Page:The Relations Tolstoy.pdf/42

 poison. That food for the body which enables man to serve his fellows is lawful, and that sexual union which continues the race is lawful. Eunuchs are right when they say that sex relations with one's wife is immoral when it occurs without spiritual love, and only for gratification, and therefore not at the right physical periods, and that this is adultery; but they are wrong in saying that sex relations for the birth of children and with spiritual love is a sin. This is no sin, but the will of God. Mutilation, in my opinion, is something like this: A man has been living a dissipated life, let us say, and has been in the habit of making spirit and beer with his corn and getting drunk; and he has come to feel that this is wrong and a sin. Instead of giving the bad habit up, and learning to use his corn for a good purpose, for the food of men and animals, he had decided that the only way to free himself from his sin is to burn his corn, which he does. The result is, his sin remains within him just the same, his neighbors continue to make beer and spirits as before, but he can no longer feed either his family, himself or others. It was not without reason that Jesus praised little children, saying that theirs was the Kingdom of Heaven, that the things concealed from the wise and prudent are revealed to them. We know this ourselves: if there were no children, if they ceased to be born, no hope of the Kingdom of God on earth would remain. Only in them have we hope. We are already soiled, and it is difficult to purify ourselves; but here, with every generation, in every family, are new, innocent, pure souls, which may remain such. Dim and dirty is the river, but many pure streamlets flow into it, and thus there is hope that the water will be cleansed.