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they overlooked this neglect on the ground of his craziness,
and did not keep him to the rules binding on all the rest.
But if the whole truth is to be told, they hardly had a choice
about it. For it would have been discreditable to insist on
burdening with the common regulations so great an ascet-
ic, who prayed day and night (he even dropped asleep on
his knees). If they had insisted, the monks would have said,
‘He is holier than all of us and he follows a rule harder than
ours. And if he does not go to church, it’s because he knows
when he ought to; he has his own rule.’ It was to avoid the
chance of these sinful murmurs that Father Ferapont was
left in peace.
As everyone was aware, Father Ferapont particularly dis-
liked Father Zossima. And now the news had reached him
in his hut that ‘God’s judgment is not the same as man’s,’
and that something had happened which was ‘in excess of
nature.’ It may well be supposed that among the first to run
to him with the news was the monk from Obdorsk, who
had visited him the evening before and left his cell terror-
stricken.
I have mentioned above, that though Father Paissy stand-
ing firm and immovable reading the Gospel over the coffin,
could not hear nor see what was passing outside the cell, he
gauged most of it correctly in his heart, for he knew the men
surrounding him well. He was not shaken by it, but awaited
what would come next without fear, watching with penetra-
tion and insight for the outcome of the general excitement.
Suddenly an extraordinary uproar in the passage in
open defiance of decorum burst on his ears. The door was

The Brothers Karamazov