"How dost though look, Father, to read their souls?" Erasmus inquired of Pamva.
"I look into their eyes," answered the Elder. "A man's body -all of it- lives in this world, and only his eyes are wells that reach down from the surface of this world into the world where the soul dwells. And even as wells in the earth are of different depths, so are they in man. And the deeper they go, the close they are to the heavenly mansions, but also to the gates of hell."
"And mine?" asked the novice Erasmus.
But the wise Elder made no reply, immersing himself in prayer. For he saw no bottom in those blue wells that were but lightly shaded by the delicate tracery of lashes. So the experienced traveler goes wearily along unknown paths, avoiding the places that beckon with their tender green in order not to sink into deceptive quagmires.
Yevgeny Zamyatin.