Читать книгу The Essential Russian Plays & Short Stories - Максим Горький - Страница 79

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The interior of a house in a monastic suburb. Two rooms, with a third seen back of them. They are old, ramshackle, and filthy. The first one is a sort of dining-room, large, with dirty, low ceiling and smeared wall-paper that in places has come loose from the wall. There are three little windows; the one giving on the yard reveals a shed, a wagon, and some household utensils. Cheap wooden furniture; a large, bare table. On the walls, which are dotted with flies, appear pictures of monks and views of the monastery. The second room, a parlor, is somewhat cleaner. It has window curtains of muslin, two flower-pots with dried geraniums, a sofa, a round table covered with a tablecloth, and shelves with dishes. The door to the left in the first room leads to the tavern. When open, it admits the sound of a man's doleful, monotonous singing.

It is noon of a hot and perfectly still summer's day. Now and then the clucking of hens is heard under the windows. The clock in the belfry of the monastery strikes every half-hour, a long, indistinct wheeze preceding the first stroke.

Pelagueya, who is pregnant, is scrubbing the floor. Seized with giddiness, she staggers to her feet and leans against the wall, staring before her with a vacant gaze.

PELAGUEYA

Oh, God! (She starts to scrub the floor again)

LIPA (enters, faint from heat)

How stifling! I don't know what to do with myself. My head seems full of pins and needles. (She sits down) Polya, say, Polya.

PELAGUEYA

What is it?

LIPA

Where's father?

PELAGUEYA

He's sleeping.

LIPA

Oh, I can't stand it. (She opens the window, then takes a turn round the room, moving aimlessly and, glancing into the tavern) Tony's sleeping too—behind the counter. It would be nice to go in, bathing, but it's too hot to walk to the river. Polya, why don't you speak? Say something.

PELAGUEYA

What?

LIPA

Scrubbing, scrubbing, all the time.

PELAGUEYA

Yes.

LIPA

And in a day from now the floors will be dirty again. I don't see what pleasure you get from working the way you do.

PELAGUEYA.

I have to.

LIPA

I just took a peep at the street. It's awful. Not a human being in sight, not even a dog. All is dead. And the monastery has such a queer look. It seems to be hanging in the air. You have the feeling that if you were to blow on it, it would begin to swing and fly away. Why are you so silent, Polya? Where is Savva? Have you seen him?

PELAGUEYA

He's in the pasture playing jackstones with the children.

LIPA

He's a funny fellow.

PELAGUEYA

I don't see anything funny about it. He ought to be working, that's what he ought to be doing, not playing like a baby. I don't like your Savva.

LIPA (lazily)

No, Polya, he is good.

PELAGUEYA

Good? I spoke to him and told him how hard the work was for me. "Well," he says, "if you want to be a horse, pull." What did he come here for? I wish he'd stayed where he was.

LIPA

He came home to see his folks. Why, it's ten years since he left. He was a mere boy then.

PELAGUEYA

A lot he cares for his folks. Yegor Ivanovich is just dying to get rid of him. The neighbors don't know what to make of him either. He dresses like a workingman and carries himself like a lord, doesn't speak to anybody and just rolls his eyes like a saint. I am afraid of his eyes.

LIPA

Nonsense. He has beautiful eyes.

PELAGUEYA

Can't he see that it's hard for me to be doing all the housework myself? A while ago he saw me carrying a pail full of water. I was straining with all my might. He didn't even say good morning; just, passed on. I have met a lot of people in my life, but never anybody whom I disliked so much.

LIPA

I'm so hot, everything seems to be turning round like wheels. Listen,

Polya, if you don't want to work, don't. No one compels you to.

PELAGUEYA

If I won't work, who will? Will you?

LIPA

No, I won't. We'll hire a servant.

PELAGUEYA

Yes, of course, you have plenty of money.

LIPA

And what's the use of keeping it?

PELAGUEYA

I'll die soon and then you'll get a servant. I won't last much longer. I have had one miscarriage, and I guess a second child will be the end of me. I don't care. It's better than to live the way I do. Oh! (She clasps her waist)

LIPA

But for God's sake, who is asking you to? Stop working. Don't scrub.

PELAGUEYA

Yes, stop it, and all of you will be going about saying: "How dirty the house is!"

LIPA (weary from the heat and Pelagueya's talk)

Oh, I'm so tired of it!

PELAGUEYA

Don't you think I feel tired too? What are you complaining about anyhow? You are a lady. All you have to do is pray and read. I don't even get time to pray. Some day I'll drop into the next world all of a sudden just as I am, with my skirt tucked up under my belt: "Good morning! How d'you do!"

LIPA

You'll be scrubbing floors in the next world too.

PELAGUEYA

No, in the next world it's you who'll be scrubbing floors, and I'll sit with folded hands like a lady. In heaven we'll be the first ones, while you and your Savva, for your pride and your hard hearts—

LIPA

Now, Polya, am I not sorry for you?

YEGOR IVANOVICH TROPININ (enters, still sleepy, his beard turned to one side, the collar of his shirt unbuttoned; breathing heavily) Whew! Say, Polya, bring me some cider. Quick! (Pause) Who opened the window?

LIPA

I did.

YEGOR

What for?

LIPA

It's hot. The stove in the restaurant makes it so close here you can't breathe.

YEGOR

Shut it, shut it, I say. If it's too hot for you, you can go down into the cellar.

LIPA

But what do you want to have the window shut for?

YEGOR

Because. Shut it! You have been told to shut the window—then shut it! What are you waiting for? (Lipa, shrugging her shoulders, closes the window and is about to leave) Where are you going? The moment your father appears, you run away. Sit down!

LIPA

But you don't want me.

YEGOR

Never mind whether I want you or not—sit down! Oh, my! (He yawns and crosses himself) Where is Savva?

LIPA

I don't know.

YEGOR

Tell him I'll turn him out.

LIPA

Tell him so yourself.

YEGOR

Fool! (He yawns and crosses himself) Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us sinners! What was it I was dreaming about just now?

LIPA

I don't know.

YEGOR

Who asked you? You stupid, how could you tell what I was dreaming?

You've got brains, haven't you?

PELAGUEYA (handing him cider)

There.

YEGOR

There. Put it down and don't "there" me. (Takes the jug and drinks) What was I talking about? (Pelagueya finishes scrubbing the floor) Oh yes, about the Father Superior. A smart fellow he is. You'll have to go a long way to find another like him. He had the old coffin exchanged for a new one. The pilgrims chewed the old one to pieces, so he put a new one in its place. He put a new one in place of the old one. They'll chew this, one to pieces too, the fools! Anything you give them, the fools! Do you hear or don't you?

LIPA

I hear. What's so remarkable about it? A swindle, that's all.

YEGOR

What's remarkable about it is that, he didn't ask your advice. They chewed the old one to pieces, so he put a new one in its place exactly like it; Yes, just exactly like the one in which the saint lay before. Remember us in heaven where thou dwellest, O Saint! (He crosses himself and yawns) You can lose your teeth on this one too. They chewed the old one to pieces completely. Where are you off to? Sit down!

LIPA

I can't, it's so hot in here.

YEGOR

But I can. Sit down, you won't melt. (Pause) They chewed up the old one, so he put up a new one. Where is Savva?

PELAGUEYA

He's playing; jackstones with the children.

YEGOR

I'm not asking you. What time is it?

PELAGUEYA

It just struck two.

YEGOR

Tell him I'll turn him out. I won't stand it.

LIPA

Stand what? Be reasonable.

YEGOR

I won't stand it. Who is he anyway? Never at home in time for dinner. He comes and feeds like a dog by himself—knocks about at night and doesn't lock the gate. I went out yesterday and found the gate wide open. If we are robbed, who'll pay for it?

LIPA

There are no thieves here. What thieves have you ever seen in this place?

YEGOR

What thieves? A lot. When all people are asleep, he is knocking about.

Who ever heard of such a thing?

LIPA

But if he doesn't want to sleep, what is he to do?

YEGOR

What, you too? He doesn't want to? Let him go to bed, and he'll sleep. No one wants to sleep, but once you lie down you fall asleep. He doesn't want to? I know him. Who asked him to come? He was making bank-notes over there—then why didn't he stay where he was and do what he pleased? What business has he here?

LIPA

What bank-notes?

YEGOR

What bank-notes? Not real ones. Nothing is done to you for making real bank-notes. Counterfeit bank-notes, that's what. Not the sort of thing you get patted on the head for, when you are caught, no sirree! It's very strict now. I'll go to the police captain and tell him: "It's like this—just search him."

LIPA

Oh, nonsense.

PELAGUEYA

You are the only, one who doesn't know it. Everybody else knows it.

LIPA

Oh, Lord!

YEGOR

Well, about the Lord we know better than you. You needn't appeal to Him. I want you to tell Savva that I am not afraid of him. He didn't strike the right person. I'll just make him skip. I'll turn him out. Let him go where he came from. The idea of my having to be responsible for his robberies. Who's ever heard of such a thing?

LIPA

You are not quite wide awake, father, that's what's the matter with you.

YEGOR

I am wide awake all right, and have been for a long time. What I'd like to know is, are you wide awake? Look out, Lipa, don't let it happen to you too.

LIPA

What?

YEGOR

It. (He yawns and crosses himself) If mother were to rise from her grave now and see her children, she would be delighted. Fine children, she would say. I have nursed you, and brought you up, and what's the result? Regular good-for-nothing scamps. Tony'll soon begin to drink again. I can see it on his face. Who's ever heard of such a thing? People will soon be coming here for the feast-day, and I'll have to work alone for the whole bunch. Polya, hand me that match from the floor—there. No, not there, you blind goose. There, you stupid.

PELAGUEYA (hunting for the match)

I don't see it.

YEGOR

I'll take you by the back of your neck and give you such a shaking that you'll see mighty quick. There it is, damn you!

LIPA (faint)

Oh, God, what a blistering heat!

YEGOR

There it is. Where are you crawling? Under the chair. There, damn you!

SAVVA (enters gayly, the pocket of his blouse full of jackstones) I won six pair.

YEGOR

Well, the idea!

SAVVA

I finished that rascal Misha, cleared him all up. What are you mumbling about there?

YEGOR

Nothing. Only I wish you'd address me a little more politely.

SAVVA (paying no attention to him)

Lipa, I won six pair.

LIPA

How can you play in such heat?

SAVVA

Wait, I am going to put the jackstones away. I have eighteen pair now.

Misha, the little rascal, plays well. (He goes out)

YEGOR (rising)

I don't want to see him any more. Tell him to get out of here at once.

LIPA

All right, I will.

YEGOR

Don't say "all right," but do what your father tells you. A fine lot of brats—that's a sure thing! Yes, yes. (Goes) If mother saw them—

PELAGUEYA

He speaks of mother as if he weren't the one that drove her to an early grave. He talked her to death, the old scold! He just talks and talks, and nags and nags, and he doesn't know himself what he wants.

LIPA

To be with you is like being caught in the wheel of a machine. My head is spinning round and round.

PELAGUEYA

Then why don't you go away with your Savva? What are you waiting for?

LIPA

Look here, why are you angry with me?

PELAGUEYA

I am not angry. I am telling the truth. You don't want to marry. You are disgusted with all your beaux. Why don't you go into a convent?

LIPA

I won't go into a convent, but I will go away from here, soon enough,

I think.

PELAGUEYA

Well, go! No one is keeping you. The road is wide open.

LIPA

Ah, Polya, you are angry and sulky with me. You don't know how I spend my nights thinking about you. At night I lie awake and think and think about you, and about all the people that are unhappy—all of them.

PELAGUEYA

What do you want to think about me for? You had better think about yourself.

LIPA

And no one knows it. Well, what's the use of talking? You couldn't understand anyhow. I am sorry for you, Polya. (Pelagueya laughs) What's the matter?

PELAGUEYA

If you are sorry for me, why don't you carry out that pail? The way I am, I shouldn't be lifting heavy things. Why don't you help me, if you are so sorry for me?

LIPA (her face darkening, then brightening again) Give it to me. (She picks up the pail and starts to carry it away)

PELAGUEYA (spitefully)

Hypocrite! Let go! Where are you going? (She carries out the pail and returns for the other things)

SAVVA (entering; to his sister)

Why is your face so red?

LIPA

It's hot.

[Pelagueya laughs.

SAVVA

Say, Pelagueya, has Kondraty inquired for me?

PELAGUEYA

Kondraty! What Kondraty?

SAVVA

Kondraty, the friar; he looks something like a sparrow.

PELAGUEYA

I didn't see any Kondraty. Like a sparrow! That's a funny way of putting it.

SAVVA

Tell Tony to come here, won't you?

PELAGUEYA

Tell him yourself.

SAVVA

Well, well!

PELAGUEYA (calls through the door before she goes out into the tavern) Anthony, Savva wants you.

LIPA

What do you want him for?

SAVVA

What a queer habit you have here of plying a person with questions all the time. Where, who, why, what for?

LIPA (slightly offended)

You needn't answer if you don't want to.

TONY (enters, speaking slowly and with difficulty)

Who wants me?

SAVVA

I am expecting Kondraty here—you know Kondraty, don't you? Send him in when he comes.

TONY

Who are you?

SAVVA

And send in two bottles of whiskey too, do you hear?

TONY

Maybe I do and maybe I don't. Maybe I'll send the whiskey and maybe I won't.

SAVVA

What a sceptic. You've grown silly, Tony.

LIPA

Leave him alone, Savva. He has got that from the seminary student, from Speransky. Anyhow, he is full of—

TONY (sitting down)

I didn't get it from anybody. I can understand everything myself. The blood has congealed in my heart.

SAVVA

That's from drink, Tony. Stop drinking.

TONY

The blood has congealed in my heart. You think I don't know what's what. A while ago you weren't here with us, and all of a sudden you came. Yes, I understand everything. I have visions.

SAVVA

What do you see? God?

TONY

There is no God.

SAVVA

How's that?

TONY

And no devil either. There's nothing, no people, no animals, nothing.

SAVVA

What is there then?

TONY

There are only faces, a whole lot of faces. It's faces, faces, faces. They are very funny, and I keep laughing all the time. I just sit still, and the faces come jumping and gliding past me, jumping and gliding. You've got a very funny face too, Savva. (Sadly) It's enough to make one die of laughter.

SAVVA (laughing gayly)

What kind of a face have I?

TONY

That's the kind of face you have. (Pointing his finger at him) She also has a face, and she. And father too. And then there are other faces. There are a lot of faces. I sit in the tavern and see everything. Nothing escapes me. You can't fool me. Some faces are small and some are large, and all of them glide and glide—Some are far away, and some are as close to me as if they wanted to kiss me or bite my nose. They have teeth.

SAVVA

All right, Tony, now you can go. We'll talk about the faces later.

Your own face is funny enough.

TONY

Yes, of course. I, too, have a face.

SAVVA

All right, all right. Go now. Don't forget to send in the whiskey.

TONY

As in the daytime so at night. A lot of faces. (From the door) And in regards to whiskey, maybe I'll send it and maybe I won't. I can't tell yet.

SAVVA (to Lipa)

Has he been that way a long time?

LIPA

I don't know. I think so. He drinks an awful lot.

PELAGUEYA (going)

No wonder. You're enough to drive a man to drink. Cranks. (Exit)

LIPA

My, how stifling! I don't know what to do with myself. Say, Savva, why aren't you nicer to Polya? She is such a wretched creature.

SAVVA

A slavish soul.

LIPA

It isn't her fault if she's that way.

SAVVA (coldly)

Nor mine either.

LIPA

Oh, Savva, if you only knew the terrible life people lead here. The men drink, and beat their wives, and the women—

SAVVA

I know.

LIPA

You say it so calmly. I have been waiting very much to have a talk with you.

SAVVA

Go ahead.

LIPA

You'll soon be leaving us, I suppose.

SAVVA

Yes.

LIPA

Then I won't have any chance to talk to you. You are scarcely ever at home. This is the first time, pretty nearly. It seems so strange that you should enjoy playing with the children, you a grown man, big as a bear.

SAVVA (merrily)

No, Lipa, they play very well. Misha is very good at the game, and I have a hard time holding up my end of it. I lost him three pairs yesterday.

LIPA

Why, he is only ten years old.—

SAVVA

Well, what of it? The children are the only human beings here. They are the wisest part of the—

LIPA (with a smile)

And I? How about me?

SAVVA (looking at her)

You? Why, you are like the rest.

[A pause. Being offended, Lipa's languor disappears to some extent.

LIPA

Maybe I bore you.

SAVVA

No, you make no difference to me one way or another. I am never bored.

LIPA (with a constrained smile)

Thank you, I am glad of that at least. Were you in the monastery to-day? You go there often, don't you?

SAVVA

Yes, I was there. Why?

LIPA

I suppose you don't remember—I love our monastery. It is so beautiful. At times it looks so pensive. I like it because it's so old. Its age gives it a solemnity, a stern serenity and detachment.

SAVVA

Do you read many books?

LIPA (blushing)

I used to read a lot. You know I spent four winters in Moscow with

Aunt Glasha. Why do you ask?

SAVVA

Never mind. Go on.

LIPA

Does what I say sound ridiculous?

SAVVA

No, go on.

LIPA

The monastery is really a remarkable place. There are nice spots there which no one ever visits, somewhere between the mute walls, where there is nothing but grass and fallen stones and a lot of old, old litter. I love to linger there, especially at twilight, or on hot sunny days like to-day. I close my eyes, and I seem to look far, far into the distant past—at those who built it and those who first prayed in it. There they walk along the path carrying bricks and singing something, so softly, so far away. (Closing her eyes) So softly, so softly.

SAVVA

I don't like the old. As to the building of the monastery, it was done by serfs, of course; and when they carried bricks they didn't sing, but quarrelled and cursed one another. That's more like it.

LIPA (opening her eyes)

Those are my dreams. You see, Savva, I am all alone here. I have nobody to talk to. Tell me—You won't be angry, will you?—Tell me, just me alone, why did you come here to us? It wasn't to pray. It wasn't for the feast-day. You don't look like a pilgrim.

SAVVA (frowning)

I don't like you to be so curious.

LIPA

How can you think I am? Do I look as if I were curious? You have been here for two weeks, and you ought to see that I am lonely. I am lonely, Savva. Your coming was to me like manna fallen from the sky. You are the first living human being that has come here from over there, from real life. In Moscow I lived very quietly, just reading my books; and here—you see the sort of people we have here.

SAVVA

Do you think it's different in other places?

LIPA

I don't know. That's what I should like to find out from you. You have seen so much. You have even been abroad.

SAVVA

Only for a short time.

LIPA

That makes no difference. You have met many cultured, wise, interesting people. You have lived with them. How do they live? What kind of people are they? Tell me all about it.

SAVVA

A mean, contemptible lot.

LIPA

Is that so? You don't say so!

SAVVA

They live just as you do here—a stupid, senseless existence. The only difference is in the language they speak. But that makes it still worse. The justification for cattle is that, they are without speech. But when the cattle become articulate, begin to speak, defend themselves and express ideas then the situation becomes intolerable, unmitigatedly repulsive. Their dwelling-places are different too—yes—but that's a small thing. I was in a city inhabited by a hundred thousand people. The windows in the house of that city are all small. Those living in them are all fond of light, but it never occurs to anyone that the windows might be made larger. And when a new house is built, they put in the same kind of windows, just as small, just as they have always been.

LIPA

The idea! I never would have thought it. But they can't all be like that. You must have met good people who knew how to live.

SAVVA

I don't know how to make you understand. Yes, I did meet, if not altogether good people, yet—The last people with whom I lived were a pretty good sort. They didn't accept life ready-made, but tried to make it over to suit themselves. But—

LIPA

Who were they—students?

SAVVA

No. Look here—how about your tongue—is it of the loose kind?

LIPA

Savva, you ought to be ashamed!

SAVVA

All right. Now then. You've read of people who make bombs—little bombs, you understand? Now if they see anybody who interferes with life, they take him off. They're called anarchists. But that isn't quite correct. (Contemptuously) Nice anarchists they are!

LIPA (starting back, awestruck)

What are you talking about? You can't possibly be in earnest. It isn't true. And you in it, too? Why, you look so simple and talk so simply, and suddenly—I was hot a moment ago, but now I am cold, (The rooster crows-under the window, calling the chickens to share some seed he has found)

SAVVA

There now—you're frightened. First you want me to tell you, and then—

LIPA

Don't mind me, Savva, it's nothing. It was so unexpected. I thought such people didn't really exist—that they were just a fiction of the imagination. And then, all of a sudden, to find you, my brother—You are not joking, Savva? Look me straight in the eye.

SAVVA

But why did you get frightened? They are not so terrible after all. In fact, they are very quiet, orderly people, and very deliberate. They meet and meet, and weigh and consider a long time, and then—bang!—a sparrow drops dead. The next minute there is another sparrow in its place, hopping about on the very same branch. Why are you looking at my hands?

LIPA

Oh, nothing. Give me your hand—no, your right hand.

SAVVA

Here.

LIPA

How heavy it is. Feel how cold mine are. Go on, tell me all about it.

It's so interesting.

SAVVA

What's there to tell? They are a brave set of people, I must admit; but it is a bravery of the head, not of the hands. And their heads are partitioned off into little chambers; they are always careful not to do anything which is unnecessary or harmful. Now you can't clear a dense forest by cutting down one tree at a time, can you? That's what they do. While they chop at one end, it grows up at the other. You can't accomplish anything that way; it's labor lost. I proposed a scheme to them, something on a larger scale. They got frightened, wouldn't hear of it. A little weak-kneed they are. So I left them. Let them practise virtue. A narrow-minded bunch. They lack breadth of vision.

LIPA

You say it as calmly as if you were joking.

SAVVA

No, I am not joking.

LIPA

Aren't you afraid?

SAVVA

I? So far I haven't been, and I don't ever expect to be. What worse can happen to a man than to have been born? It's like asking a man who is drowning whether he is not afraid of getting wet. (Laughs)

LIPA

So that's the kind you are.

SAVVA

One thing I learned from them: respect for dynamite. It's a powerful instrument, dynamite is—nothing like it for a convincing argument.

LIPA

You are only twenty-three years old. You have no beard yet, not even a moustache.

SAVVA (feeling his face)

Yes, a measly growth; but what conclusions do you draw from that?

LIPA

Fear will come to you yet.

SAVVA

No. If I haven't been frightened so far by watching life, there's nothing else to fear. Life, yes. I embrace the earth with my eyes, the whole of it, the entire little planetoid, and I can find nothing more terrible on it than man and human life. And I am not afraid of man.

LIPA (scarcely listening to him; ecstatically)

Yes, that's the word. That's it. Savva, dear, I am not afraid of bodily suffering either. Burn me on a slow fire. Cut me to pieces. I won't cry. I'll laugh. I know I will. But there is another thing I am afraid of. I am afraid of people's suffering, of the misery from which they cannot escape. When in the stillness of the night, broken only by the striking of the hours, I think of how much suffering there is all around us—aimless, needless suffering; suffering one doesn't even know of—when I think of that, I am chilled with terror. I go down on my knees and pray. I pray to God, saying to Him: "Oh, Lord, if there has to be a victim, take me, but give the people joy, give them peace, give them forgetfulness. Oh, Lord, all powerful as Thou art—"

SAVVA

Yes.

LIPA

I have read about a man who was eaten by an eagle, and his flesh grew again overnight. If my body could turn into bread and joy for the people, I would consent to live in eternal torture in order to feed the unfortunate. There'll soon be a holiday here in the monastery—

SAVVA

I know.

LIPA

There is an ikon of the Saviour there with the touching inscription:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden—

SAVVA

And I will give you rest." I know.

LIPA

It is regarded as a wonder-working ikon. Go there on the feast-day. It's like a torrent pouring into the monastery, an ocean rolling toward its walls; and this whole ocean is made up entirely of human tears, of human sorrow and misery. Such monstrosities, such cripples. After witnessing one of those scenes, I walk about as in a dream. There are faces with such a depth of misery in them that one can never forget them as long as one lives. Why, Savva, I was a gay young thing before I saw all that. There is one man who comes here every year—they have nicknamed him King Herod—

SAVVA

He is here already. I've seen him.

LIPA

Have you?

SAVVA

Yes, he has got a tragic face.

LIPA

Long ago, when still a young man, he killed his son by accident, and from that day he keeps coming here. He has an awful face. And all of them are waiting for a miracle.

SAVVA

Yes. There is something worse than inescapable human suffering, however.

LIPA

What?

SAVVA (lightly)

Inescapable human stupidity.

LIPA

I don't know.

SAVVA

I do. Here you see only a small fragment of life, but if you could see and hear all of it—When I first read their newspapers, I laughed and thought it was a joke. I thought they were published in some asylum for the insane. But I found it was no joke. It was really serious, Lipa, really serious. And then my head began to ache with an intolerable pain. (He presses his hand to his forehead)

LIPA

Your head began to ache?

SAVVA

Yes. It's a peculiar pain. You don't know what it is like. Few people know what it is. And the pain continued until I resolved—

LIPA

What?

SAVVA

To annihilate everything.

LIPA

What are you saying?

SAVVA

Yes, yes, everything. All that's old.

LIPA (in amazement)

And man?

SAVVA

Man is to remain, of course. What is in his way is the stupidity that, piling up for thousands of years, has grown into a mountain. The modern sages want to build on this mountain, but that, of course, will lead to nothing but making the mountain still higher. It is the mountain itself that must be removed. It must be levelled to its foundation, down to the bare earth. Do you understand?

LIPA

No, I don't understand you. You talk so strangely.

SAVVA

Annihilate everything! The old houses, the old cities, the old literature, the old art. Do you know what art is?

LIPA

Yes, of course I know—pictures, statues. I went to the Tretyakov art gallery.

SAVVA

That's it—the Tretyakov, and other galleries that are bigger still. There are some good things in them, but it will be still better to have the old stuff out of the way. All the old dress must go. Man must be stripped bare and left naked on a naked earth! Then he will build up a new life. The earth must be denuded, Lipa; it must be stripped of its hideous old rags. It deserves to be arrayed in a king's mantle; but what have they done with it? They have dressed it in coarse fustian, in convict clothes. They've built cities, the idiots!

LIPA

But who will do it? Who's going to destroy everything?

SAVVA

I.

LIPA

You?

SAVVA

Yes, I. I'll begin, and then, when people get to understand what I am after, others will join in. The work will proceed merrily, Lipa. The sky will be hot. Yes. The only thing not worth destroying is science. That would be useless. Science is unchangeable, and if, you destroyed it to-day, it would rise up again the same as before.

LIPA

How much blood will have to be shed? Why, it's horrible!

SAVVA

No more than has been shed already—and there'll be rhyme and reason to it, at least. (Pause; the hens cluck in the yard; from the same direction comes Tony's sleepy voice: "Polya, father wants you. Where did you put his cap?")

LIPA

What a scheme! Are you not joking, Savva?

SAVVA

You make me sick with your "you are joking, you are joking."

LIPA

I am afraid of you, Savva. You are so serious about it.

SAVVA

Yes, there are many people who are afraid of me.

LIPA

If you would only smile a little.

SAVVA (looking at her with wide-open eyes and a frank face, and breaking abruptly into a clear, ringing laugh) Oh, you funny girl, what should I be smiling for? I'd rather laugh. (Both laugh) Are you afraid of tickling?

LIPA

Stop it! What a boy you are still!

SAVVA

All right. And Kondraty, isn't here yet. I wonder why. Do you think the devil has taken him? The devil is fond of monks, you know.

LIPA

What strange fancies you have. Why, now you are joking—

SAVVA (somewhat surprised)

They are not fancies.

LIPA

My fancies are different. You are a dear now, because you talk to me. In the evening I'll tell you all about myself. We'll take a walk together, and I'll tell you everything.

SAVVA

Very well, I'll listen. Why shouldn't I?

LIPA

Tell me, Savva, if I may ask—are you in love with a woman?

SAVVA

Ah, switched around to the subject of love after all—just like a woman! I hardly know what to say. I did love a girl, in a way, but she didn't stick it out.

LIPA

Stick out what?

SAVVA

My love, or perhaps myself. All I know is that one fine day she went away and left me.

LIPA (laughing)

And you?

SAVVA

Nothing. I remained alone.

LIPA

Have you any friends, comrades?

SAVVA

No.

LIPA

Any enemies? I mean is there anyone whom you particularly dislike, whom you hate?

SAVVA

Yes—God.

LIPA (incredulously)

What?

SAVVA

God, I say—the one whom you call your Saviour.

LIPA (shouting)

Don't dare speak that way! You've gone out of your mind!

SAVVA

Ah! I touched your sensitive spot, did I?

LIPA

Don't you dare!

SAVVA

I thought you were a gentle dove, but you have a tongue like a snake's. (He imitates the movements of a snake's tongue with his finger)

LIPA

Good Lord! How dare you, how can you speak like that of the Saviour?

Why, one dares not look at him. Why have you come here?

[Kondraty appears at the door of the tavern, looks around, and enters quietly.

KONDRATY

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost!

SAVVA

Amen! You're very late, my gracious lord!

KONDRATY

I did the will of him who sent me. I was picking young little cucumbers for the Father Superior. He has them made into a dainty dish which he loves dearly for an appetizer. My, what infernal heat! I was in pools of perspiration before I got through.

SAVVA (to Lipa)

You see, here is a monk. He likes a drink. His cussing vocabulary isn't bad. He is no fool, and as to women—

KONDRATY

Don't embarrass the young lady, Mr. Tropinin. In the presence of a lady—

SAVVA

And furthermore, he doesn't believe in God.

KONDRATY

He is joking.

LIPA

I don't like such jokes. What have you come here for?

KONDRATY

I am here by invitation.

SAVVA

I have some business with him.

LIPA (without looking at Savva)

What have you come here for?

SAVVA

For nothing that concerns you. You had better have a talk with him. He is a chap that possesses a great deal of curiosity. He's not a fool, either, but knows what's what.

LIPA (looking searchingly at Savva)

I know him well, I know him very well.

KONDRATY

To my regret I must admit it's true. I have the unenviable fortune of being known as a man who does not observe the outer forms of conduct. It is on account of that characteristic I was fired from my position as government clerk, and it's on that account I am now frequently condemned to live for weeks on nothing but bread and water. I cannot act in secret. I am open and above-board. In fact, I fairly cry aloud whatever I do. For example, the circumstances under which I met you, Mr. Tropinin, are such that I am ashamed to recall them.

SAVVA

Don't recall them then.

KONDRATY (to Lipa)

I was lying in a mud puddle in all my dignity, like a regular hog.

LIPA (disgusted)

All right.

KONDRATY

But I am not ashamed to speak of it; first, because many people saw it, and of course nobody took the trouble to get me out of it except Savva Yegorovich, and secondly, because I regard this as my cross.

LIPA

A fine cross!

KONDRATY

Every man, Miss Olympiada, has his cross. It isn't so very nice to be lying in a mud puddle. Dry ground is pleasanter every time. And do you know, I think half of the water in that puddle was my own tears, and my woeful lamentations made ripples on it—

SAVVA

That's not quite so, Kondraty. You were singing a song: "And we're baptized of him in Jordan"—to a very jolly tune at that.

KONDRATY

You don't say! What of it? So much the worse. It shows to what depths a man will descend.

SAVVA

Don't assume a melancholy air, father. You're quite a jovial fellow by nature, and the assumption of grief doesn't go well with your face, I assure you.

KONDRATY

True, Savva Yegorovich, I was a jolly fellow; but that was before I entered the monastery. As soon as I came here I took a tumble, so to speak; I lost my joviality and serenity and learned to know what real sorrow is.

[Tony enters and remains standing in the doorway gazing ecstatically at the monk.

SAVVA

Why so?

KONDRATY (stepping nearer and speaking in a lowered voice) There is no God here—there's only the devil. This is a terrible place to live in, on my word it is, Mr. Savva. I am a man with a large experience. It's no easy thing to frighten me. But I am afraid to walk in the hall at night.

SAVVA

What devil?

KONDRATY

The ordinary one. To you, educated people, he appears in a nobler aspect of course; but to us plain, simple people, he reveals himself as he really is.

SAVVA

With horns?

KONDRATY

How can I tell? I never saw the horns; but that's not the point, although I may say that his shadow clearly shows the horns. The thing is that we have no peace in our monastery; there is always such a noise and clatter there. Everything is quiet outside; but inside there are groans and gnashing of teeth. Some groan, some whine, and some complain about something, you can't tell what. When you pass the doors, you feel as if your soul were taking leave of the world behind every door. Suddenly something glides from around the corner.—and there's a shadow on the wall. Nothing at all—and yet there's a shadow on the wall. In other places it makes no difference. You pay no attention to such a trifle as a shadow; but here, Savva Yegorovich, they are alive, and you can almost hear them speak. On my word of honor! Our hall, you know, is so long that it seems never to end. You enter—nothing! You see a sort of black object moving in front of you, something like the figure of a man. Then it stretches out, grows larger and larger and wider and wider until it reaches across the ceiling, and then it's behind you! You keep on walking. Your senses become paralyzed. You lose all consciousness.

SAVVA (to Tony)

What are you staring at?

TONY

What a face!

KONDRATY

And God too is impotent here. Of course we have sacred relics and a wonder-working ikon; but, if you'll excuse me for saying so, they have no efficacy.

LIPA

What are you saying?

KONDRATY

None whatever. If you don't believe me, ask the other monks. They'll bear me out. We pray and pray, and beat our foreheads, and the result is nothing, absolutely nothing. If the image did nothing else than drive away the impure power! But it can't do even that. It hangs there as if it were none of its business, and as soon as night comes, the stir and the gliding and the flitting around the corners begin again. The abbot says we are cowards, poor in spirit, and that we ought to be ashamed. But why are the images ineffective? The monks in the monastery say—

LIPA

Well?

KONDRATY

But it's hard to believe it. It's impossible. They say that the devil stole the real image long ago—the one that could perform miracles—and hung up his own picture instead.

LIPA

Oh, God, what blasphemy! Why aren't you ashamed to believe such vile, horrid stuff? You who are wearing a monk's robe at that! You really ought to be lying in a puddle—it's the proper place for you.

SAVVA

Now, now, don't get mad. Don't mind her, Father Kondraty, she doesn't mean it. She is a good girl. But really, why don't you leave the monastery? Why do you want to be fooling about here with shadows and devils?

KONDRATY (shrugging his shoulders)

I would like to leave; but where am I to go? I dropped work long ago. I am not used to it any more. Here at least I don't have to worry about how to get a piece of bread. And as for the devil (cautiously winking to Savva as he turns to the window and fillips his neck with his fingers) I have a means against him.

SAVVA

Well, let's go out and have a talk. You, face, will you send us some whiskey?

TONY (gloomily)

He isn't telling the truth. There are no devils either. The devil couldn't have hung up his picture if there's no devil. It's impossible. He had better ask me.

SAVVA

All right, we'll speak about that later. Send us whiskey.

TONY (goes)

I won't send you any whiskey either.

SAVVA

What a stupid fellow! I tell you what, father. You go out into the garden through that door. I'll be, with you in a moment. Don't lose yourself. (He goes out after Tony)

KONDRATY

Good-bye, Miss Olympiada.

[Lipa doesn't answer. When Kondraty has left, she walks around the room a few times, agitated, waiting for Savva.

SAVVA (entering)

Well, what a fool!

LIPA (barring his way)

I know why you came here. I know! Don't you dare!

SAVVA

What's that?

LIPA

When I heard you talk, I thought it was just words, but now—Come to your senses! Think! You've gone crazy. What do you mean to do?

SAVVA

Let me go.

LIPA

I listened to you and laughed! Good Lord! I feel as if I had awakened from a terrible dream. Or is it all a dream? What was the monk here for? What for?

SAVVA

Now that will do. You have had your say; that's enough. Let me go.

LIPA

Don't you see you have gone crazy? Do you understand? You are out of your mind.

SAVVA

I'm sick of hearing you repeat that. Let's go.

LIPA

Savva; dear, darling Savva—No? Very well, you won't listen to me? Very well. You'll see, Savva, you'll see. You ought to have your hands and feet tied. And you will be bound, too. There are people who will do it. Oh, God! What does this mean? Stay! Stay! Savva!

SAVVA (going)

All right, all right.

LIPA (shouting)

I'll denounce you. Murderer! Ruffian! I'll denounce you.

SAVVA (turning round)

Oho! You had better be more careful. (Puts his hand on her shoulder and looks into her eyes) You had better be more careful, I say.

LIPA

You—(For about three seconds there is a struggle between the two pairs of eyes, after which Lipa turns aside, biting her lips) I am not afraid of you.

SAVVA

That's better. But don't shout. One should never shout. (Exit)

LIPA (alone)

What does this mean? What am I to do? (The hens cluck)

YEGOR TROPININ (in the door)

What's the matter? What's the row here—hey? I was gone just half an hour, and everything has gone topsy-turvy. Lipa, why did you let the chickens get into the raspberry bushes? Go and drive 'em away, damn you! I am talking to you—yes, to you! Go, or I'll go you, I'll go you, I'll—

CURTAIN