Only Seven Years

In Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, the central character, Raskolnikov, finally confessed his crime and was sent to Siberia.  Sonya, the girl who loved him, followed voluntarily and found a job in a town nearest his work camp.  At first, Raskolnikov was bitter about his exile and contemptuous of everyone, including Sonya.  But the day came when her unflagging love and humble service melted his heart, and he loved her in return.

Dostoyevsky writes, "They were renewed by love; the heart of each held infinite resources of life for the heart of the other.  they had another seven years to wait, and what terrible suffering and infinite happiness before them!  But he had risen again, and he knew it and felt it in his being, while she--she lived only in his life.  Seven years, only seven years!"

- Roy B. Zuck, The Speaker's Quote Book (Christian Literature Crusade, 1997)