Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/24

 Rh his way and leave him to his fate. To approach him, thought Simeon, might be dangerous, for who knows what manner of man he might be? He said to himself: "There must be something wrong with him or he would not be there. If I should go near him he may want to fight me—perhaps spring upon me and choke me to death before I could escape. What should I do when I meet a naked man?" said the shoemaker, finally, in despair. "Shall I take off my last cloak and give it to him? Oh, God! let this thing pass from me."

The shoemaker quickened his steps, leaving the chapel behind him; but his conscience was smitten with remorse, and he stood still on the road.

"What are you doing, Simeon?" he exclaimed, clutching at his hair. "The man is in distress and may be dying, and you, mean coward, intend to pass him by! Or have you suddenly become rich, that you are in fear of being robbed? Oh, Sim [diminutive of Simeon], it is disgraceful!"