‘Easier,’ Stavrogin answered in a low voice, dropping his eyes. ‘If you were to forgive me, I would find it much easier,’ he added unexpectedly and in a half-whisper. ‘Provided you also forgave me,’ Tikhon uttered in a voice full of emotion. ‘For what? What have you done to me? Ah yes, this is some monastic formula.’ ‘For my voluntary and involuntary sins.12 In sinning, each person has already sinned against all, and each person is in some way guilty for another person’s sin. There is no isolated sin. I am truly a great sinner, and perhaps greater than you.’
