the bottom before me, and I hit
this shoulder here against its edge. I lay, you know, stunned. I
thought I was killed, and all at once I saw a fresh calamity: the
other bucket, which was going up, having lost the counter-balancing
weight, was coming down with a crash straight upon me. . . . What
was I to do? Seeing the position, I squeezed closer to the wall,
crouching and waiting for the bucket to come full crush next minute
on my head. I thought of papa and mamma and Mogilev and Grumaher.
. . . I prayed. . . . But happily . . . it frightens me even to
think of it. . . ."

Alexandr Ivanitch gave a constrained smile and rubbed his forehead
with his hand.

"But happily it fell beside me and only caught this side a little.
. . . It tore off coat, shirt and skin, you know, from this side.
. . . The force of it was terrific. I was unconscious after it.
They got me out and sent me to the hospital. I was there four months,
and the doctors there said I should go into consumption. I always
have a cough now and a pain in my chest. And my psychic condition
is terrible. . . . When I am alone in a room I feel overcome with
terror. Of course, with my health in that state, to be a mining
foreman is out of the question. I had to give up the school of
mines. . . ."

"And what are you doing now?" I asked.

"I have passed my examination as a village schoolmaster. Now I
belong to the orthodox church, and I have a right to be a teacher.
In Novotcherkassk, where I was baptized, they took a great interest
in me and promised me a place in a church parish school. I am going
there in a fortnight, and shall ask again."

Alexandr Ivanitch took off his overcoat and remained in a shirt
with an embroidered Russian collar and a worsted belt.

"It is time for bed," he said, folding his overcoat for a pillow,
and yawning. "Till lately, you know, I had no knowledge of God at
all. I was an atheist. When I was lying in the hospital I thought
of religion, and began reflecting on that subject. In my opinion,
there is only one religion possible for a thinking man, and that
is the Christian religion. If you don't believe in Christ, then
there is nothing else to believe in, . . . is there? Judaism has
outlived its day, and is preserved only owing to the peculiarities
of the Jewish race. When civilization reaches the Jews there will
not be a trace of Judaism left. All young Jews are atheists now,
observe. The New Testament is the natural continuation o