He was again quite flustered. Litvinoff told me à propos of Tchicherin that he had advised him to get someone extra into his office to help to get his papers straight. Tchicherin agreed, and said that he had already heard of a young man who would do very well because “he works during the day, so that he is free at night.” Litvinoff asked when the man should sleep; Tchicherin looked surprised, he had forgotten about that.
November 2nd.
Felt ill. Symptoms of abdominal typhus. Panic on the part of my friends. They say they do not want to lay my body under the Kremlin wall. If they do, I have told them I don’t mind speeches, but I would like a prayer. The answer to that was: “Are you really croyante?”
“Well,” I said, “there are two children praying every night that I may return safe and soon, and the thought of that gives me a certain security.”
“What, you teach your children to pray?”
“But surely they must have something to guide them as they start life?”
“You should teach them reality, and not fantasy.”
“It is not fantasy to believe in a Divine power.”
“You should believe only in your own power.”
That is a conversation I have had as a result of my slight indisposition. It was a conversation that confirms the general idea I have met in others since I have been here. I know these men are idealists and selfless. I did not know these qualities could go hand in hand with atheism.