Alyosha noticed that many, almost all, went in to the elder for the first time with apprehension and uneasiness, but came out with bright and happy faces.Alyosha was particularly struck by the fact that Father Zossima was not at all stern.On the contrary, he was always almost gay.The monks used to say that he was more drawn to those who were more sinful, and the greater the sinner the more he loved him.There were, no doubt, up to the end of his life, among the monks some who hated and envied him, but they were few in number and they were silent, though among them were some of great dignity in the monastery, one, for instance, of the older monks distinguished for his strict keeping of fasts and vows of silence.But the majority were on Father Zossima's side and very many of them loved him with all their hearts, warmly and sincerely.Some were almost fanatically devoted to him, and declared, though not quite aloud, that he was a saint, that there could be no doubt of it, and, seeing that his end was near, they anticipated miracles and great glory to the monastery in the immediate future from his relics.Alyosha had unquestioning faith in the miraculous power of the elder, just as he had unquestioning faith in the story of the coffin that flew out of the church.He saw many who came with sick children or relatives and besought the elder to lay hands on them and to pray over them, return shortly after- some the next day- and, falling in tears at the elder's feet, thank him for healing their sick.
Whether they had really been healed or were simply better in the natural course of the disease was a question which did not exist for Alyosha, for he fully believed in the spiritual power of his teacher and rejoiced in his fame, in his glory, as though it were his own triumph.His heart throbbed, and he beamed, as it were, all over when the elder came out to the gates of the hermitage into the waiting crowd of pilgrims of the humbler class who had flocked from all parts of Russia on purpose to see the elder and obtain his blessing.
They fell down before him, wept, kissed his feet, kissed the earth on which he stood, and wailed, while the women held up their children to him and brought him the sick "possessed with devils."The elder spoke to them, read a brief prayer over them, blessed them, and dismissed them.Of late he had become so weak through attacks of illness that he was sometimes unable to leave his cell, and the pilgrims waited for him to come out for several days.Alyosha did not wonder why they loved him so, why they fell down before him and wept with emotion merely at seeing his face.Oh! he understood that for the humble soul of the Russian peasant, worn out by grief and toil, and still more by the everlasting injustice and everlasting sin, his own and the world's, it was the greatest need and comfort to find someone or something holy to fall down before and worship.
"Among us there is sin, injustice, and temptation, but yet, somewhere on earth there is someone holy and exalted.He has the truth; he knows the truth; so it is not dead upon the earth; so it will come one day to us, too, and rule over all the earth according to the promise."Alyosha knew that this was just how the people felt and even reasoned.He understood it, but that the elder Zossima was this saint and custodian of God's truth- of that he had no more doubt than the weeping peasants and the sick women who held out their children to the elder.The conviction that after his death the elder would bring extraordinary glory to the monastery was even stronger in Alyosha than in anyone there, and, of late, a kind of deep flame of inner ecstasy burnt more and more strongly in his heart.He was not at all troubled at this elder's standing as a solitary example before him.
"No matter.He is holy.He carries in his heart the secret of renewal for all: that power which will, at last, establish truth on the earth, and all men will be holy and love one another, and there will be no more rich nor poor, no exalted nor humbled, but all will be as the children of God, and the true Kingdom of Christ will come."That was the dream in Alyosha's heart.
The arrival of his two brothers, whom he had not known till then, seemed to make a great impression on Alyosha.He more quickly made friends with his half-brother Dmitri (though he arrived later)than with his own brother Ivan.He was extremely interested in his brother Ivan, but when the latter had been two months in the town, though they had met fairly often, they were still not intimate.
