Page:Tolstoy - Tales from Tolstoi.djvu/201

Rh us fools such things as that! If it be thy turn to speak, keep silence, and his conscience will convict him—that is what He taught us, dear little brother. Thou gettest a clout on the ear, but thou dost turn round the other with. 'Well, strike if I be worth a blow!' But his conscience pricks him. He is reconciled to thee, and will listen to thy words. That is what He bade us to do, but not to have a high stomach. Why art thou silent? Shall I go on speaking?"

Ivan was silent, he was listening.

The old man coughed again, coughed till he could speak again.

"Thou dost think that Christ in teaching us this taught us badly. Nay, it is all for us and for our good. Thou dost only think of thy earthly life: thou dost think, will it be better or worse for us since that Plevna made such a to-do among us? Thou dost calculate how much of thy substance thou must spend on going to law, how much for travelling, how much for feeding thy family. Thou hast sons growing up like little birds of prey, thy sole desire is to live fatly and get on in the world, and thy savings grow less and less. And wherefore? I'll tell thee: from thy pride. Instead of going out into the fields with thy children to wonk, thou art out hunting down thy enemy. Thou dost not plough up in time, thou dost not sow in time, and she, our mother earth, therefore does not bring forth her fruit. That corn of thine, why does it not grow? When didst thou sow? Thou camest from the town. Thou hast been at law. And what did the courts decide? Thine own neck suffered. Alas, little one! Bethink thee of thine affairs; return 151