Although the church was not a quarter of a mile off, the whole household drove to mass in three open carriages with footmen at the back.Everything was very festive and gorgeous.Sipiagin decorated himself with his order, Valentina Mihailovna was dressed in a beautiful pale lavender-coloured Parisian gown, and during the service read her prayers out of a tiny little prayer hook bound in red velvet.This little book was a matter of great concern among several old peasants, one of whom, unable to contain himself any longer, asked of his neighbour: "What is she doing? Lord have mercy on us! Is she casting a spell? " The sweet scent of the flowers, which filled the whole church, mingled with the smell of the peasant's coats, tarred boots and shoes, the whole being drowned by the delicious, overpowering scent of incense.
In the choir the clerks and sacristans tried their very hardest to sing well, and with the help of the men from the factory attempted something like a concert! There was a moment when an almost painful sensation came over the congregation.The tenor's voice (it belonged to one of the men from the factory, who was in the last stages of consumption) rose high above the rest, and without the slightest restraint trilled out long chromatic flat minor notes; they were terrible these notes! but to stop them would have meant the whole concert going to pieces.
...However, the thing went off without any mishap.Father Kiprian, a priest of the most patriarchal appearance, dressed in the full vestments of the church, delivered his sermon out of a copy-book.Unfortunately, the conscientious father had considered it necessary to introduce the names of several very wise Assyrian kings, which caused him some trouble in pronunciation.He succeeded in showing a certain amount of learning, but perspired very much in the effort!
Nejdanov, who for a long time had not been inside a church, stood in a corner amidst the peasant women, who kept casting sidelong glances at him in between crossing themselves, bowing piously to the ground, and wiping their babies' noses.But the peasant girls in their new coats and beaded head-dresses, and the boys in their embroidered shirts, with girdles round their waists, stared intently at the new worshipper, turning their faces straight towards him...Nejdanov, too, looked at them, and many things rose up in his mind.
After mass, which lasted a very long time--the service of St.
Nikolai the Miraculous is well known to he one of the longest in the Orthodox Church--all the clergy, at Sipiagin's invitation, returned to his house, and, after going through several additional ceremonies, such as sprinkling the room with holy water, they all sat down to an abundant breakfast, interspersed with the usual congratulations and rather wearisome talk.The host and hostess, who never took breakfast at such an early hour, broke the rule on this occasion.Sipiagin even went so far as to relate an anecdote, quite proper, of course, but nevertheless amusing, in spite of his dignity and red ribbon, and caused Father Kiprian to be filled with gratitude and amazement.To show that he, too, could tell something worth hearing on occasion, the good father related a conversation he had had with the bishop, when the latter, on a tour round his diocese, had invited all the clergy of the district to come and see him at the monastery in the town." He is very severe with us," Father Kiprian assured everyone."First he questioned us about our parish, about our arrangements, and then he began to examine us....He turned to me also: 'What is your church's dedication day?' 'The Transfiguration of our Lord,' I replied.'Do you know the hymn for that day? " I think so.' 'Sing it.' 'Thou wert transfigured on the mountain, Christ our Lord,' I began.'Stop! Do you know the meaning of the Transfiguration?' 'To be quite brief,' Ireplied, 'our Lord wished to show himself to His disciples in all His glory.' 'Very well,' he said, 'here is a little image in memory of me.' I fell at his feet.' I thank you, your Holiness.
...' I did not go away from him emptyhanded.""I have the honour of knowing his Holiness personally," Sipiagin said solemnly."A most worthy pastor!""Most worthy!" Father Kiprian agreed; "only he puts too much faith in the ecclesiastical superintendents! "Valentina Mihailovna referred to the peasant school, and spoke of Mariana as the future schoolmistress; the deacon (who had been appointed supervisor of the school), a man of strong athletic build, with long waving hair, bearing a faint resemblance to the well-groomed tail of an Orlov race courser, quite forgetting his vocal powers, gave forth such a volume of sound as to confuse himself and frighten everybody else.Soon after this the clergy took their leave.
