Page:Leskov - The Sentry and other Stories.djvu/244

 228 He lived under the belfry in such a small cell, that when I entered there was no room for the two of us to turn round and the vaults seemed to press on the crowns of our heads; but everything looked tidy, and in the dim grated window there was even an aster growing in a broken cooking pot.

I found Kiriak at work; he was threading fish scales, and sewing them on to linen.

"What are you doing there?" I asked.

"Little ornaments, Vladyko."

"What sort of little ornaments?"

"Ornaments for the little savage girls. They come to the fair and I give them ornaments."

"So that's how you give pleasure to the unbelieving heathen."

"Oh, Vladyko! Why do you always keep on saying the unbelieving, the unbelieving? All were created by one God, these poor blind people ought to be pitied."

"They must be enlightened, Father Kiriak."

"To enlighten?" he said. "It is a good thing Vladyko, to enlighten. Yes, enlighten, enlighten " and he murmured, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works."

"I have come to you," I said, "to thank you for teaching me, and have brought you a pot of gruel."