Page:Leskov - The Sentry and other Stories.djvu/219

 Rh at least to read 'by heart'—and, good Lord!—what people I saw! Lame men, stutterers, men with squints, men who spoke through their noses; some were crazy and some were even possessed. There was one who instead of saying, "Come, let us bow down before the Lord, our God," shut his eyes like a quail and mumbled, "Co-do-be-lo-go, Co-do-be-lo-go," and was so engrossed in it, that it was difficult to stop him. Another—and this one was really possessed—became so absorbed by the rapidity of his own reading, that when he came to certain words, which brought to his mind an association of ideas, he seemed forced to succumb to it. Such words were among others, "in heaven." He would begin to read, "As it was in the beginning, in every hour, in heaven," and suddenly something would snap in his head and he continued, "hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come." No matter what trouble I gave myself with this blockhead it was all in vain. I ordered him to read what was in the book—he would read, "As it was in the beginning, in every hour in heaven," and then, suddenly shutting the book, would continue, "hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come," and mumble on to the end, till he pronounced in a loud voice, "but deliver us from the evil one." Only here he was able to stop; it turned out that he could not read at all. After