WOMEN AND MONKS. By Josef Kallinikov. Translated by Patrick Kirwan.
(Seeker. 13s,)—There can never have been any doubt as to the proper title for this book ; nor will any reader find its title misleading. The account given of the monks makes Mr. George, Moore's A Story-Tellers' Holiday very seem a ve mild affair. ` You might think there's nothing but virtue and holiness in the monastery," says Afonka to Dunya. " It may seem so..to you, but for us it is tall of sin. . . . Woman, the forbidden fruit, inflames us even more than other men. The young monks chase after the women like dogs . ; Snd tmn t Stave'-enough of them." -Nor-do the women who for various reasons came to the monastery appear to have been unprepared for the welcome they received. The charming ladies flashed delighted eyes,, and he heard their whispers as he paised. • Enchanting.' One simply longs to kiss him.' " The author uses a huge canvas, and tills it in with undoubted power. The nervous, spiteful atmo- sphere, the jealousies of the monks, leading to such horrors as the killing of the old man's pet stork, are well portrayed : the lisping Father Dossifey is a good character : but many readers will find 916 pages of unsuccessful and mostly half- hearted struggles against the flesh an over-generous allow- ance. The translation reads admirably.
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