So, you see, the poor fellow
didn't get much by _that_ move; and what with the disappointment, and
what with grief at finding himself so shabbily treated by his own
neighbors, just because he happened to be poor, he was ready to go out
of his wits outright.
"Just then he happened to look down into the plain (for the village
stood on the slope of a hill), and behold! there were ever so many
lights twinkling all over it, as if a regiment were encamped there; and
Stepka thought that this must be a gang of charcoal-burners halting for
the night, as they often did in passing to and fro. So, then the
thought struck him, "Why shouldn't I go and beg a light from _them_;
they can't well be harder upon me than my own neighbors have been. I'll
try, at any rate!"
"And off he set, down the hill, right toward the encampment.
"The nearer he came to it, the brighter the fires seemed to burn; and
the sight of the cheery light, and all the people coming and going
around it, all so busy and happy, made him feel comforted without
knowing why. He went right up to the nearest fire, and took off his
cap.
"'Christ is risen!' said he.
"'He is risen indeed!' answered one of the black men, in such a clear,
sweet voice, that it sounded to Stepka just like his mother singing him
to sleep when he was a child.
Pages:
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118