A crowd collected about me and listened earnestly to my words. I finished and there was silence.
Finally, the head model-maker, Kriokof, said to Kostin:
"That monk there sees things deeper than you and your comrades. He has taken hold of the root of the matter."
It pleased me to hear these words. Kriokof slapped me on my shoulder and said:
"You have spoken well, brother, but all the same cut your hair by a yard. Such a mane catches the dirt and looks funny."
And some one called out:
"And is in the way in a fight."
They were joking. Evidently their wrath had passed. Where there is laughter, there is man; the animal is gone.
Kostin took me aside. "Be careful with such words, Matvei," he said. "You can get into prison for them."
I was astonished. "What!"