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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Curtain.
Act IIIThe same hut. Winter. Nine months have passed since Act II. AnĂsya, plainly dressed, sits before a loom weaving. Nan is on the oven.
MĂtritch An old labourer, enters, and slowly takes off his outdoor things. Oh Lord, have mercy! Well, hasnât the master come home yet? AnĂsya What? MĂtritch NikĂta isnât back from town, is he? AnĂsya No. MĂtritch Must have been on the spree. Oh Lord! AnĂsya Have you finished in the stackyard? MĂtritch What dâyou think? Got it all as it should be, and covered everything with straw! I donât like doing things by halves! Oh Lord! holy Nicholas! Picks at the corns on his hands. But itâs time he was back. AnĂsya What need has he to hurry? Heâs got money. Merrymaking with that girl, I daresayâ ââ ⊠MĂtritch Why shouldnât one make merry if one has the money? And why did AkoulĂna go to town? AnĂsya Youâd better ask her. How do I know what the devil took her there! MĂtritch What! to town? Thereâs all sorts of things to be got in town if oneâs got the means. Oh Lord! Nan Mother, I heard myself. âIâll get you a little shawl,â he says, blest if he didnât; âyou shall choose it yourself,â he says. And she got herself up so fine; she put on her velveteen coat and the French shawl. AnĂsya Really, a girlâs modesty reaches only to the door. Step over the threshold and itâs forgotten. She is a shameless creature. MĂtritch Oh my! Whatâs the use of being ashamed? While thereâs plenty of money make merry. Oh Lord! It is too soon to have supper, eh? AnĂsya does not answer. Iâll go and get warm meanwhile. Climbs on the stove. Oh Lord! Blessed Virgin Mother! holy Nicholas! Neighbour Enters. Seems your goodmanâs not back yet? AnĂsya No. Neighbour Itâs time he was. Hasnât he perhaps stopped at our inn? My sister, Thekla, says thereâs heaps of sledges standing there as have come from the town. AnĂsya Nan! Nan, I say! Nan Yes? AnĂsya You run to the inn and see! Mayhap, being drunk, heâs gone there. Nan Jumps down from the oven and dresses. All right. Neighbour And heâs taken AkoulĂna with him? AnĂsya Else heâd not have had any need of going. Itâs because of her heâs unearthed all the business there. âMust go to the bank,â he says; âitâs time to receive the payments,â he says. But itâs all her fooling. Neighbour Shakes her head. Itâs a bad lookout. Silence. Nan At the door. And if heâs there, what am I to say? AnĂsya You only see if heâs there. Nan All right. Iâll be back in a winking. Long silence. MĂtritch Roars. Oh Lord! merciful Nicholas! Neighbour Starting. Oh, how he scared me? Who is it? AnĂsya Why, MĂtritch, our labourer. Neighbour Oh dear, oh dear, what a fright he did give me! I had quite forgotten. But tell me, dear, Iâve heard someoneâs been wooing AkoulĂna? AnĂsya Gets up from the loom and sits down by the table. There was someone from DĂ©dlovo; but it seems the affairâs got wind there too. They made a start, and then stopped; so the thing fell through. Of course, whoâd care to? Neighbour And the LizounĂłfs from ZoĂșevo? AnĂsya They made some steps too, but it didnât come off either. They wonât even see us. Neighbour Yet itâs time she was married. AnĂsya Time and more than time! Ah, my dear, Iâm that impatient to get her out of the house; but the matter does not come off. He does not wish it, nor she either. Heâs not yet had enough of his beauty, you see. Neighbour Eh, eh, eh, what doings! Only think of it. Why, heâs her stepfather! AnĂsya Ah, friend, theyâve taken me in completely. Theyâve done me so fine itâs beyond saying. I, fool that I was, noticed nothing, suspected nothing, and so I married him. I guessed nothing, but they already understood one another. Neighbour Oh dear, what goings on! AnĂsya So it went on from bad to worse, and I see they begin hiding from me. Ah,
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