Levin knew his brother and the direction of his thoughts, knew that he had become a sceptic not because it was easier for him to live without faith, but because step by step modern scientific explanations of the phenomena of the universe had driven out his faith; he knew therefore that this return to the old faith was not legitimate, not a similar result of thought, but was only a temporary, selfish and irrational hope of recovery.
Levin conocía a Nicolás y su modo de pensar, le constaba que su falta de fe no procedía de que le fuera más cómodo vivir sin ella, sino de que, poco a poco, las explicaciones científicas de los fenómenos universales la habían borrado de su alma. El retorno, pues, de su hermano a la fe no era sincero, hijo de la reflexión, sino momentáneo, egoísta, nacido de una vana esperanza de curarse.