He did not stop on the steps either, but went quickly down; his

soul, overflowing with rapture, yearned for freedom, space,

openness. The vault of heaven, full of soft, shining stars,

stretched vast and fathomless above him. The Milky Way ran in two pale

streams from the zenith to the horizon. The fresh, motionless, still

night enfolded the earth. The white towers and golden domes of the

cathedral gleamed out against the sapphire sky. The gorgeous autumn

flowers, in the beds round the house, were slumbering till morning.

The silence of earth seemed to melt into the silence of the heavens.

The mystery of earth was one with the mystery of the stars....

Dostoyevsky must have been on a seizure high when writing that. I have re-read that passage monthly for more than two decades. It becomes more vivid and sublime with every time that I re-read that novel. Zossima is a slippery character; proto-Yoda-ish. Alyosha's earth, water and firmament has solidified into our Christ-like figure reborn into our world as Zossima passes.

Not continuing to study Russian is a minor regret. I would love to embrace that passage in русский.