"No, excuse me, but that's what you said...."
"If I said no, then I meant no! How absurd you are!" interrupted
Yourii, rendered more furious by the thought that this stupid Von Deitz
should for a moment presume to think himself the cleverer. "I meant to
say ..."
"That may be. I am sorry if I misunderstood you." Von Deitz shrugged
his narrow shoulders, with an air of condescension, as much as to say
that he had got the best of the argument.
This was not lost upon Yourii, whose fury almost choked him.
"I do not deny that Christianity has played an enormous part ..."
"Ah! now you contradict yourself," exclaimed Von Deitz, more triumphant
than ever, being intensely pleased to feel how incomparably superior he
was to Yourii, who obviously had not the remotest conception of what
was so neatly and definitely set out in his own brain.
"To you it may seem that I am contradicting myself," said Yourii
bitterly, "but, as a matter of fact, my Contention is a perfectly
logical one, and it is not my fault if you don't wish to understand me.
I said before, and I say again, that Christianity is played out, and it
is vain to look to it for salvation."
Yes, yes; but do you mean to deny the salutary influence of
Christianity, that is to say, as the basis of social order? ..."
"No, I don't deny that."
"But I do," interposed Sanine, who till now had walked behind them in
silence. His voice sounded calm and pleasant, in strange contrast to
the harsh accent of the disputants.
Yourii was silent. This good-tempered, mocking tone of voice annoyed
him, yet he had no answer ready. He was not fond of arguing with
Sanine, for his usual vocabulary proved useless in such an encounter.
Every time it seemed as if he were trying to break down a wall while
standing on smooth ice.
Von Deitz, however, stumbling along and rattling his spurs, exclaimed
irritably: "May I ask why?"
"Because I do," replied Sanine coolly.
"Because you do! If one asserts a thing, one ought to prove it."
"Why must I prove it? There is no need to prove anything. It is my own
personal conviction, but I have not the slightest wish to convince you.
Besides, it would be useless."
"According to your line of reasoning," observed Yourii cautiously, "one
had better make a bonfire of all literature."