XI

And Simon and Matryona understood who it was that had lived with them,

and whom they had clothed and fed. And they wept with awe and with joy.

And the angel said: "I was alone in the field, naked. I had never known

human needs, cold and hunger, till I became a man. I was famished,

frozen, and did not know what to do. I saw, near the field I was in, a

shrine built for God, and I went to it hoping to find shelter. But

the shrine was locked, and I could not enter. So I sat down behind the

shrine to shelter myself at least from the wind. Evening drew on. I was

hungry, frozen, and in pain. Suddenly I heard a man coming along the

road. He carried a pair of boots, and was talking to himself. For the

first time since I became a man I saw the mortal face of a man, and his

face seemed terrible to me and I turned from it. And I heard the man

talking to himself of how to cover his body from the cold in winter, and

how to feed wife and children. And I thought: 'I am perishing of cold

and hunger, and here is a man thinking only of how to clothe himself and

his wife, and how to get bread for themselves. He cannot help me.' When

the man saw me he frowned and became still more terrible, and passed me

by on the other side. I despaired; but suddenly I heard him coming back.

I looked up, and did not recognize the same man; before, I had seen

death in his face; but now he was alive, and I recognized in him the

presence of God. He came up to me, clothed me, took me with him, and

brought me to his home. I entered the house; a woman came to meet us and

began to speak. The woman was still more terrible than the man had been;

the spirit of death came from her mouth; I could not breathe for the

stench of death that spread around her. She wished to drive me out into

the cold, and I knew that if she did so she would die. Suddenly her

husband spoke to her of God, and the woman changed at once. And when she

brought me food and looked at me, I glanced at her and saw that death no

longer dwelt in her; she had become alive, and in her, too, I saw God.

"Then I remembered the first lesson God had set me: 'Learn what dwells

in man.' And I understood that in man dwells Love! I was glad that God

had already begun to show me what He had promised, and I smiled for the

first time. But I had not yet learnt all. I did not yet know What is not

given to man, and What men live by.

"I lived with you, and a year passed. A man came to order boots that

should wear for a year without losing shape or cracking. I looked at

him, and suddenly, behind his shoulder, I saw my comrade--the angel of

death. None but me saw that angel; but I knew him, and knew that before

the sun set he would take that rich man's soul. And I thought to myself,

'The man is making preparations for a year, and does not know that he

will die before evening.' And I remembered God's second saying, 'Learn

what is not given to man.'

"What dwells in man I already knew. Now I learnt what is not given

him. It is not given to man to know his own needs. And I smiled for the

second time. I was glad to have seen my comrade angel--glad also that

God had revealed to me the second saying.

"But I still did not know all. I did not know What men live by. And I

lived on, waiting till God should reveal to me the last lesson. In the

sixth year came the girl-twins with the woman; and I recognized the

girls, and heard how they had been kept alive. Having heard the story,

I thought, 'Their mother besought me for the children's sake, and I

believed her when she said that children cannot live without father or

mother; but a stranger has nursed them, and has brought them up.' And

when the woman showed her love for the children that were not her own,

and wept over them, I saw in her the living God and understood What men

live by. And I knew that God had revealed to me the last lesson, and had

forgiven my sin. And then I smiled for the third time."