three
o’clock in the afternoon
He moved away quickly , however , for he felt that he too might weep looking at him . Meanwhile the time was passing ; the monastery services and the requiems for the dead followed in their due course . Father Païssy again took Father Iosif 's place by the coffin and began reading the Gospel . But before three o'clock in the afternoon that something took place to which I alluded at the end of the last book , something so unexpected by all of us and so contrary to the general hope , that , I repeat , this trivial incident has been minutely remembered to this day in our town and all the surrounding neighborhood . I may add here , for myself personally , that I feel it almost repulsive to recall that event which caused such frivolous agitation and was such a stumbling‐block to many , though in reality it was the most natural and trivial matter . I should , of course , have omitted all mention of it in my story , if it had not exerted a very strong influence on the heart and soul of the chief , though future , hero of my story , Alyosha , forming a crisis and turning‐point in his spiritual development , giving a shock to his intellect , which finally strengthened it for the rest of his life and gave it a definite aim . And so , to return to our story .