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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we can talk these matters over without you.
NikĂta
Itâs a queer go! One moment Iâm to be married, the next, not. I canât make head or tail of it. Exit.
AnĂsya
Whatâs it all about then? Do you really wish him to get married?
MatryĂłna
Eh, why should he marry, my jewel? Itâs all nonsense, all my old manâs drivel. âMarry, marry.â But heâs reckoning without his host. You know the saying, âFrom oats and hay, why should horses stray?â When youâve enough and to spare, why look elsewhere? And so in this case. Winks. Donât I see which way the wind blows?
AnĂsya
Whereâs the good of my pretending to you, Mother MatryĂłna? You know all about it. I have sinned. I love your son.
MatryĂłna
Dear me, hereâs news! Dâyou think Mother MatryĂłna didnât know? Eh, lassieâ âMother MatryĂłnaâs been ground, and ground again, ground fine! This much I can tell you, my jewel: Mother MatryĂłna can see through a brick wall three feet thick. I know it all, my jewel! I know what young wives need sleeping draughts for, so Iâve brought some along. Unties a knot in her handkerchief and brings out paper-packets. As much as is wanted, I see, and whatâs not wanted I neither see nor perceive! There! Mother MatryĂłna has also been young. I had to know a thing or two to live with my old fool. I know seventy-and-seven dodges. But I see your old manâs quite seedy, quite seedy! Howâs one to live with such as him? Why, if you pricked him with a hayfork it wouldnât fetch blood. See if you donât bury him before the spring. Then youâll need someone in the house. Well, whatâs wrong with my son? Heâll do as well as another. Then whereâs the advantage of my taking him away from a good place? Am I my childâs enemy?
AnĂsya
Oh, if only he does not go away.
MatryĂłna
He wonât go away, birdie. Itâs all nonsense. You know my old man. His wits are always woolgathering; yet sometimes he takes a thing into his pate, and itâs as if it were wedged in, you canât knock it out with a hammer.
AnĂsya
And what started this business?
MatryĂłna
Well, you see, my jewel, you yourself know what a fellow with women the lad isâ âand heâs handsome too, though I say it as shouldnât. Well, you know, he was living at the railway, and they had an orphan wench there to cook for them. Well, that same wench took to running after him.
AnĂsya
MarĂna?
MatryĂłna
Yes, the plague seize her! Whether anything happened or not, anyhow something got to my old manâs ears. Maybe he heard from the neighbours, maybe sheâs been and blabbedâ ââ âŠ
AnĂsya
Well, she is a bold hussy!
MatryĂłna
So my old manâ âthe old blockheadâ âoff he goes: âMarry, marry,â he says, âhe must marry her and cover the sin,â he says. âWe must take the lad home,â he says, âand he shall marry,â he says. Well, I did my best to make him change his mind, but, dear me, no. So, all right, thinks Iâ âIâll try another dodge. One always has to entice them fools in this way, just pretend to be of their mind, and when it comes to the point one goes and turns it all oneâs own way. You know, a woman has time to think seventy-and-seven thoughts while falling off the oven, so howâs such as he to see through it? âWell, yes,â says I, âit would be a good jobâ âonly we must consider well beforehand. Why not go and see our son, and talk it over with Peter IgnĂĄtitch and hear what he has to say?â So here we are.
AnĂsya
Oh dear, oh dear, how will it all end? Supposing his father just orders him to marry her?
MatryĂłna
Orders, indeed. Chuck his orders to the dogs! Donât you worry; that affair will never come off. Iâll go to your old man myself, and sift and strain this matter clearâ âthere will be none of it left. I have come here only for the look of the thing. A very likely thing! Hereâs my son living in happiness and expecting happiness, and Iâll go and match him with a slut! No fear, Iâm not a fool!
AnĂsya
And sheâ âthis MarĂnaâ âcame dangling after him here! Mother, would you believe, when they said he was going to marry, it was as if a knife had gone right through my heart. I thought he cared for her.
MatryĂłna
Oh, my jewel! Why, you donât think him such a fool, that he should go and care for a homeless baggage like that? NikĂta is a sensible fellow, you see. He knows whom to love. So donât you go and fret, my jewel. Weâll not take him away, and we wonât marry him. No, weâll let him stay on, if youâll only oblige us with a little money.
AnĂsya
All I know is, that I could not live if NikĂta went away.
MatryĂłna
Naturally, when oneâs young itâs no easy matter! You, a wench in full bloom, to be living with the dregs of a man like that husband of yours.
AnĂsya
Mother MatryĂłna, would you believe it? Iâm that sick of him, that sick of this long-nosed cur of mine, I can hardly bear to look at him.
MatryĂłna
Yes, I see, itâs one of them cases. Just look here, looks round and whispers Iâve been to see that old man, you knowâ âheâs given me simples of two kinds. This, you see, is a sleeping draught. âJust give him one of these powders,â he says, âand heâll sleep so sound you might jump on him!â And this here, âThis is that kind of simple,â he says, âthat if you give one some of it to drink it has no smell whatever, but its strength is very great. There are seven doses here, a pinch at a time. Give him seven pinches,â he says, âand she wonât have far to look for freedom,â he says.
AnĂsya
O-o-oh! Whatâs that?
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