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THE STEEL FLEA
their own parish, and besides, I should be very lonely all by myself, for I am still in the vocation of a bachelor."
"You'll get used to it," say they,—"accept our law[1] and we will marry you off."
"That," replies the left-handed man, "can never be."
"Why so?"
"Because," he replies, "our Russian faith is the most correct, and as the ancestors have believed, so, also, should the descendants believe."
"You do not know our faith," say the Englishmen; "we hold to the same Christian law and the same Gospels."
"The Gospels," replies the left-handed man, "are, indeed, the same among all, but our books are thicker than yours, and our faith is more complete, also."
"How do you make that out?"
- ↑ The usual expression for "join our Church."
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