According to the desire of my comrades, I,
too, declined a defense. I will merely try to explain to you what
you don't understand. The prosecuting attorney designated our
coming out under the banner of the Social Democracy as an uprising
against the superior power, and regarded us as nothing but rebels
against the Czar. I must declare to you that to us the Czar is not
the only chain that fetters the body of the country. We are obliged
to tear off only the first and nearest chain from the people."
The stillness deepened under the sound of the firm voice; it seemed
to widen the space between the walls of the hall. Pavel, by his
words, removed the people to a distance from himself, and thereby
grew in the eyes of the mother. His stony, calm, proud face with
the beard, his high forehead, and blue eyes, somewhat stern, all
became more dazzling and more prominent.
The judges began to stir heavily and uneasily; the marshal of the
nobility was the first to whisper something to the judge with the
indolent face. The judge nodded his head and turned to the old man;
on the other side of him the sick judge was talking. Rocking back
and forth in the armchair, the old judge spoke to Pavel, but his
voice was drowned in the even, broad current of the young man's speech.
Pages:
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570