Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 11 and pointed at the old man. He spoke evenly and deliber-
ately.
‘Listen, listen, monks, to the parricide!’ cried Fyodor
Pavlovitch, rushing up to Father Iosif. ‘That’s the answer
to your ‘shameful!’ What is shameful? That ‘creature,’ that
‘woman of loose behaviour’ is perhaps holier than you are
yourselves, you monks who are seeking salvation! She fell
perhaps in her youth, ruined by her environment. But she
loved much, and Christ himself forgave the woman ‘who
loved much.’’
‘It was not for such love Christ forgave her,’ broke impa-
tiently from the gentle Father Iosif.
‘Yes, it was for such, monks, it was! You save your souls
here, eating cabbage, and think you are the righteous. You
eat a gudgeon a day, and you think you bribe God with gud-
geon.’
‘This is unendurable!’ was heard on all sides in the cell.
But this unseemly scene was cut short in a most unex-
pected way. Father Zossima Father Zossima rose suddenly
from his seat. Almost distracted with anxiety for the elder
and everyone else, Alyosha succeeded, however, in support-
ing him by the arm. Father Zossima moved towards Dmitri
and reaching him sank on his knees before him. Alyosha
thought that he had fallen from weakness, but this was
not so. The elder distinctly and deliberately bowed down
at Dmitri’s feet till his forehead touched the floor. Alyosha
was so astounded that he failed to assist him when he got up
again. There was a faint smile on his lips.
‘Good-bye! Forgive me, all of you’ he said, bowing on all