WITH COUNT TOLSTOI. ioi 



thing about them was their superstition. They were 

 not influenced by correct motives. They believed that 

 there was virtue in visiting the ikons at Moscow or 

 Kief ; whereas the real virtue of their condition was 

 that, in imitation of the Saviour, they were not afraid to 

 start out on their long pilgrimages without so much as 

 a single kopeck in their purses. This man, who owned 

 a farm, had actually started out without a piece of 

 money. The Count said he could, with the greatest 

 pleasure, sever all the ties that bound him to his pres- 

 ent mode of life and become a pilgrim. 



" It is less of a tumble than most people think," he 

 continued, "to descend from wealth to the bottom of 

 the scale. In Switzerland, a boy who was running in 

 the dark, fell into a hole. He clutched frantically at 

 the edge with his hands and managed to hang on. 

 For a long time he shouted for help, and bruised and 

 lacerated his hands struggling to keep from falling to 

 the bottom, which he supposed was a terrible distance 

 below. At length a man came and told him to let go. 

 He did as he was bid, and to his astonishment found 

 that the firm, safe bottom of the hole was but a few 

 inches below his feet. It is the same with a rich man. 

 He struggles frantically to keep himself up, thinking 

 the bottom means death or worse. Finally, he is com- 

 pelled to let go, and, like the Swiss boy, is agreeably 

 surprised to find the change a very small one." 



The Count told a story of a young man of good 

 family, whom he had known in the Cadet Corps in 

 St. Petersburg, who once turned up at his house as 

 a pilgrim, as road-worn a specimen as any of the three 

 before us. He had been a pilgrim for a year, After 



