Although he was half-witted, as I said, he understood my words.
The head of the monastery called me to him and spoke in a friendly tone:
"I told you, Matvei, my son, that it would have been better to have entered the office, and I was right. Old men always know more. Do you think with your obstinate nature that you could act as a servant? Here you have shamefully insulted the revered Father Anthony."
"He told you that?"
"Who, then? You have not said anything."
"Did he tell you that he showed me a naked woman?"
The Father Abbot made a cross over me from holy fright and said, shaking his hands:
"What is the matter with you? What is the matter with you? God be with you! What kind of a woman? That is some dream of yours, coming from the flesh; a creation of the devil. Oh, oh, oh! You should think of your words. How can a woman be in a monastery of men?"
I wanted to calm him.
"Who, then, brought you the port wine, and the cheese, and the caviar last night?"