himself: "Glory to
Thee! Glory to Thee, O Lord! Thy will be done!"

Henceforth the whole life of Avdyeeich was changed. Formerly, whenever he
had a holiday, he would go to the tavern to drink tea, nor would he say no
to a drop of brandy now and again. He would tipple with his comrades, and
though not actually drunk, would, for all that, leave the inn a bit merry,
babbling nonsense and talking loudly and censoriously. He had done with
all that now. His life became quiet and joyful. With the morning light he
sat down to his work, worked out his time, then took down his lamp from
the hook, placed it on the table, took down his book from the shelf, bent
over it, and sat him down to read. And the more he read the more he
understood, and his heart grew brighter and happier.

It happened once that Martin was up reading till very late. He was reading
St. Luke's Gospel. He was reading the sixth chapter, and as he read he
came to the words: "And to him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer
also the other." This passage he read several times, and presently he came
to that place where the Lord says: "And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do
not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My
sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a
man which built an house, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on a
rock. And when the flood arose, the storm beat vehemently upon that house,
and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock. But he that
heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an
house upon the earth, against which the stream did beat vehemently, and
immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."

Avdyeeich read these words through and through, and his heart was glad. He
took off his glasses, laid them on the book, rested his elbow on the
table, and fell a-thinking. And he began to measure his own life by these
words. And he thought to himself, "Is my house built on the rock or on the
sand? How good to be as on a rock! How easy it all seems to thee sitting
alone here. It seems as if thou wert doing God's will to the full, and so
thou takest no heed and fallest away again. And yet thou wouldst go on
striving, for so it is good for thee. O Lord, help me!" Thus thought he,
and would have laid him down, but it was a grief to tear himself away from
the book. And so he began reading the seventh chapter. He read all about
the Centurion, he rea