is a man, forced by fate
to remind us of Christ; he is a brother of Christ; he is the bell of the
Lord and he rings in life to rouse our conscience, to arouse the satiety
of the flesh of man. He stands by the window and sings out: 'For the
sake of Christ!' and by his singing he reminds us of Christ, of His holy
commandment to help the neighbour. But men have so arranged their life
that it is impossible for them to act according to the teachings of
Christ, and Jesus Christ has become altogether unnecessary to us. Not
one time, but perhaps a hundred thousand times have we turned Him
over to the cross, and yet we cannot drive Him altogether out of life,
because His poor brethren sing His Holy name on the streets and thus
remind us of Him. And now we have arranged to lock up these beggars
in separate houses that they should not walk around on the streets and
should not rouse our conscience.

"Cle-ver!" whispered Foma, amazed, staring fixedly at his godfather.

"Aha!" exclaimed Mayakin, his eyes beaming with triumph.

"How is it that my father did not think of this?" asked Foma, uneasily.

"Just wait! Listen further, it is still worse. So you see, we have
arranged to lock them up in all sorts of houses and that they might be
kept there cheaply, we have compelled those old and feeble beggars
to work and we need give no alms now, and since our streets have been
cleared of the various ragged beggars, we do not see their terrible
distress and poverty, and we may, therefore, think that all men on earth
are well-fed, shod and clothed. That's what all these different houses
are for, for the concealment of the truth, for the banishment of Christ
from our life! Is this clear to you?"

"Yes!" said Foma, confused by the old man's clever words.

"And this is not all. The pool is not yet baled out to the bottom!"
exclaimed Mayakin, swinging his hand in the air with animation.

The wrinkles of his face were in motion; his long, ravenous nose was
stirring, and in his voice rang notes of irritability and emotion.

"Now, let us look at this thing from the other side. Who contributes
most in favour of the poor, for the support of these houses, asylums,
poor-houses? The rich people, the merchants, our body of merchants.
Very well! And who commands our life and regulates it? The nobles, the
functionaries and all sorts of other people, not belonging to our class.
From them come the laws, the newspapers, science--everything from them.
Bef