Page:Taras Bulba. A Tale of the Cossacks. 1916.djvu/215

Rh took all, all vanished, and only we orphans remained, yea, like unto a widow after the death of a powerful husband: orphaned was our land, as well as ourselves! Such was the time, comrades, when we joined hands in a brotherhood: that is what our fellowship consists of! There is no bond more sacred than brotherhood. A father loves his children, a mother loves her children, the children love their father and their mother; but this is not like that, brethren! the wild beasts also love their young! But only men can enter into a relationship which is of the spirit and not of blood. There have been comrades in other lands, but never any such brotherhoods as on our Russian soil. It has happened to many of you to be lost for awhile in foreign lands. You look: there are people there, also! They, also, are God's creatures; and you talk with them as with the men of your own country. But when it comes to saying a heartfelt word—you see the difference. No! they're sensible folks, but not the right sort; the same kind of people, and yet not the same! No, brothers, to love as the Russian soul loves, is to love not with the mind or anything else, but with all that God has given you, all that is within you.—Ah!" said Taras, and waved his hand, shook his grey head, twitched his moustache, and then went on: "No, no one can love In that way!