ALEXANDER ( rushing toward Elizaveta Alexandrovna ). Dear Aunt!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Are you in love again, Alexander, as before?
ALEXANDER. No, much more happily! I don’t choke from joy now, like an animal; I’m conscious of my happiness, I meditate on it, and for that reason it’s perhaps quieter, but fuller. What a difference between that other woman and Yuliya! If you knew, dear Aunt, how many virtues she has!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. For example?
ALEXANDER. She loves me so!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. That is, of course, a great virtue…
ALEXANDER. The matter is.… I want… to marry her.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA ( hiding her surprise ). You will be a very happy husband, Alexander. Only don’t hurry… don’t be hasty.
ALEXANDER. I shall obey you, dear Aunt. Uncle likely is already angry. Forgive me, dear Aunt; for him the process of digestion is more important than love.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Do you think so?
ALEXANDER. Unquestionably… ( He kisses Elizaveta Alexandrovna’s hand. Exit Elizaveta Alexandrovna. Alone, Alexander rushes into the hall. Feverishly he puts on his outer garments, examines himself in the mirror, and rushes out headlong. )
SCENE 15
Again the room at Tafayeva’s; she sits in an armchair embroidering. Alexander, at the other end of the stage, sits doing nothing; he looks at his watch, yawns, looks at Yuliya.
TAFAYEVA. What are you doing there? What are you thinking about?
ALEXANDER. Nothing… ( Speaking his thoughts in an aside inaudible to Tafayeva. ) What kind of love is this! Some kind of sleepy love without energy. This woman surrendered to feeling without resistance, without a struggle, like a victim. She bestowed her love on the first man who came along.
TAFAYEVA. Sit here… closer…
ALEXANDER ( without answering Tafayeva, continues his aside ). If I hadn’t been there, she would have indeed fallen in love with Surkov… It’s simply immoral!
TAFAYEVA. What’s the matter with you?
ALEXANDER ( gets up, goes to Tafayeva; aside ). Is this love? The devil knows what it is, you can’t make sense of it!
TAFAYEVA. What’s the matter with you?
ALEXANDER ( sitting down in the armchair near Tafayeva ). I don’t know… I feel… as if I…
TAFAYEVA. You will be my husband! Soon all this will be yours!
ALEXANDER ( aside ). What fun, how pleasant to go walking alone! To go where you want, stop, read a sign, look in a store window, set off this way, that way…it’s so wonderful! Freedom is a great blessing! Yes! In the broad, highest sense, freedom precisely means to go out walking alone!
TAFAYEVA ( continuing ). You will rule in this house as in my heart.
ALEXANDER. And if I fell out of love with you?
TAFAYEVA. I’d box your ears! What’s the matter with you? You’re silent, you hardly listen to me, look to the side… What’s the matter with you, Alexander?
ALEXANDER ( aside ). How she’s latched on to me! I don’t know why!
TAFAYEVA. Are you bored?
ALEXANDER ( aside, delighted ). Boring! That’s the right word! That’s it… That’s it, boring… What am I to do? And she’s discussing love and marriage…
TAFAYEVA. Are you bored, Alexander?
ALEXANDER. How can you ask! Not a bit! (Gets up. )
TAFAYEVA. Where are you going?
ALEXANDER. Home.
TAFAYEVA. It isn’t eleven o’clock yet.
ALEXANDER. I must write to Mama, I haven’t written her for a long while.
TAFAYEVA. What do you mean “long”? You wrote her day before yesterday.
ALEXANDER. Well, I’m just sleepy. I didn’t sleep much last night, that’s all.
TAFAYEVA. “Didn’t sleep much! ” Then why did you say earlier this morning that you slept nine hours? You even said that your head had started to ache from it!
ALEXANDER. But my head does ache… That’s why I’m going.
TAFAYEVA. But after dinner you said the headache had gone.
ALEXANDER. Heavens! What a memory you have! This is unbearable! Well, I simply want to go home!
TAFAYEVA. You mean you’re not comfortable here? What do you have at home?
ALEXANDER. Work.
TAFAYEVA. Yes, of course: dinner at Dumé’s, rides in the hills–very important business!
ALEXANDER. What does this mean? You’re apparently having me watched? I won’t stand for it! (Goes to the door. )
TAFAYEVA. Stop, listen! Let’s have a talk.
ALEXANDER. I haven’t time.
TAFAYEVA. One minute. Sit down.
ALEXANDER ( unwillingly sits down on the edge of his chair ). Quickly, I have no time!
TAFAYEVA. You don’t love me then?
ALEXANDER. The same old song!
TAFAYEVA. How she has bored you! (Begins to weep. )
ALEXANDER ( enraged ). This is the last straw! Haven’t you tormented me enough!
TAFAYEVA. I’ve tormented you!
ALEXANDER. This is insufferable! (Goes to the door. )
TAFAYEVA. All right, I won’t, I won’t. (Wipes away her tears. ) You see, I’m not crying. But don’t go away, sit down. (Alexander sits down on the edge of the chair; Tafayeva goes to him, kneels and strokes him. Alexander sits still, not responding to her caresses. Tafayeva jumps up, speaks in staccato jerks. )Leave me! (Alexander heads for the door. Tafayeva rushes after him. )Alexander Fyodorovich! Alexander Fyodorovich! (Alexander turns. )Where are you going?
ALEXANDER. Why, you told me to leave.
TAFAYEVA. And you’re even glad to run away. Stay!
ALEXANDER. I have no time. (Looks at Tafayeva, aside ). How ugly she is!
TAFAYEVA. I’ll have my revenge! You think it’s so easy to play with a woman’s fate? No, I shall not let you go, I’ll follow you everywhere. You won’t get away from me no matter where you go. If you go to the country, I’ll follow you. Go abroad–I’ll go there too, everywhere and forever. I shall pursue you everywhere. I don’t care what kind of life I lead… I have nothing more to lose. But I’ll poison your life–I’ll get even, I’ll have my revenge. I must have a rival. You can’t just have left me like that… I’ll find her–and you’ll see what I’ll do. You’ll wish you’d never been born! With what pleasure I’d hear of your death… I could kill you myself!
ALEXANDER ( aside ). How stupid! How absurd this is!
TAFAYEVA ( continuing ). Have pity on me! Don’t leave me! What shall I do now without you! I shall not survive our separation. I shall die! Think about it: women love differently–more tenderly, more strongly than men. Love is everything for them, especially for me. Others flirt, love society, noise and fuss. I’m different. I love quiet, solitude, books, music, but you–more than anything in the world! Well, all right, you don’t love me, but keep your promise. Marry me, only be with me… You’ll be free. Do what you want, even love whomever you want, if only I see you sometimes, even rarely… ( Falls on the sofa and begins to weep hysterically. )
ALEXANDER ( aside ). She’s dying from suffering and I don’t care. I don’t even feel pity for her. She’s become unpleasant, even repulsive to me. What is this? (Stands for a while, turns and leaves. )
(A maid enters, sees the sobbing Tafayeva, runs to her. )
TAFAYEVA. But where is…
MAID. He’s gone…
TAFAYEVA. Gone! Oh! (Shriek. )
(Lights out. )
ACT III
SCENE 16
Alexander’s room. Alexander is lying on the sofa, unshaven, eyes inflamed and vacant.
EVSEI ( entering, shows Alexander the shoes he is polishing ). Just look, Sir; this boot wax is remarkable–gloss like a mirror, and it costs only a quarter. And what a smell–you could eat it!
ALEXANDER. Go away! You fool!
EVSEI. We should send some to the country…
ALEXANDER. Go away, I tell you, go away! You torment me, you and your boots will be the dea
th of me… you… savage! Savage! Savage! (Pushes Evsei out of the room. Throws himself down on the bed again. Seizes his head in his hands. )
(Enter Pyotr Ivanovich and Elizaveta Alexandrovna. )
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA ( quietly ). Why don’t you ever come to see us Alexander Fyodorovich? For over half a year…
ALEXANDER. I’ve had no reason to.
PYOTR IVANOVICH ( cautiously ). Rumor has it you’ve been drinking a lot…
ALEXANDER. I gave it up.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. You were seeing some young woman in a garden house. The girl’s father gave you a scolding… ( Alexander remains silent. )And now, they say, you go off fishing and play checkers with old men. Is this true?
ALEXANDER. It is.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Is this you?
ALEXANDER. Yes.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. And can you live without doing anything?
ALEXANDER. I can.
(Pause. )
PYOTR IVANOVICH. I heard that Ivanov is leaving his job, Alexander.
ALEXANDER. Yes, he is.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Why aren’t you getting his job?
ALEXANDER. They haven’t done me the honor.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. You have to try for it.
ALEXANDER. No.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Apparently you don’t care?
ALEXANDER. No, I don’t.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. This is the third time they’ve passed you by.
ALEXANDER. I don’t care. Let them!
PYOTR IVANOVICH. And your self-esteem?
ALEXANDER. I haven’t got any.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Surely you have some interests in life?
ALEXANDER ( jumping up from the bed ). Let me be, Uncle! I tried to express my opinions, tried to do better… No one wanted any of it… Everywhere the machine went on turning. The convenient and eternal machine!
PYOTR IVANOVICH. But you must have some kind of career.
ALEXANDER. I’ve had it. I’ve marked out the circle of my activity–I’m the master here; this is my “career”.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. That’s laziness.
ALEXANDER. Perhaps.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. You can move forward. You have a higher destiny. Duty calls you to noble labor…
ALEXANDER. What’s this? (Laughs. )You’ve begun talking wildly. That didn’t use to be your custom. You aren’t doing it for me, are you? You’re wasting your breath!
PYOTR IVANOVICH. You want to pretend calm and indifference toward everything, but resentment boils up in your words… Shouldn’t a person want something?
ALEXANDER. I want to be left alone in my dark corner.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. And is that really life?
ALEXANDER. Rather to my mind the life you lead isn’t life. Therefore, I’m right. (Lies down on the bed again. )
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Well, Alexander, you’re disillusioned, I see…
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA ( to her husband ). This is awful, he seems out of his mind…
ALEXANDER ( yells ). Pyotr Ivanovich and experience have taught me!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Yes, he’s much to blame! But you had the right not to listen to him.
ALEXANDER. I was young, he’s experienced!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA ( to her husband ). Do you hear?
PYOTR IVANOVICH ( seizing the small of his back ). Ouch, how my back hurts… It’s a kind of sign of success among business people–back pains… Ouch!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. You should get married, Alexander… And you have literary talent!
ALEXANDER. Why do you beat a man when he’s down, dear Aunt!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. It’s you, you’re to blame, Pyotr Ivanovich…
PYOTR IVANOVICH. I? Now I like that! I taught him to do nothing!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. There’s nothing for you to be surprised about. You confused his notions of life. Everything in him turned to doubt, to chaos…
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Indeed, I tried to make something out of chaos…
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. He believed in love, friendship, in the sacredness of duty… Now he believes in nothing…
PYOTR IVANOVICH. He should live in the land of Cockaigne…
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. He believed in himself. But you tried to prove that he’s worse than almost anyone else, and he began to hate himself.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Impossible… Take me; I know my own value, I see that I have faults, but, I admit I love myself a lot.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. You love yourself–now that’s unquestionably an objective to aim for–yourself!
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Oh, my back!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. With one blow, without pity, you destroyed his dream, his belief in his talent…
PYOTR IVANOVICH. He had none, Liza.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. But he did! Only it needed support and not ridicule and abuse… Why are you surprised that he lost heart? What pleases and suits you doesn’t suit someone else, or a third person; it isn’t right for others.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Suit me, another, or a third person! Nonsense! That’s enough, Liza! You’ve even become pale! You’re not well!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Don’t worry about me, Pyotr Ivanovich. I’m all right…
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Am I really alone in thinking and acting this way? Look around you. What I demanded of him wasn’t all invented by me.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Who did then?
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Our time.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Must one without fail follow all the ideas that are thought up in your time? Are they all sacred and true?
PYOTR IVANOVICH. They’re all sacred!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. What! Is it true that one must reason more than feel?
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Yes.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. And it’s sacred truth that you must love your work more than a beloved person?
PYOTR IVANOVICH. That has always been true.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Is it also true that you must act reasonably even toward those close to your heart… for example, toward your wife?
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Wait a minute… My back hurts abominably… Ouch!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Your back, indeed! A wonderful time we live in! You can’t say otherwise!
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Very wonderful, my dear. Everywhere there is reason, experience, gradual progress, and, therefore, success. Everything moves toward perfection and the common good. Look at the youth of today–what fine fellows! How everything hums with intellectual activity and energy! How easily and skillfully they manage with all that nonsense called “palpitations” and “sufferings”–and the Devil knows what else–in your language!
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. You mean you’re not sorry for Alexander?
PYOTR IVANOVICH. No. Now if his back hurt, then I’d be sorry for him.
ALEXANDER. Your back! Won’t you ever understand, Uncle, that what you think is the cruel truth is in actual fact a lie! And I can’t destroy it because it’s an ironclad lie.
PYOTR IVANOVICH. That’s true, Alexander, and that’s the reason you can’t break it.
ALEXANDER ( yells ). No, no! (Again falls on the bed. Quiet. Speaks calmly ). Uncle, can you say what I ought to do?
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Yes, I can. (Alexander sits up on the bed. He looks at his uncle in expectation. )Go back to the country.
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Are you in your right mind, Pyotr Ivanovich?
ALEXANDER ( feverishly ). Yes, yes, yes! {Laughs. )Splendid! To the country! To the country! To the country! (Walks back and forth and until Pyotr Ivanovich and Elizaveta Alexandrovna exit keeps repeating )To the country! I haven’t conquered! That’s where I belong!
PYOTR IVANOVICH. Come, say goodbye before you leave. I’ve grown accustomed to you. Remember, you have an uncle and a friend. If you need… in a word, if you change your mind…
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. And if you need sympathy and unfailing friendship…
ALEXANDER ( not listening to them, shouts ). Evsei! Evsei!
ALEXANDER. We’re going to the country! Back home!
EVSEI. Glory to you, great Lord! At last you’ve come to your senses!
ALEXANDER. Get our things together!
EVSEI ( leaving ). At last, Lord! I’ll light a candle…
ELIZAVETA ALEXANDROVNA. Alexander, perhaps you should think it over…
ALEXANDER. Leave me, I beg you, leave!
PYOTR IVANOVICH. (leaving and leading Elizaveta Alexandrovna away ). No, he’s not of the Aduyev clan, not ours… He’s weak… a lesser character… ( Both exit. )
ALEXANDER ( goes to the window, looks at the city and shakes his fist at it ). Ooh! Farewell, you stone coffin of the best human feelings, the soul’s powerful emotions! Farewell, you unfeeling, greedy, lying city! You made me an old man at twenty-nine, killed everything human in me! You cursed, hateful place! May you drown in your swamps! May you be swallowed up again in water! May you… ( Weeping. )I’m nothing! I’m nothing!
SCENE 17
The dining room on the Aduyev country estate. Anna Pavlovna and Anton Ivanovich await Alexander’s return.
ANTON IVANOVICH. Why are you so aimlessly pacing like this from room to room, Anna Pavlovna?
ANNA PAVLOVNA. Not so loud! (Listens. )No, that’s not a carriage bell… ( She paces again, moving objects from one place to another. )
ANTON IVANOVICH. I stopped by at Marya Karpovna’s on the way–a disaster! (Laughs. )Sofiya Mikhailovna is expecting her sixth child soon. And they’re so poor! I didn’t even want to look… Why, she had set her cap for your Alexander Fyodorovich, the old crow… Please sit down, sit down! I expect he’ll appear with medals, resplendent in his great success…
ANNA PAVLOVNA. Not so loud! (Freezes. The sound of a bell is heard. )Heavens, oh Lord! It’s he! He’s come! (Sits down, too excited to move. )
ANTON IVANOVICH ( running to the window ). It’s he, all right! And there’s Evsei on the box! Where’s your icon? And the bread and salt? (Snatches up bread and salt, puts them on a plate. )And you, Anna Pavlovna, you go run to meet them yourself!
An Ordinary Story Page 45
