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From the Life of the Elder Zossima 169of twelve paces could my words have any significance for him,and if I had spoken before, he would have said, ‘He is a coward,the sight of the pistols frightened him, no use to listen to him.’Gentlemen,” I cried suddenly, speaking straight from my heart,“look around you at the gifts of God, the clear sky, the pure air,the tender grass, the birds; nature is beautiful and sinless, andwe, only we, are sinful and foolish, and we don’t understand thatlife is heaven, for we have only to understand that and it will atonce be fulfilled in all its beauty, we shall embrace each other andweep.”I would have said more but I could not; my voice broke withthe sweetness and youthful gladness of it, and there was suchbliss in my heart as I had never known before in my life.“All this is rational and edifying,” said my antagonist, “and inany case you are an original person.”“You may laugh,” I said to him, laughing too, “but afterwardsyou will approve of me.”“Oh, I am ready to approve of you now,” said he; “let us shakehands, for I believe you are genuinely sincere.”“No,” I said, “not now, later on when I have grown worthierand deserve your esteem, then shake hands and you will do well.”We went home, my second upbraiding me all the way, while Ikissed him. All my comrades heard of the affair at once and gatheredtogether to pass judgment on me the same day.“He has disgraced the uniform,” they said. “Let him resign hiscommission.”Some stood up for me: “He faced the shot,” they said.“Yes, but he was afraid of his other shot and begged forforgiveness.”“If he had been afraid of being shot, he would have shot hisown pistol first before asking forgiveness, but he flung it loaded