Page:Leskov - The Sentry and other Stories.djvu/252

 236 "Then is this the chief principle of your teaching?"

"This, Vladyko, is my chief and only principle; all is in it; for simple hearts, Vladyko, this is so easy; it is so simple. You can't drink vodka for the glory of Christ, you can't fight or steal for the glory of Christ, you can't abandon a man without help The savages soon understand this, and approve of it. 'He is good, your little Christ,' they say. He is just—that is how they understand it.' "

"After all, they may be right."

"Yes, Vladyko, it is possible, but this is what I don't find right, that the newly baptized come to the town, and see what all the Christians do and ask: 'Can this be done for the glory of Christ?' What can we answer them, Vladyko? Are the people Christians or not Christians? One is ashamed to say they are not Christians, and to call them Christians would be a sin."

"How do you answer them?"

Kiriak only made a movement with his hand and murmured:

"I say nothing I only weep "

I understood that his religious morality had come into collision with a species of politics. He had read Tertullian "On Public Spectacles," and concluded that "for the glory of Christ" it was impossible to go to the theatre, or to dance,