Latest / Brothers Karamazov / 043 - Book Seven Chapter One

Transcript

043 - Book Seven Chapter One · Brothers Karamazov

0:00
Speaker 1: Chapter forty three of The Brothers Karamazov by Fayodor Dostoyevsky,
0:10
Speaker 1: translated by Constance Garnet. This LibriVox recording is in the
0:16
Speaker 1: public domain recording by Tony Addison, Book seven al Yoisha,
0:27
Speaker 1: chapter one, the Breath of Corruption. The body of Father
0:35
Speaker 1: Zossima was prepared for burial according to the established ritual.
0:41
Speaker 1: As is well known, the bodies of dead monks and
0:45
Speaker 1: hermits are not washed. In the words of the church ritual,
0:51
Speaker 1: if any one of the monks depart in the lord,
0:55
Speaker 1: the monk designated that is whose office it is, wipe
1:00
Speaker 1: the body with warm water, making first the sign of
1:04
Speaker 1: the cross with a sponge on the forehead of the deceased,
1:07
Speaker 1: on the breast, on the hands and feet, and on
1:10
Speaker 1: the knees, and that is enough. All this was done
1:15
Speaker 1: by Father Paissi, who then clothed the deceased in his
1:19
Speaker 1: monastic garb and wrapped him in his cloak, which was,
1:24
Speaker 1: according to custom, somewhat slipped to allow of its being
1:29
Speaker 1: folded avert him in the form of a cross. On
1:34
Speaker 1: his head, he put a hood with an eight cornered cross.
1:40
Speaker 1: The hood was left open, and the dead man's face
1:44
Speaker 1: was covered with black gauze. In his hands was put
1:49
Speaker 1: an icon of the Savior. Towards morning, he was put
1:55
Speaker 1: in the coffin, which had been made ready long before.
1:59
Speaker 1: It was to leave the coffin all day in the
2:02
Speaker 1: cell in the larger room in which the elder used
2:06
Speaker 1: to receive his visitors and fellow monks. As the deceased
2:12
Speaker 1: was a priest and monk of the strictest rule, the Gospel,
2:17
Speaker 1: not the Psalter, had to be read over his body
2:21
Speaker 1: by monks in holy orders. The reading was begun by
2:27
Speaker 1: Father Yusuf immediately after the requiem service. Father Paisi desired
2:36
Speaker 1: later on to read the Gospel all day and night
2:41
Speaker 1: over his dead friend, But for the present, he, as
2:46
Speaker 1: well as the father superintendent of the hermitage, was very
2:51
Speaker 1: busy and occupied for something extraordinary, an unheard of, even unseemly.
3:00
Speaker 1: Excitement and impatient expectation began to be apparent in the
3:05
Speaker 1: monks and the visitors from the monastery hostels, and the
3:10
Speaker 1: crowds of people flocking from the town, and as time
3:15
Speaker 1: went on this grew more and more marked. Both the
3:20
Speaker 1: superintendent and Father Paisi did their utmost to calm the
3:26
Speaker 1: general bustle and agitation. When it was fully daylight, some
3:33
Speaker 1: people began bringing their sick in most cases children with
3:37
Speaker 1: them from the town, as though they had been waiting
3:41
Speaker 1: expressly for this moment to do so, evidently persuaded that
3:46
Speaker 1: the dead elder's remains had a power of healing which
3:50
Speaker 1: would be immediately made manifest in accordance with their faith.
3:56
Speaker 1: It was only then apparent how unquestionable everyone in Artan
4:02
Speaker 1: had accepted Father Zassima during his lifetime as a great saint,
4:09
Speaker 1: and those who came were far from being all of
4:13
Speaker 1: the humbler classes. This intense expectation on the part of believers,
4:20
Speaker 1: displayed with such haste, such openness, even with impatience and
4:26
Speaker 1: almost insistence, impressed Father Paisi as unseemly. Though he had
4:34
Speaker 1: long foreseen something of the sort, the actual manifestation of
4:40
Speaker 1: the feeling was beyond anything he had looked for. When
4:45
Speaker 1: he came across any of the monks who displayed this excitement,
4:50
Speaker 1: Father Paisi began to reprove them. Such immediate expectation of
4:57
Speaker 1: something extraordinary, he said, shows a levity possible to worldly people,
5:03
Speaker 1: but unseemly in us. But little attention was paid him
5:09
Speaker 1: and Father Paisi noticed it uneasily. Yet he himself, if
5:15
Speaker 1: the whole truth must be told secretly, at the bottom
5:19
Speaker 1: of his heart, cherished almost the same hopes, and could
5:24
Speaker 1: not but be aware of it. Though he was indignant
5:28
Speaker 1: at the too impatient expectation around him, and saw in
5:33
Speaker 1: it light mindedness and vanity. Nevertheless, it was particularly unpleasant
5:42
Speaker 1: to him to meet certain persons whose presence aroused in
5:48
Speaker 1: him great misgivings.
5:51
Speaker 2: In the crowd in.
5:52
Speaker 1: The dead Man's cell, he noticed with inward aversion for
5:57
Speaker 1: which he immediately reproached him. The presence of Rakitin, and
6:05
Speaker 1: of the monk from Obdusk, who was still staying in
6:09
Speaker 1: the monastery. Of both of them, Father Pais, he felt,
6:15
Speaker 1: for some reason suddenly suspicious, though indeed he might well
6:21
Speaker 1: have felt the same about others. The monk from Obdorsk,
6:27
Speaker 1: who was conspicuous as the most fussy in the excited crowd,
6:31
Speaker 1: he was to be seen everywhere. Everywhere, he was asking questions, everywhere,
6:38
Speaker 1: he was listening on all sides. He was whispering with
6:41
Speaker 1: a peculiar, mysterious air. His expressions showed the greatest impatience
6:47
Speaker 1: and even a sort of irritation. As for Rakitin, he
6:53
Speaker 1: has appeared later had come so early to the hermitage
6:57
Speaker 1: at the special request of Madame Hoje. As soon as
7:02
Speaker 1: that good hearted but weak minded woman, who could not
7:05
Speaker 1: herself have been admitted to the hermitage, waked and heard
7:10
Speaker 1: of the death of Father Zassima, she was overtaken with
7:14
Speaker 1: such intense curiosity that she promptly dispatched Rakitin to the
7:19
Speaker 1: hermitage to keep a careful lookout and report to her
7:23
Speaker 1: by letter every half hour or so everything that takes place.
7:29
Speaker 1: She regarded Rakitin as a most religious and devout young man.
7:35
Speaker 1: He was particularly clever in getting round people and assuming
7:40
Speaker 1: whatever part he thought most of their taste, if he
7:45
Speaker 1: detected the slightest advantage to himself from doing so. It
7:50
Speaker 1: was a bright, clear day, and many of the visitors
7:55
Speaker 1: were thronging about the tombs, which were particularly numerous round
8:00
Speaker 1: the church, and scattered here and there about the hermitage.
8:05
Speaker 1: As he walked round the hermitage, Father Paisti remembered Alyosha,
8:11
Speaker 1: and that he had not seen him for some time,
8:13
Speaker 1: not since the night, and he had no sooner thought
8:17
Speaker 1: of him than he at once noticed him in the
8:21
Speaker 1: farthest corner of the hermitage garden, sitting on the tombstone
8:25
Speaker 1: of a monk who had been famous long ago for
8:29
Speaker 1: his saintliness. He sat with his back to the hermitage
8:34
Speaker 1: and his face to the wall, and seemed to be
8:38
Speaker 1: hiding behind the tombstone. Going up to him, father Paise,
8:44
Speaker 1: he saw that he was weeping quietly but bitterly, with
8:48
Speaker 1: his face hidden in his hands, and that his whole
8:52
Speaker 1: frame was shaking with sobs. Father Paise stood over him
8:57
Speaker 1: for a little enough, do son, enough, dear, he pronounced
9:03
Speaker 1: with feeling. At last, why do you weep? Rejoice and
9:07
Speaker 1: weep not? Don't you know that this is the greatest
9:10
Speaker 1: of his days? Think only where he is now at
9:14
Speaker 1: this moment, Alyosha glanced at him, uncovering his face, which
9:21
Speaker 1: was swollen with crying like a child's, but turned away
9:25
Speaker 1: at once without uttering a word, and hid his face
9:29
Speaker 1: in his hands again. Maybe it is well, said Father
9:35
Speaker 1: Paisi thoughtfully, weep if you must, Christ has sent you
9:42
Speaker 1: those tears you're touching. Tears are but a relief to
9:48
Speaker 1: your spirit and will serve to gladden your dear heart.
9:53
Speaker 1: He added to himself, walking away from Alyosha, and thinking
9:59
Speaker 1: loving of him. He moved away quickly, however, for he
10:04
Speaker 1: felt that he too might weep looking at him. Meanwhile,
10:11
Speaker 1: the time was passing. The monastery services and the requiems
10:17
Speaker 1: for the dead followed in their due course. Father Paissi
10:22
Speaker 1: again took Father Joseph's place by the coffin and began
10:27
Speaker 1: reading the Gospel. But before three o'clock in the afternoon,
10:32
Speaker 1: that something took place to which I alluded at the
10:36
Speaker 1: end of the last book, something so unexpected by all
10:41
Speaker 1: of us, and so contrary to the general hope that
10:45
Speaker 1: I repeat, this trivial incident has been minutely remembered to
10:52
Speaker 1: this day in our town and all the surrounding neighborhood.
10:57
Speaker 1: I may add here for myself personally, that I feel
11:02
Speaker 1: it almost repulsive to recall that event which caused such
11:07
Speaker 1: frivolous agitation and was such a stumbling block to many,
11:13
Speaker 1: though in reality it was the most natural and trivial matter.
11:19
Speaker 1: I should, of course have omitted all mention of it
11:22
Speaker 1: in my story if it had not exerted a very
11:27
Speaker 1: strong influence on the heart and soul of the chief.
11:33
Speaker 1: Though future hero of my story alloyship, forming a crisis
11:39
Speaker 1: and turning point in his spiritual development, giving a shock
11:45
Speaker 1: to his intellect, which finally strengthened it for the rest
11:50
Speaker 1: of his life and gave it a definite aim.
11:56
Speaker 3: Earned.
11:56
Speaker 1: So to return to our story, When before dawn they
12:03
Speaker 1: laid Father Zossima's body in the coffin and brought it
12:07
Speaker 1: into the front room, the question of opening the windows
12:12
Speaker 1: was raised among those who were around the coffin, but
12:16
Speaker 1: this suggestion, made casually by some one, was unanswered and
12:21
Speaker 1: almost unnoticed. Some of those present may perhaps have inwardly
12:27
Speaker 1: noticed it, only to reflect that the anticipation of decay
12:32
Speaker 1: and corruption from the body of such a scent was
12:36
Speaker 1: an actual absurdity, calling for compassion, if not a smile,
12:41
Speaker 1: for the lack of faith and the frivolity it implied.
12:46
Speaker 1: For they expected something quite different, and behold, soon after
12:53
Speaker 1: midday there were signs of something, at first only observed
12:59
Speaker 1: in silence by those who came in and out, and
13:03
Speaker 1: were evidently each afraid to communicate the thought in his mind.
13:09
Speaker 1: But by three o'clock those signs had become so clear
13:13
Speaker 1: and unmistakable that the.
13:15
Speaker 4: News swiftly reached.
13:18
Speaker 1: All the monks and visitors in the hermitage promptly penetrated
13:23
Speaker 1: to the monastery, throwing all the monks into amazement, and finally,
13:29
Speaker 1: in the shortest possible time, spread to the town, exciting
13:34
Speaker 1: everyone in it, believers and unbelievers alike. The unbelievers rejoiced,
13:42
Speaker 1: and as for the believers, some of them rejoiced even
13:46
Speaker 1: more than the unbelievers, for men love the downfall and
13:51
Speaker 1: disgrace of the righteous. As the deceased elder had said
13:56
Speaker 1: in one of his exhortations, the act is that a
14:02
Speaker 1: smell of decomposition began to come from the copper, growing
14:07
Speaker 1: gradually more marked, and by three o'clock it was quite unmistakable.
14:14
Speaker 1: In all the past history of our monastery, no such
14:18
Speaker 1: scandal could be recalled, and in no other circumstances could
14:23
Speaker 1: such a scandal have been possible, as showed itself in
14:27
Speaker 1: unseemly disorder immediately after this discovery. Among the very monks themselves. Afterwards,
14:37
Speaker 1: even many years afterwards, some sensible monks were amazed and
14:42
Speaker 1: horrified when they recalled that day that the scandal could
14:47
Speaker 1: have reached such proportions, For in the past monks of
14:54
Speaker 1: very holy life had died. God fearing old men who
14:59
Speaker 1: sank was acknowledged by all. Yet from their humble coffins
15:04
Speaker 1: to the breath of corruption had come naturally, as from
15:09
Speaker 1: all dead bodies, but that had caused no scandal nor
15:13
Speaker 1: even the slightest excitement. Of course, there had been in
15:19
Speaker 1: former times saints in the monastery whose memory was carefully
15:24
Speaker 1: preserved and whose relics, according to tradition, showed no signs
15:30
Speaker 1: of corruption. This fact was regarded by the monks as
15:35
Speaker 1: touching and mysterious, and the tradition of it was cherished
15:40
Speaker 1: as something blessed and miraculous, and as a promise by
15:45
Speaker 1: God's grace of still greater glory from their tombs in
15:49
Speaker 1: the future. One such whose memory was particularly cherished was
15:57
Speaker 1: an old monk job who had died seventy years before
16:02
Speaker 1: at the age of one hundred and five. He had
16:06
Speaker 1: been a celebrated ascetic, rigid in fasting and silence, and
16:12
Speaker 1: his tomb was pointed out to all visitors on their
16:15
Speaker 1: arrival with peculiar respect and mysterious hints of great hopes
16:23
Speaker 1: connected with it. That was the very tomb on which
16:27
Speaker 1: Father Paisi had found Alyoysha sitting in the morning. Another
16:34
Speaker 1: memory cherished in the monastery was that of the famous
16:39
Speaker 1: Father Vasonoffi, who was only recently dead and had preceded
16:45
Speaker 1: Father Zassima in the eldership. He was reverenced during his
16:51
Speaker 1: lifetime as a crazy saint by all the pilgrims to
16:56
Speaker 1: the monastery. There was a tradition that both of these
17:01
Speaker 1: had lain in their coffins as though alive, that they
17:04
Speaker 1: had shown no signs of decomposition when they were buried,
17:09
Speaker 1: and that there had been a wholly light in their faces,
17:14
Speaker 1: and some people even insisted that a sweet fragrance came
17:19
Speaker 1: from their bodies. Yet, in spite of these edifying memories,
17:27
Speaker 1: it would be difficult to explain the frivolity, absurdity, and
17:33
Speaker 1: malice that were manifested beside the coffin of Father Zassima.
17:39
Speaker 1: It is my private opinion that several different causes were
17:44
Speaker 1: simultaneously at work, one of which was the deeply rooted
17:49
Speaker 1: hostility to the institution of elders as a pernicious innovation,
17:56
Speaker 1: an antipathy hidden deep in the hearts of many of
17:59
Speaker 1: them monks. Even more powerful was jealousy of the dead
18:05
Speaker 1: man's sinkliness, so firmly established during his lifetime that it
18:10
Speaker 1: was almost a forbidden thing to question it. For though
18:16
Speaker 1: the late Elder had won over many hearts more by
18:20
Speaker 1: love than by miracles, and had gathered round him a
18:24
Speaker 1: massive loving adherence, none the less, in fact, rather than more,
18:30
Speaker 1: on that account, he had awakened jealousy, and so had
18:35
Speaker 1: come to have bitter enemies secret and open, not only
18:40
Speaker 1: in the monastery but in the world outside it. He
18:44
Speaker 1: did no want any harm, But why do they think
18:48
Speaker 1: him so saintly? And that question alone, gradually repeated gave
18:55
Speaker 1: rise at last to an intense, insatiable hatred of them
19:02
Speaker 1: that I believe was why many people were extremely delighted
19:08
Speaker 1: at the smell of decomposition, which came so quickly, for
19:13
Speaker 1: not a day had passed since his death. At the
19:17
Speaker 1: same time, there were some among those who had been
19:22
Speaker 1: hitherto irreverently devoted to the Elder, who were almost mortified
19:28
Speaker 1: and personally affronted by this incident. This was how the
19:33
Speaker 1: thing happened. As soon as signs of decomposition had begun
19:40
Speaker 1: to appear, the whole aspect of the monks betrayed their
19:45
Speaker 1: secret motives in entering the cell, they went in, stayed
19:50
Speaker 1: a little while, and hastened out to confirm the news
19:55
Speaker 1: to the crowds of other monks waiting outside. Some of
19:59
Speaker 1: the latter sh their heads mournfully, but others did not
20:03
Speaker 1: even care to conceal the delight which gleamed unmistakably in
20:08
Speaker 1: their malignant eyes. And now no one reproached them for it.
20:13
Speaker 1: No one raised his voice in protest, which were strange,
20:17
Speaker 1: for the majority of the monks had been devoted to
20:20
Speaker 1: the dead elder. But it seemed as though God had
20:24
Speaker 1: in this case let the minority get the upper hand
20:27
Speaker 1: for a time. Visitors from outside, particularly of the educated class,
20:35
Speaker 1: soon went into the cell too, with the same spying
20:39
Speaker 1: intent of the peasantry. Few went into the cell, though
20:45
Speaker 1: there were crowds of them at the gates of the hermitage.
20:49
Speaker 1: After three o'clock, the rush of worldly visitors was greatly increased,
20:55
Speaker 1: and this was no doubt owing to the shocking news.
21:00
Speaker 1: People were attracted who would not otherwise have come on
21:03
Speaker 1: that day and had not intended to come, and among
21:08
Speaker 1: them were some personages of high standing. But external decorum
21:14
Speaker 1: was still preserved, and Father Paisi, with a stern face,
21:20
Speaker 1: continued firmly and distinctly, reading aloud the gospel, apparently not
21:27
Speaker 1: noticing what was taking place around him, though we had
21:31
Speaker 1: in fact observed something unusual long before. But at last
21:38
Speaker 1: the murmurs, first subdued, but gradually louder and more confident,
21:44
Speaker 1: reached even him. It shows God's judgment is not as
21:50
Speaker 1: Man's father Paissi heard suddenly. The first to give utterance
21:56
Speaker 1: to this sentiment was a layman, alderly official from the town,
22:02
Speaker 1: known to be a man of great piety. But he
22:06
Speaker 1: only repeated aloud that the monks had long been whispering.
22:11
Speaker 1: They had long before formulated this damning conclusion. And the
22:16
Speaker 1: worst of it was that a sort of triumph and
22:19
Speaker 1: satisfaction at that conclusion became more and more apparent every moment.
22:27
Speaker 1: Soon they began to lay aside even external decorum, and
22:32
Speaker 1: almost seemed to feel they had a sort of right
22:35
Speaker 1: to discard it. And for what reason can this have happened?
22:42
Speaker 1: Some of the monks said, at first, with a show
22:45
Speaker 1: of regret, he had a small frame, and his flesh
22:50
Speaker 1: was dried upon his bones. What was there to decay?
22:54
Speaker 1: It must be a sign from heaven. Others hastened to
22:58
Speaker 1: add and their opinion was adopted at once without protest.
23:04
Speaker 1: For it was pointed out too that if the decomposition
23:08
Speaker 1: had been natural, as in the case of every dead sinner,
23:13
Speaker 1: it would have been apparent later, after a lapse of
23:17
Speaker 1: at least twenty four hours. But this premature corruption was
23:22
Speaker 1: in excess of nature, and so the finger of God
23:26
Speaker 1: was evident. It was meant for a sign. This conclusion
23:33
Speaker 1: seemed irresistible. Gentle Father Eosef the Librarian, a great favorite
23:41
Speaker 1: of the dead Man's, tried to reply to some of
23:45
Speaker 1: the evil speakers that this is not held everywhere alike,
23:51
Speaker 1: and that the incorruptibility of the bodies of the just
23:56
Speaker 1: was not a dogma of the Orthodox Church, but only
24:00
Speaker 1: an opinion, and that even in the most Orthodox regions,
24:05
Speaker 1: at Athos, for instance, they were not greatly confounded by
24:10
Speaker 1: the smell of corruption. And there the cheap sign of
24:15
Speaker 1: the glorification of the saved was not bodily incorruptibility, but
24:21
Speaker 1: the color of the bones. When the bodies have lain
24:24
Speaker 1: many years in the earth and have decayed in it,
24:30
Speaker 1: and if the bones are yellow as wax, that is
24:34
Speaker 1: the great sign that the Lord has glorified the dead.
24:38
Speaker 4: Saint.
24:39
Speaker 1: If they are not yellow but black, it shows that
24:43
Speaker 1: God has not deemed him worthy of such glory. That
24:48
Speaker 1: is the belief in Athos, a great place where the
24:51
Speaker 1: Orthodox doctrine has been preserved from old, unbroken, and in
24:57
Speaker 1: its greatest purity, said Father Josef in conclusion.
25:03
Speaker 2: But the meek.
25:04
Speaker 1: Father's words had little effect, and even provoked a mocking retort.
25:10
Speaker 1: That's all pedantry and innovation, now use listening to it.
25:16
Speaker 1: The monks decided we stick to the old doctrine. There
25:20
Speaker 1: were all sorts of innovations, nowadays are we to follow
25:24
Speaker 1: them all?
25:25
Speaker 2: Added others.
25:27
Speaker 1: We have had as many holy fathers as they had there.
25:32
Speaker 1: They are among the Turks. They have forgotten everything. Their
25:36
Speaker 1: doctrine has long been impure, and they have no bells, even.
25:41
Speaker 4: The most sneering.
25:42
Speaker 1: Added Father Yosef walked a word, grieving, the more since
25:49
Speaker 1: he had put forward his own opinion with little confidence,
25:53
Speaker 1: as though scarcely believing in it himself. He foresaw with
25:58
Speaker 1: distress that something very unseemly was beginning, and that there
26:03
Speaker 1: were positive signs of disobedience. Little by little, all the
26:09
Speaker 1: sensible monks were reduced to silence.
26:12
Speaker 4: Like Father Josef.
26:14
Speaker 1: And so it came to pass that all who loved
26:17
Speaker 1: the Elder and had accepted with devout obedience the institution
26:23
Speaker 1: of the eldership, were all at once terribly cast down
26:28
Speaker 1: and glanced timidly in one another's faces. When they met,
26:33
Speaker 1: those who were hostile to the institution of elders as
26:36
Speaker 1: a novelty, held up their heads proudly. There was no
26:42
Speaker 1: smell of corruption from the late Elder Vasanofi, but a
26:47
Speaker 1: sweet fragrance, they recalled malignantly. But he gained that glory
26:52
Speaker 1: not because he was an elder, but because he was
26:55
Speaker 1: a holy man. And this was followed by a shop
27:00
Speaker 1: hour of criticism and even blame of Father Zassima. His
27:05
Speaker 1: teaching was false. He thought that life is a great
27:09
Speaker 1: joy and not a veil of tears, said some of
27:12
Speaker 1: the more unreasonable. He followed the fashionable belief he did
27:17
Speaker 1: not recognize material fire in hell. Others, still more unreasonable, added,
27:23
Speaker 1: he was not strict in fasting, allowed himself sweet things
27:27
Speaker 1: et cherry jam with his tea. Ladies used to send
27:31
Speaker 1: it to him. Is it for a monk of strict
27:34
Speaker 1: rule to drink tea? Could be heard amongst some of
27:37
Speaker 1: the envious. He sat in pride. The most malignant declared vindictively,
27:44
Speaker 1: he considered himself a saint, and he took it as
27:47
Speaker 1: his due. When people knelt before him, he abused the
27:51
Speaker 1: sacrament of confession. The fiercest opponents of the institution of
27:56
Speaker 1: elders added in a malicious whisper, And among these were
28:01
Speaker 1: some of the oldest monks, strictest in their devotion, genuine ascetics,
28:07
Speaker 1: who had kept silent during the life of the deceased elder,
28:11
Speaker 1: but now suddenly unsealed their lips. And this was terrible,
28:16
Speaker 1: for their words had great influence on young monks, who
28:20
Speaker 1: were not yet firm in their convictions. The monk from
28:24
Speaker 1: Obdorsk heard all this attentively, heaving deep sighs and nodding
28:30
Speaker 1: his head. Yes, clearly, Father Farapont was right in his
28:36
Speaker 1: judgment yesterday. And at that moment Father Farapont himself made
28:42
Speaker 1: his appearance, as though on purpose, to.
28:44
Speaker 4: Increase the confusion.
28:47
Speaker 1: I have mentioned already that he rarely left his wooden
28:51
Speaker 1: cell by the apiary. He was seldom even seen the church,
28:56
Speaker 1: and they overlooked this neglect on the ground of his
28:59
Speaker 1: cret and did not keep him to the rules binding
29:03
Speaker 1: on all the rest. But if the whole truth is
29:07
Speaker 1: to be told, they hardly had a choice about it,
29:11
Speaker 1: for it would have been discreditable to insist on burdening
29:15
Speaker 1: with the common regulations. So great an ascetic who prayed
29:20
Speaker 1: day and night, he even dropped asleep on his knees.
29:25
Speaker 1: If they had insisted, the monks would have said, he
29:29
Speaker 1: is holier than all of us, and he follows a
29:32
Speaker 1: rule harder than ours. And if he does not go
29:35
Speaker 1: to church, it's because he knows when he ought to.
29:38
Speaker 4: He has his own rule.
29:40
Speaker 1: It was to avoid the chance of these sinful murmurs
29:44
Speaker 1: that Father Pheropunt was left in peace, as every one
29:49
Speaker 1: was a word. Father Pheropunt particularly disliked Father Zossima, and
29:55
Speaker 1: now the news had reached him in his hut that
29:58
Speaker 1: God's judgment is not the same as man's, and that
30:02
Speaker 1: something had happened.
30:03
Speaker 2: Which was in excess of nature.
30:06
Speaker 1: It may well be supposed that among the first to
30:08
Speaker 1: run to him with the news was the monk from Obdorsk,
30:12
Speaker 1: who had visited him the evening before and left his
30:16
Speaker 1: cell terror stricken. I have mentioned above that though Father
30:23
Speaker 1: Paisi standing firm and immovable reading the gospel over the coffin,
30:31
Speaker 1: could not hear, nor see or what was passing outside
30:35
Speaker 1: the cell. He gaged most of it correctly in his heart,
30:39
Speaker 1: for he knew the men surrounding him well. He was
30:43
Speaker 1: not shaken by it, but awaited what would come next
30:46
Speaker 1: without fear, watching with penetration and insight for the outcome
30:51
Speaker 1: of the general excitement. Suddenly, an extraordinary uproar in the passage,
30:57
Speaker 1: in open defiance of decorum.
31:00
Speaker 2: Burst on his ears.
31:02
Speaker 1: The door was flung open, and Father Pherapont appeared in
31:06
Speaker 1: the doorway. Behind him that could be seen accompanying him
31:12
Speaker 1: a crowd of monks, together with many people from the town.
31:17
Speaker 1: They did not, however, enter the cell, but stood at
31:22
Speaker 1: the bottom of the steps, waiting to see what Father
31:25
Speaker 1: Pherapont would say or do, for they felt with a
31:29
Speaker 1: certain awe, in spite of their audacity, that he had
31:34
Speaker 1: not come for nothing. Standing in the doorway, Father Pherapont
31:39
Speaker 1: raised his arms, and under his right arm, the keen,
31:44
Speaker 1: inquisitive little eyes of the monk from Obdorsk peeped in.
31:50
Speaker 1: He alone, in his intense curiosity, could not resist running
31:56
Speaker 1: up the steps up to Father Ferapont. The others eye
32:00
Speaker 1: the contrary pressed Father back in sudden alarm. When the
32:05
Speaker 1: door was noisily flung open. Holding his hands alot, Father
32:11
Speaker 1: Pharapont suddenly roared, casting out, I cast out, and turning
32:24
Speaker 1: in all directions, he began at once making the sign
32:29
Speaker 1: of the cross at each of the four walls and
32:32
Speaker 1: four corners of the cell in succession. All who accompanied
32:37
Speaker 1: Father Pharapont immediately understood his action, for they knew he
32:43
Speaker 1: always did this wherever he went, and that he would
32:47
Speaker 1: not sit down or say a word till he had
32:50
Speaker 1: driven out the evil spirits. Satan go hands, Satan, go hands,
33:02
Speaker 1: he repeated at each sign of the cross, casting out,
33:08
Speaker 1: I cast out.
33:12
Speaker 2: He roared again.
33:15
Speaker 1: He was wearing his coarse gown, girt with a rope.
33:21
Speaker 1: His bare chest, covered with gray hair could be seen
33:26
Speaker 1: under his hempen shirt. His feet were bare. As soon
33:32
Speaker 1: as he began waving his arms, the cure irons he
33:36
Speaker 1: wore under his gown could be heard clinking. Father Paissi
33:43
Speaker 1: paused in his reading, stepped forward and stood before him, waiting,
33:49
Speaker 1: what have you come for, worthy father? Why do you
33:52
Speaker 1: offend against good order? Why do you disturb the peace
33:55
Speaker 1: of the block, he said, at last, looking sternly at him,
34:00
Speaker 1: What have I come for? You?
34:02
Speaker 2: Ask?
34:02
Speaker 4: Why?
34:03
Speaker 1: What is your faith? Shouted Father Barapont crazily. I come
34:11
Speaker 1: here to drive out your visitors. The unclean devils have come.
34:15
Speaker 1: To see how many have gathered here while I have
34:17
Speaker 1: been away. I want to sweep them out with a
34:20
Speaker 1: birch broom. You cast out the evil spirit, but perhaps
34:27
Speaker 1: you are serving him yourself, Father police, he went on fearlessly.
34:33
Speaker 1: And who can say of himself? I am holy? Can you?
34:38
Speaker 2: Father?
34:40
Speaker 4: I am unclean, not holy.
34:44
Speaker 1: I would not sit in an armchair, and would not
34:48
Speaker 1: have them fad down to me as an idoll, funded
34:53
Speaker 1: Father Baropont. Nowadays, folk destroy the troop of the dead man.
35:01
Speaker 1: You're saying, he turned to the crowd, pointing with his
35:05
Speaker 1: finger to the coffin. Did not believe in devils. He
35:11
Speaker 1: gave medicine to keep off the devils, And so they
35:18
Speaker 1: have become as common as spiders in the corners.
35:22
Speaker 2: And now he has begun to stink.
35:23
Speaker 1: Himself in that we see a great sign from God.
35:31
Speaker 1: The incident he referred to was this one of the
35:35
Speaker 1: monks was haunted in his dreams, and later on in
35:39
Speaker 1: waking moments by visions of evil spirits. When in the
35:44
Speaker 1: utmost terror, he confided this to Father Zossima. The elder
35:48
Speaker 1: had advised continual prayer and rigid fasting, but when that
35:53
Speaker 1: was of no use, he advised him, while persisting in
35:57
Speaker 1: prayer and fasting, to take a special medicine. Many persons
36:03
Speaker 1: were shocked at the time and wagged their heads as
36:06
Speaker 1: they talked over it, and most of all Father Ferapont Doom.
36:11
Speaker 1: Some of the censorious had hastened to report this extraordinary council.
36:16
Speaker 2: On the part of the elder.
36:19
Speaker 1: Go away, father, said Father Paisi in a commanding voice.
36:26
Speaker 1: It's not for man to judge, but for God. Perhaps
36:30
Speaker 1: we see here a sign which neither you nor I
36:33
Speaker 1: nor any one of us is able to comprehend. Go father,
36:38
Speaker 1: and do not trouble the flock. He repeated impressibly.
36:44
Speaker 2: He did not keep the.
36:45
Speaker 1: Fast according to the rule, and therefore the sign has
36:49
Speaker 1: come that is clear, and it's a sin to hide it.
36:53
Speaker 1: The fanatic, carried away by a zeal that had stripped
36:57
Speaker 1: his reason, would not be quieted. He was a good
37:00
Speaker 1: by sweetmeats. Ladies brought them to him in their pockets,
37:03
Speaker 1: he's sip tea. He worshiped his belly, pulling it with
37:07
Speaker 1: sweet things, and his mind with hoty guards. And for
37:11
Speaker 1: this he is put a shame. You speak likely, father,
37:18
Speaker 1: Father Paissi too, raised his voice. I admire your fasting, unciberitors,
37:25
Speaker 1: but you speak lightly like some frivolous youth, pickle and childish.
37:30
Speaker 1: Go away, father, I command joe, Father Paissi thundered in conclusion,
37:36
Speaker 1: I will go, said Father Peupon, seeming somewhat taken aback,
37:42
Speaker 1: but still as bitter. You learned, man, you are so
37:45
Speaker 1: clever you look down upon my humble ness. I came
37:49
Speaker 1: hither with little learning, and here I have forgotten what.
37:52
Speaker 2: I did know. God himself has preserved.
37:55
Speaker 1: Me in my weakness from your subtlety. Father Paissi stood
38:00
Speaker 1: over him, waiting resolutely. Father Pharupon paused, and suddenly, leaning
38:06
Speaker 1: his cheek on his hand, despondently, pronounced in a sing
38:11
Speaker 1: song voice, looking at the coffin of the dead elder.
38:15
Speaker 1: Tomorrow they will sing.
38:17
Speaker 3: Over him a helper and defender a splendid amthament over me.
38:24
Speaker 3: When I die, all they'll sing will be what earthly joy.
38:29
Speaker 3: A little cantacle, he added, with tearful regret.
38:36
Speaker 2: You are proud and popped up.
38:40
Speaker 1: This is a vain plane, he shouted suddenly like a madman,
38:47
Speaker 1: and with a wave of his hand, he turned quickly
38:50
Speaker 1: and quickly descended the steps.
38:52
Speaker 2: The crowd awaiting him below wavered.
38:55
Speaker 1: Some followed him at once, and some lingered for the
38:59
Speaker 1: soul was still open and further Paissi, following Father Ferapont
39:03
Speaker 1: onto the steps, stood watching him, but the excited old
39:07
Speaker 1: fanatic was not completely silenced. Walking twenty steps away, he
39:13
Speaker 1: suddenly turned towards the setting sun, raised both his arms
39:17
Speaker 1: and as though someone had cut him down.
39:19
Speaker 2: Fell to the ground with a loud scream.
39:23
Speaker 1: My God has conquered Christ has conquered the setting sun,
39:30
Speaker 1: he shouted frantically, stretching up his hands to the sun
39:35
Speaker 1: and falling face downwards on the ground. He sobbed like
39:39
Speaker 1: a little child, shaken by his tears, and spreading out
39:43
Speaker 1: his arms on the ground. Then all rushed up to him.
39:47
Speaker 1: There were exclamations and sympathetic sobs. A kind of frenzy
39:52
Speaker 1: seemed to take possession of them all. This is the
39:55
Speaker 1: one who is a saint, This is the one who
39:58
Speaker 1: is a holy man. Some aloud, losing their fear. This
40:02
Speaker 1: is he who should be an elder. Others added malignantly,
40:07
Speaker 1: he wouldn't be an elder. He would refuse, he wouldn't
40:10
Speaker 1: serve a cursed innovation. He wouldn't imitate their foolery. Other
40:15
Speaker 1: voices chined in at once, and it is hard to
40:19
Speaker 1: say how far they might have gone, But at that
40:22
Speaker 1: moment the bell rang, summoning them to service. All began
40:29
Speaker 1: crossing themselves at once. Father Pheraupont too got up, and,
40:35
Speaker 1: crossing himself, went back to his cell without looking round,
40:39
Speaker 1: still uttering exclamations which were utterly incoherent. A few followed him,
40:46
Speaker 1: but the greater number dispersed, hastening to service. Father Paisi
40:53
Speaker 1: let Father josef Read in his place, and went down.
40:58
Speaker 1: The frantic outcries of bigots could not shake him, but
41:02
Speaker 1: his heart was suddenly filled with melancholy for some special reason,
41:06
Speaker 1: and he felt that he stood still and suddenly wondered
41:11
Speaker 1: why am I sad even to dejection, and immediately grasped
41:15
Speaker 1: with surprise that his sudden sadness was due to a
41:19
Speaker 1: very small and special cause. In the crowd thronging at
41:25
Speaker 1: the entrance to the cell. He had noticed Alyosha, and
41:30
Speaker 1: he remembered that he had felt at once a pang
41:32
Speaker 1: at heart on seeing him. Can that boy mean so
41:36
Speaker 1: much to my heart now? He asked himself, wondering. At
41:41
Speaker 1: that moment, Alyosha passed him, hurrying away, but not in
41:45
Speaker 1: the direction of the church. Their eyes met, Alyosha quickly
41:50
Speaker 1: turned away his.
41:50
Speaker 2: Eyes and dropped them to the ground, and from the.
41:53
Speaker 1: Boy's look alone, Father Paiasi guessed what a great change
41:57
Speaker 1: was taking place in.
41:58
Speaker 4: Him at that moment?
42:00
Speaker 2: Have you too fallen into temptation? Cried Father Paisi?
42:06
Speaker 1: Can you be with those of little faith? He added mournfully.
42:11
Speaker 1: Alyosha stood still and gazed vaguely at Father Paisi, but
42:16
Speaker 1: quickly turned his eyes away again and again looked on
42:19
Speaker 1: the ground. He stood sideways and did not turn his
42:23
Speaker 1: face to Father Paisi, who watched him attentively. Where are
42:28
Speaker 1: you hastening the bell calls to service? He asked again,
42:32
Speaker 1: but again Alyosha gave no answer. Are you leaving the hermitage? What?
42:37
Speaker 2: Without asking? Leave?
42:39
Speaker 1: Without asking a blessing? Alyosha suddenly gave a wry smile,
42:44
Speaker 1: cast a strange, very strange look at the father to
42:48
Speaker 1: whom his former guide, the former sovereign of his heartened mind,
42:53
Speaker 1: his beloved elder, had confided him. As he lay dying,
42:57
Speaker 1: and suddenly, still without speed, King waved his hand as
43:02
Speaker 1: though not caring even to be respectful, and with rapid
43:06
Speaker 1: steps walked towards the gates, away from the hermitage. You
43:11
Speaker 1: will come back again, murmured Father Paissi, looking after him
43:17
Speaker 1: with sorrowful surprise.
43:21
Speaker 4: End of Chapter forty three.