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"What, my dear father?" Ivan asked.
"
What are you going to do," replied the old man, "now that you have no
home?"
Ivan cried and said: "I do not know how we shall live now."
The old man closed his eyes and made a movement with his lips, as if
gathering his feeble strength for a final effort. Slowly opening his
eyes, he whispered:
"Should you live according to God's commands you will be happy and
prosperous again."
The old man was now silent for awhile and then, smiling sadly, he
continued:
"
See here, Ivanushka, keep silent concerning this trouble, and do not
tell who set the village on fire. Forgive one sin of your neighbor's,
and God will forgive two of yours."
Grasping the candle with both hands, Ivan's father heaved a deep sigh,
and, stretching himself out on his back, yielded up the ghost.
*
****
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