'That's
right!' I thought, 'that's right!' That means that he is a
cultured man who loves business and order, who, in general, loves
to arrange life, loves to live, knows the value of himself and of
life. Good!" Yakov Tarasovich trembled, his wrinkles spread over
his face like beams, from his smiling eyes to his lips, and his
bald head looked like some dark star.
The merchants stared silently and attentively at his mouth, and
all faces bespoke intense attention. The people seemed petrified
in the attitudes in which Mayakin's speech had overtaken them.
"But if that word is to be interpreted precisely thus, and not
otherwise, if such is the case-- then the people who call us
uncultured and savage, slander and blaspheme us! For they love
only the word, but not its meaning; while we love the very root
of the word, we love its real essence, we love activity. We have
within us the real cult toward life, that is, the worship of
life; we, not they! They love reasoning' we love action. And
here, gentlemen of the merchant class, here is an example of our
culture, of our love for action.
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