The Way of a Pilgrim - Candid Tales of a Wanderer to His Spiritual Father

By the mercy of God I am a Christian, by my deeds a great sinner, by calling a homeless wanderer of the lowliest origins, roaming from place to place. Here, see my belongings: a bag of dry crusts on my back and the Holy Bible in my breast pocket; that''s it.

In 1884 there appeared in Russia a slim volume containing four short tales. They told of a pilgrim, a lone wanderer, led by his quiet curiosity and a deep spiritual longing to undertake a lifelong journey across the land. A folk hero, a figure familiar from the works of Tolstoy and Leskov, this gentle pilgrim and his simple story would soon travel the world - and would even, much later, traverse the pages of JD Salinger''s Franny and Zooey as the ''small pea-green cloth-bound book'' that Franny keeps close in her handbag.

The pilgrim''s ancient journey takes him from a city monastery through forests, fields and the steppes of Siberia. He walks by day and by night, through rains and summer months, fin