Someone sent him an excellent version of the story of Christ's godson.
He read it aloud with pleasure to Suler, Tchekhov--he read amazingly
well. He was especially amused by the devils torturing the landowners.
There was something which I did not like in that. He cannot be
insincere, but, if this be sincere, then it makes it worse. Then he
said:
"How well the peasants compose stories. Everything is simple, the words
few, and a great deal of feeling. Real wisdom uses few words; for
instance, 'God have mercy on us.'"
Yet the story is a cruel one.