eally worth. The average man
will not, for instance, pay a thousand rubles for a pear, for he
knows that would be an insane absurdity, and moreover, he knows the
relative value of a thousand rubles and of a pear. But out of the
capital of his life he is ready to squander thousands for mere
trifles--for a light love affair that lasts only as long as it takes
a two cent pear to ripen, for he has never considered the almost
priceless value of his own vital energy and becomes blind to all,
like a bull when the toreador flashes a red rag before his eyes, and
pays for that blindness with a part of his life. The majority of
human beings die, not from natural necessity, like a lamp when its
oil has burned out, but from bankruptcy, from squandering their
powers and strength on foolish things that are worth a thousand
times less than one day of life."

"I would not want to live such a cold and calculated life without
frenzies, dreams, and love."

"The world would not come to an end, if people did not love."

"It would be better to kill one's self than to live and dry up like
a tree."

"Suicide is the vulgar cry of the animal who suffers; it is the
rebellion of the atom against the laws of the universe. One must
allow the candle of one's life to burn out slowly and calmly to the
very end--in that lies happiness."

"So that is happiness?" asked Janina, feeling a sudden chill
penetrating her soul.

"Yes. Peace is happiness. To negate everything, to kill one's
desires and passions, to tear out of oneself illusions and whims
that is the way to attain it. It means to hold fast your soul in the
grip of self-knowledge and prevent it from dissipating itself in
foolish things."

"Who would want to live under such a yoke? What soul could endure
it?"

"The soul is knowledge."

"So you advocate nothing but stony indifference and peace! Never to
know of feel anything else but this! No, I prefer the ordinary trend
of life."

"There is still another way: the best remedy for our mental
sufferings is to expand our hearts, to become one with nature."

"Let us drop that. I don't like to speak about it, for it stirs me
too strongly."

They both remained silent for a long while. The old man gazed into
the water and mumbled something to himself, while Janina was rapt in
thought.

"All is foolishness," he began anew. "Behold and wonder at the
water, if nothing more; it will suffice you for a long time. Observe
the birds, the stars,