ARISTARKH. If it’s true justice you want, then wait. There’ll be true justice too.
GAVRILO. Will it come soon?
ARISTARKH. Well, not too soon, but when it comes it’ll be good. It’ll judge everybody, the judges and the judged, those who gave an unjust judgment and those who didn’t give any.
GAVRILO. I know what it is you’re talking about.
ARISTARKH. So you know, why ask? Are you wearing that sack or going on a trip?
GAVRILO. I’m going on a pilgrimage.
ARISTARKH. A pleasant trip! Where to?
GAVRILO. To a hermitage.
ARISTARKH. Alone?
GAVRILO. No, there’s a lot of us, and your goddaughter too.
ARISTARKH. The one who ran away? They must be looking for her at home.
GAVRILO. No, her godmother sent word that they’d gone off on a pilgrimage and not to look for her. And who’s going to cry for her over there? Her stepmother will be glad she’s gone, and it won’t make any difference to her father since he’s lost all understanding. He won’t give me my back pay, a hundred and fifty rubles.
The chief of police and Silan come down from the porch.
GRADOBOEV. I’ll go crazy with this damn business; I can’t sleep nights now. It’s as if somebody stuck a nail in my head. But I’ll get to the bottom of it. (To Silan.) Now you just speak some sense, you dummy!
SILAN. I won’t say a thing, so there. It would be a great sin. This is a mixed-up business! Yes! Mixed up! Terribly mixed up!
GRADOBOEV. Well, and the master, before Vasily, did he suspect anybody then?
SILAN. His eyes were bloated, I say, bloated, all dimmed over. He can’t see what’s real, and because of his craziness, he just spouts nonsense.
GRADOBOEV. I’ll take you in hand. I’ll put you in prison.
SILAN. Just look! He’s thought and thought, and come up with something new. All from a great mind!
GRADOBOEV. Who do you think you’re being insolent with! You watch out who you’re being insolent with!
SILAN. This is all stupid and has nothing to do with anything.
GRADOBOEV. I can see you haven’t been in jail for a long time.
SILAN. Because that’s not where I belong.
GRADOBOEV. Be quiet!
SILAN. I’m quiet.
GRADOBOEV. I’ll make you talk, brother! (Advancing on him). Who stole it?
SILAN. If you try to scare me… then I don’t know a thing… that’s what I’ll say over and over again… You can burn me with fire… So that’s how it is. I’m telling you, you can look for an answer from a stone quicker than from me.
GRADOBOEV. You people are all barbarians! But you’re sure it wasn’t Vaska?
SILAN. How should I know? Vaska is small fry, you can pester him any way you want, but all the same, he has a soul, it has feelings.
GRADOBOEV. And it wasn’t Gavrilka either?
SILAN. That again is not my business. Gavrilka is an honest man no matter how you twist him. And do you think he has a miserable penny to his name? Not at all! But compared to some others he has a conscience… He has enough of that.
GRADOBOEV. So, then it comes down to you?
SILAN. To me? I don’t know a thing, that’s the long and short of it!
GRADOBOEV. All right then, to prison you go. There’s no point in talking with you any more.
SILAN. Even if you put me in prison it won’t change anything. So there… (Decisively.) I don’t know a thing… How could you try to scare me, an old man!
GRADOBOEV (running up to him and showing his fists). But I’m not trying to scare you. I’m using tenderness with you, do you understand, tenderness.
SILAN. But even with tenderness…
GRADOBOEV. You know, if you help me, I’ll seal the deal with something nice… say, ten or fifteen rubles.
SILAN. It would be easier for you to get a stone priest to give you iron communion wafers than…
GRADOBOEV. Not another word, you scoundrel! Show respect for the town’s chief official.
SILAN. What do you mean, respect? I’m showing it, my hat’s off.
GRADOBOEV. Listen! (He whispers into Silan’s ear.)
SILAN. Yes!
GRADOBOEV. Often?
SILAN. Almost every night.
GRADOBOEV. Well, listen. (He whispers.) You give the sign right away. Shout.
SILAN. I’ll do it!
GRADOBOEV. Only not a word to anyone or you’ll hear from me!
SILAN. All right…
GRADOBOEV. So go!
SILAN. Good-bye. (He leaves.)
Gavrilo approaches.
GRADOBOEV (seeing Gavrilo). And what are you doing here, my dear friend, loitering?
GAVRILO. Your Honor, I don’t have a job any more, sir.
GRADOBOEV. That’s bad. It’s the man without a job who ends up a scoundrel.
GAVRILO. Serapion Mardaryich, none of this is my fault. And it isn’t just that I don’t have a job; I don’t have a single kopeck.
GRADOBOEV. That’s even worse! Now you and I have an extra sorrow. My friend, I’ll have to look after you as if you’re my own son.
GAVRILO. Don’t abandon me.
GRADOBOEV. I won’t abandon you. I’ll keep both eyes peeled on you so you won’t steal a thing. For it’s when a man doesn’t have a kopeck in his pocket that he looks at other men’s goods, that’s when his hands itch. And people like that are dear to my heart.
GAVRILO. What do I want with other people’s goods! It’s my very own that’s not being given me.
GRADOBOEV. Not being given?
GAVRILO. The master kicked me out but didn’t pay me.
GRADOBOEV. He kicked you out? The robber! So what do you want me to do with him at this point?
GAVRILO. Show God’s mercy to me.
GRADOBOEV. I’ll do it. You wait till your master comes and ask him for a settlement in my presence. Then I’ll get satisfaction from him.
GAVRILO. And will that turn out good for me, Your Honor?
GRADOBOEV. I don’t know, my friend. Here’s what I think will happen. The master will curse you out, but you’ll insist. Then he’ll give you a good thrashing, and I’ll add to it.
GAVRILO. Then how can I get the money from him, Your Honor?
GRADOBOEV. What does that have to do with me? Any way you want!
GAVRILO. So I’m supposed to die of hunger?
GRADOBOEV. So you’re supposed to die. But who knows, maybe he’ll give it to you.
GAVRILO. No, he won’t give it. Not unless you order him to.
GRADOBOEV. Order him to! But first think of this, whether you’re such a high and mighty bird that for your sake I should have a quarrel with your master. I’m not about to grab him by the collar or reprimand him with the cane, the way I do with you. If I go and intercede for some merchant’s assistant what will all the masters say! The assistants aren’t going to send me any flour, or any oats for my horses. Are you assistants going to feed me? So, hasn’t your desire to go to court just passed away? If it hasn’t, you just wait, my friend, you just wait!
GAVRILO. I think I’d better…
GRADOBOEV. Exactly, you’d better… get going, and quick, or else I’ll give orders to detain you.
GAVRILO (stepping away and bowing). I’m going…
GRADOBOEV. Go!
Gavrilo goes off quickly.
Stop him! Ha-ha-ha!
Gavrilo runs away and hides behind a corner.
Ah, work, work! Now for the sake of order I’ve got to go down to the market! (He shouts.) Sidorenko!
Sidorenko appears in the doorway.
SIDORENKO. Would you like something, Your Honor?
GRADOBOEV. Bring a sack and catch up with me. I’m going to the market. (He leaves.)
Sidorenko runs after him with a sack. Gavrilo and Parasha enter. She is dressed as a pilgrim. Aristarkh goes up to her.
ARISTARKH. Why, my beauty, are you wandering about town?
PARASHA. Godfath
er, how could I get to see Vasya?
ARISTARKH. Why bother with him? Leave him alone!
PARASHA. No, Godfather, that’s impossible. It’s because of me he’s there, but he’s innocent. I’ll tell you the whole mess right away; I don’t have to feel ashamed with you. He came to see me, but they took him for a thief.
ARISTARKH. I see! Yes, it’s a bad business all right! But you’re the daughter of a rich father; probably somebody would take notice.
PARASHA. It doesn’t matter! They won’t recognize me. You see how I’m dressed and I’ll cover my face with my kerchief. And even if they do recognize me, what’s the harm! I’m not a rich father’s daughter any more; now, Godfather, I’m a soldier’s wife.
ARISTARKH. What’s that, what did you say? Wife of a soldier?
PARASHA. That’s right! (She undoes the bundle in the kerchief.) I’ll marry him for sure in a few days, and if somebody stops me, then I declare ahead of time that I’ll do something shameful, I’ll go off to him in the barracks. (She gives him money.) Here, take this money and give it to the soldiers on guard.
ARISTARKH. Are you out of your mind! Good heavens!
PARASHA. But what’s the matter! What are you afraid of? Am I not responsible for myself? Don’t be afraid! Why! My conscience is compelling me so this must be necessary. People have treated him badly, taken everything from him, everything… separated him from his father. Really! He loves me, and this might be all he has left in the world, so why should I take this last joy from him? Why should I be proud before him? Is he worse than I am? In any case, I wouldn’t stay single, you know that. They’d marry me off, Godfather. Do you think it would be easier for me to try and please some drunken merchant against my will? Not only wouldn’t I want to, but I even think I could murder him with a knife! But here there’s no sin, it’s for love.
ARISTARKH. Well, I can see nobody’s going to outargue you. What can anyone do with you! But what do I need with your money? I have money of my own, and you may need yours. (He gives back the money and goes off into the jail.)
GAVRILO (putting his sack onto his shoulders). Are we going to set off soon?
PARASHA. As soon as I get to see Vasya.
GAVRILO. All right, you two see each other. Aristarkh and I’ll keep watch so nobody sees you.
Aristarkh comes out.
ARISTARKH. The prisoners are going for water now, and they’re going to let him out with them.
Two prisoners come out carrying a tub, and they pass by on their way to the river. Behind them come Vasya and a soldier. Aristarkh and Gavrilo go off to the dock.
PARASHA (bows). Hello, Vasya.
VASYA (completely overwhelmed). How did you get here? Oh God! This makes it even harder for me! (He wipes away tears.)
PARASHA. It’s all right, Vasya, it’s all right! Don’t cry! (She embraces him.) I left home for good, now I can be with you the rest of my life. However you live, I’ll live.
VASYA. How can that be?
PARASHA. I’ll marry you, we’ll get married… it’s all right, don’t cry… He’s my husband, I’ll say, I can’t be separated from him, I’ll say… don’t pull us apart, I’ll say, you’ll do better to give us a church wedding.
VASYA. Thank you! (He kisses her.)
PARASHA. Well, that’s settled. Now let’s talk about our life, Vasya, my darling Vasya!
VASYA. Let’s talk about it.
PARASHA (squeezing up to him). In the army they’ll beat you a lot.
VASYA. I’ll try hard.
PARASHA. Try, Vasya, try! And here’s what to do. As soon as you’ve gotten all your training and been transferred from the recruits to a regiment and you’re a real soldier, then you ask the chief himself, whoever’s the most important, to send you to the Caucasus and straight into combat!
VASYA. What for?
PARASHA. And you try to kill as many as you can, as many of the enemy as you can. Don’t spare yourself at all!
VASYA. But what if I’m the one to get…
PARASHA. Well, all right, we all have to die sometime. At least I’d have something to cry about. I’d have real grief then, a most solemn grief. But you just stop and think. If you don’t ask for combat duty and they transfer you to garrison duty, you’ll start getting spoiled… you’ll steal from the vegetable gardens… what kind of life would I have then? The worst of all. It wouldn’t be grief, but it wouldn’t be happiness either; it would be a low and vile life. My heart would be in anguish just looking at you.
VASYA. I imagine they’ll send me to the guards, to St. Petersburg.
PARASHA. All right, fine, still combat duty would be better. Just imagine. If God helps you, they’ll promote you for your bravery to officer, and you’ll get a leave. You and I’ll come to this very town, and we’ll walk around arm in arm. Then let these villains take a look at us. (She embraces him.) Eh, Vasya? Maybe you and I, to make up for all our trouble, will live to see such joy.
VASYA. Why not, what’s so surprising, if a man has courage…
PARASHA. So, Vasya, I’m going to a hermitage now, and I’ll pray to God for you. I’ll pray all day, Vasyenka, all day long that God grant us everything you and I have thought of. Could my sinful prayer really not reach Him? Where could I go then? People are treating me badly… (She cries.) Here’s what, Vasya. I’ll come see you tomorrow. I’m living with my godmother now, and I won’t go back home for anything! As soon as I stepped over the threshold, could you believe it, I felt I’d rather go through fire than go back there. When I’m there I feel cold, as if there’s no light and there’s somebody to hurt you in every corner, it’s as if I’m being cursed there forever and ever, and I’m full of anguish. It’s just as if I’d been thrown into a pit, a pit. (She becomes pensive.) But never mind, Vasya, you take courage and get ahead of those others…
SOLDIER. Hey, you! It’s not permitted to talk with prisoners.
VASYA. Just a minute, soldier, just a little bit longer. (To Parasha.) You seem like some angel from heaven now…
PARASHA. So, my dear, good-bye for now.
VASYA (kisses her). Good-bye. (He kisses her.)
Parasha goes off and bows from afar. Vasya goes toward the gate with the soldier.
PARASHA (to the soldier). Oh wait, soldier, wait!
The soldier and Vasya stop.
Vasya, here is a little money for you, even if it’s just to buy a little loaf of bread. Good-bye, darling.
VASYA. But that’s enough now!
SOLDIER. Let’s go! What do you think this is! It’s not permitted!
PARASHA. All right, God be with you!
Vasya and the soldier go off. Parasha looks after him for some time.
Wait, soldier, wait!
Aristarkh and Gavrilo approach.
GAVRILO. Let’s go quickly. The pilgrims have just left town.
PARASHA. Stay away from me! (She walks to the jail, looks at the windows, then sits down on the bench by the gate and sings.)
I see my friend off far away,
A man exiled he’s gone to stay.
I go with him, we both go down
To stony Moscow, mother town.
The merchants there at us did stare,
Who says good-bye, what kind of pair?
Not brother’s sister, husband’s mate?
Or some brave lad’s most pretty Kate?10
(She wipes away the tears and comes to Gavrilo.) All right, let’s go. Don’t be mad at me.
GAVRILO (giving her a staff). How could I be! Here’s a staff I picked out for you.
PARASHA (takes the staff). I have to start a new life, Gavryusha. And it’s hard for me. You can say what you want, Gavryusha, but women don’t have the strength of men.
GAVRILO (through tears). There’s some carving on the staff. It’s very pretty!
ARISTARKH. Go, Parasha, go! The chief of police is coming with your father.
PARASHA. Good-bye, Godfather!
Parasha and Gavrilo leave.
ARISTARKH. She’
s not my daughter, but I feel so sorry for her, so awfully sorry!
The police chief, Kuroslepov, and Sidorenko enter. Sidorenko has some sacks.
GRADOBOEV (to Sidorenko). Tell them to get some refreshments ready.
Sidorenko goes off.
KUROSLEPOV. You find her for me! That’s your first order of business! That’s why you’re chief of police here.
GRADOBOEV. Don’t you teach me. I know my job and why I have it. It wasn’t you who made me chief of police, and you have no right to tell me what to do.
KUROSLEPOV. If you’re going to let people run away and not pay any attention whatsoever…
GRADOBOEV. What do you mean, run away? She went off on a pilgrimage with her godmother.
KUROSLEPOV. A pilgrimage?
GRADOBOEV. There, you see? I know more about it than you do. That’s why I’m chief of police, that’s why I’ve been honored with an official position. But you’re a peasant, and it’s a peasant you’ll stay for ever and ever.
KUROSLEPOV. But how could she go without asking?
GRADOBOEV. Who was there to ask? Her stepmother wouldn’t let her go, and you sleep all day. But she has some energy.
KUROSLEPOV. Anyway, when she comes, you send her to me with a guard…
GRADOBOEV. A guard?
KUROSLEPOV. On a rope.
GRADOBOEV. A rope too?
KUROSLEPOV. We’ll lock her upstairs so she can’t get out.
GRADOBOEV. Just what kind of people are you? Why do you enjoy doing every shameful thing? Others are ashamed of doing shameful things, but for you it’s the greatest pleasure. Do you have any understanding of what honor is or not?
KUROSLEPOV. What honor is? I’ve made my bundle, there’s honor for you. The more money you have, the more honor you have.
GRADOBOEV. Well, the peasant will show himself! You’re coated with ignorance, like a tree with bark. And that bark couldn’t be broken even with a cannon.
KUROSLEPOV. So what!
GRADOBOEV. His daughter, unmarried, and he wants her led by a guard on a rope.
KUROSLEPOV. It’s because of… it’s for her lack of respect… so she should feel…
ARISTARKH. Poor thing!
KUROSLEPOV. Who’s that? Who was that talking?
GRADOBOEV. It’s Aristarkh, your daughter’s godfather.
KUROSLEPOV (to Aristarkh). Who is that poor thing you’re talking about?
Without a Dowry and Other Plays Page 15
