Stories 7 through 9 Summary

Story 7: Easter Night

The narrator is telling his story. He travels down the Goltva River on Easter Night (eve) for the Easter Vigil. The monk who is manning the ferry and picks him up tells him of the death of the hierodeacon Nikolai. The monk is extremely upset because Nikolai has the gift of writing akathists, songs of praise to Christ or to a saint. The narrator asks if Nikolai's songs were published. The monk responds that no one is interested in new songs from a simple, young monk. The monk, Ieronym, lets the storyteller off on the bank where the church is located. He enjoys the mass but often thinks of the monk and of the dead Nikolai. When he is ferried back by the monk, he notices that Ieronym is staring at a young woman. He presumes that the...