They teach you how to live."
"Come, come!" Foma waved his hand. "Drop it; no good will come
out of your books! There, take your father, for example, does he
read books? And yet he is clever! I looked at him today and
envied him. His relations with everybody are so free, so clever,
he has a word for each and every one. You can see at once that
whatever he should desire he is sure to attain."
"What is he striving for?" exclaimed Luba. "Nothing but money.
But there are people that want happiness for all on earth, and to
gain this end they work without sparing themselves; they suffer
and perish! How can my father be compared with these?"
"You need not compare them. They evidently like one thing, while
your father likes another."
"They do not like anything!"
How's that?
"They want to change everything."
"So they do strive for something?" said Foma, thoughtfully. "They
do wish for something?"
"They wish for happiness for all!" cried Luba, hotly. "I can't
understand this," said Foma, nodding his head. "Who cares there
for my happiness? And then again, what happiness can they give
me, since I, myself, do not know as yet what I want? No, you
should have rather looked at those that were at the banquet.
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