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Alexander Pushkin - Boris Godunov
Work rating: Medium

1 2 3 
A Drama in Verse

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

BORIS GODUNOV, afterwards Tsar.
PRINCE SHUISKY, Russian noble.
PRINCE VOROTINSKY, Russian noble.
SHCHELKALOV, Russian Minister of State.
FATHER PIMEN, an old monk and chronicler.
GREGORY OTREPIEV, a young monk, afterwards the Pretender
to the throne of Russia.
THE PATRIARCH, Abbot of the Chudov Monastery.
MISSAIL, wandering friar.
VARLAAM, wandering friar.
ATHANASIUS MIKAILOVICH PUSHKIN, friend of Prince Shuisky.
FEODOR, young son of Boris Godunov.
SEMYON NIKITICH GODUNOV, secret agent of Boris Godunov.
GABRIEL PUSHKIN, nephew of A. M. Pushkin.
PRINCE KURBSKY, disgraced Russian noble.
KHRUSHCHOV, disgraced Russian noble.
KARELA, a Cossack.
PRINCE VISHNEVETSKY.
MNISHEK, Governor of Sambor.
BASMANOV, a Russian officer.
MARZHERET, officer of the Pretender.
ROZEN, officer of the Pretender.
DIMITRY, the Pretender, formerly Gregory Otrepiev.
MOSALSKY, a Boyar.
KSENIA, daughter of Boris Godunov.
NURSE of Ksenia.
MARINA, daughter of Mnishek.
ROUZYA, tire-woman of Ksenia.
HOSTESS of tavern.

Boyars, The People, Inspectors, Officers, Attendants, Guests,
a Boy in attendance on Prince Shuisky, a Catholic Priest, a
Polish Noble, a Poet, an Idiot, a Beggar, Gentlemen, Peasants,
Guards, Russian, Polish, and German Soldiers, a Russian
Prisoner of War, Boys, an old Woman, Ladies, Serving-women.


PALACE OF THE KREMLIN

(FEBRUARY 20th, A.D. 1598)

PRINCE SHUISKY and VOROTINSKY

VOROTINSKY. To keep the city`s peace, that is the task
Entrusted to us twain, but you forsooth
Have little need to watch; Moscow is empty;
The people to the Monastery have flocked
After the patriarch. What thinkest thou?
How will this trouble end?

SHUISKY.                 How will it end?
That is not hard to tell. A little more
The multitude will groan and wail, Boris
Pucker awhile his forehead, like a toper
Eyeing a glass of wine, and in the end
Will humbly of his graciousness consent
To take the crown; and then--and then will rule us
Just as before.

VOROTINSKY.   A month has flown already
Since, cloistered with his sister, he forsook
The world`s affairs. None hitherto hath shaken
His purpose, not the patriarch, not the boyars
His counselors; their tears, their prayers he heeds not;
Deaf is he to the wail of Moscow, deaf
To the Great Council`s voice; vainly they urged
The sorrowful nun-queen to consecrate
Boris to sovereignty; firm was his sister,
Inexorable as he; methinks Boris
Inspired her with this spirit. What if our ruler
Be sick in very deed of cares of state
And hath no strength to mount the throne? What
Say`st thou?

SHUISKY. I say that in that case the blood in vain
Flowed of the young tsarevich, that Dimitry
Might just as well be living.

VOROTINSKY.                 Fearful crime!
Is it beyond all doubt Boris contrived
The young boy`s murder?

SHUISKY.              Who besides? Who else
Bribed Chepchugov in vain? Who sent in secret
The brothers Bityagovsky with Kachalov?
Myself was sent to Uglich, there to probe
This matter on the spot; fresh traces there
I found; the whole town bore witness to the crime;
With one accord the burghers all affirmed it;
And with a single word, when I returned,
I could have proved the secret villain`s guilt.

VOROTINSKY. Why didst thou then not crush him?

SHUISKY.                        At the time,
I do confess, his unexpected calmness,
His shamelessness, dismayed me. Honestly
He looked me in the eyes; he questioned me
Closely, and I repeated to his face
The foolish tale himself had whispered to me.

VOROTINSKY. An ugly business, prince.

SHUISKY.                    What could I do?
Declare all to Feodor? But the tsar
Saw all things with the eyes of Godunov.
Heard all things with the ears of Godunov;
Grant even that I might have fully proved it,
Boris would have denied it there and then,
And I should have been haled away to prison,
And in good time--like mine own uncle--strangled
Within the silence of some deaf-walled dungeon.
I boast not when I say that, given occasion,
No penalty affrights me. I am no coward,
But also am no fool, and do not choose
Of my free will to walk into a halter.

VOROTINSKY. Monstrous misdeed! Listen; I warrant you
Remorse already gnaws the murderer;
Be sure the blood of that same innocent child
Will hinder him from mounting to the throne.

SHUISKY. That will not baulk him; Boris is not so timid!
What honour for ourselves, ay, for all Russia!
A slave of yesterday, a Tartar, son
By marriage of Maliuta, of a hangman,
Himself in soul a hangman, he to wear
The crown and robe of Monomakh!--

VOROTINSKY.                   You are right;
He is of lowly birth; we twain can boast
A nobler lineage.

SHUISKY.        Indeed we may!

VOROTINSKY. Let us remember, Shuisky, Vorotinsky
Are, let me say, born princes.

SHUISKY.                     Yea, born princes,
And of the blood of Rurik.

VOROTINSKY.              Listen, prince;
Then we, `twould seem, should have the right to mount
Feodor`s throne.

SHUISKY.       Rather than Godunov.

VOROTINSKY. In very truth `twould seem so.

SHUISKY.                      And what then?
If still Boris pursue his crafty ways,
Let us contrive by skilful means to rouse
The people. Let them turn from Godunov;
Princes they have in plenty of their own;
Let them from out their number choose a tsar.

VOROTINSKY. Of us, Varyags in blood, there are full many,
But `tis no easy thing for us to vie
With Godunov; the people are not wont
To recognise in us an ancient branch
Of their old warlike masters; long already
Have we our appanages forfeited,
Long served but as lieutenants of the tsars,
And he hath known, by fear, and love, and glory,
How to bewitch the people.

SHUISKY. (Looking through a window.) He has dared,
That`s all--while we--Enough of this. Thou seest
Dispersedly the people are returning.
We`ll go forthwith and learn what is resolved.


THE RED SQUARE

THE PEOPLE

1ST PERSON. He is inexorable! He thrust from him
Prelates, boyars, and Patriarch; in vain
Prostrate they fall; the splendour of the throne
Affrights him.

2ND PERSON.  O, my God, who is to rule us?
O, woe to us!

3RD PERSON. See! The Chief Minister
Is coming out to tell us what the Council
Has now resolved.

THE PEOPLE.     Silence! Silence! He speaks,
The Minister of State. Hush, hush! Give ear!

SHCHELKALOV. (From the Red Balcony.)
The Council have resolved for the last time
To put to proof the power of supplication
Upon our ruler`s mournful soul. At dawn,
After a solemn service in the Kremlin,
The blessed Patriarch will go, preceded
By sacred banners, with the holy ikons
Of Donsky and Vladimir; with him go
The Council, courtiers, delegates, boyars,
And all the orthodox folk of Moscow; all
Will go to pray once more the queen to pity
Fatherless Moscow, and to consecrate
Boris unto the crown. Now to your homes
Go ye in peace: pray; and to Heaven shall rise
The heart`s petition of the orthodox.

(The PEOPLE disperse.)


THE VIRGIN`S FIELD

THE NEW NUNNERY. The People.

1ST PERSON. To plead with the tsaritsa in her cell
Now are they gone. Thither have gone Boris,
The Patriarch, and a host of boyars.

2ND PERSON.                        What news?

3RD PERSON. Still is he obdurate; yet there is hope.

PEASANT WOMAN. (With a child.)
Drat you! Stop crying, or else the bogie-man
Will carry you off. Drat you, drat you! Stop crying!

1ST PERSON. Can`t we slip through behind the fence?

2ND PERSON.                         Impossible!
No chance at all! Not only is the nunnery
Crowded; the precincts too are crammed with people.
Look what a sight! All Moscow has thronged here.
See! Fences, roofs, and every single storey
Of the Cathedral bell tower, the church-domes,
The very crosses are studded thick with people.

1ST PERSON. A goodly sight indeed!

2ND PERSON.                     What is that noise?

3RD PERSON. Listen! What noise is that?--The people groaned;
See there! They fall like waves, row upon row--
Again--again-- Now, brother, `tis our turn;
Be quick, down on your knees!

THE PEOPLE. (On their knees, groaning and wailing.)
                                  Have pity on us,
Our father! O, rule over us! O, be
Father to us, and tsar!

1ST PERSON. (Sotto voce.) Why are they wailing?

2ND PERSON. How can we know? The boyars know well enough.
It`s not our business.

PEASANT WOMAN. (With child.)
                     Now, what`s this? Just when
It ought to cry, the child stops crying. I`ll show you!
Here comes the bogie-man! Cry, cry, you spoilt one!
(Throws it on the ground; the child screams.)
That`s right, that`s right!

1ST PERSON.               As everyone is crying,
We also, brother, will begin to cry.

2ND PERSON. Brother, I try my best, but can`t.

1ST PERSON.                             Nor I.
Have you not got an onion?

2ND PERSON.              No; I`ll wet
My eyes with spittle. What`s up there now?

1ST PERSON.                      Who knows
What`s going on?

THE PEOPLE.    The crown for him! He is tsar!
He has yielded!--Boris!--Our tsar!--Long live Boris!


THE PALACE OF THE KREMLIN

BORIS, PATRIARCH, Boyars

BORIS. Thou, father Patriarch, all ye boyars!
My soul lies bare before you; ye have seen
With what humility and fear I took
This mighty power upon me. Ah! How heavy
My weight of obligation! I succeed
The great Ivans; succeed the angel tsar!--
O Righteous Father, King Of kings, look down
From Heaven upon the tears of Thy true servants,
And send on him whom Thou hast loved, whom Thou
Exalted hast on earth so wondrously,
Thy holy blessing. May I rule my people
In glory, and like Thee be good and righteous!
To you, boyars, I look for help. Serve me
As ye served him, what time I shared your labours,
Ere I was chosen by the people`s will.

BOYARS. We will not from our plighted oath depart.

BORIS. Now let us go to kneel before the tombs
Of Russia`s great departed rulers. Then
Bid summon all our people to a feast,
All, from the noble to the poor blind beggar.
To all free entrance, all most welcome guests.

(Exit, the Boyars following.)

PRINCE VOROTINSKY. (Stopping Shuisky.)
You rightly guessed.

SHUISKY.           Guessed what?

VOROTINSKY.                Why, you remember--
The other day, here on this very spot.

SHUISKY. No, I remember nothing.

VOROTINSKY.                    When the people
Flocked to the Virgin`s Field, thou said`st--

SHUISKY.                           `Tis not
The time for recollection. There are times
When I should counsel you not to remember,
But even to forget. And for the rest,
I sought but by feigned calumny to prove thee,
The truelier to discern thy secret thoughts.
But see! The people hail the tsar--my absence
May be remarked. I`ll join them.

VOROTINSKY.                    Wily courtier!


NIGHT

Cell in the Monastery of Chudov (A.D. 1603)

FATHER PIMEN, GREGORY (sleeping)

PIMEN (Writing in front of a sacred lamp.)
One more, the final record, and my annals
Are ended, and fulfilled the duty laid
By God on me a sinner. Not in vain
Hath God appointed me for many years
A witness, teaching me the art of letters;
A day will come when some laborious monk
Will bring to light my zealous, nameless toil,
Kindle, as I, his lamp, and from the parchment
Shaking the dust of ages will transcribe
My true narrations, that posterity
The bygone fortunes of the orthodox
Of their own land may learn, will mention make
Of their great tsars, their labours, glory, goodness--
And humbly for their sins, their evil deeds,
Implore the Saviour`s mercy.--In old age
I live anew; the past unrolls before me.--
Did it in years long vanished sweep along,
Full of events, and troubled like the deep?
Now it is hushed and tranquil. Few the faces
Which memory hath saved for me, and few
The words which have come down to me;--the rest
Have perished, never to return.--But day
Draws near, the lamp burns low, one record more,
The last. (He writes.)

GREGORY. (Waking.) Ever the selfsame dream! Is `t possible?
For the third time! Accursed dream! And ever
Before the lamp sits the old man and writes--
And not all night, `twould seem, from drowsiness,
Hath closed his eyes. I love the peaceful sight,
When, with his soul deep in the past immersed,
He keeps his chronicle. Oft have I longed
To guess what `tis he writes of. Is `t perchance
The dark dominion of the Tartars? Is it
Ivan`s grim punishments, the stormy Council
of Novgorod? Is it about the glory
Of our dear fatherland?--I ask in vain!
Not on his lofty brow, nor in his looks
May one peruse his secret thoughts; always
The same aspect; lowly at once, and lofty--
Like some state Minister grown grey in office,
Calmly alike he contemplates the just
And guilty, with indifference he hears
Evil and good, and knows not wrath nor pity.

PIMEN. Wakest thou, brother?

GREGORY.             Honoured father, give me
Thy blessing.

PIMEN.      May God bless thee on this day,
Tomorrow, and for ever.

GREGORY.              All night long
Thou hast been writing and abstained from sleep,
While demon visions have disturbed my peace,
The fiend molested me. I dreamed I scaled
By winding stairs a turret, from whose height
Moscow appeared an anthill, where the people
Seethed in the squares below and pointed at me
With laughter. Shame and terror came upon me--
And falling headlong, I awoke. Three times
I dreamed the selfsame dream. Is it not strange?

PIMEN. `Tis the young blood at play; humble thyself
By prayer and fasting, and thy slumber`s visions
Will all be filled with lightness. Hitherto
If I, unwillingly by drowsiness
Weakened, make not at night long orisons,
My old-man`s sleep is neither calm nor sinless;
Now riotous feasts appear, now camps of war,
Scuffles of battle, fatuous diversions
Of youthful years.

GREGORY.         How joyfully didst thou
Live out thy youth! The fortress of Kazan
Thou fought`st beneath, with Shuisky didst repulse
The army of Litva. Thou hast seen the court,
And splendour of Ivan. Ah! Happy thou!
Whilst I, from boyhood up, a wretched monk,
Wander from cell to cell! Why unto me
Was it not given to play the game of war,
To revel at the table of a tsar?
Then, like to thee, would I in my old age
Have gladly from the noisy world withdrawn,
To vow myself a dedicated monk,
And in the quiet cloister end my days.

PIMEN. Complain not, brother, that the sinful world
Thou early didst forsake, that few temptations
The All-Highest sent to thee. Believe my words;
The glory of the world, its luxury,
Woman`s seductive love, seen from afar,
Enslave our souls. Long have I lived, have taken
Delight in many things, but never knew
True bliss until that season when the Lord
Guided me to the cloister. Think, my son,
On the great tsars; who loftier than they?
God only. Who dares thwart them? None. What then?
Often the golden crown became to them
A burden; for a cowl they bartered it.
The tsar Ivan sought in monastic toil
Tranquility; his palace, filled erewhile
With haughty minions, grew to all appearance
A monastery; the very rakehells seemed
Obedient monks, the terrible tsar appeared
A pious abbot. Here, in this very cell
(At that time Cyril, the much suffering,
A righteous man, dwelt in it; even me
God then made comprehend the nothingness
Of worldly vanities), here I beheld,
Weary of angry thoughts and executions,
The tsar; among us, meditative, quiet
Here sat the Terrible; we motionless
Stood in his presence, while he talked with us
In tranquil tones. Thus spake he to the abbot
And all the brothers: "My fathers, soon will come
The longed-for day; here shall I stand before you,
Hungering for salvation; Nicodemus,
Thou Sergius, Cyril thou, will all accept
My spiritual vow; to you I soon shall come
Accurst in sin, here the clean habit take,
Prostrate, most holy father, at thy feet."
So spake the sovereign lord, and from his lips
Sweetly the accents flowed. He wept; and we
With tears prayed God to send His love and peace
Upon his suffering and stormy soul.--
What of his son Feodor? On the throne
He sighed to lead the life of calm devotion.
The royal chambers to a cell of prayer
He turned, wherein the heavy cares of state
Vexed not his holy soul. God grew to love
The tsar`s humility; in his good days
Russia was blest with glory undisturbed,
And in the hour of his decease was wrought
A miracle unheard of; at his bedside,
Seen by the tsar alone, appeared a being
Exceeding bright, with whom Feodor `gan
To commune, calling him great Patriarch;--
And all around him were possessed with fear,
Musing upon the vision sent from Heaven,
Since at that time the Patriarch was not present
In church before the tsar. And when he died
The palace was with holy fragrance filled.
And like the sun his countenance outshone.
Never again shall we see such a tsar.--
O, horrible, appalling woe! We have sinned,
We have angered God; we have chosen for our ruler
A tsar`s assassin.

GREGORY.         Honoured father, long
Have I desired to ask thee of the death
Of young Dimitry, the tsarevich; thou,
`Tis said, wast then at Uglich.

PIMEN.                        Ay, my son,
I well remember. God it was who led me
To witness that ill deed, that bloody sin.
I at that time was sent to distant Uglich
Upon some mission. I arrived at night.
Next morning, at the hour of holy mass,
I heard upon a sudden a bell toll;
`Twas the alarm bell. Then a cry, an uproar;
Men rushing to the court of the tsaritsa.
Thither I haste, and there had flocked already
All Uglich. There I see the young tsarevich
Lie slaughtered: the queen mother in a swoon
Bowed over him, his nurse in her despair
Wailing; and then the maddened people drag
The godless, treacherous nurse away. Appears
Suddenly in their midst, wild, pale with rage,
Judas Bityagovsky. "There, there`s the villain!"
Shout on all sides the crowd, and in a trice
He was no more. Straightway the people rushed
On the three fleeing murderers; they seized
The hiding miscreants and led them up
To the child`s corpse yet warm; when lo! A marvel--
The dead child all at once began to tremble!
"Confess!" the people thundered; and in terror
Beneath the axe the villains did confess--
And named Boris.

GREGORY.       How many summers lived
The murdered boy?

PIMEN.          Seven summers; he would now
(Since then have passed ten years--nay, more--twelve years)
He would have been of equal age to thee,
And would have reigned; but God deemed otherwise.
This is the lamentable tale wherewith
My chronicle doth end; since then I little
Have dipped in worldly business. Brother Gregory,
Thou hast illumed thy mind by earnest study;
To thee I hand my task. In hours exempt
From the soul`s exercise, do thou record,
Not subtly reasoning, all things whereto
Thou shalt in life be witness; war and peace,
The sway of kings, the holy miracles
Of saints, all prophecies and heavenly signs;--
For me `tis time to rest and quench my lamp.--
But hark! The matin bell. Bless, Lord, Thy servants!
Give me my crutch.

(Exit.)

GREGORY.         Boris, Boris, before thee
All tremble; none dares even to remind thee
Of what befell the hapless child; meanwhile
Here in dark cell a hermit doth indite
Thy stern denunciation. Thou wilt not
Escape the judgment even of this world,
As thou wilt not escape the doom of God.


FENCE OF THE MONASTERY


GREGORY and a Wicked Monk

GREGORY. O, what a weariness is our poor life,
What misery! Day comes, day goes, and ever
Is seen, is heard one thing alone; one sees
Only black cassocks, only hears the bell.
Yawning by day you wander, wander, nothing
To do; you doze; the whole night long till daylight
The poor monk lies awake; and when in sleep
You lose yourself, black dreams disturb the soul;
Glad that they sound the bell, that with a crutch
They rouse you. No, I will not suffer it!
I cannot! Through this fence I`ll flee! The world
Is great; my path is on the highways never
Thou`lt hear of me again.

MONK.                   Truly your life
Is but a sorry one, ye dissolute,
Wicked young monks!

GREGORY.          Would that the Khan again
Would come upon us, or Lithuania rise
Once more in insurrection. Good! I would then
Cross swords with them! Or what if the tsarevich
Should suddenly arise from out the grave,
Should cry, "Where are ye, children, faithful servants?
Help me against Boris, against my murderer!
Seize my foe, lead him to me!"

MONK.                       Enough, my friend,
Of empty babble. We cannot raise the dead.
No, clearly it was fated otherwise
For the tsarevich-- But hearken; if you wish
To do a thing, then do it.

GREGORY.                 What to do?

MONK. If I were young as thou, if these grey hairs
Had not already streaked my beard-- Dost take me?

GREGORY. Not I.

MONK.        Hearken; our folk are dull of brain,
Easy of faith, and glad to be amazed
By miracles and novelties. The boyars
Remember Godunov as erst he was,
Peer to themselves; and even now the race
Of the old Varyags is loved by all. Thy years
Match those of the tsarevich. If thou hast
Cunning and hardihood-- Dost take me now?

GREGORY. I take thee.

MONK.               Well, what say`st thou?

GREGORY.                                 `Tis resolved.
I am Dimitry, I tsarevich!

MONK.                    Give me
Thy hand, my bold young friend. Thou shalt be tsar!


PALACE OF THE PATRIARCH

PATRIARCH, ABBOT of the Chudov Monastery

PATRIARCH. And he has run away, Father Abbot?

ABBOT. He has run away, holy sovereign, now three days ago.

PATRIARCH. Accursed rascal! What is his origin?

ABBOT. Of the family of the Otrepievs, of the lower nobility
of Galicia; in his youth he took the tonsure, no one
knows where, lived at Suzdal, in the Ephimievsky
monastery, departed from there, wandered to various
convents, finally arrived at my Chudov fraternity;
but I, seeing that he was still young and inexperienced,
entrusted him at the outset to Father Pimen, an old man,
kind and humble. And he was very learned, read our
chronicle, composed canons for the holy brethren; but,
to be sure, instruction was not given to him from the
Lord God--

PATRIARCH. Ah, those learned fellows! What a thing to
say, "I shall be tsar in Moscow." Ah, he is a vessel of
the devil! However, it is no use even to report to the
tsar about this; why disquiet our father sovereign?
It will be enough to give information about his flight to
the Secretary Smirnov or the Secretary Ephimiev.
What a heresy: "I shall be tsar in Moscow!"...
Catch, catch the fawning villain, and send him to
Solovetsky to perpetual penance. But this--is it not
heresy, Father Abbot?

ABBOT. Heresy, holy Patriarch; downright heresy.


PALACE OF THE TSAR

Two Attendants

1ST ATTENDANT. Where is the sovereign?

2ND ATTENDANT.                  In his bed-chamber,
Where he is closeted with some magician.

1ST ATTENDANT. Ay; that`s the kind of intercourse he loves;
Sorcerers, fortune-tellers, necromancers.
Ever he seeks to dip into the future,
Just like some pretty girl. Fain would I know
What `tis he would foretell.

2ND ATTENDANT.             Well, here he comes.
Will it please you question him?

1ST ATTENDANT.                How grim he looks!

(Exeunt.)

TSAR. (Enters.) I have attained the highest power. Six years
Already have I reigned in peace; but joy
Dwells not within my soul. Even so in youth
We greedily desire the joys of love,
But only quell the hunger of the heart
With momentary possession. We grow cold,
Grow weary and oppressed! In vain the wizards
Promise me length of days, days of dominion
Immune from treachery--not power, not life
Gladden me; I forebode the wrath of Heaven
And woe. For me no happiness. I thought
To satisfy my people in contentment,
In glory, gain their love by generous gifts,
But I have put away that empty hope;
The power that lives is hateful to the mob,--
Only the dead they love. We are but fools
When our heart vibrates to the people`s groans
And passionate wailing. Lately on our land
God sent a famine; perishing in torments
The people uttered moan. The granaries
I made them free of, scattered gold among them,
Found labour for them; furious for my pains
They cursed me! Next, a fire consumed their homes;
I built for them new dwellings; then forsooth
They blamed me for the fire! Such is the mob,
Such is its judgment! Seek its love, indeed!
I thought within my family to find
Solace; I thought to make my daughter happy
By wedlock. Like a tempest Death took off
Her bridegroom--and at once a stealthy rumour
Pronounced me guilty of my daughter`s grief--
Me, me, the hapless father! Whoso dies,
I am the secret murderer of all;
I hastened Feodor`s end, `twas I that poisoned
My sister-queen, the lowly nun--all I!
Ah! Now I feel it; naught can give us peace
Mid worldly cares, nothing save only conscience!
Healthy she triumphs over wickedness,
Over dark slander; but if in her be found
A single casual stain, then misery.
With what a deadly sore my soul doth smart;
My heart, with venom filled, doth like a hammer
Beat in mine ears reproach; all things revolt me,
And my head whirls, and in my eyes are children
Dripping with blood; and gladly would I flee,
But nowhere can find refuge--horrible!
Pitiful he whose conscience is unclean!


TAVERN ON THE LITHUANIAN FRONTIER

MISSAIL and VARLAAM, wandering friars;
GREGORY in secular attire; HOSTESS

HOSTESS. With what shall I regale you, my reverend
honoured guests?

VARLAAM. With what God sends, little hostess. Have you
no wine?

HOSTESS. As if I had not, my fathers! I will bring it at
once. (Exit.)

MISSAIL. Why so glum, comrade? Here is that very
Lithuanian frontier which you so wished to reach.

GREGORY. Until I shall be in Lithuania, till then I shall not
Be content.

VARLAAM. What is it that makes you so fond of Lithuania!
Here are we, Father Missail and I, a sinner, when we fled
from the monastery, then we cared for nothing. Was it
Lithuania, was it Russia, was it fiddle, was it dulcimer?
All the same for us, if only there was wine. That`s the
main thing!

MISSAIL. Well said, Father Varlaam.

HOSTESS. (Enters.)
There you are, my fathers. Drink to your health.

MISSAIL. Thanks, my good friend. God bless thee. (The
monks drink. Varlaam trolls a ditty: "Thou passest
by, my dear," etc.) (To GREGORY) Why don`t you join
in the song? Not even join in the song?

GREGORY. I don`t wish to.

MISSAIL. Everyone to his liking--

VARLAAM. But a tipsy man`s in Heaven.* Father Missail!
We will drink a glass to our hostess. (Sings: "Where
the brave lad in durance," etc.) Still, Father Missail,
when I am drinking, then I don`t like sober men; tipsiness
is one thing--but pride quite another. If you want
to live as we do, you are welcome. No?--then take
yourself off, away with you; a mountebank is no
companion for a priest.

[*The Russian text has here a play on the words which cannot be
satisfactorily rendered into English.]

GREGORY. Drink, and keep your thoughts to yourself,*
Father Varlaam! You see, I too sometimes know how
to make puns.

[*The Russian text has here a play on the words which cannot be
satisfactorily rendered into English.]

VARLAAM. But why should I keep my thoughts to myself?

MISSAIL. Let him alone, Father Varlaam.

VARLAAM. But what sort of a fasting man is he? Of his
own accord he attached himself as a companion to us;
no one knows who he is, no one knows whence he comes--
and yet he gives himself grand airs; perhaps he has a
close acquaintance with the pillory. (Drinks and sings:
"A young monk took the tonsure," etc.)

GREGORY. (To HOSTESS.) Whither leads this road?

HOSTESS. To Lithuania, my dear, to the Luyov mountains.

GREGORY. And is it far to the Luyov mountains?

HOSTESS. Not far; you might get there by evening, but for
the tsar`s frontier barriers, and the captains of the
guard.

GREGORY. What say you? Barriers! What means this?

HOSTESS. Someone has escaped from Moscow, and orders
have been given to detain and search everyone.

GREGORY. (Aside.) Here`s a pretty mess!

VARLAAM. Hallo, comrade! You`ve been making up to
mine hostess. To be sure you don`t want vodka, but
you want a young woman. All right, brother, all right!
Everyone has his own ways, and Father Missail and I
have only one thing which we care for--we drink to the
bottom, we drink; turn it upside down, and knock at
the bottom.

MISSAIL. Well said, Father Varlaam.

GREGORY. (To Hostess.) Whom do they want? Who
escaped from Moscow?

HOSTESS. God knows; a thief perhaps, a robber. But here
even good folk are worried now. And what will come of
it? Nothing. They will not catch the old devil; as if
there were no other road into Lithuania than the highway!
Just turn to the left from here, then by the pinewood
or by the footpath as far as the chapel on the
Chekansky brook, and then straight across the marsh to
Khlopin, and thence to Zakhariev, and then any child
will guide you to the Luyov mountains. The only good
of these inspectors is to worry passers-by and rob us poor
folk. (A noise is heard.) What`s that? Ah, there
they are, curse them! They are going their rounds.

GREGORY. Hostess! Is there another room in the cottage?

HOSTESS. No, my dear; I should be glad myself to hide.
But they are only pretending to go their rounds; but
give them wine and bread, and Heaven knows what--
May perdition take them, the accursed ones! May--

(Enter OFFICERS.)

OFFICERS. Good health to you, mine hostess!

HOSTESS. You are kindly welcome, dear guests.

AN OFFICER. (To another.) Ha, there`s drinking going on
here; we shall get something here. (To the Monks.)
Who are you?

VARLAAM. We--are two old clerics, humble monks; we are
going from village to village, and collecting Christian
alms for the monastery.

OFFICER. (To GREGORY.) And thou?

MISSAIL. Our comrade.

GREGORY. A layman from the suburb; I have conducted the
old men as far as the frontier; from here I am going to
my own home.

MISSAIL. So you have changed your mind?

GREGORY. (Sotto voce.) Be silent.

OFFICER. Hostess, bring some more wine, and we will
drink here a little and talk a little with these old men.

2ND OFFICER. (Sotto voce.) Yon lad, it appears, is poor;
there`s nothing to be got out of him; on the other hand
the old men--

1ST OFFICER. Be silent; we shall come to them presently.
--Well, my fathers, how are you getting on?

VARLAAM. Badly, my sons, badly! The Christians have
now turned stingy; they love their money; they hide
their money. They give little to God. The people of
the world have become great sinners. They have all
devoted themselves to commerce, to earthly cares; they
think of worldly wealth, not of the salvation of the soul.
You walk and walk; you beg and beg; sometimes in
three days begging will not bring you three half-pence.
What a sin! A week goes by; another week; you look
into your bag, and there is so little in it that you are
ashamed to show yourself at the monastery. What are
you to do? From very sorrow you drink away what is
left; a real calamity! Ah, it is bad! It seems our last
days have come--

HOSTESS. (Weeps.) God pardon and save you!
(During the course of VARLAAM`S speech the 1st
OFFICER watches MISSAIL significantly.)

1ST OFFICER. Alexis! Have you the tsar`s edict with you?

2ND OFFICER. I have it.

1ST OFFICER. Give it here.

MISSAIL. Why do you look at me so fixedly?

1ST OFFICER. This is why; from Moscow there has fled a
certain wicked heretic--Grishka Otrepiev. Have you
heard this?

MISSAIL. I have not heard it.

OFFICER. Not heard it? Very good. And the tsar has
ordered to arrest and hang the fugitive heretic. Do you
know this?

MISSAIL. I do not know it.

OFFICER. (To VARLAAM.) Do you know how to read?

VARLAAM. In my youth I knew how, but I have forgotten.

OFFICER. (To MISSAIL.) And thou?

MISSAIL. God has not made me wise.

OFFICER. So then here`s the tsar`s edict.

MISSAIL. What do I want it for?

OFFICER. It seems to me that this fugitive heretic, thief,
swindler, is--thou.

MISSAIL. I? Good gracious! What are you talking about?

OFFICER. Stay! Hold the doors. Then we shall soon get
at the truth.

HOSTESS. O the cursed tormentors! Not to leave even the
old man in peace!

OFFICER. Which of you here is a scholar?

GREGORY. (Comes forward.) I am a scholar!

OFFICER. Oh, indeed! And from whom did you learn?

GREGORY. From our sacristan.

OFFICER (Gives him the edict.) Read it aloud.

GREGORY. (Reads.) "An unworthy monk of the Monastery
Of Chudov, Gregory, of the family of Otrepiev, has fallen
into heresy, taught by the devil, and has dared to vex
the holy brotherhood by all kinds of iniquities and acts
of lawlessness. And, according to information, it has
been shown that he, the accursed Grishka, has fled to the
Lithuanian frontier."

OFFICER. (To MISSAIL.) How can it be anyone but you?

GREGORY. "And the tsar has commanded to arrest him--"

OFFICER. And to hang!

GREGORY. It does not say here "to hang."

OFFICER. Thou liest. What is meant is not always put into
writing. Read: to arrest and to hang.

GREGORY. "And to hang. And the age of the thief
Grishka" (looking at VARLAAM) "about fifty, and his
height medium; he has a bald head, grey beard, fat
belly."

(All glance at VARLAAM.)

1ST OFFICER, My lads! Here is Grishka! Hold him!
Bind him! I never thought to catch him so quickly.

VARLAAM. (Snatching the paper.) Hands off, my lads!
What sort of a Grishka am I? What! Fifty years old,
grey beard, fat belly! No, brother. You`re too young
to play off tricks on me. I have not read for a long time
and I make it out badly, but I shall manage to make it
out, as it`s a hanging matter. (Spells it out.) "And his
age twenty." Why, brother, where does it say fifty?--
Do you see--twenty?

2ND OFFICER. Yes, I remember, twenty; even so it was
Source
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