Equinox I (04).pdf

THE EYES OF ST. LJUBOV
man and a philosopher. Therefore, what need is there for me
to think, to fathom the depths of childish or human sorrow, to
send my brains into a tiring process of elucidation? far more
pleasant it is to remain a contemplative individual. There
fore, O Mexican Gaucho, pass me thy pellote pouch and let
me take a helping of the leaves and root of thy wonderful
mescal plant. And without thought and without fatigue, I can
then SEE.
Where was I. my little brethren, fathers of larvae, sons of
the she-goat? Ah, I know. Well, poor little Ljubov was saved
by her magnificent soul from despairing thoughts. She lived,
very miserable at first, more resigned later on.
And there was a boy, too. He was the blind-born son of an
ex-soldier, and because of his father's queer and unsocial
manner, few people in the village would condescend to take
interest in him. But he was no mean child, nevertheless, and
his heart was big.
Ljubov had denied herself the pitiful satisfaction of
explaining her accident. No one ever heard from her lips the
tale of her lost eyes. And, as the months passed by, all
remembrance of her, as she had been, died away. Men,
women and children passed her by, and took no notice of her.
Her parents were kind, but over-worked. Only Piotr, the
blind-born child, realized Ljubov’s beauty. For if he had no
eyes to see with, his other perceptions were sharpened for that
very reason. He could not very well understand at first how,
and why, it had come to pass that he, alone in the world—
for he was but an ignorant peasant child—had not received
the use of the five operations of the Lord. But the village
deacon, who had been in trouble for some cause or another,
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