"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.
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