt is only sunburn, then?тАЭ suggested Anna. + 

тАЬI think it is,тАЭ agreed Tatiana. + 

тАЬHe has a sensitive skin.тАЭ + 

тАЬYesтБатАФand bright, like a horseтАЩs.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ Tatiana thought with delight of living bodies as she said this. + 

Anna sighed. Yet at the same time she thought: тАЬThis wife canтАЩt take Seryozha away from his mother. Why, itтАЩs as if he had bought a new telescope, not married a wife. This girl may be new eyes for him, his father may be new ears, but I shall still be in his old heart. DeathтБатАФtschah! she is not deathтБатАФshe is nothing at all.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

A priest, with a kind eager bow, brought them two cups of leafy tea. These visitors, the priest thought, had evidently forgotten that they did not live here. The tea was a polite hint of a limitтБатАФa tactful unspoken goodbye. + 

Anna thought, тАЬOf course I mustnтАЩt mention Alexander Weber. That would be a thing I should regret very much afterwards.тАЭ But even while she was congratulating herself on havingтБатАФjust this onceтБатАФbeen wise in time, she heard her own voice saying, тАЬYou know, I saw a good deal of Alexander Weber before he died. He talked a great deal about you.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, poor Sasha!тАЭ said Tatiana in a low voiceтБатАФthough, as a matter of fact, she cared scarcely at all now about SashaтАЩs death. He was dissolved from her thoughts. She had such a short, thin-spun memory that her mindтАЩs eye never saw ghosts. тАЬPerhaps he told you, Anna Semionovna, that I was possessed by a devil.тАЭ + 

Tatiana hesitated and shuddered. Seryozha, who felt that his feats of magic were not to be hidden under a bushel, had told her his story of the magic smoke. Like all such vague, unlikely stories, it had taken on an aspect both more startlingly magic and more convincingly prosaic, on SeryozhaтАЩs lips. The further it retreated into the realm of legend, the more facts were remembered by Seryozha to prove its solid truth. Every conscientious liar who has an occult experience to relate must have noticed this curious posthumous skeleton of facts that materializes to uphold a fading ghost of fiction. (тАЬI know I wasnтАЩt dreaming,тАЭ we say, тАЬbecause I remember IтАЩd just got up to let the cat out, and I noticed distinctly it was raining, and I was just going to tell my wife so when I saw a curious light in the cornerтБатАФjust thereтБатАФI can show you the exact spot. I know because I could see the corner of the piano and said to myself that it needed dustingтБатАФso that shows youтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ etc., etc. In just such a hard mold of facts, the faint fluidity of an uncertain, unexplained experience sets into the jelly of a ghost-story.) + 

The first lie that Tatiana had ever told herself was thisтБатАФthat the story of her possession by a devilтБатАФnow cast outтБатАФwas true. This lieтБатАФthis illusory salvation from an illusory devilтБатАФwas her desperate anchor to normality, her license to believe herself a woman nowтБатАФa woman plucked out of shameful fairyhood, her defense against being an outlaw and alone. Did Andromeda, chained to her rock, dream through the dark night of a lover beside her, unloosing her chainтБатАФand smile uneasily in her sleepтБатАФhalf awake, yet clinging to her dream, trying to believe that she was no longer a dragonтАЩs prisoner beside the lonely sea, but brought home to a loverтАЩs arms? In such a dream Tatiana lived, her heart stirring awake, her lids shut firmly against waking. + 

Every time Tatiana repeated this lie to herself, she shudderedтБатАФsuch a shudder as makes people say, тАЬSomeone walked over your grave.тАЭ She shuddered now as she said to Anna: тАЬIt was true, what he said. I was possessed by a devil. I was so much afraid of menтБатАФthey were the only animal that didnтАЩt seem lovely to meтБатАКтБатАж that was a devilтАЩs teaching. But Seryozha drove the devil awayтБатАФby magic, he says, and also, Anna Semionovna, by being so lovely himself.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ She was her fatherтАЩs daughter. She sought in her mind for a password to AnnaтАЩs credulityтБатАФa word that should once and for all prove her lying claim of fleshliness to be true. тАЬIтАЩm as much a woman now, Anna SemionovnaтБатАКтБатАж as a sow is a sowтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬAh, tschah, child!тАЭ cried Anna, startled. She looked at her small, trembling daughter-in-law and noticed that she had become very white. тАЬPresently,тАЭ thought Anna, тАЬsheтАЩll be horrified to remember that she said that.тАЭ And instantly she felt at ease with Tatiana. + 

Wilfred Chew approached them. тАЬLadies,тАЭ he said, тАЬI donтАЩt wish to butter in on your family conversation, but donтАЩt you think we had better be getting home? The foot of this girl Marfa will not be better in a minute; she might as well make the effort to arrive at your home and perhaps treat it with some kind of healing plasters. Shall we not now begin our little walk?тАЭ + 

Tatiana came to her feet with a dancing spring, feeling vaguely that a dreaded word had been spoken and swept into the unmattering past. As she did so, Anna felt a rush of gratitude and tolerance toward her. She seized her clumsily by the arm. + 

тАЬYou pretty child, donтАЩt be afraid of me.тБатАКтБатАж IтАЩm not brave, either,тАЭ she mumbled, her tongue stumbling over her teeth. + 

Tatiana ducked her shoulder away, though, having done so, she smiled a bewildered and compassionate smile. She hated touch; she instinctively looked upon hands as so many traps. Still, having withdrawn herself, she felt tender. What should she say? What should she say? + 

тАЬI did enjoy seeing the porpoises from the boat, too,тАЭ she said. тАЬThey were such well-made porpoisesтБатАФand they didnтАЩt seem to know we were looking at them.тАЭ + 

A slope waving with standing kaoliang eight feet high, overripe for harvest, lay all about the new temple. A path from the temple door to the gate of Chi-tao-kou tunneled straight through this rigidly vertical jungle. One looked along a golden corridor, upheld by a million delicate pillars, intersected by a thousand passages. Even the sunlight lay geometrically, in neatly recurring diamond shapes, on the ruled red soil. + 

As Anna, Tatiana, Wilfred, and the wailing Marfa entered under the first arch of this long shimmering aisle, two tiny figures appeared at the further end. They seemed snapshotted through that far starry lens that focused the sunlight. + 

тАЬHere are your respective husbands,тАЭ said Wilfred. тАЬA family reunion indeed.тАЭ He thirsted for gratitude and praise. тАЬI have brought you a very nice daughter-in-law, Mrs.┬аMalinin, have I not?тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, well enough,тАЭ snorted Anna and gave a croaking laugh. As she turned to smile at Tatiana, she caught a glimpse of a bar of sunlight combing the girlтАЩs chestnut hair. тАЬI am wishing my old husband could see her,тАЭ she added, warmly and remorsefully, remembering that she had called the child Death and that a blind man would bear the accusation in mind without seeing the vivid defense. + 

тАЬHe can see her,тАЭ said Wilfred, complacently. + 

тАЬWhat do you mean?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe has been cured of his blindness by an application of Chinese medicine. And it is not surprising. Doctors all over the world are appreciating more and more the truths underlying the Chinese science of medicine.тАЭ + 

тАЬHas he speaked that he can see?тАЭ asked Anna. + 

тАЬMy dear lady, I was present at the cure. I was, in fact, responsible for the cure, though Saggay Saggayitch made the actual application. At once your husband saidтБатАФin Russian, of courseтБатАФMy goodness, I can see perfectly clearly.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, tschah! he is being at his old trick again,тАЭ said Anna, crossly. тАЬIt is all lie, this blindnessтБатАКтБатАж he never has been blind, I think.тАЭ + 

The offended Wilfred turned quite pink. тАЬYou are a lady of little faith, Mrs.┬аMalinin, like in the Gospel. If you had been present at the miracle of the Gadarene swine, you would have said that the poor creatures had been suffering from hydrophobia all along.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, perhaps they was,тАЭ snapped Anna, still ruffled. Regretting her daring pronouncement at once, however, she recalled it ungraciously. тАЬOi, noтБатАФof course, Mr.┬аChew, I know these pigs have not beenтБатАФI know my husband has been blindтБатАФit is a blindness of nerveтБатАФof hysterics, the doctor speaks. One time before, he has been seeing for a few minutes.тАЭ + 

тАЬThis time the cure is entirely permanent,тАЭ said Wilfred, firmly. + 

Meanwhile the two groups had been drawing nearer to each other, and now Old Sergei called to his wife, тАЬLook, Annitchka, I can see. I am walking alone!тАЭ He had been rather dazzled by the light in the open streets, but now in this avenue of crested spears he could open his eyes bravely and feel whole again. + 

тАЬWhat did I tell you?тАЭ exclaimed Wilfred. + 

тАЬMagnificent!тАЭ shouted Anna, half ironicallyтБатАФand then was penitent, hearing again that unsympathetic reservation in her own voice. тАЬMagnificent,тАЭ she said again, yet still, she knew, her voice was not quite right. As the two halves of the family met, she threw her arms roughly round her husbandтАЩs neck and gave him a loud kiss on the corner of his mouth. That was better, she thought, though not perfect. And suddenly she realized for the first time that nothing terrible had happened or need happen at allтБатАФon the contrary, they might all be happy together now forever. Although Seryozha had come home at last, she had not, till now, looked forward to serenity. Her mind had been adjusted to mistrust of the future. Now, naive anticipation of endless flawless happiness rushed into her heart. тАЬLetтАЩs have a party tonight,тАЭ she said, giggling with pleasure. тАЬThe Malinin wedding-feast. We can ask your cousin Andryusha, my darling, and Mitya Nikitin with his balalaika.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬExcuse me,тАЭ said Wilfred. тАЬI will wait here and guide the carter with the luggage to your house.тАЭ He wanted time to think of some subterfuge that might excuse him from presence at the feast. He had eaten and drunk one Russian feast too many, and the thought of another made his Chinese stomach turn. + 

Old Sergei was timidly and hopefully peering at his daughter-in-lawтАЩs shining face. тАЬYou are welcome, daughter,тАЭ he said, after a moment. тАЬGod be blessed, who brought you to us. God bless your father and mother.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

As they walked home, Korean and Chinese neighbors who had known of Old SergeiтАЩs blindness, stood gaping and shouting good-natured questions and comments. Seryozha, taking these as personal congratulations on the success of his magic, stepped proudly along. + 

The house, as soon as they entered it, began to shake with the tread of Anna walking confusedly about, talking of the party, her volatile mind continually drawing red herrings across the trail her feet were set on. The air was haunted with murmuringsтБатАФтАЬIf I had a few young carrots I mightтБатАКтБатАж then thereтАЩs that tin of asparagus that the missionariesтБатАКтБатАж or one ought, strictly speaking, to whisk a spoonful of olive oil round theтБатАКтБатАж but sardines for zakuska wouldnтАЩt be good enoughтБатАКтБатАж spring onions standing in the cut-glass tumbler.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ Each thought called her back empty-handed from the last uncompleted search. + 

тАЬI might help, perhaps,тАЭ said Tatiana, following her about, a little puzzled. + 

тАЬYour Marfa might help, perhaps,тАЭ said Anna, irritably. тАЬShe behaves as if no one ever had a blistered heel before. Ointment perhaps might soothe.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ She launched herself on a new course. тАЬBut there wonтАЩt be enough dessert plates for both plums and walnut cake.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

This unobtrusive pursuit by the anxiously helpful Tatiana shamed Anna, by imperceptible degrees, into some kind of effort at organization. тАЬWell, we might at least begin to mix the pie,тАЭ she said in a firm reproachful voice, suddenly dashing a pie-dish down on to the table. тАЬAnd IтАЩll go now and get the little Lai boy next door to run and invite our guests for a copper or two. I suppose now, Tanya, your mother has everything to matchтБатАФplatesтБатАФlittle platesтБатАФdishesтБатАФeverythingтБатАКтБатАж The samovar, I dare say, is much finer than mineтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬIt is more proud-looking, perhaps,тАЭ admitted Tatiana. тАЬBut its face is not so kind.тАЭ + 

Old Sergei and his son were at last left in peace in the living-room, but they could find no more subjects for pleasant talk. All SeryozhaтАЩs experiences seemed to have become twice-told tales in the course of seventy minutes. + 

тАЬYou ought to see that Mr.┬аChew is given his money when he comes in, Seryozha,тАЭ said Old Sergei, and directly he had uttered the words тАЬyou ought,тАЭ Seryozha knew at last that he was in the same old home again, with the same old nagging father. SeryozhaтАЩs face hardened, and he adjusted his wits to the old game of inventing irritating retorts. тАЬI will leave that to you now, Seryozha,тАЭ continued the old man. тАЬFor you must begin to take a little responsibilityтБатАФnot expect me to do everything. I think you might give Mr.┬аChew a little more than we arranged. We do not want to be mean, and he has certainly done well by us.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, papa!тАЭ exclaimed Seryozha, scornfully. тАЬA little more, you say. Why, you havenтАЩt rearranged your ideas at allтБатАФfor all my explaining everything.тБатАКтБатАж DonтАЩt you realize weтАЩre rich now? Three hundred and fifty yen from Seoul (itтАЩs settled on Tanya in the deed, to be sure, but only in case of my death and of course I shanтАЩt dieтБатАФI feel as if I shall live to be a hundred and twenty-seven), and two thousand yen dowry.тБатАКтБатАж And all through Mr.┬аChewтАЩs cleverness. Why, we shouldnтАЩt be giving him too much or beggaring ourselves if we gave him half the Seoul money.тБатАКтБатАж He arranged everything about the journey. ItтАЩs his doing that Tanya and I are here safe and sound; his knowledge of Chinese science made all the difference to TanyaтАЩs state of health, and he arranged that she and I should meet; he drew up our marriage paper and arranged the money side of it; he went to Seoul and got twice as much money out of Gavril Ilitch as you or I would have dreamed ofтБатАФand then his scientific knowledge gave you back your sight, papa.тБатАКтБатАж Why, what we owe him is beyond thinkingтБатАФand you go talking about a little tip, as though he were a coolie.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

New sight had made Old Sergei more easy to abash. The world seemed more menacing, now that he could see it. + 

тАЬWell, of course he has done a great deal.тБатАКтБатАж I donтАЩt want to be mean.тБатАКтБатАж Let me see, the arrangement was fifty sen a day over and above his expenses (which I suppose you have already paid)тБатАФand ten percent on the hundred and fifty yen interest on the Seoul money.тБатАКтБатАж Fifty sen a day for four weeksтБатАКтБатАж thatтАЩs fourteen yenтБатАФand the ten percent makes fifteen yenтБатАФtwenty-nine yen we owe him actually.тБатАКтБатАж Yes, you are right, it does seem poor pay for so many benefits, now that we can afford more.тБатАКтБатАж But we arenтАЩt millionaires, Seryozha, you know.тБатАКтБатАж Well, supposing we give him a present of a hundred yen over and above what we owe himтБатАФsay, a hundred and thirty yen altogetherтБатАКтБатАж thatтАЩs roughly half.тБатАКтБатАж Yes, I think we may say thatтАЩs due to him.тАЭ + 

His unpractised eyes, blinking at the sunset in the doorway, saw WilfredтАЩs figure pass across it. Wilfred was walking up and down the chicken-yard musing, alarmed chickens splashing from under his feet. + 

тАЬMr.┬аChew,тАЭ quavered Old Sergei. тАЬTell him, Seryozha (you have the money ready in your hand, havenтАЩt you?)тБатАФtell him that we have been discussing the great success that has attended everything that he has undertaken on our behalf, and that we beg him to accept a little present of a hundred yen, over and above the actual salaryтБатАФas a little token of our gratitude. Say it graciously in your best English, Seryozha.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

SeryozhaтАЩs blood ran cold at the very idea of saying or doing anything graciously, and blushing crimson, he blurted out, тАЬMy papa speakтБатАФand I speak alsoтБатАФthank you most indeed for being most kind and wise indeed. All very good. Horosho, horosho. We pay a present of a hundred yenтБатАФhere, please, takeтБатАФalso the thirty yen we speaked before. See this paper.тАЭ + 

тАЬI refuse it,тАЭ said Wilfred, immediately. тАЬWith many thanks but without the slightest hesitation I refuse the present. Twenty-nine yen is what you owe me, not thirty. As for the presentтБатАФno.тАЭ + 

The sunset, pouring into WilfredтАЩs eyes across the chicken-house during his walk up and down the yard, had exalted himтБатАФinspired him with a feeling of kinship with suns and saints. He was transfigured by the splendor of himselfтБатАФhis self-satisfaction had found a new self to be satisfied with. The Reverend Oswald Fawcett was for the time being undisputed king of his soul. It was absurdly easy to be good. + 

тАЬI refuse this present,тАЭ repeated Wilfred, тАЬas I would refuse the half of your fortune, should you offer it to me. I am above presents. I have no fear of poverty, believing in the following mottoтБатАФтАШDo good and no evil shall touch you.тАЩ Saggay Saggayitch, please note carefully what I am going to say and translate it all, accurately, to your father and motherтБатАФand to any other interested party. If I have helped youтБатАФand there is certainly no doubt that I haveтБатАФit is because I was sent to help you. I have this quite clear in my mind now; in the light of this beautiful sunset illumination, I have enjoyed a kind of revelation. I have been divinely sent, to help you all over your lame dogтАЩs stile. It is no meritтБатАФno favor of mineтБатАФall that I have done,тАЭ continued WilfredтБатАФand truly he felt triumphantly humble on his own behalf. He was conscious for the first time of his littlenessтБатАФconscious of the tremendous garment of Christianity that he had tried on, and flaunted himself in, so many times, and now, for the first time, seriously donned. He was conscious of this great magic grafted fruit of English righteousness, swelling and ripening round that small indigestible pip that was Wilfred Chew. + 

тАЬIf you only knew,тАЭ he said, тАЬhow improbable it was that I should come to Chi-tao-kouтБатАФto Manchuria at all, indeedтБатАФSir Theo Mustard had changed his plans by the barest chanceтБатАФbut there is no such thing as chance, however bare. Chance is the LordтАЩs choice. I have proof of being thus chosen. The catching of that fish, Saggay SaggayitchтБатАФthree times did I dream that exact scene, in advance, and, dreaming, heard a divine voice saying тАШWilfred Chew, the inside of this fish can cast out devils and heal the sick.тАЩ The Lord was choosing meтБатАКтБатАж as His man of business, so to speak, to make your paths straightтБатАКтБатАж If I had been sent by a human benefactor, of course, as a lawyer I should not dream of giving away his secretsтБатАФeven if he were a king, I would be discreet, despising advertisement of any kind. It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but it is honorable to reveal the works of God. Saggay SaggayitchтБатАФI am a work of GodтБатАФI reveal myself to youтБатАФnot as myself, Wilfred Chew (an imperfect and ignoble person), but as a work of GodтБатАФa messenger of God. I have been sent in answer to the prayers of good peopleтБатАФyourselves. People that sin are enemies to their own life. Saggay Saggayitch (remember to translate all this). Tell your father that I am sent as the reward of goodness. He was good, leaving his dinner that day, as your mother told me, to go and do his duty by his dead friend, yet for a time only misfortune seemed to result. BlindnessтБатАФpovertyтБатАФthe difficulty of getting his lawful money from Mr.┬аIsaev at SeoulтБатАКтБатАж all these things afflicted him, yet still he was goodтБатАФhe prayed. The same with your wife; she was afflicted by a devilтБатАФand she prayed. And, in answer to these prayers, I was sent by God to youтБатАФor rather, not I, but an angel in this poor body of mine. It is as if you had seen a vision all these days, Saggay SaggayitchтБатАФyou thought you walked with a man called Wilfred ChewтБатАФa mere barrister, of the Middle Temple, LondonтБатАФbut really you walked with an angel. Often, during these weeks, I have felt quite strikingly not myself; something guided my hand even when I did not know it, something saved me from sinning.тБатАКтБатАж And when my outward man fell from grace (on one occasion at least you were a witness of it), eating and drinking far too much, I am ashamed to sayтБатАФeven then, something within me sat apartтБатАФthe angel in me sat apartтБатАФneither eating nor drinking, simply occupied in fulfilling the divine commission. Translate all this now, please, Saggay Saggayitch.тАЭ + 

Poor Seryozha was staggered. He stammered in Russian to his father, тАЬHe says that he has been GodтАЩs angel to us.тАЭ + 

тАЬI am surprised that he should say so himself, but it is perfectly true,тАЭ said Old Sergei, bowing to Wilfred. тАЬOne can see GodтАЩs hand in all that he has done. But surely he said more than that.тАЭ + 

тАЬHe said that a great many times,тАЭ said Seryozha, guiltily. тАЬIt was all I understood.тАЭ + 

тАЬHave you translated it all properly, Saggay Saggayitch?тАЭ asked Wilfred, a little surprised at the condensing tendency of the Russian language. He was so anxious that the point of his remarks should reach the old manтБатАФthat this stream of inspiration that he felt flowing through his heart and lips should not be dammed by misunderstanding. тАЬDoes he understand, Saggay Saggayitch, that I am not praising myselfтБатАФthat I am not an angel, though an angel traveled inside me? Does he understand that I am myself a great sinner?тАЭ He was very anxious to have his meaning made clearтБатАФnot only the fact of his possession by an angelic spirit, but also his new idea of himself as a great sinner used as a divine mouthpieceтБатАФa Chinese Saint Paul. тАЬDoes he understand all that? Tell him how I sinned. Tell him I was drunk.тАЭ + 

тАЬHe was drunk,тАЭ said Saryozha to his father. + 

Old Sergei started. тАЬWell, well!тАЭ he murmured, feebly. тАЬI dare say the temptation was strong.тАЭ + 

тАЬDoes he understand everything now?тАЭ asked poor Wilfred, anxiously. + 

тАЬEverything indeed,тАЭ replied Saryozha. + 

Wilfred, however, was determined to take no risks. He leaned over Old Sergei and seized his hand. Old SergeiтАЩs straining, peering face was turned upward, like the beak of a fledgeling about to be fed. + 

тАЬListen, Mr.┬аMalinin. Ya plokhoi chelovyekтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬNyet nyet,тАЭ murmured Old Sergei, politely. + 

тАЬDa daтБатАФplokhoi chelovyek. But at the same time, BokhтАЩs chelovyekтБатАКтБатАж HoroshoтБатАФah?тАЭ + 

тАЬHorosho, horosho.тАЭ + 

тАЬHorosho?тАЭ + 

тАЬHorosho, horosho, horosho.тАЭ + 

тАЬThen all is now understood,тАЭ said Wilfred, radiantly. + 

тАЬI will now leave you.тАЭ + 

тАЬWonтАЩt you stay to dinner?тАЭ asked Anna, who, as they now saw, was standing in the doorway, peeling a potato on to the floor. + 

тАЬAh, Mrs.┬аMalinin, have you heard all that I have been saying?тАЭ + 

тАЬIndeed yes,тАЭ said Anna, with vague warmth. тАЬMost interesting indeed.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, then you can talk it all over with your husband.тБатАКтБатАж Tell him I think it would make an interesting and helpful bookтБатАФhe should write such a book, Mrs.┬аMalinin. I want everyone to know about it all. I want this,тАЭ added Wilfred, standing in the doorway, тАЬbecause these feelings are the largest feelings I have ever had in my life.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ His lips twitched. тАЬI think now that this is a good adventure that we have had.тБатАКтБатАж I want people to know about it so as to be helped to be good. I feel that in going I leave goodness with you.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

But as he walked away, tense with excitement, goodness went with him down the street. The ghost of the Reverend Oswald Fawcett held his hand. + 

тАЬYes, indeed,тАЭ said Old Sergei, after a momentтАЩs silence. тАЬHe is right. It is as if God had sent His angel to help us. Do you remember, Annitchka, you once said you wished that God would send His angel to take care of our Seryozha on his dangerous journey to Seoul, and I said that God had forgotten poor Russians. I was wrong. I believe now that I was wrong. God will remember usтБатАФgive us happiness again. God will remember poor Russia again, poor Russia now being scourged for her sinsтБатАФand bring not us, Annitchka, but our children and our grandchildren back out of exile. Yes, Russia is passing through the fire, and will be desolate for a time, but God will have mercy and bring her children again into the land, where they shall build a Russia, not like the first, a new Russia. They shall return from all the places of their exile, and build up Russia gloriously. Ai, Annitchka, we shall not see it, but SeryozhaтАЩs children will see it.тАЭ + 

But AnnaтАЩs voice came from the kitchen, whither she had retreated. тАЬSeryozha, draw up that bench to the table, and your fatherтАЩs big chair.тАЭ She reappeared, panting, in the doorway. тАЬYou and TanyaтБатАФbride and bridegroomтБатАФshall sit on the bench at the head of the table.тАЭ + 

Seryozha sat on it to see how it would feel. If Sonia Matvievna were to sit beside him, he thought, it would be a good joke to slide oneтАЩs behind violently up the bench and push her off, catching her round the waist as she fell. But with Tanya, this would be a senseless thing to do. + 

тАЬNo, we old people shall not see it,тАЭ continued Old SergeiтАЩs sad murmur. тАЬBut perhaps that is in itself a mercy, for much trouble will come first. I can feel trouble coming. Why, Seryozha, this placeтБатАФonly twenty-five versts from the Siberian borderтБатАФcould be blotted out in five minutes by bombsтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Marfa limped in, carrying a vase tightly filled with copper-colored zinnias. She laid the cloth and lighted the lamp. Intensely blue sky shuttered the window. Walls and ceiling glowed with a vulgar pleasant golden light. From under the shade of the lamp a tent-shaped radiance spread. The tiny lamp in front of the icon, high up on a triangular shelf across the corner of the room, trembled like a star above the common groundling promise of the room. + 

тАЬOh, well, if we are bombed,тАЭ said Seryozha, тАЬwe can all go and live at Mi-san.тБатАКтБатАж I should like to take up horse-breeding as a profession. Papa, youтАЩve no idea howтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬThe lampтБатАФthe lampтБатАФhow pretty!тАЭ murmured Old Sergei. тАЬI can see the lamp.тАЭ + 

тАЬThereтАЩs a knock at the door,тАЭ said Anna, standing hiccuping with delighted excitement in the steaming kitchen doorway. тАЬThe first guest.тБатАКтБатАж Tanya, the tray of zakuska.тБатАКтБатАж Marfa, pick up that potato peel.тБатАКтБатАж Seryozha, open the door.тБатАКтБатАж Ai, everything is cooking nicely. Ai, ai! IsnтАЩt everything happy, my darlings!тБатАКтБатАж IsnтАЩt this going to be a happy feastтБатАКтБатАжтАК!тАЭ + 