Brothers -- Fiction; Didactic fiction; Fathers and sons -- Fiction; Russia -- Social life and customs -- 1533-1917 -- Fiction
“He came softly, unobserved, and yet, strange to say, every one
recognized Him. That might be one of the best passages in the poem. I
mean, why they recognized Him. The people are irresistibly drawn to
Him, they surround Him, they flock about Him, follow Him. He moves
silently in their midst with a gentle smile of infinite compassion. The
sun of love burns in His heart, light and power shine from His eyes,
and their radiance, shed on the people, stirs their hearts with
responsive love. He holds out His hands to them, blesses them, and a
healing virtue comes from contact with Him, even with His garments. An
old man in the crowd, blind from childhood, cries out, ‘O Lord, heal me
and I shall see Thee!’ and, as it were, scales fall from his eyes and
the blind man sees Him. The crowd weeps and kisses the earth under His
feet. Children throw flowers before Him, sing, and cry hosannah. ‘It is
He—it is He!’ all repeat. ‘It must be He, it can be no one but Him!’ He
stops at the steps of the Seville cathedral at the moment when the
weeping mourners are bringing in a little open white coffin. In it lies
a child of seven, the only daughter of a prominent citizen. The dead
child lies hidden in flowers. ‘He will raise your child,’ the crowd
shouts to the weeping mother. The priest, coming to meet the coffin,
looks perplexed, and frowns, but the mother of the dead child throws
herself at His feet with a wail. ‘If it is Thou, raise my child!’ she
cries, holding out her hands to Him. The procession halts, the coffin
is laid on the steps at His feet. He looks with compassion, and His
lips once more softly pronounce, ‘Maiden, arise!’ and the maiden
arises. The little girl sits up in the coffin and looks round, smiling
with wide-open wondering eyes, holding a bunch of white roses they had
put in her hand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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