'Alexis Alexandrovich! Believe me, she will esteem your generosity,' said he. 'But evidently it was God's will,' he added, and having said it felt how silly it was and could hardly help smiling at his own stupidity.
— Aleksej Aleksandrovic, credimi, ella apprezzerà la tua generosità — egli disse. — Ma si vede, era la volontà di Dio — soggiunse e, detto questo, sentì d’essere stato idiota, e trattenne a stento un sorriso sulla propria idiozia.