Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/26

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Life is Worth Living.
19

arm and tried to lift him up. He succeeded after an effort in getting him on his feet, when he saw that he had a white, slender body, that his hands and feet were not injured, and that the expression of his face was very pleasant. Simeon placed the kaftan about the man's shoulders, and, finding that he was unable to help himself, he put it on for him, buttoned it, and adjusted the girdle round his waist. The shoemaker took off his hat also to give to the man, but, feeling the cold wind blowing on his bald pate, he thought: "I have no hair, while his head is covered with long ringlets." So Simeon replaced his hat on his head, remarking, "I had better put the old felt shoes on him."

The shoemaker asked the stranger to be seated while he adjusted the shoes on his feet, and after dressing him he said:

"Well, my brother, let us first make ourselves warm. As to the misfortune which has over-taken you, we shall discuss that afterward. Are you able to move?"