GENERAL. There, you see, you wrote that there are such and such texts in the Gospels. Well, the Priest knows all about that. Have a talk with the Priest, and then think things over. That will be best. Good-bye, and I hope "au revoir," when I shall be able to congratulate you on having entered the Tsar's service. Send the Priest here. [Exit, followed by Colonel and Adjutant]. BORÍS [To Clerk and Convoy Soldiers] There you see how they deceive you. They know that they are deceiving you. Don't submit to them. Lay down your rifles and go away. Let them put you into the Disciplinary Battalions and flog you; it will not be as bad as it is to serve such impostors. CLERK. But how could one get on without an army? It's impossible. BORÍS. That is not for us to consider. We have to consider what God demands of us; and God wants us. ONE OF THE SOLDIERS. But how is it that they speak of "the Christian army"? BORÍS. That is not said anywhere in the Bible. It's these impostors who invented it. Enter a Gendarme Officer with Clerk. GENDARME OFFICER. Is it here that the conscript, Prince Cheremshánov, is being kept? CLERK. Yes, sir. Here he is. GENDARME OFFICER. Come here, please. Are you Prince Borís Siménovich Cheremshánov, who refuses to take the oath? BORÍS. I am. GENDARME OFFICER [sits down and points to a seat opposite] Please sit down. BORÍS. I think our conversation will be quite useless. GENDARME OFFICER. I don't think so. At any rate not useless to you. You see it's like this. I am informed that you refuse military service and the oath, and are therefore suspected of belonging to the Revolutionary Party, and that is what I have to investigate. If it is true, we shall have to withdraw you from the service and imprison you or banish you according to the share you have taken in the revolution. If it is not true, we shall leave you to the military authorities. You see I express myself quite frankly to you, and I hope you will treat us in the same way. BORÍS. In the first place I cannot trust men who wear this sort of thing [pointing to the Gendarme Officer's uniform]. Secondly, your very occupation is one I cannot respect, and for which I have the greatest aversion. But I do not refuse to answer your questions. What do you wish to know? GENDARME OFFICER. In the first place, tell me your name, your calling, and your religion? BORÍS. You know all that and I will not reply. Only one of the questions is of great importance to me. I am _not_ what is called an Orthodox Christian. GENDARME OFFICER. What then is your religion? BORÍS. I do not label it. GENDARME OFFICER. But still?... BORÍS. Well then, the Christian religion, according to the Sermon on the Mount. GENDARME OFFICER. Write it down [Clerk writes. To Borís] Still you recognise yourself as belonging to some nationality or rank. BORÍS. No, I don't. I recognise myself as a man, and a servant of God.