"But you should have said something to him," I put in; "you should have made up some lie."
"I can't tell lies," answered Raissa, and even flung up her hands.
And indeed she could not tell lies.
"There is no need to tell lies," observed David, "but there is no need to kill yourself, either. No one will say thank you for it, you know."
Raissa looked at him intently.
"I wanted to ask you something, Davidushka; how ought I to spell 'while'?"
"What sort of 'while'?"
"Why, for instance: I hope you will live a long while."
"Spell: w-i-l-e."
"No," I put in, "w-h-i-l-e."