The Light Shines in Darkness by graf Tolstoy Leo (classic literature books txt) 📕
PRIEST. But we are not asked ...
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. Not asked, indeed! Why, I am asking you! He told me yesterday that the Gospels say, "Give to him that asketh of thee." But then in what sense is that meant?
PRIEST. In its plain sense, I suppose.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. And I think not in the plain sense; we have always been taught that everybody's position is appointed by God.
PRIEST. Of course, but yet ...
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. Oh, yes. It's just as I was told; you take his side, and that is wrong! I say so straight out. If some young school teacher, or some young lad, lickspittles to him, it's bad enough--but you, in your position, should remember the responsibility that rests on you.
PRIEST. I try to ...
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. What sort of religion is it, when he does not go to church, and does not believe in the s
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MARY IVÁNOVNA. How very Christian!
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH. 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 IVÁNOVNA. You say, “from the truth”; but other people—the majority—say from “an error.” You see Vasíly Nikonórovich once thought he was in error, but now has come back to the Church.
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH. That's impossible ——
MARY IVÁNOVNA. He has written to Lisa! She will show you the letter. That sort of conversion is very unstable. So also in Tónya's case; I won't even speak of that fellow Alexander Petróvich, who simply considers it profitable!
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH [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 IVÁNOVNA. 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 Kátya too. Oh my God, my God. What torture! Why? What for? [Weeps].
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH [at the door] Alexander Petróvich, go home! I am not going. [To his wife] Very well, I will stay. [Takes off his overcoat].
MARY IVÁNOVNA [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 Ványa and Kátya running.
VÁNYA and KATYA. Mamma, be quick—come.
MARY IVÁNOVNA. Coming, coming. So let us forgive one another! [Exit with Kátya and Ványa].
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH. 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 Vasíly Nikonórovich. It is addressed to me, but he asks me to tell you.
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH. Can it be really true?
LISA. Yes. Shall I read it?
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH. Please do.
LISA [reading] “I write to beg you to communicate this to Nicholas Ivánovich. 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 Ivánovich will follow the same path. Please forgive me!”
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH. 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 Borís. I think you had better not see her. What good can it do for her to see you?
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH. 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 IVÁNOVICH [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 IVÁNOVICH. 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 IVÁNOVICH. 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. Sarýntsov, 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 IVÁNOVICH. 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 IVÁNOVICH. 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 IVÁNOVICH. 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 Ivánovich (alone). Lies down on sofa. Silence. The door opens and the dance music sounds louder. Enter Styópa.
STYÓPA. Papa is not here, come in!
Enter the adults and the children, dancing in couples.
LYÚBA [noticing Nicholas Ivánovich] Ah, you are here. Excuse us.
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH [rising] Never mind. [Exit dancing couples].
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH. Vasíly Nikonórovich has recanted. I have ruined Borís. Lyúba 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.
Disciplinary Battalion. A cell. Prisoners sitting and lying. Borís 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. Borís sent to the Penitentiary Cell: “He shall be flogged!”
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.
Mary Ivánovna talks about illness with the doctor. “He has changed, has become more gentle, but is dispirited.” Enter Nicholas Ivánovich and speaks to Doctor about the uselessness of treatment. But for his wife's sake he agrees to it. Enter Tónya with Styópa. Lyúba with Starkóvsky. Conversation about land. Nicholas Ivánovich tries not to offend them. Exeunt all. Nicholas Ivánovich with Lisa. “I am always in doubt whether I have done right. I have accomplished nothing. Borís has perished, Vasíly Nikonórovich 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 Vasíly Nikonórovich with Doukhobors.[42] Dies rejoicing that the fraud of the Church is exposed, and that he has understood the meaning of his life.
This play was begun in the 'eighties, and continued in 1900 and 1902.
END OF “THE LIGHT SHINES IN DARKNESS.”
[1] I should have considered it all very pretty.
[2] I will tell him the plain fact, my dear.
[3] At the rate things are going.
[4] There is no reason for it to stop.
[5] I should put an end to all these fads.
[6] And plays the bountiful left and right.
[7] We know something about it.
[8] All the rest of it.
[9] He was very nice, and like everybody else.
[10] Everything will be lost.
[11] To take measures.
[12] God helps those who help themselves.
[13] I'll tell him the truth.
[14] But do stop, for heaven's sake. What right have you?
[15] There are limits to human endurance.
[16] Speak of the sun and you see its rays.
[17] Fixed idea.
[18] She scents it from afar.
[19] In Russia the relationships that are set up by marriage debar a marriage between a woman's brother-in-law and her sister.
[20] The princess has her eye on Lyúba for her son. She is a knowing one, and scents a nice dowry.
[21] One must do her that much justice.
[22] Alína is an abbreviation, and a pet name, for Alexándra.
[23] And you contradicted them.
[24] Yefím was the peasant who had cut down the tree.
[25] It's too fine spun.
[26] What energy, I do admire her.
[27] Oh, as far as that goes, we are not lacking.
[28] The woman, for all her roughness, is sorry to part from her husband.
[29] People shake hands much more often in Russia than in England, but it is quite unusual to shake hands with a servant, and Nicholas Ivánovich does it in consequence of his belief that all men are brothers.
[30] Father Gerásim is modelled on the lines of the celebrated Father John of Cronstadt.
[31] He knows that the priest is Father Gerásim, but wishes to address him not as a priest, but by his Christian name and patronymic, as one gentleman would usually address another.
[32] Father Gerásim attributes to Pilate what was said by Caiaphas the high priest.
[33] The period of compulsory service for a University graduate would be short in any case.
[34] It is not unusual among Russians for
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