ROBINSON. I know how to get along with that drink, I’ve adapted myself to it.
Paratov and Karandyshov go off through the door on the left.
(Robinson looks through the same door.) Karandyshov is a goner. I started him, and Serge’ll finish him off. Now they’re pouring, they’re striking up a pose, it’s a living tableau. Just see what a smile Serge has! Just like Bertram. (He sings from Meyerbeer’s opera Robert le Diable) “You are my savior.”… “I am your savior!”… “And protector.”… “And protector.” There, he swallowed it. They’re kissing. (He sings.) “How happy I!”… “O victim mine!” Oh no, Ivan’s taking away the cognac, he’s taking it away! (Loudly.) What are you doing, what are you doing, leave it! I’ve been waiting a long time for that. (He runs off.)
Ilya enters through the center door.
VOZHEVATOV. What is it, Ilya?
ILYA. We’re all ready, all gathered together waiting on the boulevard. When do you want to go?
VOZHEVATOV. Right away. We’ll all go together, just wait a little.
ILYA. Fine. Whatever you say. (Paratov enters.)
PARATOV. Ah, Ilya, are you all ready?
ILYA. We’re ready, Sergey Sergeyich.
PARATOV. Do you have your guitar with you?
ILYA. I didn’t bring it, Sergey Sergeyich.
PARATOV. We need a guitar, do you hear?
ILYA. I’ll run after one right away, Sergey Sergeyich! (He goes off.)
PARATOV. I want to ask Larisa Dmitriyevna to sing something for us, and then we’ll sail across the Volga.
KNUROV. Our excursion won’t be much fun without Larisa Dmitriyevna. If only… I could pay a lot for such a pleasure.
VOZHEVATOV. If Larisa Dmitriyevna would go along, I’d gladly give each rower a silver ruble.
PARATOV. Just imagine, gentlemen, I’m thinking the very same thing. So we’re in complete agreement.
KNUROV. But is there a possibility?
PARATOV. In this world nothing is impossible, so the philosophers say.
KNUROV. But Robinson, gentlemen, is superfluous. You’ve had your fun with him, so let it go at that. He’ll get so drunk he’ll be a brute, what good is that! This excursion’s a serious affair, he’s no companion for us. (Pointing to the door.) There he is, glued to the cognac.
VOZHEVATOV. So we won’t take him.
PARATOV. One way or another he’ll insist on coming with us.
VOZHEVATOV. Wait, gentlemen, I’ll get rid of him. (Through the door.) Robinson!
Robinson enters.
ROBINSON. What do you want?
VOZHEVATOV (quietly). How would you like to go to Paris?
ROBINSON. Paris? When?
VOZHEVATOV. Tonight.
ROBINSON. But we were getting ready to sail across the Volga.
VOZHEVATOV. As you wish. You sail across the Volga, and I’ll go to Paris.
ROBINSON. But I don’t even have a passport.
VOZHEVATOV. I’ll take care of that.
ROBINSON. I suppose I might.
VOZHEVATOV. Then we’ll leave here together. I’ll take you home to my place; you’ll wait for me there, get a rest, take a nap. I have to go to a couple of places on business.
ROBINSON. But it would be interesting to listen to the gypsies.
VOZHEVATOV. Always the artist! Shame on you! Gypsy songs, they’re nothing but ignorance. That sort of thing can’t compare with Italian opera or a gay operetta! That’s what you should listen to. I suppose you played in an operetta yourself.
ROBINSON. Of course! I played in The Songbirds.8
VOZHEVATOV. What role?
ROBINSON. The notary.
VOZHEVATOV. Well then, how could such an artist not visit Paris? After Paris what a price you’ll bring!
ROBINSON. Your hand!
VOZHEVATOV. You’re going?
ROBINSON. I’m going.
VOZHEVATOV (to Paratov). He was singing here from the opera Robert. What a voice!
PARATOV. He and I’ll be a sensation at the Nizhny Fair.
ROBINSON. You should ask whether I’m going.
PARATOV. Why is that?
ROBINSON. I see enough ignorance without going to some fair.
PARATOV. Aha! Now he’s started to talk!
ROBINSON. Nowadays educated people go to Europe, they don’t hang out at fairs.
PARATOV. Which governments and cities of Europe do you wish to make happy with your presence?
ROBINSON. Paris, of course. I’ve been meaning to go there for some time.
VOZHEVATOV. He and I are going tonight.
PARATOV. So! Bon voyage! You really ought to go to Paris. That’s all you need. But where’s our host?
ROBINSON. He’s there. He said he was preparing a surprise for us.
Mme. Ogudalov and Larisa enter from the right. Karandyshov and Ivan enter from the left.
PARATOV (to Larisa). Why did you leave us?
LARISA. I don’t feel very well.
PARATOV. Your fiancé and I just now drank to eternal friendship. Now we’re friends forever.
LARISA. Thank you. (She presses Paratov’s hand.)
KARANDYSHOV (to Paratov). Serge!
PARATOV (to Larisa). You see how close we are. (To Karandyshov.) What would you like?
KARANDYSHOV. Somebody’s asking for you.
PARATOV. Who is it?
IVAN. It’s the gypsy Ilya.
PARATOV. Then call him in.
Ivan goes off.
Gentlemen, forgive me for inviting Ilya into your society. He’s my best friend. Where I’m accepted my friends have to be accepted. That’s a rule of mine.
VOZHEVATOV (quietly to Larisa). I know a new song.
LARISA. Is it good?
VOZHEVATOV. Wonderful! It goes “We’ll swing the rope she skips, the maid is wearing shoes.”9
LARISA. That’s funny.
VOZHEVATOV. I’ll teach it to you.
Ilya enters with a guitar.
PARATOV (to Larisa). Allow me, Larisa Dmitriyevna, to ask you to make us happy! Sing us a romance or some little song. I haven’t heard you for a whole year, and I’ll probably never hear you again.
KNUROV. Allow me to second the request!
KARANDYSHOV. That’s impossible, gentlemen, impossible. Larisa Dmitriyevna won’t be singing.
PARATOV. But how can you know she won’t. Maybe she will.
LARISA. Excuse me, gentlemen, I’m not in the mood today, and I’m not in good voice.
KNUROV. Anything, whatever you want!
KARANDYSHOV. But if I say she won’t be singing, then she won’t be singing.
PARATOV. We’ll see about that. We’ll ask as much as we have to even if we have to go to our knees.
VOZHEVATOV. I’ll go down right now, I’m flexible.
KARANDYSHOV. No, no, don’t even ask, it’s impossible, I forbid it.
MME OGUDALOV. What did you say! You can forbid it when you get the right, but for now you can wait with your forbidding, it’s too early.
KARANDYSHOV. No, no! I positively forbid it.
LARISA. You forbid it? Then I’ll sing, gentlemen.
Karandyshov, sulking, goes off into a corner and sits down.
PARATOV. llya!
ILYA. What shall we sing, miss?
LARISA. “O tempt me not.”
ILYA (tuning up the guitar). Here’s where we need a third voice! Oh, what a shame! What a tenor he was! All from his stupidity. (They sing in two parts.)
O tempt me not if there’s no need,
Restoring tenderness of old.
A disillusioned lover’s freed
From former charms which once turned cold.
In various ways everyone shows delight. Paratov sits with his hands thrust into his hair. In the second stanza Robinson joins in a bit.
No more a promise do I trust.
No more does love hold my belief.
Protect myself I wish and must
From former dreams which brought me grief.
ILYA (to Robinson). Thank you, sir. You came to our rescue.
KNUROV (to Larisa). It’s a great delight to see you and even more of a delight to listen to you.
PARATOV (with a gloomy look). I feel as if I’m going out of my mind. (He kisses Larisa’s hand.)
VOZHEVATOV. To listen and then be ready to die! (To Karandyshov.) And you wanted to deprive us of the pleasure.
KARANDYSHOV. Gentlemen, I no less than you admire the singing of Larisa Dmitriyevna. Now let’s drink champagne to her health.
VOZHEVATOV. It’s a pleasure to hear such a clever speech.
KARANDYSHOV (loudly). Serve champagne!
MME OGUDALOV (quietly). Not so loud! Why are you shouting!
KARANDYSHOV Really now, I’m in my own house. I know what I’m doing. (Loudly.) Serve champagne!
Yefrosinya Potapovna enters.
YEFROSINYA POTAPOVNA. What do you want champagne for? First it’s one thing, then the other.
KARANDYSHOV. Mind your own business! Do what you’re told!
YEFROSINYA POTAPOVNA. Go yourself! I’ve walked myself out, I don’t even think I’ve eaten a thing since morning. (She goes off.)
Karandyshov goes through the door on the left.
MME OGUDALOV. Listen, Yuly Kapitonych!… (She follows Karandyshov.)
PARATOV. llya, go! Have the boats ready. We’ll be coming right away.
llya leaves through the center door.
VOZHEVATOV (to Knurov). Let’s leave him alone with Larisa Dmitriyevna. (To Robinson.) Robinson, look, Ivan is taking away the cognac.
ROBINSON. I’ll kill him. It would be easier for me to part with life itself!
Knurov, Vozhevatov, and Robinson go off on the left.
PARATOV. What a charmer you are! (He looks passionately at Larisa.) How I cursed myself when you were singing!
LARISA. For what?
PARATOV. I’m not made of wood, you know. To lose a treasure like you, do you think that’s easy?
LARISA. And whose fault is that?
PARATOV. Mine, of course, and I’m much more at fault than you think. I ought to despise myself.
LARISA. For what? Tell me.
PARATOV. Why did I run away from you? What have I exchanged you for?
LARISA. Then why did you do it?
PARATOV. Oh, why! It was cowardice, of course. I had to put my estate in order. But who cares about that, the estate! I lost more than the estate, I lost you. I’m suffering myself, and I made you suffer.
LARISA. Yes, to tell the truth, you poisoned my life for a long time.
PARATOV. But wait, wait before you condemn me! I haven’t lowered myself completely yet, I’m not completely hardened. I wasn’t born mercenary, some noble feelings still stir in my soul. There are still a few moments like that, yes… still a few moments like that…
LARISA (quietly). Keep on.
PARATOV. I’ll throw away all my calculations, and there won’t be any force to tear you away from me. It would have to take my life along with it.
LARISA. But what do you want?
PARATOV. To see you, to listen to you… I’m leaving tomorrow.
LARISA (lowering her head). Tomorrow.
PARATOV. To listen to your charming voice, to forget the whole world, and to dream only about a certain bliss.
LARISA (quietly). What bliss?
PARATOV. The bliss of being your slave, being at your feet.
LARISA. But how?
PARATOV. Listen, we’re going for a boat trip on the Volga. Come with us!
LARISA. Oh, but what about here? I really don’t know… What about things here?
PARATOV. What does that mean, “here”? They’ll come here in a minute: Karandyshov’s aunt, some ladies in colored silk dresses, and they’ll talk about salted mushrooms.
LARISA. When are you going?
PARATOV. Right now.
LARISA. Now?
PARATOV. It’s now or never.
LARISA. Let’s go.
PARATOV. What, you’ve decided to cross the Volga?
LARISA. Wherever you want.
PARATOV. With us, now?
LARISA. Whenever you want.
PARATOV. I confess I can’t think of anything more noble than that. Charming creature! My commander!
LARISA. It’s you who are my commander.
Mme. Ogudalov, Knurov, Vozhevatov, Robinson, Karandyshov, and Ivan enter. Ivan is carrying a tray with glasses of champagne.
PARATOV (to Knurov and Vozhevatov). She’s coming.
KARANDYSHOV. Gentlemen, I propose a toast to Larisa Dmitriyevna.
All take glasses.
Gentlemen, just now you admired the talent of Larisa Dmitriyevna. Your praises are nothing new for her. From childhood on she has been surrounded by admirers who have praised her to her face at every good opportunity. Yes, gentlemen, she really has many talents. But it is not for them that I wish to praise her. The main thing, the priceless merit of Larisa Dmitriyevna is this, gentlemen… is this, gentlemen…
VOZHEVATOV. He’s mixed up.
PARATOV. He’ll snap out of it, he memorized it.
KARANDYSHOV. Is this, gentlemen, that she knows how to evaluate and choose people. Yes, gentlemen, Larisa Dmitriyevna knows that all is not gold that glitters. She knows how to distinguish gold from tinsel. Many glittering young men have surrounded her, but she wasn’t carried away by the glitter of tinsel. She did not seek for herself a man of glitter but a man of merit…
PARATOV (approvingly). Bravo, bravo!
KARANDYSHOV. And she chose…
PARATOV. You! Bravo, bravo!
VOZHEVATOV AND ROBINSON. Bravo, bravo!
KARANDYSHOV. Yes, gentlemen, I not only dare, but I have the right to be proud, and I am proud. She understood me, esteemed me, and preferred me to everyone. Forgive me, gentlemen, perhaps this isn’t pleasant for everyone to hear, but I consider it my duty to thank Larisa Dmitriyevna publicly for this preference so flattering to me. Gentlemen, I myself drink to and invite you to drink to the health of my fiancée!
PARATOV, VOZHEVATOV AND ROBINSON. Hurrah!
PARATOV (to Karandyshov). Is there any more champagne?
KARANDYSHOV. Of course, how couldn’t there be? How can you ask? I’ll go get some.
PARATOV. We have to drink another toast.
KARANDYSHOV. Which?
PARATOV. To the health of the happiest of mortals, to Yuly Kapitonych Karandyshov.
KARANDYSHOV. Oh, yes, and you’ll make it up? You make it, Serge! And I’ll go and see about getting the champagne. (He goes off.)
KNUROV. Well, that’s enough of that. Good-bye. I’ll get a bite and then go right away to the meeting place. (He bows to the ladies.)
VOZHEVATOV (pointing to the center door). Go that way, Moky Parmenych. There’s an exit straight to the anteroom, nobody will see you.
Knurov goes off.
PARATOV (to Vozhevatov). We’ll go now too. (To Larisa.) You should get ready.
Larisa goes off to the right.
VOZHEVATOV. Aren’t we going to wait for the toast?
PARATOV. This way it’s better.
VOZHEVATOV. How’s that?
PARATOV. It’ll be funnier.
Larisa enters with hat in hand.
VOZHEVATOV. It will be funnier at that. Robinson! Let’s go.
ROBINSON. Where to?
VOZHEVATOV. Home to get ready for Paris.
Robinson and Vozhevatov bow and leave.
PARATOV (quietly to Larisa). Let’s go! (He goes off.)
LARISA. Good-bye, Mama.
MME OGUDALOV. What are you doing! Where are you going?
LARISA. Either you’ll be happy for me, Mama, or you’ll be searching for me in the Volga.
MME OGUDALOV. God be with you! What are you doing!
LARISA. It’s clear you can’t escape your fate! (She goes off.)
MME OGUDALOV. So that’s what it’s finally come to, a general flight! Oh, Larisa!… Should I run after her or not? No, why!
Whatever happens, in any case there’ll be people around her… But here, even if she gives all that up, it’s no great loss.
Karandyshov and Ivan enter with a bottle of champagne.
KARANDYSHOV. Gentlemen, I…(He looks around the room.) But where are they? Have they gone? Now that’s polite, I must say! Oh well, so much the better! But when did they manage to do it? And maybe you’ll go away too? No, you and Larisa Dmitriyevna stay awhile. Were they offended? I understand! Well and good. That leaves our snug family circle…But where is Larisa Dmitriyevna? (He goes to the door on the right.) Aunty, is Larisa Dmitriyevna with you?
YEFROSINYA POTAPOVNA (entering). Your Larisa Dmitriyevna isn’t with me.
KARANDYSHOV. But what’s going on, really! Ivan, where did all the gentlemen and Larisa Dmitriyevna disappear to?
IVAN. Larisa Dmitriyevna must have gone off with the gentlemen… Because the gentlemen were getting ready to go across the Volga, they were having some kind of picnic.
KARANDYSHOV. How could they have it across the Volga?
IVAN. They’re going on the boats, sir. The utensils and the wine all came from us, sir. We sent them off a little while ago, and the help too, all in proper order, sir.
KARANDYSHOV (sits down and grabs his head). Oh, what is this, what is this!
IVAN. And the gypsies, and the band of musicians with them, all in proper order.
KARANDYSHOV (heatedly). Kharita Ignatyevna, where is your daughter? Answer me, where is your daughter?
MME OGUDALOV. I brought my daughter here to you, Yuly Kapitonych. You tell me where my daughter is.
KARANDYSHOV. So this was all thought out, all planned. You people were all agreed in advance… (With tears.) It’s cruel, it’s inhumanly cruel!
MME OGUDALOV. It was too soon for you to be triumphant!
KARANDYSHOV. Yes, this is ridiculous… I’m a ridiculous man… I know myself I’m a ridiculous man. But are people punished because they’re ridiculous? So I’m ridiculous, all right then, go ahead and laugh at me, right to my face! Come eat with me, drink my wine, make fun of me, and laugh at me, I deserve it. But to break open a man’s chest and tear out his heart, to throw it underfoot and then stamp all over it! Oh, oh! How am I going to live! How am I going to live!
YEFROSINYA POTAPOVNA. That’s enough now, stop it! It’s just not worth making yourself unhappy over it!
KARANDYSHOV. And they’re not highway robbers either, they’re respectable people… They’re all friends of Kharita Ignatyevna.
Without a Dowry and Other Plays Page 26
