The Power of Darkness by Leo Tolstoy (best reads of all time .TXT) đ
Excerpt from the book:
Description
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.
Read free book «The Power of Darkness by Leo Tolstoy (best reads of all time .TXT) đ» - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
Download in Format:
- Author: Leo Tolstoy
Read book online «The Power of Darkness by Leo Tolstoy (best reads of all time .TXT) đ». Author - Leo Tolstoy
epub:type="z3998:persona">MatryĂłna
âNo sign whatever,â he says. Heâs taken a rouble for it. âCanât sell it for less,â he says. Because itâs no easy matter to get âem, you know. I paid him, dearie, out of my own money. If she takes them, thinks I, itâs all right; if she donât, I can let old Michaelâs daughter have them.
AnĂsya
O-o-oh! But maynât some evil come of them? Iâm frightened!
MatryĂłna
What evil, my jewel? If your old man was hale and hearty, âtwould be a different matter, but heâs neither alive nor dead as it is. Heâs not for this world. Such things often happen.
AnĂsya
O-o-oh, my poor head! Iâm afeared, Mother MatryĂłna, lest some evil come of them. No. That wonât do.
MatryĂłna
Just as you like. I might even return them to him.
AnĂsya
And are they to be used in the same way as the others? Mixed in water?
MatryĂłna
Better in tea, he says. âYou canât notice anything,â he says, âno smell nor nothing.â Heâs a cute old fellow too.
AnĂsya
Taking the powder. O-oh, my poor head! Could I have ever thought of such a thing if my life were not a very hell?
MatryĂłna
Youâll not forget that rouble? I promised to take it to the old man. Heâs had some trouble, too.
AnĂsya
Of course? Goes to her box and hides the powders.
MatryĂłna
And now, my jewel, keep it as close as you can, so that no one should find it out. Heaven defend that it should happen, but if anyone notices it, tell âem itâs for the black-beetles. Takes the rouble. Itâs also used for beetles. Stops short.
Enter AkĂm, who crosses himself in front of the icon, and then Peter, who sits down.
Peter
Well then, howâs it to be, Daddy AkĂm?
AkĂm
As itâs best, Peter IgnĂĄtitch, as itâs bestâ ââ ⊠I meanâ âas itâs best. âCos why? Iâm afeared of what dâyou call âems, some tomfoolery, you know. Iâd like to, what dâyou call itâ ââ ⊠to start, you know, start the lad honest, I mean. But supposing youâd rather, what dâyou call it, we might, I mean, whatâs name? As itâs bestâ ââ âŠ
Peter
All right. All right. Sit down and letâs talk it over. AkĂm sits down. Well then, whatâs it all about? You want him to marry?
MatryĂłna
As to marrying, he might bide a while, Peter IgnĂĄtitch. You know our poverty, Peter IgnĂĄtitch. Whatâs he to marry on? Weâve hardly enough to eat ourselves. How can he marry then?â ââ âŠ
Peter
You must consider what will be best.
MatryĂłna
Whereâs the hurry for him to get married? Marriage is not that sort of thing, itâs not like ripe raspberries that drop off if not picked in time.
Peter
If he were to get married, âtwould be a good thing in a way.
AkĂm
Weâd like toâ ââ ⊠what dâyou call it? âCos why, you see. Iâve what dâyou call itâ ââ ⊠a job. I mean, Iâve found a paying job in town, you know.
MatryĂłna
And a fine job tooâ âcleaning out cesspools. The other day when he came home, I could do nothing but spew and spew. Faugh!
AkĂm
Itâs true, at first it does seem what dâyou call itâ ââ ⊠knocks one clean over, you knowâ âthe smell, I mean. But one gets used to it, and then itâs nothing, no worse than malt grain, and then itâs, what dâyou call it,â ââ ⊠pays, pays, I mean. And as to the smell being, what dâyou call it, itâs not for the likes of us to complain. And one changes oneâs clothes. So weâd like to take whatâs his nameâ ââ ⊠NikĂta I mean, home. Let him manage things at home while I, what dâyou call itâ âearn something in town.
Peter
You want to keep your son at home? Yes, that would be well: but how about the money he has had in advance?
AkĂm
Thatâs it, thatâs it! Itâs just as you say, IgnĂĄtitch, itâs just what dâyou call it. âCos why? If you go into service, itâs as good as if you had sold yourself, they say. That will be all right. I mean he may stay and serve his time, only he must, what dâyou call it, get married. I meanâ âso: you let him off for a little while, that he may, what dâyou call it?
Peter
Yes, we could manage that.
MatryĂłna
Ah, but itâs not yet settled between ourselves, Peter IgnĂĄtitch. Iâll speak to you as I would before God, and you may judge between my old man and me. He goes on harping on that marriage. But just askâ âwho it is he wants him to marry. If it were a girl of the right sort nowâ âI am not my childâs enemy, but the wench is not honest.
AkĂm
No, thatâs wrong! Wrong, I say. âCos why? She, that same girlâ âitâs my son as has offended, offended the girl I mean.
Peter
How offended?
AkĂm
Thatâs how. Sheâs what dâyou call it, with him, with my son, NikĂta. With NikĂta, what dâyou call it, I mean.
MatryĂłna
You wait a bit, my tongue runs smootherâ âlet me tell it. You know, this lad of ours lived at the railway before he came to you. There was a girl there as kept dangling after him. A girl of no account, you know, her nameâs MarĂna. She used to cook for the men. So now this same girl accuses our son, NikĂta, that he, so to say, deceived her.
Peter
Well, thereâs nothing good in that.
MatryĂłna
But sheâs no honest girl herself; she runs after the fellows like a common slut.
AkĂm
There you are again, old woman, and itâs not at all what dâyou call it, itâs all not what dâyou call it, I meanâ ââ âŠ
MatryĂłna
There now, thatâs all the sense one gets from my old owlâ ââwhat dâyou call it, what dâyou call it,â and he doesnât know himself what he means. Peter IgnĂĄtitch, donât listen to me, but go yourself and ask anyone you like about the girl, everybody will say the same. Sheâs just a homeless good-for-nothing.
Peter
You know, Daddy AkĂm, if
Free e-book: «The Power of Darkness by Leo Tolstoy (best reads of all time .TXT) đ» - read online now on website american library books (americanlibrarybooks.com)
Similar e-books:
Comments (0)