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Chapter 20
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Chapter 20 Tuberozov’s wagon drove right up to his door. “Dear Lord, how I suffered worrying about you, Father Savely!” cried Natalya Nikolaevna as she rushed to meet her husband. “There was such thunder, and you, my sweetheart, were all alone.” “Yes, my darling, I was just one step away from death!” And the archpriest told his wife everything that had happened to him at Thundering Spring, adding that since then he seemed to be living a second life, not his own, but someone else’s, and that he saw in this both a lesson and a reproach for having never really thought about the fleetingness and insignificance of his short lifetime. Natalya Nikolaevna merely blinked her little eyes and said with a sigh, “Wouldn’t you like a bite to eat now?” But seeing her husband shake his head in reply, she inquired about thirst. “Thirst?” Savely repeated after his wife. “Yes, I’m thirsty.” “For tea?” The archpriest smiled and, kissing the top of his wife’s head, said: “No, for truth.” “Well, all right, then. And, blessed be thy God, whatever you commence , everything will be fine.” “Yes. Well, I’m going to wash up now while you, my friend, tell me what they’re doing to the deacon.” And the archpriest went over to the shiny copper washbasin and began washing up, while Natalya Nikolaevna reported what she knew about Achilles and concluded that it was all being done just to spite her husband. The archpriest remained silent and, after changing clothes, he took his walking stick and hat and set off for the church, where the vespers service was already in progress. About five minutes later, standing to one side of the sanctuary by the credence table, he put a sheet of paper on the slanting sill of the window, now illuminated by the setting sun, and wrote on it. What did he write? We can read the words beneath his hand. Here is Savely’s manuscript, addressed to Police Chief Porokhontsev: Seeing as how on the morrow, on the occasion of that festive day, I shall conduct the liturgy with all the churchmen present, I consider it my duty to notify Your Honor of this, and I most humbly request, that you apprise all the town officials of this in good CHAPTER 20 247 time, no later than today, obtaining the proper signatures, in order that they should attend church. And I expressly request, that you recommend this to those public servants who are most inclined to shirk this obligation, for I have already determined that I shall inform the authorities in rigorous fashion about the bad example which they are setting. I humbly request, Your Honor, that upon receiving this communication you sign a receipt. The archpriest then called for the church’s receipt book; he wrote a number on his missive, recorded it in his own hand, and immediately sent it off with the sacristan to its destination. ...