rip. At dinner she inquired:

"And is Kazan a nice town?"

"Yes," replied Aratoff.

"Tatars live there, I believe?"

"Not Tatars only."

"And hast not thou brought a khalat[65] thence?"

"No, I have not."

And there the conversation ended.

But as soon as Aratoff found himself alone in his study he immediately
felt as though something were embracing him round about, as though he
were again in _the power_,--precisely that, in the power of another
life, of another being. Although he had told Anna--in that outburst of
sudden frenzy--that he was in love with Clara, that word now seemed to
him devoid of sense and whimsical.--No, he was not in love; and how
could he fall in love with a dead woman, whom, even during her lifetime
he had not liked, whom he had almost forgotten?--No! But he was in the
power of ... in _her_ power ... he no longer belonged to himself. He had
been _taken possession of_. Taken possession of to such a point that he
was no longer trying to free himself either by ridiculing his own
stupidity, or by arousing in himself if not confidence, at least hope
that all this would pass over, that it was nothing but nerves,--or by
seeking proofs of it,--or in any other way!--"If I meet him I shall take
him" he recalled Clara's words reported by Anna ... and so now he had
been taken.

But was not she dead? Yes; her body was dead ... but how about her
soul?--Was not that immortal ... did it require bodily organs to
manifest its power? Magnetism has demonstrated to us the influence of
the living human soul upon another living human soul.... Why should not
that influence be continued after death, if the soul remains alive?--But
with what object? What might be the result of this?--But do we, in
general, realise the object of everything which goes on around us?

These reflections occupied Aratoff to such a degree that at tea he
suddenly asked Platosha whether she believed in the immortality of the
soul. She did not understand at first what it was he had asked; but
afterward she crossed herself and replied, "of course. How could the
soul be otherwise than immortal?"

"But if that is so, can it act after death?" Aratoff put a second
question.

The old woman replied that it could ... that is to say, it can pray for
us; when it shall have passed through all sorts of tribulations, and is
awaiting the Last Judgment. But during the first forty days it only
hovers around the spot where its death occurred.

"Dur