The Power of Darkness by Leo Tolstoy (best reads of all time .TXT) đ
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The Power of Darkness is a five-act drama that follows the downfall of the peasants AnĂsya and NikĂta as they succumb to a series of sordid temptations, from adultery and drunkenness to outright murder. Written in 1886 but suppressed by censors until 1902, the play is a realist portrayal of some of the darkest elements of Russian peasant life. Similar to some other late Tolstoy works, like Resurrection, the playâs psychological exploration of human depravity is accompanied by a sharp social critique of the Russian Empire and its role in perpetuating poverty and ignorance among its lowest and most marginalized classes.
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- Author: Leo Tolstoy
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at you I see, as the saying has it, âSickness lives where men live.â Youâve shrivelled, shrivelled, all to nothing, poor dear, now I come to look at you. Seems illness does not add to good looks.
Peter
My last hour has come.
MatryĂłna
Oh well, Peter IgnĂĄtitch, itâs Godâs will you know, youâve had communion, and youâll have unction, God willing. Your missus is a wise woman, the Lord be thanked; sheâll give you a good burial, and have prayers said for your soul, all most respectable! And my son, heâll look after things meanwhile.
Peter
Thereâll be no one to manage things! Sheâs not steady. Has her head full of follyâ âwhy, I know all about it, I know. And my girl is silly and young. Iâve got the homestead together, and thereâs no one to attend to things. One canât help feeling it. Whimpers.
MatryĂłna
Why, if itâs money, or something, you can leave orders.
Peter
To AnĂsya inside the house. Has Nan gone?
MatryĂłna
Aside. There now, heâs remembered!
AnĂsya
From inside. She went then and there. Come inside, wonât you? Iâll help you in.
Peter
Let me sit here a bit for the last time. The airâs so stuffy inside. Oh, how bad I feel! Oh, my heartâs burning.â ââ ⊠Oh, if death would only come.
MatryĂłna
If God donât take a soul, the soul canât go out. Death and life are in Godâs will, Peter IgnĂĄtitch. You canât be sure of death either. Maybe youâll recover yet. There was a man in our village just like that, at the very point of deathâ ââ âŠ
Peter
No, I feel I shall die today, I feel it. Leans back and shuts his eyes.
AnĂsya
Enters. Well now, are you coming in or not? You do keep one waiting. Peter! eh, Peter!
MatryĂłna
Steps aside and beckons to AnĂsya with her finger. Well?
AnĂsya
Comes down the porch steps. Not there.
MatryĂłna
But have you searched everywhere? Under the floor?
AnĂsya
No, itâs not there either. In the shed perhaps; he was rummaging there yesterday.
MatryĂłna
Go, search, search for all youâre worth. Go all over everywhere, as if you licked with your tongue! But I see heâll die this very day, his nails are turning blue and his face looks earthy. Is the samovar ready?
AnĂsya
Just on the boil.
NikĂta
Comes from the other side, if possible on horseback, up to the gate, and does not see Peter. To MatryĂłna. How dâyou do, mother, is all well at home?
MatryĂłna
The Lord be thanked, weâre all alive and have a crust to bite.
NikĂta
Well, and howâs master?
MatryĂłna
Hush, there he sits. Points to porch.
NikĂta
Well, let him sit. Whatâs it to me?
Peter
Opens his eyes. NikĂta, I say, NikĂta, come here! NikĂta approaches. AnĂsya and MatryĂłna whisper together.
Peter
Why have you come back so early?
NikĂta
Iâve finished ploughing.
Peter
Have you done the strip beyond the bridge?
NikĂta
Itâs too far to go there.
Peter
Too far? From here itâs still farther. Youâll have to go on purpose now. You might have made one job of it. AnĂsya, without showing herself, stands and listens.
MatryĂłna
Approaches. Oh, sonnie, why donât you take more pains for your master? Your master is ill and depends on you; you should serve him as you would your own father, straining every muscle just as I always tell you to.
Peter
Well thenâ âo-oh!â ââ ⊠Get out the seed potatoes, and the women will go and sort them.
AnĂsya
Aside. No fear, Iâm not going. Heâs again sending everyone away; he must have the money on him now, and wants to hide it somewhere.
Peter
Elseâ ââ ⊠o-oh! when the time comes for planting, theyâll all be rotten. Oh, I canât stand it! Rises.
MatryĂłna
Runs up into the porch and holds Peter up. Shall I help you into the hut?
Peter
Help me in. Stops. NikĂta!
NikĂta
Angrily. What now?
Peter
I shanât see you againâ ââ ⊠Iâll die today.â ââ ⊠Forgive me,3 for Christâs sake, forgive me if I have ever sinned against youâ ââ ⊠If I have sinned in word or deedâ ââ ⊠Thereâs been all sorts of things. Forgive me!
NikĂta
Whatâs there to forgive? Iâm a sinner myself.
MatryĂłna
Ah, sonnie, have some feeling.
Peter
Forgive me, for Christâs sake. Weeps.
NikĂta
Snivels. God will forgive you, Daddy Peter. I have no cause to complain of you. Youâve never done me any wrong. You forgive me; maybe Iâve sinned worse against you. Weeps.
Peter goes in whimpering, MatryĂłna supporting him.
AnĂsya
Oh, my poor head! Itâs not without some reason heâs hit on that. Approaches NikĂta. Why did you say the money was under the floor? Itâs not there.
NikĂta
Does not answer, but cries. I have never had anything bad from him, nothing but good, and what have I gone and done!
AnĂsya
Enough now! Whereâs the money?
NikĂta
Angrily. How should I know? Go and look for it yourself!
AnĂsya
Whatâs made you so tender?
NikĂta
I am sorry for himâ âthat sorry. How he cried! Oh dear!
AnĂsya
Look at himâ âseized with pity! He has found someone to pity too! Heâs been treating you like a dog, and even just now was giving orders to have you turned out of the house. Youâd better show me some pity!
NikĂta
What are you to be pitied for?
AnĂsya
If he dies, and the moneyâs been hidden awayâ ââ âŠ
NikĂta
No fear, heâll not hide itâ ââ âŠ
AnĂsya
Oh, NikĂta darling! heâs sent for his sister, and wants to give it to her. It will be a bad lookout for us. How are we going to live, if he gives her the money? Theyâll turn me out of the house! You try and manage somehow! You said he went to the shed last night.
NikĂta
I saw him coming from there, but where heâs shoved it to, who can tell?
AnĂsya
Oh, my poor head! Iâll go and have a look there. NikĂta steps aside.
MatryĂłna
Comes out of the hut and
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