Monk #1: Did you see the elder Zosima bow to Dmitiri Karamazov?  Why did he do it?  Did he see something terrible in Dmitri’s fate or character?  What could such a bow mean?

Monk #2: I don’t know why he would bow to that lost soul.  Dmitri made a bad impression on me.  He has betrayed his fiance, befouled himself with love for a fallen woman, persecuted a poor, broken Captain, and threatened his own father.  What good could the elder see in such a miserable creature?

Monk #3: I asked the Elder why he bowed to Dmitri, and he answered by citing John 12:24: “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth much fruit.”  What do you think he meant by that?