off, Yulia Mihailovna entreats you to."

"No, you leave me alone, idle young man," he cried out at me at the top
of his voice. I ran away. "Messieurs," he went on, "why this excitement,
why the outcries of indignation I hear? I have come forward with an
olive branch. I bring you the last word, for in this business I have the
last word--and we shall be reconciled."

"Down with him!" shouted some.

"Hush, let him speak, let him have his say!" yelled another section. The
young teacher was particularly excited; having once brought himself to
speak he seemed now unable to be silent.

"Messieurs, the last word in this business--is forgiveness. I, an old
man at the end of my life, I solemnly declare that the spirit of life
breathes in us still, and there is still a living strength in the young
generation. The enthusiasm of the youth of today is as pure and bright
as in our age. All that has happened is a change of aim, the replacing
of one beauty by another! The whole difficulty lies in the question
which is more beautiful, Shakespeare or boots, Raphael or petroleum?"

"It's treachery!" growled some.

"Compromising questions!"

_"Agent provocateur!"_

"But I maintain," Stepan Trofimovitch shrilled at the utmost pitch of
excitement, "I maintain that Shakespeare and Raphael are more precious
than the emancipation of the serfs, more precious than Nationalism, more
precious than Socialism, more precious than the young generation, more
precious than chemistry, more precious than almost all humanity because
they are the fruit, the real fruit of all humanity and perhaps the
highest fruit that can be. A form of beauty already attained, but for
the attaining of which I would not perhaps consent to live.... Oh,
heavens!" he cried, clasping his hands, "ten years ago I said the same
thing from the platform in Petersburg, exactly the same thing, in the
same words, and in just the same way they did not understand it, they
laughed and hissed as now; shallow people, what is lacking in you that
you cannot understand? But let me tell you, let me tell you, without the
English, life is still possible for humanity, without Germany, life is
possible, without the Russians it is only too possible, without science,
without bread, life is possible--only without beauty it is impossible,
for there will be nothing left in the world. That's the secret at the
bottom of everything, that's what history teaches! Even science would
not exist a moment w