One long autumn evening, when the wind was whistling and howling in the chimney-flues and he had had enough of pacing up and down his cell, he sat down on his bunk, and realizing that he could not go on struggling any longer, that the devils were too strong for him, he gave in to them. For some time he had had his eye on the stove-pipe. If he could wind some thin cord or some thin strips of cloth round it, it ought to hold. But he would need to go about it cleverly. So he set to work, and for two days he worked away to get some strips of linen from the palliasse he slept on (when the guard came in he covered the bunk with his dressing-gown). He tied the strips together with knots, double ones so that they would hold the weight of his body without pulling away. While he was busy with this task his torments abated. When everything was ready he made a noose, placed it round his neck, climbed up on to the bed and hanged himself. But his tongue had only just begun to protrude when the strips of cloth gave way, and he fell to the floor. Hearing the noise, the guard came running in. They summoned the medical orderly and took him off to the hospital. By the next day he was quite recovered, and was discharged from the hospital and placed not in a solitary cell, but in a communal one.
In the communal cell he lived as one of twenty inmates, but he lived there just as if he had been alone, seeing nobody, talking to nobody, and suffering the same mental torments as before. It was particularly bad for him when everyone else was sleeping and he could not, and as before he kept seeing her and hearing her voice, and then again the black devils would appear, with their dreadful eyes, mocking him.
Again, as before, he recited his prayers, and as before they were of no use.
On one occasion when, after he had said his prayers, she again appeared to him, he started to pray to her, to her little soul, praying that it would let him go, that it would forgive him. And when towards morning he collapsed on to his flattened straw palliasse, he fell fast asleep, and in his sleep he dreamt that she came towards him with her scraggy, wrinkled throat, all cut open.
‘Please, will you forgive me?’
She looked at him with her meek look, and said nothing.
‘Will you forgive me?’
And three times in the same way he begged her to forgive him. But she still said nothing. And then he woke up. From that time on he began to feel better: it was as though he had come to himself, and he looked round him, and for the first time he began to make friends with his cell-mates and to talk to them.
III
One of the prisoners in Stepan’s communal cell was Vasily, who had again been caught stealing and had been sentenced to exile; another was Chuyev, who had likewise been sentenced to forcible resettlement. Vasily spent his time either singing songs in his splendid voice or telling his cell-mates the story of his adventures. Chuyev, on the other hand, was always working, or sewing away at some item of clothing or underwear, or reading the Gospels or the Psalms.
To Stepan’s question as to why he was being exiled, Chuyev replied that it was because of his true faith in Christ and because the false priests could not bear to hear the spirit speaking through people such as he, who lived according to the Gospel, and thus showed up the priests for what they were. And when Stepan asked Chuyev what this Gospel law was, Chuyev explained to him how they had found out about this true faith from a one-legged tailor when they were sharing out some land.
‘All right then, so what happens if you commit evil deeds?’ asked Stepan.
‘It tells you all about that.’ And Chuyev proceeded to read to him:
‘ “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.’ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?’ And the King shall answer and say unto them: ‘Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand: ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.’ Then shall they also answer him, saying: ‘Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?’ Then shall he answer them, saying: ‘Verily I say unto you: inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.’ And these shall go away into the everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.” ’ (Matthew XXV, 31–46)
Vasily, who had been sitting on the floor opposite Chuyev and listening to him reading, nodded his handsome head approvingly.
‘That’s right,’ he declared firmly, ‘ “Go,” he says, “ye accursed ones into everlasting punishment, you never fed anyone, you just stuffed your own bellies.” That’s just what they deserve. Here, let me have the book and I’ll read some myself,’ he added, wanting to show off his reading skills.
‘But does it say there won’t be any forgiveness?’ asked Stepan, lowering his shaggy head and waiting quietly to listen to the reading.
‘Just you wait a bit and hold your noise,’ said Chuyev to Vasily, who was still going on about the rich not feeding the poor stranger and not visiting anybody in prison. ‘Just wait, will you,’ repeated Chuyev, leafing through the Gospels. Finding the place he was looking for, Chuyev smoothed out the pages with his large, powerful hand, grown quite white from his time in prison.
‘ “And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him” – with Christ, that is,’ began Chuyev, ‘ “to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called the Skull, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
‘ “Then said Jesus: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’ … And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying: ‘He saved others, let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God.’ And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying: ‘If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.’ And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew: ‘This is the king of the Jews.’ And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying: ‘If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.’ But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: ‘Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss.’ And he said unto Jesus: ‘Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.’ And Jesus said unto him: ‘Verily I say unto thee: today shalt thou be with me in paradise.’ ” ’(Luke XXIII, 32–43)