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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day a traveller stayed the night; he said that when an infant died its soul goes up straight to heaven. Is that true?
MĂtritch
Who can tell. I suppose so. Well?
Nan
Oh, it would be best if I died too. Whimpers.
MĂtritch
Then youâd be off the list!
Nan
Up to ten oneâs an infant, and maybe oneâs soul would go to God. Else oneâs sure to go to the bad!
MĂtritch
And how to the bad? How should the likes of you not go to the bad? Who teaches you? What do you see? What do you hear? Only vileness! I, though Iâve not been taught much, still know a thing or two. Iâm not quite like a peasant woman. A peasant woman, what is she? Just mud! There are many millions of the likes of you in Russia, and all as blind as molesâ âknowing nothing! All sorts of spells: how to stop the cattle-plague with a plough, and how to cure children by putting them under the perches in the henhouse! Thatâs what they know!
Nan
Yes, mother also did that!
MĂtritch
Yesâ âthere it isâ âjust so! So many millions of girls and women, and all like beasts in a forest! As she grows up, so she dies! Never sees anything; never hears anything. A peasantâ âhe may learn something at the pub, or maybe in prison, or in the armyâ âas I did. But a woman? Let alone about God, she doesnât even know rightly what Friday it is! Friday! Friday! But ask her whatâs Friday? She donât know! Theyâre like blind puppies, creeping about and poking their noses into the dung-heap.â ââ ⊠All they know are their silly songs. Ho, ho, ho, ho! But what they mean by ho-ho, they donât know themselves!
Nan
But I, daddy, I do know half the Lordâs Prayer!
MĂtritch
A lot you know! But what can one expect of you? Who teaches you? Only a tipsy peasantâ âwith the strap perhaps! Thatâs all the teaching you get! I donât know whoâll have to answer for you. For a recruit, the drill-sergeant or the corporal has to answer; but for the likes of you thereâs no one responsible! Just as the cattle that have no herdsman are the most mischievous, so with you womenâ âyou are the stupidest class! The most foolish class is yours!
Nan
Then whatâs one to do?
MĂtritch
Thatâs what one has to do.â ââ ⊠You just cover up your head and sleep! Oh Lord!
Silence. The cricket chirps.
Nan
Jumps up. Daddy! Someoneâs screaming awfully! Blest if someone isnât screaming! Daddy darling, itâs coming here!
MĂtritch
Cover up your head, I tell you!
Enter NikĂta, followed by MatryĂłna.
NikĂta
What have they done with me? What have they done with me?
MatryĂłna
Have a drop, honey; have a drop of drink! Whatâs the matter? Fetches the spirits and sets the bottle before him.
NikĂta
Give it here! Perhaps the drink will help me!
MatryĂłna
Mind! Theyâre not asleep! Here you are, have a drop!
NikĂta
What does it all mean? Why did you plan it? You might have taken it somewhere!
MatryĂłna
Whispers. Sit still a bit and drink a little more, or have a smoke. It will ease your thoughts!
NikĂta
My own mother! My turn seems to have come! How it began to whimper, and how the little bones crunchedâ ââ ⊠krrâ ââ ⊠Iâm not a man now!
MatryĂłna
Eh, now, whatâs the use of talking so silly! Of course it does seem fearsome at night, but wait till the daylight comes, and a day or two passes, and youâll forget to think of it! Goes up to NikĂta and puts her hand on his shoulder.
NikĂta
Go away from me! What have you done with me?
MatryĂłna
Come, come, sonnie! Now really, whatâs the matter with you? Takes his hand.
NikĂta
Go away from me! Iâll kill you! Itâs all one to me now! Iâll kill you!
MatryĂłna
Oh, oh, how frightened heâs got! You should go and have a sleep now!
NikĂta
I have nowhere to go; Iâm lost!
MatryĂłna
Shaking her head. Oh, oh, Iâd better go and tidy things up. Heâll sit and rest a bit, and it will pass! Exit.
NikĂta sits with his face in his hands. MĂtritch and Nan seem stunned.
NikĂta
Itâs whining! Itâs whining! It is reallyâ âthere, there, quite plain! Sheâll bury it, really she will! Runs to the door. Mother, donât bury it, itâs alive.â ââ âŠ
Enter MatryĂłna.
MatryĂłna
Whispers. Now then, what is it? Heaven help you! Why wonât you get to rest? How can it be alive? All its bones are crushed!
NikĂta
Give me more drink! Drinks.
MatryĂłna
Now go, sonnie. Youâll fall asleep now all right.
NikĂta
Stands listening. Still aliveâ ââ ⊠thereâ ââ ⊠itâs whining! Donât you hear?â ââ ⊠There!
MatryĂłna
Whispers. No! I tell you!
NikĂta
Mother! My own mother! Iâve ruined my life! What have you done with me? Where am I to go? Runs out of the hut; MatryĂłna follows him.
Nan
Daddy dear, darling, theyâve smothered it!
MĂtritch
Angrily. Go to sleep, I tell you! Oh dear, may the frogs kick you! Iâll give it to you with the broom! Go to sleep, I tell you!
Nan
Daddy, my treasure! Something is catching hold of my shoulders, something is catching hold with its paws! Daddy dearâ ââ ⊠really, reallyâ ââ ⊠I must go! Daddy, darling! let me get up on the oven with you! Let me, for Heavenâs sake! Catching holdâ ââ ⊠catching hold! Oh! Runs to the stove.
MĂtritch
See how theyâve frightened the girl.â ââ ⊠What vile creatures they are! May the frogs kick them! Well then, climb up.
Nan
Climbs on oven. But donât you go away!
MĂtritch
Where should I go to? Climb up, climb up! Oh Lord! Gracious Nicholas! Holy Mother!â ââ ⊠How they have frighted the girl. Covers her up. Thereâs a little foolâ âreally a little fool! How theyâve frighted her; really, they are vile creatures! The deuce take âem!
Curtain.
Act V Scene IIn front of scene a
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