It's interesting. But men are sly creatures. Something of the old will be left over. They'll hide it, or try some other trick, and then behold! back they slide to the old again, everything just as it was, just as of old. What then?
Just as of old?(Gloomily)Then they will have to be wiped clean off the face of the earth. Let there be no living human being on earth. Enough of it!
KONDRATY(shaking his head)
But—
SAVVA(putting his hand on his shoulder)
Believe me, monk, I have been in many cities and in many lands, Nowhere did I see a free man. I saw only slaves. I saw the cages in which they live, the beds on which they are born and die; I saw their hatreds and their loves, their sins and their good works. And I saw also their amusements, their pitiful attempts to bring dead joy back to life again. And everything that I saw bore the stamp of stupidity and unreason. He that is born wise turns stupid in their midst; he that is born cheerful hangs himself from boredom and sticks out his tongue at them. Amidst the flowers of the beautiful earth—you have no idea how beautiful the earth is, monk—they have erected insane asylums. And what are they doing with their children? I have never yet seen parents that do not deserve capital punishment; first because they begot children, and secondly because, having begot them, they did not immediately commit suicide.
Good heavens, how you talk! Hearing you, one hardly knows what to think.
And how they lie, how they lie, monk! They don't kill the truth—no, they kick her and bruise her daily, and smear her clean face with their dirt and filth so that no one may recognize her, so that the children may not love her, and so that she may have no refuge. In all the world—yes, monk, in all the world—there is no place for truth.(Sinks into meditation. Pause)
Is there no other way—without fire? It's terrible, Savva Yegorovich.Consider what it means! It's the end of the world.
No, it can't be helped, partner. It must be. The end of the world must come too. They were treated with medicine, and it did no good. They were treated with iron, and it did no good. Now they must be treated with fire—fire!
[Pause. Lightning flashes. The thunder has ceased. Somewhere outside a watchman can be heard striking his iron rod.
And there'll be no drinkshops either?
SAVVA(pensively)
No, nothing.
They'll start drinkshops again all right. Can't get along without them, you know.(A prolonged pause)Ye-es. What are you thinking about, Savva Yegorovich?
Nothing.(Draws a light breath, cheerfully)Well, Kondraty, shall we begin?
KONDRATY(swaying his head to and fro)
It's a mighty hard problem you have put up to me. It's a poser.
Never mind, don't get shaky now. You are a sensible man; you know it can't be helped; there is nothing else to do. Would I be doing it myself, if it were not necessary? You can see that, can't you?
KONDRATY(heaving a sigh)
Ye-es, hm! Why, Mr. Tropinin—why, my dear fellow—don't I know, don't I understand it all? It's a rotten, cursed life! Ah, Mr. Savva, Mr. Savva—look here. If I were to tell anyone that I am a good man, they'd laugh and say: "What are you lying for, you drunkard?" Kondraty a good man! It sounds like a joke even to myself. And yet I swear to you, by God, I am a good man! I don't know how it happened the way it did, why I am what I am now. I lived and lived, and suddenly! How it came about, what the reason of it is, I don't know.
And you are still afraid?
What am I now? I am neither a candle for God nor a poker for the devil. Sometimes when I think matters over—ah, Mr. Savva, do you think I have no conscience? Don't I understand? I understand everything but—I am not really afraid of the devil either. I am just playing the fool. The devil—nonsense! If you were in the place of us in there, you would understand. Not long ago, when I was drunk, I cried: "Get out, devil—out of my way—am a desperate man!" I don't care for anything. I don't care if I die. I am ready. You have worked at me, Mr. Savva, until I have grown quite soft.(Wipes his eyes with his sleeves)
Why should you die? I don't want to die either. We are going to live for some time to come, we are. How old are you?
Forty-two.
Just the right age.
I am sorry for the ikon. They say it appeared miraculously in the river, and that's how it came to be here.
Nonsense. Don't waste your feelings. It's supposed to be a wonder-working ikon and hasn't one miracle to its credit. Why, it makes one feel like a fool just to say it.
They say it has been replaced by the devil, so that it isn't the real one.
So much the better. And yet you crack your heads in front of it and fool the people about it. There is no use wasting words, my friend. It's agreed then.
You have to go now. The gate will soon be closed. And all of a sudden—
What "all of a sudden"?
And all of a sudden I'll be going to the ikon, and it will strike me down with lightning and thunder. Won't it?
SAVVA(laughing)
Don't be afraid. It won't strike you. That's what everybody thinks. They are all afraid they'll be struck by lightning and thunder. But it won't happen. Believe me, a man may blow up the ikon and no lightning will strike him. Do you need money?
Have you got any?
I have.
KONDRATY(suspiciously)
Where did you get it?
What business is that of yours? Suppose I killed a rich man, or cut somebody's throat—are you going to report me to the police?
KONDRATY(reassured)
What are you thinking of, Savva Yegorovich? That's your concern. As to your offer, of course, money always comes in handy. It will enable me to leave the monastery. I'll tell you in confidence, I have long been nursing a scheme—it's my dream—to settle somewhere along the road and start an inn. I like company. I am a talkative chap myself. I know I'll succeed. It doesn't hurt a host to have a drink now and then. The guests like it. With a jolly host you'll spend every penny you have, and your pants besides, and you won't notice it. I know by personal experience.
Why not? You can start an inn if you want to.
And besides, I am still in the full vigor of manhood. Instead of sinning here, I'd rather get legally married.
Don't forget to invite me to the wedding. I'll act as your godfather.
You are too young. As to the money—when shall it be, before or after?
Judas got his before.
KONDRATY(offended)
There now, when you should be doing your best to persuade me, you call me Judas. It isn't pleasant. The idea of calling a living man Judas!
Judas was a fool. He hanged himself. You are going to start an inn.
Again? If that's what you think of me—
SAVVA(slapping his shoulders)
Well, well, uncle, don't you see I'm joking? Judas betrayed a man, and you are not going to betray anything but lumber. Is that right, old man?Speransky and Tony appear, the latter walking very unsteadily.
There—brought by the devil! With us carrying on this kind of conversation, and they—
It's agreed then?
Oh, you're too much for me.
SPERANSKY(bowing)
Good evening once more, Mr. Savva Tropinin. Mr. Anthony and myself have just been at the other end, in the cemetery. A woman was buried there to-day, so we wanted to have a look.
To see if she hadn't crawled out of her grave? What are you dragging him along with you for? Tony, go to bed, you can't stand on your feet.
I won't go.
Tony is very excited to-day. He sees all kinds of faces.
Funny faces?
Yes, funny. What else can you expect?(Sadly)Your face, Savva, is very, very funny.
All right, go along with you! Take him home. What are you dragging him about with you for?
Good-bye. Come along, Mr. Anthony.
[Speransky goes out. Tony follows him, looking back at Savva, and stumbling as he goes along. They disappear in the dark.
It's time for us also to be going. Have you got that money at hand?
Yes, I have. Now listen. Sunday is the feast-day. You are to take the machine Saturday morning and plant it at night at half past eleven, four days from now. I'll show you how to do it and everything else that's necessary. Four days more. I am sick of staying in this place.
And suppose I betray you?
SAVVA(darkly)
Then I'd kill you.
Good heavens!
Now I am going to kill you if you merely try to back out. You know too much, brother.
You are joking.
Maybe I am joking. I am such a jolly fellow. I like to laugh.
When you first came here, you were gay. Tell me, Mr. Savva(looking around cautiously), did you ever kill a man, a real live man?
I did. I cut the throat of that rich business man I told you about.
KONDRATY(waving his hand)
Now I see that you are joking. Well, good-bye, I am going. Don't you hang around here either. The gate will soon be closed. Oh, my—I am never afraid—but just as soon as I begin to think of the hall, it's awful. There are shadows there now. Good night.
Good night.
[Kondraty disappears in the dark. Lightning. Savva remains leaning on the railing to stare at the white tombstones that are momentarily revealed by the flashes of lightning.
SAVVA(to the graves)
Well, you dead ones, are you going to turn over in your graves or not? For some reason I don't feel very cheerful—oh, ye dead—I don't feel the least bit cheerful.(Lightning)
_A festively decorated room with three windows to the street. One window is open, but the curtain is drawn. An open door, painted dark, leads into the room seen in the first act.
It is night and dark. Through the windows can be heard the continuous tramp of the pilgrims on their way to the monastery for the next day's celebration. Some are barefoot; some wear boots or bast shoes. Their steps are quick and eager, or slow and weary. They walk singly or in groups of two or three, the majority in silence, though now and then suppressed, indistinct talking may be heard. Starting from somewhere far off to the left, the sound of the footsteps and the talking, muffled at first, approaches and grows louder, until at times it seems to fill the whole room. Then it dies away in the distance again. The impression is that of some tremendous movement, elemental and irrepressible.
At the table, lighted only by a flickering stump of a tallow candle, sit Speransky and Tony. The latter is very drunk. Cucumbers, herring, and bottles of whiskey are on the table. The rest of the room is entirely dark. Occasionally the wind blows the white curtain at the window and sets the candle flame tossing.
Tony and Speransky talk in whispers. A prolonged pause follows the rise of the curtain._
TONY(bending over to Speransky, mysteriously)
So you say it is possible we do not exist, eh?
SPERANSKY(in the same manner)
As I have already stated, it is doubtful, extremely doubtful. There is very good reason to suppose that we really do not exist—that we don't exist at all.
And you are not, and I am not.
And you are not, and I am not. No one is.(Pause)
TONY(looking around, mysteriously)
Where are we then?
We?
Yes, we.
That's something no one can tell. No one knows, Anthony.
No one?
No one.
TONY(glancing around)
Doesn't Savva know?
No, Savva doesn't know either.
Savva knows everything.
But even he doesn't know that.
TONY(threatening with his finger)
Keep still, keep still!(Both look around and are silent)
TONY(mysteriously)
Where are they going, eh?
To the elevation of the ikon. To-morrow is a feast-day—the day of raising the ikon.
No, I mean where are they really going—really—don't you understand?
I do. It isn't known. No one knows, Anthony.
Hush!(Makes a funny grimace, closes his mouth with his hand and leans on it)
SPERANSKY(in a whisper)
What's the matter?
Keep quiet, keep quiet. Listen.(Both are listening)
TONY(in whisper)
Those are faces.
Yes?
It's faces that are going. A lot of faces—can't you see them?
SPERANSKY(staring)
No, I can't.
But I can. There they are, laughing. Why aren't you laughing, eh?
I feel very despondent.
Laugh. You must laugh. Everybody is laughing. Hush, hush!(Pause)Listen, nobody exists, nobody—do you understand? There is no God, there is no man, there are no animals. Here is the table—it doesn't exist. Here is the candle—it doesn't exist. The only things that exist are faces—you understand? Keep quiet, keep quiet. I am very much afraid.
What are you afraid of?
TONY(bending near to Speransky)
That I'll die of laughter.
Really?
TONY(shaking his head affirmatively)
Yes, that I'll die of laughter. I am afraid that some day I'll catch sight of a face which will send me off roaring with laughter; and I'll roar and roar until I die. Keep quiet. I know.
You never laugh
I am always laughing, but you don't see it. It's nothing. The only thing I am afraid is that I'll die. I'll come across a face one of these days which will start me off in a fit of laughter, and I'll laugh and laugh and laugh and won't be able to stop. Yes, it's coming, it's coming.(Wipes his chest and neck)
The dead know everything.
TONY(mysteriously, with awe)
I am afraid of Savva's face. It's a very funny face. One could die laughing over it. The point is that you can't stop laughing—that's the principal thing. You laugh and laugh and laugh. Is there nobody here?
Apparently no.
Keep quiet, keep quiet, I know. Keep quiet.(Pause; the tramp of the pilgrim's footsteps grows louder, as if they were walking in the very room itself)Are they going?
Yes, they are going.(Pause)
I like you. Sing me that song of yours. I'll listen.
With your permission, Anthony.(Sings in an undertone, almost in a whisper, a dismal, long-drawn-out tune somewhat resembling a litany)
Life's a sham, 'tis false, untrue,Death alone is true, aye, true.
(With increasing caution and pedantry, shaking his finger as if imparting a secret)
All things tumble, vanish, break,Death is sure to overtakeOutcast, tramp, and tiniest flyUnperceived by naked eye.
What?
Unperceived by naked eye,Wheedling, coaxing, courting, wooing,Death weds all to their undoingAnd the myth of life is ended.
That's all, Anthony.
Keep still, keep still. You have sung your song—now keep quiet.
[Lipa enters, opens the window, removes the flowers, and looks out into the street. Then she lights the lamp.
Who is it? Is that you, Lipa? Lipa, eh, Lipa, where are they going?
They are coming here for the feast-day. You had better go to bed,Tony, or father will see you and scold you.
Big crowds, aren't they?
Yes. But it's so dark, you can't see. Why are you so pale, Mr.Speransky? It is positively painful to look at you.
That's how I feel, Miss Lipa.
[A cautious knock is heard at the window.
LIPA(opening the window)
Who is there?
TONY(to Speransky)
Keep quiet, keep quiet.
KING FRIAR(thrusting his smiling face through the window)Is SavvaYegorovich in? I wanted to ask him to come with me to the woods.
No. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Vassya? To-morrow is a big feast-day in your monastery and you—
YOUNG FRIAR(smiling)
There are plenty of people in the monastery without me. Please tell Mr. Savva that I have gone to the ravine to catch fireflies. Ask him to call out: "Ho, ho!"
What do you want fireflies for?
Why, to scare the monks with. I'll put two fireflies next to each other like eyes, and they'll think it's, the devil. Tell him, please, to call: "Ho, ho, ho!"(He disappears in the darkness)
LIPA(shouting after him)
He can't come to-day.(To Speransky)Gone already—ran off.
They buried three in the cemetery to-day, Miss Olympiada.
Have you seen Savva?
No, I am sorry to say I haven't. I say, they buried three people to-day. One old man—perhaps you knew him—Peter Khvorostov?
Yes, I knew him. So he's dead?
Yes, and two children. The women wept a great deal.
What did they die of?
I am sorry, but I don't know. It didn't interest me. Some children's disease, I suppose. When children die, Miss Olympiada, they turn all blue and look as if they wanted to cry. The faces of grown people are tranquil, but children's faces are not. Why is that so?
I don't know—I've never noticed it.
It's a very interesting phenomenon.
There's father now. I told you to go to bed. Now I've got to listen to your brawling. I'll get out.
(Exit. Enter Yegor Tropinin)
Who lighted the lamp?
Good evening, Mr. Tropinin.
Good evening. Who lighted the lamp?
Miss Olympiada.
YEGOR(blowing it out)
Learned it from Savva.(To Tony)And you, what's the matter with you? How long, how long, for Christ's sake? How long am I to stand all this from you, you good-for-nothing loafers? Eh? Where did you get the whiskey, eh?
At the bar.
It wasn't put there for you, was it?
You have a very funny face, father.
Give me the whiskey.
I won't.
Give here!
I won't.
YEGOR(slaps his face)
Give it to me, I say.
TONY(falls on the sofa, still holding on to the bottle)
I won't.
YEGOR(sitting down, calmly)
All right, swill until you bust, devil. What was I saying? That fool put it out of my head. Oh yes, the pilgrims are going, it strong this time. It's been a bad year for the crops. That's another reason, I suppose. There's no grub, they have nothing to eat, and so they'll pray. If God listened to every fool's prayer, we'd have a fine time of it. If he listened to every fool, what chance would the wise man have? A fool remains a fool. That's why he is called a fool.
That's correct.
I should say it is correct. Father Parfeny is a smart man. He flim-flams them all right. He put up a new coffin—did you hear that? The old one has all been eaten away by the pilgrims, so he put a new one into its place. It was old, so he put a new one instead. They'll eat that one away. No matter what you give them—Tony, are you drinking again?
I am.
I am! I am! I'll hand you out another one in a moment and we'll see what you say then.
[Enter Savva, looking very gay and lively. He stoops less than usual, talks rapidly, and looks sharp and straight, but his gaze does not rest long on the same person or object.
Ah, the philosophers! Father! A worthy assemblage. Why do you keep it so dark here, like some hell-hole with a lot of rats in it? A philosopher has to have light. The dark is good only for going through people's pockets. Where is the lamp? Oh, here it is.(He lights the lamp)
YEGOR(ironically)
Perhaps you'll open the windows too?
Quite right. I'll open the windows also.(Opens them)My, how they keep pouring in!
A whole army.
And all of them will die in time and acquire peace. And then they'll know the truth, for it never comes except in the society of worms. Have I got the essence of your optimistic philosophy down right, my thin, lean friend?
SPERANSKY(with a sigh)
You are always joking.
And you are always moping. Look here now. What with the poor, scanty fare the deacon's wife doles out to you and your constant grieving, you will soon die, and then your face will assume an expression of perfect peace. A peaked nose, and all around, stretching in every direction, a vast expanse of peace. Can't you get some comfort out of that? Isn't it a consolation to you? Think of it, a tiny island of nose lapped in an ocean of peace.
SPERANSKY(dejectedly)
You are still joking.
The idea! Who would joke about death? No, when you die, I'll follow your funeral and proclaim to all: "Behold, here is a man who has come to know the truth." Oh no, I'll rather hang you up as a banner of truth. And, the more your skin and flesh decompose and crumble, the more will the truth come out. It will be a most instructive object lesson, highly educative. Tony, why are you staring at me?
TONY(sadly)
You have a very funny face.
What are they talking about?
Father, what's the matter with your face? Have you sooted it? It looks as black as Satan's.
YEGOR(quickly putting his hand to his face)
Where?
They are just making fun. There is nothing on your face, Mr. Tropinin.
The fool! Satan? You are Satan yourself, God forgive me!
SAVVA(making a terrible face and holding up his fingers in the shape of horns)I am the devil.
By God, you are the very devil himself!
SAVVA(glancing round the room)
Isn't the devil going to get any dinner to-day? I have had all I want of sinners. I am surfeited with them. I should like to have something more appetizing now.
Where were you knocking about at the regular dinner hour? You'll have to do without dinner now.
I was with the children, father, with the children. They told me stories. They tell stories splendidly, and they were all about devils, witches, and the dead—your specialty, philosopher. They trembled with fear as they told them. That's why we stayed so long. They were afraid to go home. Misha was the only one who wasn't scared. He is a brick. He's afraid of nothing.
SPERANSKY(indifferently)
What of it? He'll die too.
My dear sir, don't be so funereal. You are like an undertakers' trust. Don't be forever croaking: "Die, die, die." Here, take my father, for instance. He'll soon die; but look at his face, how pleasant and cheerful it is.
Satan! You're the devil incarnate!
But since we don't know—
My good friend, life is such an interesting business. You understand—life. Come, let's have a game of jackstones to-morrow. I'll provide the jacks, first-class jacks.(Enter Lipa, unnoticed)And then you should take gymnastic exercises. I mean it seriously. See how sunken your chest is. You'll choke of consumption in a year or so. The deaconess will be glad, but it will create consternation among the dead. Seriously now. I have taken gymnastic exercises. Look.(He lifts a heavy chair easily by the leg)There, you see!
LIPA(laughing aloud)
Ha, ha, ha!
SAVVA(putting the chair down, with a touch of embarrassment)
What's the matter? I didn't know you were here.
You, ought to join the circus as an acrobat.
SAVVA(glumly)
Don't talk nonsense.
Are you offended?
SAVVA(suddenly bursting into a good-natured, merry laugh)Oh, a trifle! All right, the circus, why not? We'll both join it, Speransky and I. Not as acrobats though, but as clowns. How about it? Can you swallow hot junk? No? Well, I'll teach you. As for you, Lipa, won't you please let me have something to eat? I haven't had anything since this morning.
A regular Satan, a regular Satan! Hasn't had anything to eat! Who has ever heard of eating at this hour of the night? Who has ever seen such a thing?
I'll give you a chance to see it now. It's very interesting. Wait,I'll teach you also how to swallow hot junk. I'll make you an expert.You'll be a wonder.
Me? Fool, you can't teach me anything any more. Tony, give me the whiskey.
I won't.
The devil take you all! Brought up and fed a lot of—(Exit)
LIPA(handing him milk and dark bread)
You seem to be happy to-night?
Yes, I am, and you are happy too.
LIPA(laughing)
I am.
And I am happy.(He drinks the milk with avidity; the footsteps in the street grow louder, filing the room with their sound, and then die away again)What a treading and a tramping!
LIPA(looking out of the window)
The weather will be fine to-morrow. As long as I can remember the sun has always been shining brightly that way.
Hm, yes. That's good.
And when they carry the ikon, it sparkles all over with the precious stones like fire. Only His face remains gloomy. All the gems don't give him any pleasure. He is sad and gloomy like the people's woe.
SAVVA(coolly)
Hm, yes. Is that so?
Just think how many tears have fallen upon Him, how many sighs and groans He has heard! That alone is enough to make the ikon holy for all who love and sympathize with the people and understand their soul. Why, they have nobody except Christ, all those unfortunate, miserable people. When I was a little girl, I was always waiting for a miracle—
It would be interesting.
But now I understand that He Himself is waiting for a miracle from the people. He is waiting for the people to stop fighting, hating, and destroying each other.
Well, what of it?
LIPA(fixing her gaze upon him)
Nothing. To-morrow you'll see for yourself when they carry Him in the procession. You'll see what effect the mere consciousness that He is there with them has upon them, how it transforms them, what it does to them. The whole year round they live a dog's life, in filth, quarrelling with each other, suffering. On that day all the ugliness seems to vanish. It is an awful and a joyous day when suddenly you cast away from yourself all that is superfluous and when you feel so clearly your nearness to all the unfortunates that are and ever were, and your nearness to God.
SAVVA(abruptly)
What time is it?
The clock has just struck a quarter past eleven, if I am not mistaken.
It's still early.
Early for what?
Nothing. It's still early, that's all.
SAVVA(suspiciously)
What do you mean?
LIPA(defiantly)
What I mean.
Why did you say it's still early?
LIPA(paling)
Because it's only a little after eleven; but when it's twelve—
SAVVA(jumping up and going to her quickly; fixing her with his stare, he speaks slowly, pronouncing every word separately and distinctly)So? Is that it? When it's twelve—(He turns to Speransky without removing his eyes from Lipa)Listen, you go home.
LIPA(frightened)
No, stay, Mr. Speransky. Please stay, I beg you.
If you don't go at once, I'll throw you out of the window. Well?
Excuse me, I never had the faintest idea—I was here with Mr. Anthony Tropinin. I am going instantly. Where is my hat? I put it here somewhere—
There's your hat.(Throws it to him)
LIPA(feebly)
Stay here awhile longer, Mr. Speransky. Sit down.
No, it's late. I must go to bed. Good night, Miss Olympiada. Good night, Mr. Tropinin. Your brother is asleep already, I believe. You ought to take him to bed. I'm going, I'm going.(Exit)
SAVVA(speaking in a quiet, calm tone; his movements are heavy and slow, as if his body had suddenly stiffened)You know it?
I do.
You know all?
All.
Did the monk tell you?
He did.
Well?
LIPA(drawing back a little, and raising her hand for protection)-Well, nothing will happen. There'll be no blowing up. You understand, Savva, there'll be no explosion.
[Pause. Footsteps are heard in the street, and indistinct talking. Savva turns around. Stooping more than usually, he takes a turn around the room with peculiar slowness.
Well?
Then you had better believe me, brother. Believe me.
Yes?
Why that was—I don't know what it was—it was a piece of madness.Think it over.
Is it really true?
Yes, it's true. It's all over. You can't help it any more. There is nothing for you to do.
Tell me how it happened.(Sits down deliberately, his eyes fixed onLipa)
I guessed a little something long ago—that day when you spoke to me—only I didn't know exactly what it was. And I saw the little machine too. I have another key to the trunk.
Evidently you have been cut out for a spy. Go on!
I am not afraid of insults.
Never mind, never mind—go on.
Then I saw that you had frequent talks with that fellow—Kondraty.Yesterday I looked in the trunk again, and the machine wasn't there.So I understood.
You say you have another key?
Yes. The trunk is mine, you know. Well, and to-day—
When to-day?
Toward evening—I couldn't find Kondraty anywhere—I told him that I knew all. He got very much frightened and told me the rest.
A worthy pair—spy and traitor.
If you are going to insult me, I won't say another word.
Never mind, never mind—go on.
He was going to tell the Father Superior, but I didn't let him. I didn't want to ruin you.
No?
When it was, all over, I understood what a crazy scheme it was—so crazy that I simply can't think of it as real. It must have been a nightmare. It's quite impossible. And I began to feel sorry for you—
Yes.
I am sorry for you now too.(With tears)Savva, darling, you are my brother. I have rocked your cradle. My dear angel, what idea is this you have got into your mind? Why, it's terrible—it's madness. I understand how hard it must be for you to see how people live, and so you have resolved on a desperate deed. You have always been good and kind, and so I can understand you. Don't you think it's hard for me to see this life? Don't you think I suffer myself? Give me your hand.
SAVVA(pushing her hand away)
He told you he would go to the Superior?
But I didn't let him.
Has he got the machine?
He'll give it back to you to-morrow. He was afraid to give it to me. Savva dear, don't look at me like that. I know it's unpleasant for you, but you have a lot of common sense. You can't help seeing that what you wanted to do was an absurdity, a piece of lunacy, a vagary that can come to one only in one's dreams at night. Don't I understand that life is hard? Am I not suffering from it myself? I understand even your comrades, the anarchists. It's not right to kill anybody; but still I understand them. They kill the bad.
They are not my comrades. I have no comrades.
Aren't you an anarchist?
No.
What are you then?
TONY(raising his head)
They are going, they are going. Do you hear?
SAVVA(quietly, but ominously)
They are going.
There, you see. Who is going? Think of it. It's human misery that's going. And you wanted to take away from them their last hope, their last consolation. And to what purpose? In the name of what? In the name of some wild, ghastly dream about a "naked earth."(Peers with terror into the darkness of the room)A naked earth! It's terrible to think of it. A naked earth! How could a man, a human being, ever conceive such an idea? A naked earth! Nothing, nothing! Everything laid bare, everything annihilated. Everything that people worked for through all the years; everything they have created with so much toil, with so much pain. Unhappy people! There is among you a man who says that all this must be burned, must be consumed with fire.
You remember my words to perfection.
You awakened me, Savva. When you told me all that, my eyes were suddenly opened, and I began to love everything. Do you understand? I began to love it all. These walls—formerly I didn't notice them; now I am sorry for them—so sorry, I could cry. And the books and everything—each brick, each piece of wood to which man has applied his labor. Let's admit that it's poor stuff. Who says it's good? But that's why I love it—for its defects, its imperfections, its crooked lines, its unfulfilled hopes. For the labor and the tears. And all who hear you talking, Savva, will feel as I do, and will begin to love all that is old and dear and human.
I have nothing to do with you.
Nothing to do with us? With whom then have you to do? No, Savva, you don't love anyone. You love only yourself and your dreams. He who loves men will not take away from them all they have. He will not regard his own wishes more than their lives. Destroy everything! Destroy Golgotha! Consider:(with terror)destroy Golgotha! The brightest, the most glorious hope that ever was on earth! All right, you don't believe in Christ. But if you have a single drop of nobility in your nature, you must respect and honor His noble memory. He was also unhappy. He was crucified—crucified, Savva. You are silent? Have you nothing to say?
Nothing.
I thought—I thought—if you succeeded in carrying out your plot—I thought I'd kill you—that I'd poison you like some noxious beast.
And if I don't succeed—
You are still hoping?
And if I don't succeed, I'll kill you.
LIPA(advancing a step toward him)
Kill me! Kill me! Give me a chance to suffer for the sake of Christ.For the sake of Christ and for the sake of the people.
Yes. I'll kill you.
Do you suppose I didn't think of it? Do you suppose I didn't think of it? Oh, Lord, to suffer for Thee! Is there higher happiness than that?
SAVVA(with a contemptuous gesture, pointing at Lipa)
And that's a human being! That's one counted among the best! That's the kind in which they take pride! Ah me, how poor you are in good people!
Insult! Mock! That's the way it has always been. They have always heaped insults upon us before they killed us.
No, I don't mean to insult you. How can I insult you? You are simply a silly woman. There have been many such in the past. There are many such to-day. You are simply a foolish, insignificant creature. You are even innocent, like all insignificant persons. And if I mean to kill you, there is no reason to be proud of it. Don't think you are an object specially worthy of my indignation. No, it would merely make matters a little easier for me. When I was chopping wood, and the axe in my raised arm struck the threshold instead of the log of wood, the jar was not so hard as if someone had arrested the motion of my arm. A raised hand must fall on something.
And to think that this beast is my brother!
Whose cradle you rocked and whose diapers you changed. Yes. But to me it doesn't seem in the least strange that you are my sister, or that this bundle there is my brother. No, Tony! They are going.(Tony turns his head and stares stupidly without making any answer)And it doesn't seem in the least strange to me that any insignificant chit and piece of nothingness calling itself my brother or my sister should go to the chemist's and buy a nickel's worth of arsenic on finding out who I am. You see, they have even attempted to poison me. The girl who left me tried to do it, but she lost her nerve. The point is that my sisters and brothers, among other things, have the characteristic of being cowards.
I would have done it.
I don't doubt it. You are a little hysterical, and hysterical people are determined, unless they happen to burst into tears first.
I hysterical? All right, have it your way, have it your way. And who are you, Savva?
That doesn't interest me.
They are going, they are going. And they will find what they need. And that is the work of an hysterical woman. Do you hear how many of them there are? And if they found out—if I were to open the window this minute and cry out: "This man here has tried to destroy your Christ"—If you want it, I'll do it this instant. You need only say so. Shall I?(She takes a step toward the window in a frenzy of rage)Shall I?
Yes, it's a good way of escaping the crown of thorns. Go ahead, shout.But look out, don't knock Tony down.
LIPA(turning back)
I am sorry for you. You are beaten, and one doesn't like to kick a man who is down. But remember, remember, Savva, there are thousands, thousands of them coming in, and each one is your death!
SAVVA(smiling)
The tramp of death.
Remember that each one of these would consider himself happy in killing you, in crushing you like a reptile. Each one of these is your death. Why, they beat a simple thief to death, a horse thief. What would they not do to you! You who wanted to steal their God.
Quite true. That's property too.
You still have the brazenness to joke? Who gave you the right to do such a thing? Who gave you power over people? How dare you meddle with what to them is right? How dare you interfere with their life?
Who gave me the right? You gave it to me. Who gave me the power? You gave it to me. And I will cling to it with grim determination. Try to take it from me. You gave it to me—you with your malice, your ignorance, your stupidity! You with your wretched impotence! Right! Power! They have turned the earth into a sewer, an outrage, an abode of slaves. They worry each other, they torture each other, and they ask: "Who dares to take us by the throat?" I! Do you understand? I!(Rises)
You are a mere man like everybody else.
I am the avenger! Behind me follow in pursuit all those whom you stifled and crushed. Ah, they have been pursuing their wicked trade in all quietness, thinking that no one would discover them—thinking that they would get away with it in the end. They have been lying, grovelling, and sneaking. They have been cringing and abusing themselves before their altars and their impotent God, saying: "There is nothing to be afraid of—we are among ourselves." Then comes a man who says: "An accounting—I want an accounting! What have you done? Out with it. Give me an accounting. Go on now! Don't try to cheat, for I know you. I demand an account for each and every single item. I will not condone a single drop of blood, I will not absolve you from a single tear."
But to destroy all. Think of it!
What could you do with them? What wouldyoudo? Try to persuade the oxen to turn away from their bovine path? Catch each one by his horns and pull him away? Would you put on a frock-coat and read a lecture? Haven't they had plenty to teach them? As if words and thoughts had any significance to them! Thought—pure, unhappy thought! They have perverted it. They have taught it to cheat and defraud. They have made it a saleable commodity to be bought at auction in the market. No, sister, life is short and I am not going to waste it in arguments with oxen. The way to deal with them is by fire. That's what they require—fire! Let them remember long the day on which Savva Tropinin came to the earth!
But what do you want? What do you want?
What do I want? To free the earth, to free mankind, to sweep the whole two-legged, chattering tribe out of existence. Man—the man of to-day—is wise. He has come to his senses. He is ripe for liberty. But the past eats away his soul like a canker. It imprisons him within the iron circle of things already accomplished, within the iron circle of facts. I want to demolish the facts—that's what I want to do: demolish all facts! To sweep away all the accumulated rubbish—literature, art, God. They have perverted mankind. They have immortalized stupidity. I want to do away with everything behind man, so that there is nothing to see when he looks back. I want to take him by the scruff of his neck and turn his face toward the future.
Look here, Savva. You are not immortal, and the two-legged animal has arms also.
Do you think I don't know that every one of these stupid asses would be glad to kill me? But it won't happen, it won't happen. The time has come for my arrival, and I have arrived. Prepare yourselves. The time has come. You little insignificant thing there—you thought that by stealing one little possibility away from me you could rob me of all? Oh no—I am as rich as ever.
I am your sister, but oh! how glad I am that you are not immortal.
I see that you are a thoroughgoing anarchist. They too think that all is done if one man is killed. But if they kill me, hang me, break me on the wheel, there will come another purer than I. Where there's an itch, there is always somebody to scratch it! Yes, sister! If not I, then someone else, and(clenching his fist)it will fare ill with your world.
You are a terrible man. I thought you would be crushed by your failure, but you are like Satan. The fall has only made you blacker.
Yes, Lipa, only a sparrow can fly straight up from the ground. A large bird must descend to adjust and spread its wings for its upward flight.
Aren't you sorry for the children? Think of the number of children that will have to perish.
What children? Oh yes, Misha.(Tenderly)Misha is a fine boy, that's true. When he grows up, he will show you no mercy. Yes, the children—You are beginning to be afraid of them, and you have good reason for it. Never mind. It's true that I love children.(With pride)And they love me. But they don't care for you.
I don't play jackstones with them.
How silly you are, sister. But I like to play with them.
Then go ahead and play.
Well, Iwillplay.
When you talk like that I have the feeling once more that it has all been a dream—all that we were saying just now. Is it really true that you want to kill me?
Yes, if it must be done. But perhaps it won't be necessary.
You are joking!
Every one of you will have it that I am joking. You keep constantly telling me so. You seem to have utterly lost the sense for what is serious.
No, it's not a dream. They are going.
Yes, they are going.(Both listen)
You still seem to believe. What do you believe?
I believe in my destiny.(The hour begins to strike in the belfry of the monastery)Twelve.
LIPA(counting)
Seven—eight—and to think that this is the hour when it should have happened—the very idea of it—(A muffled report as of a powerful explosion is heard)What was that?
Yes, what was it?
[Both rush to the window, waking Tony, who moves his head sleepily. The tread of the footsteps in the street stops momentarily. Then all begin to run. Frightened cries are heard, weeping, loud, abrupt ejaculations of "What's the matter?" "Oh, Lord!" "Fire, fire!" "No, something has fallen down!" "Let's run!" The word "monastery" is frequently heard.
They are running! Where are they running to? Why is nobody here?
PELAGUEYA(entering the room, half dressed)
Oh, Lord! Oh, heavens! Is it possible the monastery is on fire! Good gracious! Heavens! And you here, you drunken sot! You monster!
Oho! They are running? Faces, mugs, eh?