Curtain.

SCENE 2

A Government office. A Clerk is seated at a table, and a Sentinel is pacing up and down. Enter a General with his Adjutant. The Clerk jumps up, the Sentinel presents arms.

GENERAL. Where is the Colonel?

CLERK. Gone to see that new conscript, Your Excellency.

GENERAL. Ah, very well. Ask him to come here to me.

CLERK. Yes, Your Excellency.

GENERAL. And what are you copying out? Isn't it the conscript's evidence?

CLERK. Yes, sir, it is.

GENERAL. Give it here.

The Clerk hands General the paper and exit. The General hands it to his Adjutant.

GENERAL. Please read it.

ADJUTANT [reading] "These are my answers to the questions put to me, namely: (1) Why I do not take my oath. (2) Why I refuse to fulfil the demands of the Government. (3) What induced me to use words offensive not only to the army but also to the Highest Authorities. In reply to the first question: I cannot take the oath because I accept Christ's teaching, which directly and clearly forbids taking oaths, as in St. Matthew's Gospel, ch.5 vv.33-37, and in the Epistle of St. James, ch.5 v.12."

GENERAL. Of course he must be arguing! Putting his own interpretations!

ADJUTANT [goes on reading] "The Gospel says: 'Swear not at all, but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; and what is more than these is of the evil one!' St. James's Epistle says: 'Before all things, brethren, swear not by the heavens nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, that ye fall not into temptation!' But apart from the fact that the Bible gives us such clear injunctions not to swear—or even if it contained no such injunctions—I should still be unable to swear to obey the will of men, because as a Christian I must always obey the will of God, which does not always coincide with the will of men."

GENERAL. He must be arguing! If I had my way, there would be none of this.

ADJUTANT [reading] "I refuse to fulfil the demands of men calling themselves the Government, because..."

GENERAL. What insolence!

ADJUTANT. "Because those demands are criminal and wicked. They demand of me that I should enter the army, and learn and prepare to commit murder, though this is forbidden both in the Old and the New Testaments, and above all by my conscience. To the third question..."

Enter Colonel followed by Clerk. The General shakes hands with Colonel.

COLONEL. You are reading the evidence?

GENERAL. Yes. Unpardonably insolent language. Well, go on.

ADJUTANT. "To the third question: What induced me to use offensive words before the Court, my answer is: that I was induced to do so by the wish to serve God, and in order to expose the fraud carried on in His name. This desire, I hope to retain till I die, and therefore..."

GENERAL. Come; that's enough; one can't listen to all this balderdash. The fact is all this sort of thing must be eradicated, and action taken to prevent the people being perverted. [To Colonel] Have you spoken to him?

COLONEL. I have been doing so all the time. I tried to shame him, and also to convince him that it would only be worse for himself, and that he would gain nothing by it. Besides that, I spoke of his relations. He was very excited, but holds to his opinions.

GENERAL. A pity you talked to him so much. We are in the army not to reason, but to act. Call him here!

Exit Adjutant with Clerk.

GENERAL [sits down] No, Colonel, that's not the way. Fellows of this kind must be dealt with in a different manner. Decisive measures are needed to cut off the diseased limb. One maggoty sheep infects the whole flock. In these cases one must not be too squeamish. His being a Prince, and having a mother and a fiance, is none of our business. We have a soldier before us and we must obey the Tsar's will.

COLONEL. I only thought that we could move him more easily by persuasion.

GENERAL. Not at all—by firmness; only by firmness! I have dealt with men of that sort before. He must be made to feel that he is a nonentity—a grain of dust beneath a chariot wheel, and that he cannot stop it.

COLONEL. Well, we can try!

GENERAL [getting irritable] No need to try! I don't need to try! I have served the Tsar for forty-four years, I have given and am giving my life to the service, and now this fellow wants to teach me and wants to read me theological lectures! Let him take that to the Priest, but to me—he is either a soldier or a prisoner. That's all!

Enter Bors guarded by two Soldiers and followed by Adjutant and Clerk.

GENERAL [pointing with a finger] Place him there.

BORS. I need no placing. I shall stand or sit where I like, for I do not recognise your authority.

GENERAL. Silence! You don't recognise authority? I will make you recognise it.

BORS [sits down on a stool] How wrong it is of you to shout so!

GENERAL. Lift him, and make him stand!

Soldiers raise him.

BORS. That you can do, and you can kill me; but you cannot make me submit...

GENERAL. Silence, I tell you. Hear what I have to say to you.

BORS. I don't in the least want to hear what you have to say.

GENERAL. He is mad! He must be taken to the hospital to be examined. That is the only thing to do.

COLONEL. The order was to send him to be examined at the Gendarmes' office.

GENERAL. Well, then, send him there. Only put him into uniform.

COLONEL. He resists.

GENERAL. Bind him. [To Bors] Please hear what I have to say to you. I don't care what happens to you, but for your own sake I advise you, bethink yourself. You will rot in a fortress, and not do any good to anyone. Give it up. Well, you flared up a bit and I flared up. [Slaps him on the shoulder] Go, take the oath and give up all that nonsense. [To Adjutant] Is the Priest here? [To Bors] Well? [Bors is silent] Why don't you answer? Really you had better do as I say. You can't break a club with a whip. You can keep your opinions, but serve your time! We will not use force with you. Well?

BORS. I have nothing more to say, I have said all I had to.

GENERAL. There, you see, you wrote that there are such and such texts in the Gospels. Well, the Priest knows all about that. Have a talk with the Priest, and then think things over. That will be best. Good-bye, and I hope "au revoir," when I shall be able to congratulate you on having entered the Tsar's service. Send the Priest here. [Exit, followed by Colonel and Adjutant].

BORS [To Clerk and Convoy Soldiers] There you see how they deceive you. They know that they are deceiving you. Don't submit to them. Lay down your rifles and go away. Let them put you into the Disciplinary Battalions and flog you; it will not be as bad as it is to serve such impostors.

CLERK. But how could one get on without an army? It's impossible.

BORS. That is not for us to consider. We have to consider what God demands of us; and God wants us.

ONE OF THE SOLDIERS. But how is it that they speak of "the Christian army"?

BORS. That is not said anywhere in the Bible. It's these impostors who invented it.

Enter a Gendarme Officer with Clerk.

GENDARME OFFICER. Is it here that the conscript, Prince Cheremshnov, is being kept?

CLERK. Yes, sir. Here he is.

GENDARME OFFICER. Come here, please. Are you Prince Bors Simnovich Cheremshnov, who refuses to take the oath?

BORS. I am.

GENDARME OFFICER [sits down and points to a seat opposite] Please sit down.

BORS. I think our conversation will be quite useless.

GENDARME OFFICER. I don't think so. At any rate not useless to you. You see it's like this. I am informed that you refuse military service and the oath, and are therefore suspected of belonging to the Revolutionary Party, and that is what I have to investigate. If it is true, we shall have to withdraw you from the service and imprison you or banish you according to the share you have taken in the revolution. If it is not true, we shall leave you to the military authorities. You see I express myself quite frankly to you, and I hope you will treat us in the same way.

BORS. In the first place I cannot trust men who wear this sort of thing [pointing to the Gendarme Officer's uniform]. Secondly, your very occupation is one I cannot respect, and for which I have the greatest aversion. But I do not refuse to answer your questions. What do you wish to know?

GENDARME OFFICER. In the first place, tell me your name, your calling, and your religion?

BORS. You know all that and I will not reply. Only one of the questions is of great importance to me. I am not what is called an Orthodox Christian.

GENDARME OFFICER. What then is your religion?

BORS. I do not label it.

GENDARME OFFICER. But still?...

BORS. Well then, the Christian religion, according to the Sermon on the Mount.

GENDARME OFFICER. Write it down [Clerk writes. To Bors] Still you recognise yourself as belonging to some nationality or rank.

BORS. No, I don't. I recognise myself as a man, and a servant of God.

GENDARME OFFICER. Why don't you consider yourself a member of the Russian Empire?

BORS. Because I do not recognise any empires.

GENDARME OFFICER. What do you mean by not recognising? Do you wish to overthrow them?

BORS. Certainly I wish it, and work for it.

GENDARME OFFICER [To Clerk] Put that down. [To Bors] How do you work for it?

BORS. By exposing fraud and lies, and by spreading the truth. When you entered I was telling these soldiers not to believe in the fraud into which they have been drawn.

GENDARME OFFICER. But beside this method of exposing and persuading, do you approve of any others?

BORS. No, I not only disapprove, but I consider all violence to be a great sin; and not only violence, but all concealment and craftiness...

GENDARME OFFICER. Write that down. Very well. Now kindly let me know whom you are acquainted with. Do you know Ivashnko?

BORS. No.

GENDARME OFFICER. Klein?

BORS. I have heard of him, but never met him.

Enter Priest (an old man wearing a cross and carrying a Bible). The Clerk goes up to him and receives his blessing.

GENDARME OFFICER. Well, I think I may stop. I consider that you are not dangerous, and not within our jurisdiction. I wish you a speedy release. Good-day. [Presses Bors's hand].

BORS. One thing I should like to say to you. Forgive me, but I can't help saying it. Why have you chosen this wicked, cruel profession? I should advise you to give it up.

GENDARME OFFICER [smiles] Thank you for your advice, but I have my reasons. My respects to you. [To Priest] Father, I relinquish my place to you [Exit with Clerk].

PRIEST. How can you so grieve the authorities by refusing to fulfil the duty of a Christian, to serve the Tsar and your Fatherland?

BORS [smiling] Just because I want to fulfil my duty as a Christian, I do not wish to be a soldier.

PRIEST. Why don't you wish it? It is said that, "To lay down one's life for a friend" is to be a true Christian....

BORS. Yes, to "lay down one's life," but not to take another man's. That is just what I want to do, to "lay down my life."

PRIEST. You do not reason rightly, young man. John the Baptist said to the soldiers...

BORS [smiling] That only goes to prove that even in those days the soldiers used to rob, and he told them not to!

PRIEST. Well, but why don't you wish to take your oath?

BORS. You know that the Gospels forbid it!

PRIEST. Not at all. You know that when Pilate said: "I adjure thee by the living God, art thou the Christ?" the Lord Jesus Christ answered "I am." That proves that oaths are not forbidden.

BORS. Are not you ashamed to talk so? You—an old man.

PRIEST. Take my advice and don't be obstinate. You and I cannot change the world. Just take your oath and you'll be at ease. Leave it to the Church to know what is a sin and what is not.

BORS. Leave it to you? Are you not afraid to take so much sin upon yourself?

PRIEST. What sin? Having been brought up firmly in the faith, and having worked as a priest for thirty years, I can have no sins on my shoulders.

BORS. Whose then is the sin, when you deceive such numbers of people? What have these poor fellows got in their heads? [Points to Sentinel].

PRIEST. You and I, young man, will never settle that. It is for us to obey those placed above us.

BORS. Leave me alone! I am sorry for you and—I confess—it disgusts me to listen to you. Now if you were like that General—but you come here with a cross and the Testament to persuade me in the name of Christ, to deny Christ! Go [excitedly]. Leave me—Go. Let me be taken back to the cell that I may not see anyone. I am tired, dreadfully tired!

PRIEST. Well, if that is so, good-bye.

Enter Adjutant.

ADJUTANT. Well?

PRIEST. Great obstinacy, great insubordination.

ADJUTANT. So he has refused to take the oath and to serve?

PRIEST. On no account will he.

ADJUTANT. Then he must be taken to the hospital.

PRIEST. And reported as ill? That no doubt would be better, or his example may lead others astray.

ADJUTANT. To be put under observation in the ward for the mentally diseased. Those are my orders.

PRIEST. Certainly. My respects to you. [Exit].

ADJUTANT [approaches Bors] Come, please. My orders are to conduct you——

BORS. Where to?

ADJUTANT. First of all to the hospital, where it will be quieter for you, and where you will have time to think things over.

BORS. I've thought them over long ago. But let us go! [Exeunt].

Curtain.

SCENE 3

Room in Hospital. Head Doctor, Assistant Doctor, an Officer-Patient in a dressing-gown, and two Warders wearing blouses.

PATIENT. I tell you that you are only leading me to perdition. I have already several times felt quite well.

HEAD DOCTOR. You must not get excited. I should be glad to sign an order for you to leave the hospital, but you know yourself that liberty is dangerous for you. If I were sure that you would be looked after...

PATIENT. You think I should take to drink again? No, I have had my lesson, but every extra day I spend here only does me harm. You are doing [gets excited] the opposite of what you ought to do. You are cruel. It's all very well for you!

HEAD DOCTOR. Don't get excited. [Makes a sign to Warders; who come up from behind].

PATIENT. It's easy for you to argue, being at liberty; but how about us who are kept among madmen! [To Warders] What are you after? Be off!

HEAD DOCTOR. I beg of you to be calm.

PATIENT. But I beg and I demand that you set me free. [Yells, and rushes at the Doctor, but the Warders seize him. A struggle; after which he is taken out].

ASSISTANT DOCTOR. There! Now it has begun again. He nearly got at you that time.

HEAD DOCTOR. Alcoholic ... nothing can be done. But there is some improvement.

Enter Adjutant.

ADJUTANT. How d'you do.

HEAD DOCTOR. Good morning!

ADJUTANT. I have brought you an interesting fellow, a certain Prince Cheremshnov, who has been conscripted, but on religious grounds refuses to serve. He was sent to the Gendarmes, but they say he does not come within their jurisdiction, not being a political conspirator. The Priest exhorted him, but also without effect.

HEAD DOCTOR [laughing] And then as usual you bring him to us, as the highest Court of Appeal. Well, let's have him.

Exit Assistant Doctor.

ADJUTANT. He is said to be a highly educated young man, and he is engaged to a rich girl. It's extraordinary! I really consider this is the right place for him!

HEAD DOCTOR. Yes, it's a mania.

Bors is brought in.

HEAD DOCTOR. Glad to see you. Please take a seat and let's have a chat. [To Adjutant] Please leave us. [Exit Adjutant].

BORS. I should like to ask you, if possible, if you mean to lock me up somewhere, to be so good as to do it quickly and let me rest.

HEAD DOCTOR. Excuse me, we must keep the rules. Only a few questions. What do you feel? What are you suffering from?

BORS. Nothing. I am perfectly well.

HEAD DOCTOR. Yes, but you are not behaving like other people.

BORS. I am behaving as my conscience demands.

HEAD DOCTOR. Well, you see you have refused to perform your military service. On what grounds do you do so?

BORS. I am a Christian, and therefore cannot commit murder.

HEAD DOCTOR. But one must defend one's country from her foes, and keep those who want to destroy the social order from evil-doing.

BORS. No one is attacking our country; and there are more among the governors who destroy social order, than there are among those whom they oppress.

HEAD DOCTOR. Yes? But what do you mean by that?

BORS. I mean this: the chief cause of evil—vdka—is sold by the Government; false and fraudulent religion is also fostered by the Government; and this military service which they demand of me—and which is the chief means of demoralising the people—is also demanded by the Government.

HEAD DOCTOR. Then, in your opinion, Government and the State are unnecessary.

BORS. That I don't know; but I know for certain that I must take no part in evil-doing.

HEAD DOCTOR. But what is to become of the world? Is not our reason given in order to enable us to look ahead.

BORS. It is also given in order to enable us to see that social order should not be maintained by violence, but by goodness; and that one man's refusal to participate in evil cannot be at all dangerous.

HEAD DOCTOR. Well now, allow me to examine you a bit. Will you have the goodness to lie down? [Begins touching him] You feel no pain here?

BORS. No.

HEAD DOCTOR. Nor here?

BORS. No.

HEAD DOCTOR. Take a deep breath, please. Now don't breathe. Now allow me [takes out a measure and measures forehead and nose]. Now be so good as to shut your eyes and walk.

BORS. Are you not ashamed to do all this?

HEAD DOCTOR. What do you mean?

BORS. All this nonsense? You know that I am quite well and that I am sent here because I refuse to take part in their evil deeds, and because they have no answer to give to the truth I told them; and that is why they pretend to think me mad. And you co-operate with them. It is horrid and it is shameful. Don't do it!

HEAD DOCTOR. Then you don't wish to walk?

BORS. No, I don't. You may torture me, but you must do it yourself; I won't help you. [Hotly] Let me alone! [The Doctor presses button of bell. Enter two Warders].

HEAD DOCTOR. Don't get excited. I quite understand that your nerves are strained. Will you please go to your ward?

Enter Assistant Doctor.

ASSISTANT DOCTOR. Some visitors have just come to see Cheremshnov.

BORS. Who are they?

ASSISTANT DOCTOR. Sarntsov and his daughter.

BORS. I should like to see them.

HEAD DOCTOR. There is no reason why you shouldn't. Ask them in. You may see them here. [Exit, followed by Assistant and Warders].

Enter Nicholas Ivnovich and Lyba. The Princess looks in at the door and says, "Go in, I'll come later."

LYBA [goes straight to Bors, takes his head in her hands and kisses him] Poor Bors.

BORS. No, don't pity me. I feel so well, so joyful, so light. How d'you do. [Kisses Nicholas Ivnovich].

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. I have come to say chiefly one thing to you. First of all, in such affairs it is worse to overdo it than not to do enough. And in this matter you should do as is said in the Gospels, and not think beforehand, "I shall say this, or do that": "When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaketh in you." That is to say, do not act because you have reasoned out beforehand that you should do so and so, but act only when your whole being feels that you cannot act otherwise.

BORS. I have done so. I did not think I should refuse to serve; but when I saw all this fraud, those Mirrors of Justice, those Documents, the Police and Officers smoking, I could not help saying what I did. I was frightened, but only till I had begun, after that it was all so simple and joyful.

Lyba sits down and cries.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Above all, do nothing for the sake of being praised, or to gain the approval of those whose opinion you value. For myself I can say definitely, that if you take the oath at once, and enter the service, I shall love and esteem you not less but more than before; because not the things that take place in the external world are valuable, but that which goes on within the soul.

BORS. Of course, for what happens within the soul must make a change in the outside world.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Well, I have said my say. Your mother is here. She is terribly upset. If you can do what she asks, do it—that is what I wished to say to you.

From the corridor outside hysterical weeping is heard. A Lunatic rushes in, followed by Warders who drag him out again.

LYBA. How terrible! And you will be kept here? [Weeps].

BORS. I am not afraid of it, I'm afraid of nothing now! I feel so happy, the only thing I fear is what you feel about it. Do help me; I am sure you will!

LYBA. Can I be glad about it?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Not glad, that is impossible. I myself am not glad. I suffer on his account and would gladly take his place, but though I suffer I yet know that it is well.

LYBA. It may be well; but when will they set him free?

BORS. No one knows. I do not think of the future. The present is so good, and you can make it still better.

Enter the Princess, his mother.

PRINCESS. I can wait no longer! [To Nicholas Ivnovich] Well, have you persuaded him? Does he agree? Brya, my darling, you understand, don't you, what I suffer? For thirty years I have lived but for you; rearing you, rejoicing in you. And now when everything has been done and is complete—you suddenly renounce everything. Prison and disgrace! Oh no! Brya!

BORS. Mamma! Listen to me.

PRINCESS [to Nicholas Ivnovich] Why do you say nothing? You have ruined him, it is for you to persuade him. It's all very well for you! Lyba, do speak to him!

LYBA. I cannot!

BORS. Mamma, do understand that there are things that are as impossible as flying; and I cannot serve in the army.

PRINCESS. You think that you can't! Nonsense. Everybody has served and does serve. You and Nicholas Ivnovich have invented some new sort of Christianity which is not Christianity, but a devilish doctrine to make everybody suffer!

BORS. As is said in the Gospels!

PRINCESS. Nothing of the kind, or if it is, then all the same it is stupid. Darling, Brya, have pity on me. [Throws herself on his neck, weeps] My whole life has been nothing but sorrow. There was but one ray of joy, and you are turning it into torture. Brya—have pity on me!

BORS. Mamma, this is terribly hard on me. But I cannot explain it to you.

PRINCESS. Come now, don't refuse—say you will serve!

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Say you will think it over—and do think it over.

BORS. Very well then. But you too, Mamma, should have pity on me. It is hard on me too. [Cries are again heard from the corridor]. You know I'm in a lunatic asylum, and might really go mad.

Enter Head Doctor.

HEAD DOCTOR. Madam, this may have very bad consequences. Your son is in a highly excited condition. I think we must put an end to this interview. You may call on visiting days—Thursdays and Sundays. Please come to see him before twelve o'clock.

PRINCESS. Very well, very well, I will go. Brya, good-bye! Think it over. Have pity on me and meet me next Thursday with good news!

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH [shaking hands with Bors] Think it over with God's help, and as if you knew you were to die to-morrow. Only so will you decide rightly. Good-bye.

BORS [approaching Lyba] And what do you say to me?

LYBA. I cannot lie; and I do not understand why you should torment yourself and everybody. I do not understand—and can say nothing. [Goes out weeping. Exeunt all except Bors].

BORS [alone] Oh how hard it is! Oh, how hard, Lord help me! [Prays].

Enter Warders with dressing-gown.

WARDER. Please change.

Bors puts on dressing-gown.

Curtain.



ACT IV

SCENE 1

In Moscow a year later. A drawing-room in the Sarntsov's town house is prepared for a dance. Footmen are arranging plants round the grand piano. Enter Mary Ivnovna in an elegant silk dress, with Alexndra Ivnovna.

MARY IVNOVNA. A ball? No, Only a dance! A "Juvenile Party" as they once used to say. My children took part in the Theatricals at the Mkofs, and have been asked to dances everywhere, so I must return the invitations.

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. I am afraid Nicholas does not like it.

MARY IVNOVNA. I can't help it. [To Footmen] Put it here! [To Alexndra Ivnovna] God knows how glad I should be not to cause him unpleasantness. But I think he has become much less exacting.

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. No, no! Only he does not show it so much. I saw how upset he was when he went off to his own room after dinner.

MARY IVNOVNA. What can I do? After all, people must live. We have seven children, and if they find no amusement at home, heaven knows what they may be up to. Anyhow I am quite happy about Lyba now.

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. Has he proposed, then?

MARY IVNOVNA. As good as proposed. He has spoken to her, and she has said, Yes!

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. That again will be a terrible blow to Nicholas.

MARY IVNOVNA. Oh, he knows. He can't help knowing.

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. He does not like him.

MARY IVNOVNA [to the Footmen] Put the fruit on the side-board. Like whom? Alexander Mikylovich? Of course not; because he is a living negation of all Nicholas's pet theories. A nice pleasant kindly man of the world. But oh! That terrible night-mare—that affair of Bors Cheremshnov's. What has happened to him?

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. Lisa has been to see him. He is still there. She says he has grown terribly thin, and the Doctors fear for his life or his reason.

MARY IVNOVNA. Yes, he is one of the terrible sacrifices caused by Nicholas's ideas. Why need he have been ruined? I never wished it.

Enter Pianist.

MARY IVNOVNA [to Pianist] Have you come to play?

PIANIST. Yes, I am the pianist.

MARY IVNOVNA. Please take a seat and wait a little. Won't you have a cup of tea?

PIANIST [goes to piano] No, thank you!

MARY IVNOVNA. I never wished it. I liked Brya, but still he was not a suitable match for Lyba—especially after he let himself be carried away by Nicholas Ivnovich's ideas.

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. But still, the strength of his convictions is astonishing. See what he endures! They tell him that as long as he persists in refusing to serve, he will either remain where he is or be sent to the fortress; but his reply is always the same. And yet Lisa says he is full of joy and even merry!

MARY IVNOVNA. Fanatic! But here comes Alexander Mikylovich!

Enter Alexander Mikylovich Starkvsky,[35] an elegant man in evening dress.

[35] Alexander in his Christian name, Mikylovich (= son of Michael) is his patronymic, and Starkvsky in his surname which is seldom used in ordinary social life.

STARKVSKY. I am afraid I have come too soon. [Kisses the hands of both ladies].

MARY IVNOVNA. So much the better.

STARKVSKY. And Lybov Nikolyevna?[36] She proposed to dance a great deal so as to make up for the time she has lost, and I have undertaken to help her.

[36] Lybov Nikolyevna (= Love daughter of Nicholas) is the courteous way of naming Lyba. The latter is a pet name.

MARY IVNOVNA. She is sorting favours for the cotillion.

STARKVSKY. I will go and help her, if I may?

MARY IVNOVNA. Certainly.

As Starkvsky is going out he meets Lyba in evening, but not low-necked, dress carrying a cushion with stars and ribbons.

LYBA. Ah! here you are. Good! Now you can help me. There are three more cushions in the drawing-room. Go and fetch them all.

STARKVSKY. I fly to do so!

MARY IVNOVNA. Now, Lyba; friends are coming, and they will be sure to hint and ask questions. May we announce it?

LYBA. No, Mamma, no. Why? Let them ask! Papa will not like it.

MARY IVNOVNA. But he knows or guesses; and he will have to be told sooner or later. I think it would be better to announce it to-day. Why, C'est le secret de la comdie.[37]

[37] It is only a comedy secret.

LYBA. No, no, Mamma, please don't. It would spoil our whole evening. No, no, you must not.

MARY IVNOVNA. Well, as you please.

LYBA. All right then: after the dance, just before supper.

Enter Starkvsky.

LYBA. Well, have you got them?

MARY IVNOVNA. I'll go and have a look at the little ones. [Exit with Alexndra Ivnovna].

STARKVSKY [carrying three cushions, which he steadies with his chin, and dropping things on the way] Don't trouble, Lybov Nikolyevna, I'll pick them up. Well, you have prepared a lot of favours. If only I can manage to lead the dance properly! Vnya, come along.

VNYA [bringing more favours] This is the whole lot. Lyba, Alexander Mikylovich and I have a bet on, which of us will win the most favours.

STARKVSKY. It will be easy for you, for you know everybody here, and will gain them easily, while I shall have to charm the young ladies first before winning anything. It means that I am giving you a start of forty points.

VNYA. But then you are a fianc, and I am a boy.

STARKVSKY. Well no, I am not a fianc yet, and I am worse than a boy.

LYBA. Vnya, please go to my room and fetch the gum and the pin-cushion from the what-not. Only for goodness' sake don't break anything.

VNYA. I'll break everything! [Runs off].

STARKVSKY [takes Lyba's hand] Lyba, may I? I am so happy. [Kisses her hand] The mazurka is mine, but that is not enough. One can't say much in a mazurka, and I must speak. May I wire to my people that I have been accepted and am happy?

LYBA. Yes, to-night.

STARKVSKY. One word more: how will Nicholas Ivnovich take it? Have you told him? Yes?

LYBA. No, I haven't; but I will. He will take it as he now takes everything that concerns the family. He will say, "Do as you think best." But he will be grieved at heart.

STARKVSKY. Because I am not Cheremshnov? Because I am a Marchal de la Noblesse?

LYBA. Yes. But I have struggled with myself and deceived myself for his sake; and it is not because I love him less that I am now doing not what he wants, but it is because I can't lie. He himself says so. I do so want to live!

STARKVSKY. And life is the only truth! Well, and what of Cheremshnov?

LYBA [excitedly] Don't speak of him to me! I wish to blame him, to blame him whilst he is suffering; and I know it is because I feel guilty towards him. All I know is that I feel there is a kind of love—and I think a more real love than I ever felt for him.

STARKVSKY. Lyba, is that true?

LYBA. You wish me to say that I love you with that real love—but I won't say it. I do love you with a different kind of love; but it is not the real thing either! Neither the one nor the other is the real thing—if only they could be mixed together!

STARKVSKY. No, no, I am satisfied with mine. [Kisses her hand] Lyba!

LYBA [pushes him away] No, let us sort these things. They are beginning to arrive.

Enter Princess with Tnya and a little girl.

LYBA. Mamma will be here in a moment.

PRINCESS. Are we the first?

STARKVSKY. Some one must be! I have suggested making a gutta-percha dummy to be the first arrival!

Enter Stypa, also Vnya carrying the gum and pin-cushion.

STYPA. I expected to see you at the Italian opera last night.

TNYA. We were at my Aunt's, sewing for the charity-bazaar.

Enter Students, Ladies, Mary Ivnovna and a Countess.

COUNTESS. Shan't we see Nicholas Ivnovich?

MARY IVNOVNA. No, he never leaves his study to come to our gathering.

STARKVSKY. Quadrille, please! [Claps his hands. The dancers take their places and dance].

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA [approaches Mary Ivnovna] He is terribly agitated. He has been to see Bors, and he came back and saw there was a ball, and now he wants to go away! I went up to his door and overheard him talking to Alexander Petrvich.

MARY IVNOVNA. Well?

STARKVSKY. Rond des dames. Les cavaliers en avant![38]

[38] Starkvsky, directing the dance, says: "Ladies form a circle. Gentlemen advance!"

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. He has made up his mind that it is impossible for him to live so, and he is going away.

MARY IVNOVNA. What a torment the man is! [Exit].

Curtain.

SCENE 2

Nicholas Ivnovich's room. The dance music is heard in the distance. Nicholas Ivnovich has an overcoat on. He puts a letter on the table. Alexander Petrvich, dressed in ragged clothes, is with him.

ALEXANDER PETRVICH. Don't worry, we can reach the Caucasus without spending a penny, and there you can settle down.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. We will go by rail as far as Tla, and from thence on foot. Well, I'm ready. [Puts letter in the middle of the table, and goes to the door, where he meets Mary Ivnovna] Oh! Why have you come here?

MARY IVNOVNA. Why indeed? To prevent your doing a cruel thing. What's all this for? Why d'you do it?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Why? Because I cannot continue living like this. I cannot endure this terrible, depraved life.

MARY IVNOVNA. It is awful. My life—which I give wholly to you and the children—has all of a sudden become "depraved." [Sees Alexander Petrvich] Renvoyez au moins cet homme. Je ne veux pas qu'il soit tmoin de cette conversation.[39]

[39] At least send that man away. I don't wish him to be a witness of our conversation.

ALEXANDER PETRVICH. Comprenez. Toujours moi partez.[40]

[40] Alexander Petrvich replies in very bad French: "I understand! I am always to go away!"

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Wait for me out there, Alexander Petrvich, I'll come in a minute.

Exit Alexander Petrvich.

MARY IVNOVNA. And what can you have in common with such a man as that? Why is he nearer to you than your own wife? It is incomprehensible! And where are you going?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. I have left a letter for you. I did not want to speak; it is too hard; but if you wish it, I will try to say it quietly.

MARY IVNOVNA. No, I don't understand. Why do you hate and torture your wife, who has given up everything for you? Tell me, have I been going to balls, or gone in for dress, or flirted? My whole life has been devoted to the family. I nursed them all myself; I brought them up, and this last year the whole weight of their education, and the managing our affairs, has fallen on me....

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH [interrupting] But all this weight falls on you, because you do not wish to live as I proposed.

MARY IVNOVNA. But that was impossible! Ask anyone! It was impossible to let the children grow up illiterate, as you wished them to do, and for me to do the washing and cooking.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. I never wanted that!

MARY IVNOVNA. Well, anyhow it was something of that kind! No, you are a Christian, you wish to do good, and you say you love men; then why do you torture the woman who has devoted her whole life to you?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. How do I torture you? I love you, but...

MARY IVNOVNA. But is it not torturing me to leave me and to go away? What will everybody say? One of two things, either that I am a bad woman, or that you are mad.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Well, let us say I am mad; but I can't live like this.

MARY IVNOVNA. But what is there so terrible in it, even if once in a winter (and only once, because I feared you would not like it) I do give a party—and even then a very simple one, only ask Mnya and Barbara Vaslyevna! Everybody said I could not do less—and that it was absolutely necessary. And now it seems even a crime, for which I shall have to suffer disgrace. And not only disgrace. The worst of all is that you no longer love me! You love everyone else—the whole world, including that drunken Alexander Petrvich—but I still love you and cannot live without you. Why do you do it? Why? [Weeps].

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. But you don't even wish to understand my life; my spiritual life.

MARY IVNOVNA. I do wish to understand it, but I can't. I see that your Christianity has made you hate your family and hate me; but I don't understand why!

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. You see the others do understand!

MARY IVNOVNA. Who? Alexander Petrvich, who gets money out of you?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. He and others: Tnya and Vasly Nikonrovich. But even if nobody understood it, that would make no difference.

MARY IVNOVNA. Vasly Nikonrovich has repented, and has got his living back, and Tnya is at this very moment dancing and flirting with Stypa.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. I am sorry to hear it, but it does not turn black into white, and it cannot change my life. Mary! You do not need me. Let me go! I have tried to share your life and to bring into it what for me constitutes the whole of life; but it is impossible. It only results in torturing myself and you. I not only torment myself, but spoil the work I try to accomplish. Everybody, including that very Alexander Petrvich, has the right to tell me that I am a hypocrite; that I talk but do not act! That I preach the Gospel of poverty while I live in luxury, pretending that I have given up everything to my wife!

MARY IVNOVNA. So you are ashamed of what people say? Really, can't you rise above that?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. It's not that I am ashamed (though I am ashamed), but that I am spoiling God's work.

MARY IVNOVNA. You yourself often say that it fulfils itself despite man's opposition; but that's not the point. Tell me, what do you want of me?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Haven't I told you?

MARY IVNOVNA. But, Nicholas, you know that that is impossible. Only think, Lyba is now getting married; Vnya is entering the university; Missy and Ktya are studying. How can I break all that off?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Then what am I to do?

MARY IVNOVNA. Do as you say one should do: have patience, love. Is it too hard for you? Only bear with us and do not take yourself from us! Come, what is it that torments you?

Enter Vnya running.

VNYA. Mamma, they are calling you!

MARY IVNOVNA. Tell them I can't come. Go, go!

VNYA. Do come! [He runs off].

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. You don't wish to see eye to eye—nor to understand me.

MARY IVNOVNA. It is not that I don't wish to, but that I can't.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. No, you don't wish to, and we drift further and further apart. Only enter into my feelings; put yourself for a moment in my place, and you will understand. First, the whole life here is thoroughly depraved. You are vexed with the expression, but I can give no other name to a life built wholly on robbery; for the money you live on is taken from the land you have stolen from the peasants. Moreover, I see that this life is demoralising the children: "Whoso shall cause one of these little ones to stumble," and I see how they are perishing and becoming depraved before my very eyes. I cannot bear it when grown-up men dressed up in swallow-tail coats serve us as if they were slaves. Every dinner we have is a torture to me.

MARY IVNOVNA. But all this was so before. Is it not done by everyone—both here and abroad?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. But I can't do it. Since I realised that we are all brothers, I cannot see it without suffering.

MARY IVNOVNA. That is as you please. One can invent anything.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH [hotly] It's just this want of understanding that is so terrible. Take for instance to-day! I spent this morning at Rzhnov's lodging-house, among the outcasts there; and I saw an infant literally die of hunger; a boy suffering from alcoholism; and a consumptive charwoman rinsing clothes outside in the cold. Then I returned home, and a footman with a white tie opens the door for me. I see my son—a mere lad—ordering that footman to fetch him some water; and I see the army of servants who work for us. Then I go to visit Bors—a man who is sacrificing his life for truth's sake. I see how he, a pure, strong, resolute man, is deliberately being goaded to lunacy and to destruction, that the Government may be rid of him! I know, and they know, that his heart is weak, and so they provoke him, and drag him to a ward for raving lunatics. It is too dreadful, too dreadful. And when I come home, I hear that the one member of our family who understood—not me but the truth—has thrown over both her betrothed to whom she had promised her love, and the truth, and is going to marry a lackey, a liar...

MARY IVNOVNA. How very Christian!

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Yes, it is wrong of me, and I am to blame, but I only want you to put yourself in my place. I mean to say that she has turned from the truth...

MARY IVNOVNA. You say, "from the truth"; but other people—the majority—say from "an error." You see Vasly Nikonrovich once thought he was in error, but now has come back to the Church.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. That's impossible——

MARY IVNOVNA. He has written to Lisa! She will show you the letter. That sort of conversion is very unstable. So also in Tnya's case; I won't even speak of that fellow Alexander Petrvich, who simply considers it profitable!

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH [getting angry] Well, no matter. I only ask you to understand me. I still consider that truth is truth! All this hurts me very much. And here at home I see a Christmas-tree, a ball, and hundreds of roubles being spent while men are dying of hunger. I cannot live so. Have pity on me, I am worried to death. Let me go! Good-bye.

MARY IVNOVNA. If you go, I will go with you. Or if not with you, I will throw myself under the train you leave by; and let them all go to perdition—and Missy and Ktya too. Oh my God, my God. What torture! Why? What for? [Weeps].

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH [at the door] Alexander Petrvich, go home! I am not going. [To his wife] Very well, I will stay. [Takes off his overcoat].

MARY IVNOVNA [embracing him] We have not much longer to live. Don't let us spoil everything after twenty-eight years of life together. Well, I'll give no more parties; but do not punish me so.

Enter Vnya and Ktya running.

VNYA and KATYA. Mamma, be quick—come.

MARY IVNOVNA. Coming, coming. So let us forgive one another! [Exit with Ktya and Vnya].

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. A child, a regular child; or a cunning woman? No, a cunning child. Yes, yes. It seems Thou dost not wish me to be Thy servant in this Thy work. Thou wishest me to be humiliated, so that everyone may point his finger at me and say, "He preaches, but he does not perform." Well, let them! Thou knowest best what Thou requirest: submission, humility! Ah, if I could but rise to that height!

Enter Lisa.

LISA. Excuse me. I have brought you a letter from Vasly Nikonrovich. It is addressed to me, but he asks me to tell you.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Can it be really true?

LISA. Yes. Shall I read it?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Please do.

LISA [reading] "I write to beg you to communicate this to Nicholas Ivnovich. I greatly regret the error which led me openly to stray from the Holy Orthodox Church, to which I rejoice to have now returned. I hope you and Nicholas Ivnovich will follow the same path. Please forgive me!"

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. They have tortured him into this, poor fellow. But still it is terrible.

LISA. I also came to tell you that the Princess is here. She came upstairs to me in a dreadfully excited state and is determined to see you. She has just been to see Bors. I think you had better not see her. What good can it do for her to see you?

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. No. Call her in. Evidently this is fated to be a day of dreadful torture.

LISA. Then I'll go and call her. [Exit].

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH [alone] Yes—could I but remember that life consists only in serving Thee; and that if Thou sendest a trial, it is because Thou holdest me capable of enduring it, and knowest that my strength is equal to it: else it would not be a trial.... Father, help me—help me to do Thy will.

Enter Princess.

PRINCESS. You receive me? You do me that honour? My respects to you. I don't give you my hand, for I hate you and despise you.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. What has happened?

PRINCESS. Just this, that they are moving him to the Disciplinary Battalion; and it is you who are the cause of it.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Princess, if you want anything, tell me what it is; but if you have come here merely to abuse me, you only injure yourself. You cannot offend me, for with my whole heart I sympathise with you and pity you!

PRINCESS. What charity! What exalted Christianity! No, Mr. Sarntsov, you cannot deceive me! We know you now. You have ruined my son, but you don't care; and you go giving balls; and your daughter—my son's betrothed—is to be married and make a good match, that you approve of; while you pretend to lead a simple life, and go carpentering. How repulsive you are to me, with your new-fangled Pharisaism.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Don't excite yourself so, Princess. Tell me what you have come for—surely it was not simply to scold me?

PRINCESS. Yes, that too! I must find vent for all this accumulated pain. But what I want is this: He is being removed to the Disciplinary Battalion, and I cannot bear it. It is you who have done it. You! You! You!

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Not I, but God. And God knows how sorry I am for you. Do not resist this will. He wants to test you. Bear the trial meekly.

PRINCESS. I cannot bear it meekly. My whole life was wrapped up in my son; and you have taken him from me and ruined him. I cannot be calm. I have come to you—it is my last attempt to tell you that you have ruined him and that it is for you to save him. Go and prevail on them to set him free. Go and see the Governor-General, the Emperor, or whom you please. It is your duty to do it. If you don't do it, I know what I shall do. You will have to answer to me for it!

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Teach me what to do. I am ready to do anything.

PRINCESS. I again repeat it—you must save him! If you do not—beware! Good-bye. [Exit].

Nicholas Ivnovich (alone). Lies down on sofa. Silence. The door opens and the dance music sounds louder. Enter Stypa.

STYPA. Papa is not here, come in!

Enter the adults and the children, dancing in couples.

LYBA [noticing Nicholas Ivnovich] Ah, you are here. Excuse us.

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH [rising] Never mind. [Exit dancing couples].

NICHOLAS IVNOVICH. Vasly Nikonrovich has recanted. I have ruined Bors. Lyba is getting married. Can it be that I have been mistaken? Mistaken in believing in Thee? No! Father help me!

Curtain.



Tolstoy left the following notes for a fifth act which was never written.



ACT V

Disciplinary Battalion. A cell. Prisoners sitting and lying. Bors is reading the Gospel and explaining it. A man who has been flogged is brought in. "Ah, if there were but a Pugachev[41] to revenge us on such as you." The Princess bursts in, but is turned out. Conflict with an officer. Prisoners led to prayers. Bors sent to the Penitentiary Cell: "He shall be flogged!"

[41] Pugachev was the leader of a formidable rebellion in Russia in the eighteenth century.

Scene changes.

The Tsar's Cabinet. Cigarettes; jokes; caresses. The Princess is announced. "Let her wait." Enter petitioners, flattery, then the Princess. Her request is refused. Exit.

Scene changes.

Mary Ivnovna talks about illness with the doctor. "He has changed, has become more gentle, but is dispirited." Enter Nicholas Ivnovich and speaks to Doctor about the uselessness of treatment. But for his wife's sake he agrees to it. Enter Tnya with Stypa. Lyba with Starkvsky. Conversation about land. Nicholas Ivnovich tries not to offend them. Exeunt all. Nicholas Ivnovich with Lisa. "I am always in doubt whether I have done right. I have accomplished nothing. Bors has perished, Vasly Nikonrovich has recanted. I set an example of weakness. Evidently God does not wish me to be his servant. He has many other servants—and can accomplish his will without me, and he who realises this is at peace." Exit Lisa. He prays. The Princess rushes in and shoots him. Everybody comes running into the room. He says he did it himself by accident. He writes a petition to the Emperor. Enter Vasly Nikonrovich with Doukhobors.[42] Dies rejoicing that the fraud of the Church is exposed, and that he has understood the meaning of his life.

[42] Tolstoy did not fully realise the facts (described in A Peculiar People) of the Doukhobors' submission to their leader, or of their belief in him as an incarnation of the Deity. In fact, when he wrote this play, Tolstoy regarded the Doukhobors as a type of what all Christians should be.

This play was begun in the 'eighties, and continued in 1900 and 1902.

END OF "THE LIGHT SHINES IN DARKNESS."



[ Transcriber's Note:

The following is a list of corrections made to the original. The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one.

forty-five; and her husband, Peter Semynovich Khovstsef, a fat forty-five; and her husband, Peter Semynovich Khovtsef, a fat

on the verandah at a table with a samovar and coffee-pot. Mary on the verandah at a table with a samovr and coffee-pot. Mary

[9] He was very nice, and like everybody else [9] He was very nice, and like everybody else.

is your duty as a mother to prendre tes msures.[11] is your duty as a mother to prendre tes mesures.[11]

MARY IVNOVNA. I'm coming, coming? [Rises and exit]. MARY IVNOVNA. I'm coming, coming! [Rises and exit].

for vodka, and abandon our own families. for vdka, and abandon our own families?

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. Re-heat the samovar, please. ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. Re-heat the samovr, please.

ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. I should think they also need this samovar. ALEXNDRA IVNOVNA. I should think they also need this samovr.

other 44,990 trees will very soon be cut down also. There are 449,990 trees remaining. This might either be a typesetting mistake or an error made by Stypa.

can be proved historically; there is but one irrefragible proof.... can be proved historically; there is but one irrefragable proof....

PRIEST. How can we trust in it, when there are contradictions. PRIEST. How can we trust in it, when there are contradictions?

[Enter Nurse]. Enter Nurse.

coming coming!

LYBA. Yes, do, and I'll go and wake Lisa and Tnya. LYBA. Yes, do, and I'll go and wake Lisa and Tnya.

what I feel. (To Tnya) If what I say should offend you—who are our what I feel. [To Tnya] If what I say should offend you—who are our

SCENE 2. [in ACT II] SCENE 2

STARKVSKY. And Lyubv Nikolyevna?[36] She proposed to dance a great STARKVSKY. And Lybov Nikolyevna?[36] She proposed to dance a great

[36] Lybov Nikolvna (= Love daughter of Nicholas) is the courteous [36] Lybov Nikolyevna (= Love daughter of Nicholas) is the courteous ]

THE END