第343章

One of the boys observed that it was awkward for him to crumble the bread with the flowers in his hands and suggested he should give them to someone to hold for a time.But he would not do this and seemed indeed suddenly alarmed for his flowers, as though they wanted to take them from him altogether.And after looking at the grave, and as it were, satisfying himself that everything had been done and the bread had been crumbled, he suddenly, to the surprise of everyone, turned, quite composedly even, and made his way homewards.But his steps became more and more hurried, he almost ran.The boys and Alyosha kept up with him.

"The flowers are for mamma, the flowers are for mamma! I was unkind to mamma," he began exclaiming suddenly.

Someone called to him to put on his hat as it was cold.But he flung the hat in the snow as though he were angry and kept repeating, "I won't have the hat, I won't have the hat." Smurov picked it up and carried it after him.All the boys were crying, and Kolya and the boy who discovered about Troy most of all.Though Smurov, with the captain's hat in his hand, was crying bitterly too, he managed, as he ran, to snatch up a piece of red brick that lay on the snow of the path, to fling it at the flock of sparrows that was flying by.

He missed them, of course, and went on crying as he ran.Half-way, Snegiryov suddenly stopped, stood still for half a minute, as though struck by something, and suddenly turning back to the church, ran towards the deserted grave.But the boys instantly overtook him and caught hold of him on all sides.Then he fell helpless on the snow as though he had been knocked down, and struggling, sobbing, and wailing, he began crying out, "Ilusha, old man, dear old man!" Alyosha and Kolya tried to make him get up, soothing and persuading him.

"Captain, give over, a brave man must show fortitude," muttered Kolya.

"You'll spoil the flowers," said Alyosha, and mamma is expecting them, she is sitting crying because you would not give her any before.

Ilusha's little bed is still there-"

"Yes, yes, mamma!" Snegiryov suddenly recollected, "they'll take away the bed, they'll take it away," he added as though alarmed that they really would.He jumped up and ran homewards again.But it was not far off and they all arrived together.Snegiryov opened the door hurriedly and called to his wife with whom he had so cruelly quarrelled just before:

"Mamma, poor crippled darling, Ilusha has sent you these flowers,"he cried, holding out to her a little bunch of flowers that had been frozen and broken while he was struggling in the snow.But at that instant he saw in the corner, by the little bed, Ilusha's little boots, which the landlady had put tidily side by side.Seeing the old, patched, rusty-looking, stiff boots he flung up his hands and rushed to them, fell on his knees, snatched up one boot and, pressing his lips to it, began kissing it greedily, crying, "Ilusha, old man, dear old man, where are your little feet?""Where have you taken him away? Where have you taken him?" the lunatic cried in a heart-rending voice.Nina, too, broke into sobs.

Kolya ran out of the room, the boys followed him.At last Alyosha too went out.

"Let them weep," he said to Kolya, "it's no use trying to comfort them just now.Let wait a minute and then go back.""No, it's no use, it's awful," Kolya assented."Do you know, Karamazov," he dropped his voice so that no one could hear them, "Ifeel dreadfully sad, and if it were only possible to bring him back, I'd give anything in the world to do it.""Ah, so would I," said Alyosha.

"What do you think, Karamazov? Had we better come back here to-night? He'll be drunk, you know.""Perhaps he will.Let us come together, you and I, that will be enough, to spend an hour with them, with the mother and Nina.If we all come together we shall remind them of everything again," Alyosha suggested.

"The landlady is laying the table for them now- there'll be a funeral dinner or something, the priest is coming; shall we go back to it, Karamazov?""Of course," said Alyosha.

"It's all so strange, Karamazov, such sorrow and then pancakes after it, it all seems so unnatural in our religion.""They are going to have salmon, too," the boy who had discovered about Troy observed in a loud voice.

"I beg you most earnestly, Kartashov, not to interrupt again with your idiotic remarks, especially when one is not talking to you and doesn't care to know whether you exist or not!" Kolya snapped out irritably.The boy flushed crimson but did not dare to reply.

Meantime they were strolling slowly along the path and suddenly Smurov exclaimed:

"There's Ilusha's stone, under which they wanted to bury him."They all stood still by the big stone.Alyosha looked and the whole picture of what Snegiryov had described to him that day, how Ilusha, weeping and hugging his father, had cried, "Father, father, how he insulted you," rose at once before his imagination.A sudden impulse seemed to come into his soul.With a serious and earnest expression he looked from one to another of the bright, pleasant faces of Ilusha's schoolfellows, and suddenly said to them:

"Boys, I should like to say one word to you, here at this place."The boys stood round him and at once bent attentive and expectant eyes upon him.

"Boys, we shall soon part.I shall be for some time with my two brothers, of whom one is going to Siberia and the other is lying at death's door.But soon I shall leave this town, perhaps for a long time, so we shall part.Let us make a compact here, at Ilusha's stone, that we will never forget Ilusha and one another.