"Well, so I read about how He walked the earth. I read, you know, about how He came to the Pharisee, and the Pharisee did not give Him a good reception. Well, my friend, as I was reading last night about that very thing, I wondered how he could have failed to honour Father Christ. If He should have happened to come to me, for example, I should have done everything to receive Him. But he did not receive Him well. As I was thinking of it, I fell asleep. And as I dozed off I heard some one calling me by name: I got up and it was as though somebody were whispering to me: 'Wait,' he said: 'I will come to-morrow.' This he repeated twice. Would you believe it,--it has been running through my head,--I blame myself for it,--and I am, as it were, waiting for Father Christ." Stepánych shook his head and said nothing. He finished his glass and put it sidewise, but Avdyéich took it again and filled it with tea. "Drink, and may it do you good! I suppose when He, the Father, walked the earth, He did not neglect anybody, and kept the company mostly of simple folk. He visited mostly simple folk, and chose His disciples mostly from people of our class, labouring men, like ourselves the sinners. He who raises himself up, He said, shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be raised. You call me Lord, He said, but I will wash your feet. He who wants to be the first, He said, let him be everybody's servant; because, He said, blessed are the poor, the meek the humble, and the merciful." Stepánych forgot his tea. He was an old man and easily moved to tears. He sat there and listened, and tears flowed down his cheeks. "Take another glass!" said Avdyéich. But Stepánych made the sign of the cross, thanked him for the tea, pushed the glass away from him, and got up. "Thank you, Martýn Avdyéich," he said. "You were hospitable to me, and have given food to my body and my soul." "You are welcome. Come in again,--I shall be glad to see you," said Avdyéich. Stepánych went away. Martýn poured out the last tea, finished another glass, put away the dishes, and again sat down at the window to work,--to tap a boot. And as he worked, he kept looking out of the window,--waiting for Christ and thinking of Him and His works. And all kinds of Christ's speeches ran through his head.