Page:Leo Tolstoy - Father Sergius and Other Stories and Plays - ed. Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright (1911).djvu/57

 Rh self within the church. In spite of his most earnest endeavours Sergius could not overcome his dislike for him. He was submissive to him, but in his heart he criticized him unceasingly. At last, when he had been there nearly two years, his real sentiments burst forth.

On the feast of the Intercession of the Virgin the vesper service was being celebrated in the church proper. There were many visitors from the neighbourhood, and the service was conducted by the abbot himself. Father Sergius was standing in his usual place, and was praying; that is to say, he was engaged in that inner combat which always occupied him during service, especially in this second monastery.

The conflict was caused by his irritation at the presence of all the fine folk, and especially the ladies. He tried not to notice what was going on around him. He could not help, however, seeing a soldier who, while conducting the better-dressed people, pushed the common crowd aside, nor noticing the ladies who pointed out the monks, often himself and another monk as well who was noted for his good looks. He tried to concentrate his mind, to see nothing but the light of the candles on the ikonostasis, the sacred images, and the priests. He tried to hear nothing but the prayers which were spoken and chanted, to feel nothing