ow, then,
can it be right for a man who is a thinking being to remain a drone?"

"But I should not be a drone, for I should employ myself with the
education of my children."

"No, Semen Semenovitch--no: THAT you would find the hardest task of
all. For how can a man educate his children who has never even educated
himself? Instruction can be imparted to children only through the medium
of example; and would a life like yours furnish them with a profitable
example--a life which has been spent in idleness and the playing of
cards? No, Semen Semenovitch. You had far better hand your children over
to me. Otherwise they will be ruined. Do not think that I am jesting.
Idleness has wrecked your life, and you must flee from it. Can a man
live with nothing to keep him in place? Even a journeyman labourer who
earns the barest pittance may take an interest in his occupation."

"Athanasi Vassilievitch, I have tried to overcome myself, but what
further resource lies open to me? Can I who am old and incapable
re-enter the Civil Service and spend year after year at a desk with
youths who are just starting their careers? Moreover, I have lost the
trick of taking bribes; I should only hinder both myself and others;
while, as you know, it is a department which has an established caste
of its own. Therefore, though I have considered, and even attempted to
obtain, every conceivable post, I find myself incompetent for them all.
Only in a monastery should I--"

"Nay, nay. Monasteries, again, are only for those who have worked. To
those who have spent their youth in dissipation such havens say what
the ant said to the dragonfly--namely, 'Go you away, and return to your
dancing.' Yes, even in a monastery do folk toil and toil--they do
not sit playing whist." Murazov looked at Khlobuev, and added: "Semen
Semenovitch, you are deceiving both yourself and me."

Poor Khlobuev could not utter a word in reply, and Murazov began to feel
sorry for him.

"Listen, Semen Semenovitch," he went on. "I know that you say your
prayers, and that you go to church, and that you observe both Matins and
Vespers, and that, though averse to early rising, you leave your bed at
four o'clock in the morning before the household fires have been lit."

"Ah, Athanasi Vassilievitch," said Khlobuev, "that is another matter
altogether. That I do, not for man's sake, but for the sake of Him who
has ordered all things here on earth. Yes, I believe that He at least
can fee