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Ignat could hear a
muffled voice from above
"As it seems, she cannot be delivered that way. We had better
send to the church to open the gates of the Lord."
Vassushka, one of the hangers-on in his house, entered the room
next to Ignat's and began to pray in a loud whisper:
"God, our Lord, descend from the skies in Thy benevolence, born
of the Holy Virgin. Thou dost divine the helplessness of human
creatures. Forgive Thy servant."
And suddenly drowning all other sounds, a superhuman, soul-
rending cry rang out, and a continuous moan floated softly over the
room and died out in the corners, which were filled now with the
twilight. Ignat cast stern glances at the ikons, heaved a deep
sigh and thought:
"Is it possible that it's again a daughter?"
At times he arose, stupidly stood in the middle of the room, and
crossed himself in silence, bowing before the ikons; then he went
back to the table, drank the vodka, which had not made him dizzy
during these hours, dozed off, and thus passed the whole night
and following morning until noon.


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