Englishman Richard Henry (“Henryovitch”) has been living in Russia’s larger cities for years. He has since become fluent in the language and seeks to follow Chekhov’s advice of learning about people through taking third-class carriages. During his journey to experience the lives of Russian peasants, one such peasant wanders into his train car. The two quickly become friends and chat away. The peasant asks Richard what life is like in England but is mortified upon hearing about the tiring and claustrophobic working conditions. He suggests that the English are not happy because they lack the strong faith in God that the Russians have. When Richard tells the peasant he is hoping to experience authentic Russian life, the peasant offers him to stay with him and his family. Richard agrees, and they deboard the train at Podevka, then ride a sleigh to the peasant’s home. On the way, Richard sees many churches. Upon the pair’s arrival at the peasant’s rather large home, they are greeted very warmly by his family and workers. The peasant realizes he hasn’t introduced himself and tells Richard his name is Anton. Anton’s wife, Marusya, tells him their youngest child, Vaska is very sick. She still prepares a large feast for everyone, though, and that evening, she and Anton take turns checking on Vaska’s condition.             Suddenly, a knock interrupts the dinner, and Anton opens the door to find a radiant monk standing outside. He immediately welcomes him in and allows him to eat dinner. The monk sits at the table, but then hears Vaska’s cries. Anton confesses that although the doctor has tried to treat Vaska, he keeps crying. The monk tells the family doctors are for nonbelievers, then requests to heal the child with faith. He steps into Vaska’s room alone, and a moment later, the boy stops crying. He emerges and tells everyone Vaska is asleep. They resume their dinner, and the monk inquires about Richard. Anton explains that Richard has come to experience the lives of the faithful Russian men, and the monk exclaims that he has come to the right place. He half-jokingly tells Richard that only the Orthodox Russians are good men and that the English are sinful, referencing the “black magic” of the technologies used in Britain. He tells them a story of a nonbeliever magician who broke the watches of a few people and used “magic” to fix them. A priest came along and told the people the magician was a servant of the Antichrist. He broke their watches and told them they had no use for keeping time, then said if they truly wanted the devices fixed, they could ask the magician for help. Both the magician and priest received their share of violence and backlash, but the monk asserts that the priest was right.             Later that night, the monk tells the children stories, but he is interrupted by a knock on the door. When Anton opens the door, two gruff voices tell him they are from the village’s insane asylum. The men are looking for an escaped inmate. Anton confusedly tells them there is only a holy man in their presence. They ask him if he is dressed in monk clothes, and at Anton’s confirmation, they seize the monk and take him away. Marusya panics, realizing the monk may have killed Vaska. Everyone goes to see him, but when Marusya wakes him, he only groggily asks who drove away the man with the healing hands. The family wonders if they’re the ones who have truly gone mad, and Anton crosses himself.