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his feet, asking for mercy. He was glad that Lushkoff did not forget his

words.

“Thank you, too.” said Lushkoff. “If I hadn‟t come to you then I might still

have been calling

myself a teacher or a student to this day. Yes, by flying to your

protection I dragged myself out of a pit.”

“I am very glad, indeed.”

Lushkoff thanked him and said that if he had not met Sergei that day, he

would still be lying and begging. He came out of the pit with the help of

Sergei and was glad for his help.

“Thank you for your kind words and deeds. I am very grateful to you and

to your cook. God bless that good and noble woman! You spoke finely

then, and I shall be indebted to you to my dying day; but, strictly

speaking, it was your cook, Olga, who saved me.”

He thanked Sergei for his kindness. He was grateful to the cook. She

was a noble woman. Although Sergei had been kind to him, it was Olga

who saved him and reformed him.

“How is that?”

He asked Sergei how he felt about the truth.

“When I used to come to your house to chop wood she used to begin:

„Oh, you sot, you! Oh, you miserable creature! There‟s nothing for you

but ruin.‟ And then she would sit down opposite me and grow sad, look

into my face and weep. „Oh, you unlucky man! There is no pleasure for

you in this world and there will be none in the world to come. You

drunkard! You will burn in hell. Oh, you unhappy one!‟ And so she would

carry on, you know, in that strain. I can‟t tell you how much misery she