Holy Apostle Ananias. Holy Apostle Ananias Brief life of the Apostle Ananias

The Suffering of the Holy Apostle Ananias

The Holy Apostle Ananias, one of the seventy, was a bishop in the city of Damascus 1. He is famous for having baptized the Apostle Paul. One day the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said to him:

- Get up and go to the street, the so-called straight line, and ask in the house of Judas a Tarsian 2 named Saul; he is now praying.

Ananias refused this, knowing how much harm Saul had caused to the Jerusalem Christians, and that he came to Damascus with the intention of imprisoning all those who professed the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord admonished Ananias, saying:

“Go, for Saul has been chosen by Me to proclaim My Name before the nations and kings and the children of Israel, and I will show him how much he must suffer for My Name.”

Following the Divine command, Ananias went to Saul and, laying his hands on him, said:

- Brother Saul! The Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the way, sent me so that you could receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit!

Saul immediately received his sight, and Ananias baptized him. Some time later, when the Jews agreed among themselves to kill Paul because he had changed from a persecutor to becoming a preacher of the Name of Christ, Ananias, along with the other disciples of Christ, lowered him down the city wall 3 (Acts 9:10-25) in a basket. Ananias himself, entering the Jewish hosts 4, boldly preached the name of the Lord. And not only to the Jews, but even to the pagans he preached the faith of Christ. From Damascus he went to Eleutheropolis 5 and there, showing the people the way to salvation and healing the sick, he converted many to faith in Christ.

In those days, Lucian was the ruler of Eleutheropolis, who worshiped the creature and not the Creator. the devil incited him against Christians and inspired him to send out the following decree throughout his entire region:

– If anyone turns out to be a venerator of Christ and a worshiper of the Crucified One, we command him to be put to death; whoever, having renounced Christ, makes a sacrifice to the immortal gods will be awarded by us gifts and honors.

When such an evil and insidious command was issued, Saint Ananias enlightened people in that area with the preaching of the Gospel and healed all sorts of illnesses in people; The Lord stayed with him, working many miracles through him. The idolaters seized Ananias and brought him to the ruler Lucian, who began to force him through various means to make sacrifices to idols. But Ananias did not listen to him and answered:

– Do not bow to false gods, I worshiped the One True Lord my God, Jesus Christ: I saw Him with my own eyes and talked with Him from mouth to mouth - not only when He lived on earth as a man, but after His ascension to heaven . For when I was in Damascus, He Himself appeared to me and sent me to heal Saul, whom with His wondrous wisdom and power He converted to the knowledge of the truth. He delivered us all from the power of the devil and brought us to His Father. So, I worship Him, and not the demons who want to destroy the entire human race.

Then the ruler began to threaten Ananias with torture if he did not fulfill what was ordered to him; but he, like an unshakable pillar, was firm in the confession of Christ. Raising his hands to the sky, he said:

– Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the blessed Father! listen to my prayer and grant me the fate of the blessed Apostles in the future life. Just as You saved Saul with Your light, so save me from the hand of this wicked man who resists the truth: may his will not be fulfilled on me, may he not catch me in the nets of his deceit; do not deprive me of the kingdom of heaven, prepared for all who love the path of Thy truth, indicated by You, and who keep Thy commandments!

Unable to bear Ananias' speeches any longer, the governor ordered to put him on the ground and beat him. While the ministers were beating the saint mercilessly, the herald shouted:

- Listen to the ruler, do not resist his command, make a sacrifice to the gods whom the whole world worships.

When they stopped beating the saint, the ruler said to him:

“At least now have pity on yourself and, having obeyed me, renounce the Crucified One, so as not to be subjected to even more severe torment from me.”

To this Saint Ananias answered:

“What I told you at first, I never cease to repeat now: I will not renounce my God and will not bow before the soulless stone and tree, which you consider to be gods.”

Seeing that the saint was adamant, the ruler ordered his body to be torn with iron claws and his wounds burned with candles. But the saint, enduring torment, raised his eyes to heaven and prayed fervently. After this torture the torturer said:

- How long will you persist? Won't you really feel sorry for yourself and worship the great gods? Is it really more pleasant for you to endure this useless suffering for some Christ crucified by the Jews than to be unharmed and healthy? I swear that I will not let you out of my hands alive if you continue to persist like this!

The saint answered:

- Do what you want, enemy of God and friend of the devil, - after all, you have already heard from me many times that I will not worship your gods, but will worship only the One God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Creator of heaven and earth and everything. what is in them. I believed in Him, and He gave me the strength to stand firmly before you all day long and courageously endure these torments. Why should you cause yourself even more trouble? After all, you have heard that I do not want to obey your will; do quickly what you have in mind!

Inflamed with rage, the tormentor commanded the people to take Saint Ananias, take him out of the city and stone him. The lawless servants of the tormentor, taking him, took him to the place of execution and stoned him, like the new Stephen 6. He exclaimed loudly:

- Lord Jesus Christ! I commend my spirit into Your hands.

So he died, after all the torment, and moved to the heavenly abodes. The people, seeing that he had already died, left him unburied and dispersed. At that time some Christians from Damascus happened to be passing there; they took the holy body of the Apostle of Christ, carried it with honor to Damascus and buried it in his native city 7 .

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1 Damascus is the main, richest trading city of Syria, one of the oldest in the whole world; lies northeast of Palestine, near the river. Barada, flowing through it, in a beautiful and fertile plain, at the eastern base of Anti-Lebanon.

2 Tarsus is a large populated city of Cilicia (the southeastern province of Asia Minor), in its southern part, in a fertile plain near the river. Kydna, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea not far from it. And now it is still a fairly significant trading city.

3 Among other ancient monuments, Damascus still retains the place of conversion of St. Apostle Paul to the faith of Christ, the so-called straight street, the house of Judas, where his sight was restored and baptism was given, and the house of the Apostle Ananias, as well as the place from where he was lowered down the wall and thus escaped his persecutors.

4 Hosts or Synagogues (from Greek - meetings) - places of religious meetings of Jews, which were open buildings for public worship and teaching, for resolving controversial church issues, conducting court cases; these buildings also served as meeting places for debates, schools for children and libraries. The establishment of synagogues dates back to the time of the Babylonian captivity.

[Greek ̓Ανανίας from Hebrew. , ], ap. from 70, sschmch. (memorial January 4, October 1, memorial January 25), ep. Damask. In the apostolic list, which is attributed to St. Hippolytus of Rome, A. is mentioned in 5th place. A Jew converted to Christianity, A. was called by the Lord to bring Bud into the Church. Apostle of the Gentiles Paul. A. - “a pious man according to the law, approved by all Jews” (Acts 22. 12-16) - was in Damascus when the blind Saul was brought there. The Lord in a vision ordered A. to go to Straight Street, to the house of Judas, to find Saul there and heal him. At first A. was afraid that Saul, having regained his sight, would again become a persecutor of Christians, but then, relying on the Lord, who revealed to him the change that had happened to Saul, he restored his sight and baptized him (Acts 9:10-18). Symeon Metaphrastus, who compiled A.'s Passion, reports that he preached the Gospel in Damascus and Eleutheropolis and suffered martyrdom: was stoned. Catholic The Church does not honor him as a martyr. 2 Greeks have survived. life of A.: 1st, known in 3 editions (BHG, N 75x - 75z), attributed to a certain Varsaft; The 2nd was compiled by Simeon Metaphrastus in the 10th century. (BHG, N 76).

Memory A. 1 Oct. must be indicated in all types of calendars; it is noted in the Typikon of the Great Church. X century (Mateos. Typicon. P. 56-57), editions of the Studite Charter - Studite-Alexievsky Typikon of 1034 (RNB. Soph. 1136. L. 61v., XII century; GIM. Syn. 330. L. 82v., XII century), Messinian Typicon 1131 (Arranz. Typicon. P. 34-35), Evergetid Typicon 1st half. XII century (Dmitrievsky. Description. T. 1. P. 287-288). According to the Messinian and Evergetid Typikons, matins included a reading of the life of A. Simeon Metaphrastus (PG. 114. Col. 1001-1009). In the Jerusalem Typikon, the memory of A. is included starting from ancient lists(Sinait. gr. 1096, XII century - Dmitrievsky. T. 3. Part 2. P. 31). A.’s memory is recorded in the Minology of Vasily II (PG. 117. Col. 79-80), Synaxarion of the K-Polish church. (SynCP. Col. 75), Imperial Minology 1034-1041. (BHG, N 76a), Stish synaxarions of Christopher of Mytilene, 11th century. (Cristoforo Mitileneo. Calendari. P. 339, 342) and Theodore Prodromus beginning. XII century (Teodoro Prodromo. Calendario. P. 97). According to the Jerusalem Typikon, A.’s memory is also celebrated on January 4. There are 70 apostles in the Council.

The veneration of A. in Rus' is evidenced by the mention of his memory in the monthly book of the Ostromir Gospel of 1056-1057. (L. 226ob.) and the presence of service in the Minea of ​​the RGADA. Syn. type. No. 89, 1096 (Yagich. Service Menaions. P. 1-11). In the 1st half. XII century was made Russian. translation of A.’s short life, included in the non-stichic Prologue of the 1st and 2nd editions. In addition to the prologue life, the VMC contains a lengthy life of A. (BHG, N 75x), written by Varsapta, at the end of which it is said: “And I Varsapta wrote and commemorated him and placed it near the relics of the noble passion-bearer” (Joseph, archimandrite. Contents of the VMC Stb. 69-70). According to the description of St. Anthony, archbishop. Novgorod (1200), the head and relics of A. were in the Polish monastery named after him (Book of Pilgrim. P. 35).

Hymnography

Typikon of the Great Church X century A. indicates the troparion on the 50th psalm and at the entrance, which indicates a special veneration of the saint (Mateos. Typicon. P. 52). According to the Studiysko-Alexievsky Typikon of A., a service similar to the six-fold one is sung (see Signs of the holidays of the month), in conjunction with the service of St. Roman of the Sweet Singer, instructions about the Feast of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin are written in the margins of the manuscript. Mother of God (GIM. Syn. No. 330. L. 83, XII century). According to the Evergetid Typikon, 1st half. XII century 1 Oct. the everyday service of 2 saints is sung - A. and St. Roman (Dmitrievsky. Description. T. 1. P. 287-288). According to the Italian edition of the Studite Charter - the Messinian Typikon - the everyday service of A. is sung with the addition of the stichera of St. Roman (Arranz. Typicon. P. 34-35). In Greek The manuscripts of the Jerusalem Charter indicate the everyday service of A., etc. Roman, the same in printed liturgical books adopted in the present day. time in Greek Churches. According to Russian first printed Typikon of 1610, service of A. and others. Romana is connected with the vigil service of the Feast of the Intercession. According to the Typikon, adopted in the present day. time in Russian Orthodox Church, 1 Oct. under the number the service of A. etc. is indicated. Romana without a sign (Typikon. T. 1. pp. 189-190); The number indicates the service only for the Feast of the Intercession (Ibid. Vol. 1, pp. 190-192). This is followed by 2 chapters that describe the procedure for combining the services of the Intercession and the saints (Ibid. pp. 192-196), however, in the liturgical practice of many churches of the Russian Orthodox Church, these instructions are ignored. In some later Athonite editions of the Jerusalem Charter, there are also instructions on combining the service of A. and St. Romance with the celebration of the Intercession (Cathedral Typikon of the St. Paul Monastery, 1850. - Dmitrievsky. Description. T. 3. P. 643; Cathedral Typikon of the Kastamonit Monastery, 1854. - Ibid. P. 698).

Troparion A. 3rd tone "" (general troparion to the apostles) is indicated in the Studite and Jerusalem Typicons. Typikon of the Great Church contains a special troparion “Τὸν πρὸ τοῦ Παὺλου ἀπόστολον ἀρχαιότατον” (the most ancient Apostle before Paul). The canon of A. John the monk (acrostic “̓Ανανίου με τὸ κλέος δοξαζέτω” - Let the glory of Ananias be glorified) of the 8th tone - the same in the Studite and Jerusalem Menaions, however, in the first its authorship is attributed to Theophanes. The body of stichera, among which there are 2 samoglanas, has basically not changed since the time of the Studite Charter, however, the Studite Menaions contain several stichera. more (XII century. Gorsky, Nevostruev. Description. O. 3. Part 2. P. 16). Sedalen and luminous Greek. and Russian The printed Menyas do not match. Typicons of the Great Church. and Studiysko-Aleksievsky point A. to the liturgy of the 131st conception of 1 Cor (Apostle of the General Service to the Apostles) and the 4th conception of John (Gospel service to St. Andrew the First-Called); The Evergetian, Messina and Jerusalem Typicons indicate the 21st conception of Acts (the Baptism of the Apostle Ananias of the Apostle Paul) and the 51st conception of Luke (the Gospel of the common service to the apostles).

Iconography

A. is depicted as an apostle (in a tunic with claves and in a himation), less often as a bishop (in a phelonion, with an omophorion, with a gospel in his hands) in miniatures of the following manuscripts: Minology of Basil II (Vat. gr. 1613. R. 76, 976 -1025) - in height; The Synaxarion of David-Gareji is empty. (Tbilisi. A 648. fol. 10v (20), 1030) - full-length, with an omophorion; Minology (Vind. hist. gr. 6. fol. 2v, 2nd half of the 11th century) - full length; Service Gospel with minology (Vat. gr. 1156. fol. 255v, 3rd quarter of the 11th century) - full-length; Minology (State Historical Museum. Greek. 175. L. 1v., last quarter of the 11th century) - full length; Minologiy (Oxon. Bodleian. F. 1. Fol. 11v, 1327-1340) - waist-deep; Pogodinsky Prologue (RNB. Pogod. 59, end of the 14th century) - in an omophorion (to the young!); Greco-cargo. manuscript (RNB. O. I. 58. L. 80, 100 rev., 15th century) - full size. In monumental painting: mosaic in the katholikon of the Hosios Loukas monastery in Phokis (Greece), 30s. XII century; wall minology c. Vmch. George in Staro-Nagorichino (Macedonia), 1317-1318, - shoulder strap; wall minology c. Annunciation of the Gracanica monastery (Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Metohija), 1321-1322, - shoulder-length; wall minology c. Ascension of the monastery of Decani (Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Metohija), 1348-1350, - in torment; wall minology c. Holy Trinity Monastery of Cozium in Wallachia (Romania), ca. 1386 - in torment; in c. Simeon the God-Receiver in the Animal Monastery in Novgorod, con. 60s - early 70s XV century On the minea icon. XI - beginning XII century (hexaptych from the monastery of Catherine the Great on Sinai) is presented in torment. Images of A. are available in Russian. Menaion icons for October last. third of the 18th century (CMiAR) and con. XVIII century (CMiAR); in the engraved calendar of G. P. Tepchegorsky, 1713-1714. (RNB). "Erminia" by Dionysius Furnoagrafiot, beginning. XVIII century, prescribes in individual images to write A. as an old man with a long, pointed beard (Part 3. § 7. No. 7), and in the scene of torture indicates that A. “was stoned” (§ 22. Oct. 1 ); in Russian in the iconographic original by S. T. Bolshakov, 18th century, it is said about him that “he is gray-haired, has a smaller brada than Afanasyev, he is wearing an amphorae [omophorion], a robe with a light gaff, azure underneath, and a book in his hand” (Bolshakov. P. 35) .

Source: Book Pilgrim: The Story of the Places of Saints in Constantinople Anthony, Archbishop. Novgorod, in 1200 / Ed. Kh. M. Lopareva // Teaching staff. St. Petersburg, 1899. Issue. 51 (Vol. 17. Issue 3). P. 35; BHG, N 75x - 76a; ActaSS. Ian. T. 2. P. 613-615, 1151; PG. 114. Col. 1001-1010 [Simeon Metaphrast].

Iconography: Erminia DF. P. 156; Bolshakov. The original is iconographic. P. 35; MenolBas. Tav. 76; Alibegashvili G. IN . The artistic principle of illustrating cargo. handwritten book XI - beginning. XIII century Tbilisi, 1973. Ill. 8; Mijoviě. Menologist. pp. 291, 320, 350; Evseeva. Athos book. With. 239, 278.

O. V. Titova, O. V. Loseva, E. P. Bespakhotnaya, E. P. I.

Saint Ananias the Apostle, one of the seventy, was a bishop in the city of Damascus. He is famous for having baptized the Apostle Paul. One day the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said to him:

- Get up and go to the street, the so-called straight line, and ask in the House of Judas a Tarsian named Saul; he is now praying.

Ananias refused this, knowing how much harm Saul had caused to the Jerusalem Christians, and that he came to Damascus with the intention of imprisoning all those who professed the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord admonished Ananias, saying:

“Go, for Saul has been chosen by Me to proclaim My Name before the nations and kings and the children of Israel, and I will show him how much he must suffer for My Name.”

Following the Divine command, Ananias went to Saul and, laying his hands on him, said:

- Brother Saul! The Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the way, sent me so that you could receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit!

Saul immediately received his sight, and Ananias baptized him. Some time later, when the Jews agreed among themselves to kill Paul because he had changed from a persecutor to becoming a preacher of the Name of Christ, Ananias, along with the other disciples of Christ, lowered him down the city wall () in a basket. Ananias himself, entering the Jewish hosts, boldly preached the name of the Lord. And not only to the Jews, but even to the pagans he preached the faith of Christ. From Damascus he went to Eleutheropol and there, showing the people the way to salvation and healing the sick, he converted many to faith in Christ.

In those days, Lucian was the ruler of Eleutheropolis, who worshiped the creature and not the Creator. The devil incited him against Christians and inspired him to send out the following decree throughout his entire region:

– If anyone turns out to be a venerator of Christ and a worshiper of the Crucified One, we command him to be put to death; whoever, having renounced Christ, makes a sacrifice to the immortal gods will be awarded by us gifts and honors.

When such an evil and insidious command was issued, Saint Ananias enlightened people in that area with the preaching of the Gospel and healed all sorts of illnesses in people; The Lord stayed with him, working many miracles through him. The idolaters seized Ananias and brought him to the ruler Lucian, who by various means began to force him to sacrifice to idols. But Ananias did not listen to him and answered:

– I do not worship false gods, I worship the One True Lord my God, Jesus Christ: I saw Him with my own eyes and talked with Him from mouth to mouth - not only when He lived on earth as a man, but after He ascended to heaven . For when I was in Damascus, He Himself appeared to me and sent me to heal Saul, whom with His wondrous wisdom and power He converted to the knowledge of the truth. He delivered us all from the power of the devil and brought us to His Father. So, I worship Him, and not the demons who want to destroy the entire human race.

Then the ruler began to threaten Ananias with torture if he did not fulfill what was ordered to him; but he, like an unshakable pillar, was firm in the confession of Christ. Raising his hands to the sky, he said:

– Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the blessed Father! listen to my prayer and grant me the fate of the blessed Apostles in the future life. Just as You saved Saul with Your light, so save me from the hand of this wicked man who resists the truth: may his will not be fulfilled on me, may he not catch me in the nets of his deceit; do not deprive me of the Kingdom of Heaven, prepared for all who love the path of Thy truth, indicated by You, and who keep Thy commandments!

Unable to bear Ananias' speeches any longer, the governor ordered to put him on the ground and beat him. While the ministers were beating the saint mercilessly, the herald shouted:

- Listen to the ruler, do not resist his command, make a sacrifice to the gods whom the whole world worships.

When they stopped beating the saint, the ruler said to him:

“At least now have pity on yourself and, having obeyed me, renounce the Crucified One, so as not to be subjected to even more severe torment from me.”

To this Saint Ananias answered:

“What I told you at first, I never cease to repeat now: I will not renounce my God and will not bow before the soulless stone and tree, which you consider to be gods.”

Seeing that the saint was adamant, the ruler ordered his body to be torn with iron claws and his wounds burned with candles. But the saint, enduring torment, raised his eyes to heaven and prayed fervently. After this torture the torturer said:

- How long will you persist? Won't you really feel sorry for yourself and worship the great gods? Is it really more pleasant for you to endure this useless suffering for some Christ crucified by the Jews than to be unharmed and healthy? I swear that I will not let you out of my hands alive if you continue to persist like this!

The saint answered:

- Do what you want, enemy of God and friend of the devil, - after all, you have already heard from me many times that I will not worship your gods, but will only worship To the One God, – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Creator of heaven and earth and everything that is in them. I believed in Him, and He gave me the strength to stand firmly before you all day long and courageously endure these torments. Why should you cause yourself even more trouble? After all, you have heard that I do not want to obey your will; do quickly what you have in mind!

Inflamed with rage, the tormentor commanded the people to take Saint Ananias, take him out of the city and stone him. The lawless servants of the tormentor, having taken him, took him to the place of execution and stoned him, like the new Stephen. He exclaimed loudly:

- Lord Jesus Christ! I commend my spirit into Your hands.

So he died, after all the torment, and moved to the heavenly abodes. The people, seeing that he had already died, left him unburied and dispersed. At that time some Christians from Damascus happened to be passing there; they took the holy body of the Apostle of Christ, carried it with honor to Damascus and buried it in his native city

Churches

Memory is accomplished:

• in the Orthodox Church: October 1 (14) and January 4 (17) on the day of the Council of the Apostles from seventy;
• in the Catholic Church: January 25.

In a vision to Ananias, God revealed his providence about Saul, who had previously been a cruel persecutor of Christians, and now had become the chosen instrument of God, and he, having visited Saul in Damascus, who was blind, laid his hands on him, restored his sight, baptized him and brought him into a society of believers named Paul (Acts).

Ananias was later a bishop in Damascus. From Damascus he went to Eleutheropol and there, showing the people the way to salvation and healing the sick, he converted many to faith in Christ. In Eleutheropolis, the ruler Lucian, who worshiped idols, ordered the people to take Ananias, take him out of the city and stone him, which is why he died martyrdom. At that time some Christians from Damascus happened to be passing there; They took the holy body of the Apostle of Christ, carried it with honor to Damascus and buried it in his native city.

His life and torment are among the Metaphrastic Lives of the Saints (Patrologia Graeca, volume 114)

The relics are kept in the Zoravor Church in Yerevan.

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Literature

• Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary. Ed. P. P. Soikina. Reprint 1992. Stlb. 152.
• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

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Passage describing Ananias

When Princess Marya entered the room, Prince Vasily and his son were already in the living room, talking with the little princess and m lle Bourienne. When she entered with her heavy gait, stepping on her heels, the men and m lle Bourienne rose, and the little princess, pointing to her to the men, said: Voila Marie! [Here is Marie!] Princess Marya saw everyone and saw them in detail. She saw the face of Prince Vasily, who stopped seriously for a moment at the sight of the princess and immediately smiled, and the face of the little princess, who read with curiosity on the faces of the guests the impression that Marie would make on them. She also saw M lle Bourienne with her ribbon and beautiful face and her gaze, more animated than ever, fixed on him; but she could not see him, she only saw something large, bright and beautiful, moving towards her when she entered the room. First, Prince Vasily approached her, and she kissed the bald head bending over her hand, and answered his words that she, on the contrary, remembered him very well. Then Anatole approached her. She still hasn't seen him. She only felt a gentle hand take her firmly and lightly touched her white forehead, above which her beautiful brown hair was anointed. When she looked at him, his beauty struck her. Anatop, having laid thumb right hand by the buttoned button of his uniform, with his chest arched forward and his back arched back, shaking one outstretched leg and slightly bowing his head, silently, cheerfully looking at the princess, apparently not thinking about her at all. Anatole was not resourceful, not quick and not eloquent in conversations, but he had the ability of calm and unchangeable confidence, precious for the world. If a person who is not self-confident is silent at the first acquaintance and shows an awareness of the indecency of this silence and a desire to find something, and it will not be good; but Anatole was silent, shaking his leg, cheerfully observing the princess’s hairstyle. It was clear that he could remain silent so calmly for a very long time. “If anyone finds this silence awkward, then talk, but I don’t want to,” his appearance seemed to say. In addition, in dealing with women, Anatole had that manner that most of all inspires curiosity, fear and even love in women - a manner of contemptuous consciousness of his superiority. It was as if he was telling them with his appearance: “I know you, I know you, but why bother with you? And you would be glad!” It may be that he did not think this when meeting women (and it is even likely that he did not, because he did not think much at all), but that was his appearance and such a manner. The princess felt this and, as if wanting to show him that she did not dare think about keeping him busy, turned to the old prince. The conversation was general and lively, thanks to the little voice and the sponge with a mustache that rose above the white teeth of the little princess. She met Prince Vasily with that method of joking, which is often used by talkatively cheerful people and which consists in the fact that some long-established jokes and funny, partly not known to everyone, funny memories are assumed between the person who is being treated like that and oneself, then as there are no such memories, just as there were none between the little princess and Prince Vasily. Prince Vasily willingly succumbed to this tone; The little princess involved Anatole, whom she hardly knew, in this memory of funny incidents that had never happened. M lle Bourienne also shared these common memories, and even Princess Marya felt with pleasure that she was drawn into this cheerful memory.