Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/39

 32 him home with me. Suppress your anger, Matreona, for it is as in. We all have to die."

Matreona seemed still anxious to quarrel, but catching the stranger's eye she became silent. The man was sitting motionless on the edge of the bench, resting his hands on his knees. His head had dropped on his breast and his eyes were closed, while he knit his brows as if in despair.

Taking further advantage of his wife's silence, Simeon continued:

"Matreona, have you Christ in your heart or have you not?"

On hearing this the shoemaker's wife glanced toward the stranger, and instantly her angry and quarrelsome spirit left her. She went to a corner near the stove and began to prepare supper. Placing cups on the table, she poured quass into them. She also brought out their last loaf of bread, and finally she produced some knives and spoons. Turning to the men, she said: "Come; you are welcome to what I have."

Simeon hereupon led the stranger to the