nd of its earthly history. You will lead it some
thousands of years earlier into the kingdom of eternal truth--and
therein lies your supreme service. You are the incarnation of the
blessing of God, which rests upon men."

"And what is the object of eternal life?" asked Kovrin.

"As of all life--enjoyment. True enjoyment lies in knowledge, and
eternal life provides innumerable and inexhaustible sources of
knowledge, and in that sense it has been said: 'In My Father's house
there are many mansions.'"

"If only you knew how pleasant it is to hear you!" said Kovrin,
rubbing his hands with satisfaction.

"I am very glad."

"But I know that when you go away I shall be worried by the question
of your reality. You are a phantom, an hallucination. So I am
mentally deranged, not normal?"

"What if you are? Why trouble yourself? You are ill because you
have overworked and exhausted yourself, and that means that you
have sacrificed your health to the idea, and the time is near at
hand when you will give up life itself to it. What could be better?
That is the goal towards which all divinely endowed, noble natures
strive."

"If I know I am mentally affected, can I trust myself?"

"And are you sure that the men of genius, whom all men trust, did
not see phantoms, too? The learned say now that genius is allied
to madness. My friend, healthy and normal people are only the common
herd. Reflections upon the neurasthenia of the age, nervous exhaustion
and degeneracy, et cetera, can only seriously agitate those who
place the object of life in the present--that is, the common
herd."

"The Romans used to say: _Mens sana in corpore sano._"

"Not everything the Greeks and the Romans said is true. Exaltation,
enthusiasm, ecstasy--all that distinguishes prophets, poets,
martyrs for the idea, from the common folk--is repellent to the
animal side of man--that is, his physical health. I repeat, if
you want to be healthy and normal, go to the common herd."

"Strange that you repeat what often comes into my mind," said Kovrin.
"It is as though you had seen and overheard my secret thoughts. But
don't let us talk about me. What do you mean by 'eternal truth'?"

The monk did not answer. Kovrin looked at him and could not distinguish
his face. His features grew blurred and misty. Then the monk's head
and arms disappeared; his body seemed merged into the seat and the
evening twilight, and he vanished altogether.

"The hallucination is ove