"Various kinds of reptiles swim in our muddy rivers, and make the water more turbid than ever," said Petr Vassilich.
The man who resembled a shopman asked quietly and gently:
"Do you mean that for me?"
"And suppose I do mean it for you?"
Then the man asked again, not loudly but very frankly:
"Well, and what have you to say about yourself, man?"
"What I have to say about myself, I say to God—that is my business."
"No, man, it is mine also," said the new-comer solemnly and firmly. "Do not turn away your face from the truth, and don't blind yourself deliberately; that is the great sin towards God and your fellow-creatures——"
I liked to hear him call Petr Vassilich "man," and his quiet, solemn voice stirred me. He spoke as a good priest reads, "Lord and Master of my life," and bending forward, got off his chair, spreading his hands before his face:
"Do not judge me; my sins are not more grievous than yours."