Who is that crying?’ he added after a moment. ‘Is it mother? Poor thing! Who’ll she be able to feed her marvellous borshch to after this? And you, Vasily Ivanovich, you’re sniffling as well, aren’t you? Well, if Christianity doesn’t help, be a philosopher, a stoic! After all, you used to boast you were a philosopher, didn’t you?’ ‘I’m no philosopher!’ wailed Vasily Ivanovich and tears just poured down his cheeks.
