MICHAEL snatches up his cap and goes out quickly, followed by the Neighbour I’ll catch the knave. It’s him.
MARTHA. Oh, what a shame, what a shame! It’s surely him.
AKULÍNA. And suppose it’s not. It happened once, some twenty years ago, that they accused a man of having stolen a horse. A crowd collected. One says: “I myself saw him catching it.” Another says he saw 318him leading it. It was a big piebald horse, easily noticed. All the people began searching for it, and in the forest they found the lad. “It’s you,” they say. He protests and swears it was not him. They say: “What’s the good of listening to him; the women said quite certainly it’s him.” Then he said something rude. George Lapúshkin (he’s dead now) was a hot-tempered man. He dashed at him slap bang, and struck him on the mouth. “It was you,” said he, and hit out at him. Then all the others fell on him and began beating him with sticks and fists till they killed him. And what do you think!.… Next day the real thief was found. The lad they killed had only gone into the forest to choose a tree to cut down.
MARTHA. Yes, of course, we may be sinning against him. He has come down very low, but seemed a good fellow.
AKULÍNA. Yes, he has sunk very low. One can’t expect much from the likes of him.
MARTHA. They’re shouting. I expect they’re bringing him back.
Enter Michael, Neighbour, an old man and a lad, pushing the Tramp before them.
MICHAEL with the parcel in his hands, excitedly to his wife It was found on him. To Tramp You thief! You dog!
AKULÍNA to Martha It’s him, poor soul. See how he hangs his head.
MARTHA. It seems it was himself he spoke about yesterday that grabs anything that’s handy when he’s had some drink.
TRAMP. I’m not a thief; I’m an expropriator. I am a worker and must live. You can’t understand it. Do what you like with me.
NEIGHBOUR. Take him to the village Elder or straight to the police!
TRAMP. I tell you, do whatever you like. I am not 319afraid, and am ready to suffer for my convictions. If you were educated you would understand.
MARTHA to her husband Suppose we let him go, in God’s name. We’ve got the parcel back. Let him go and let’s not commit another sin.
MICHAEL repeating “Another sin!” Taken to teaching? One wouldn’t know what to do without you, eh?
MARTHA. Why not let him go?
MICHAEL. “Let him go!” One knows what to do without you, you fool. “Let him go!” Go he may, but he must hear a word or two so that he should feel. To Tramp Well then, listen, you sir, to what I have to say to you. Though you are in a very low state, still you have done very wrong — very wrong. Another man would have caved your ribs in, and have taken you to the police; but I will only say this. You’ve done wrong, as wrong as may be; only you are in a very bad way and I don’t want to hurt you. Pauses. Everyone is silent. Then he continues solemnly Go, and God be with you, and do not do it again. Looks at his wife And you want to teach me!
NEIGHBOUR. You shouldn’t, Michael; oh, you should not. You’re encouraging that sort of thing.
MICHAEL the parcel still in his hand Whether I should or not is my business. To his wife And you tried to teach me! Stops, looks at the parcel, then at his wife, and gives it to the Tramp with decision Take it, you can drink it on the way. To wife And you wanted to teach me! To Tramp Go, you’ve been told to go. Then go, and no palavering.
TRAMP takes parcel. Silence You think I don’t understand. His voice trembles I fully understand. Had you beaten me like a dog, it would have felt less hard. Don’t I understand what I am? I am a rascal, a degenerate, I mean. Forgive me for the Lord’s sake. Sobs, throws the parcel on the table, and goes out hurriedly.
MARTHA. A good thing he didn’t take the tea, or we should have had none to drink.
MICHAEL to wife And you wanted to teach me!
NEIGHBOUR. How he cried, poor soul.
AKULÍNA. He too was a man.
The End
Light Shines in Darkness
Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude, 1914
Contents
Characters
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
Characters
NICHOLAS IVÁNOVICH SARÝNTSOV.
MARY IVÁNOVNA SARÝNTSOVA. His wife.
LYÚBA. Their daughter.
STYÓPA. Their son.
VÁNYA. A younger son.
MISSY. Their daughter.
SARÝNTSOVS’ LITTLE CHILDREN.
ALEXANDER MIKÁYLOVICH STARKÓVSKY. (Lyúba’s betrothed in Act IV).
MITROFÁN ERMÍLYCH. Ványa’s tutor.
SARÝNTSOVS’ GOVERNESS.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA KÓHOVTSEVA. Mary Ivánovna’s sister.
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH KÓHOVTSEV. Her husband.
LISA. Their daughter.
PRINCESS CHEREMSHÁNOV.
BORÍS. Her son.
TÓNYA. Her daughter.
A YOUNG PRIEST.
SARÝNTSOVS’ NURSE.
SARÝNTSOVS’ MEN-SERVANTS.
IVÁN ZYÁBREV. A peasant.
A PEASANT WOMAN. His wife.
MALÁSHKA. His daughter (carrying her baby-brother).
PETER. A peasant.
A RURAL POLICEMAN.
FATHER GERÁSIM. A priest.
A NOTARY.
A CARPENTER.
A GENERAL.
HIS ADJUTANT.
A COLONEL.
A REGIMENTAL CLERK.
324 A SENTINEL.
TWO SOLDIERS.
A GENDARME OFFICER.
HIS CLERK.
CHAPLAIN OF THE REGIMENT.
CHIEF DOCTOR IN A MILITARY ASYLUM.
AN ASSISTANT DOCTOR.
WARDERS.
AN INVALID OFFICER.
PIANIST.
COUNTESS.
ALEXANDER PETRÓVICH.
PEASANT MEN AND WOMEN, STUDENTS, LADIES, DANCING COUPLES.
THE LIGHT SHINES IN DARKNESS
Act I
The scene represents the verandah of a fine country-house, in front of which a croquet-lawn and tennis-court are shown, also a flower-bed. The children are playing croquet with their governess. Mary Ivánovna Sarýntsova, a handsome elegant woman of forty; her sister, Alexándra Ivánovna Kóhovtseva, a stupid, determined woman of forty-five; and her husband, Peter Semyónovich Kóhovtsef, a fat flabby man, dressed in a summer suit, with a pince-nez, are sitting on the verandah at a table with a samovár and coffee-pot. Mary Ivánovna Sarýntsova, Alexándra Ivánovna Kóhovtseva, and Peter Semyónovich Kóhovtsev are drinking coffee, and the latter is smoking.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. If you were not my sister, but a stranger, and Nicholas Ivánovich not your husband, but merely an acquaintance, I should think all this very original, and perhaps I might even encourage him, J’aurais trouvé tout ça très gentil;1 but when I see that your husband is playing the fool — yes, simply playing the fool — then I can’t help telling you what I think about it. And I shall tell your husband, Nicholas, too. Je lui dirai son fait, ma chère.2 I am not afraid of anyone.
MARY IVÁNOVNA. I don’t feel the least bit hurt; don’t I see it all myself? but I don’t think it so very important.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. No. You don’t think so, but I tell you that, if you let it go on, you will be beggared. Du train que cela va …
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. Come! Beggared indeed! Not with an income like theirs.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. Yes, beggared! And please don’t interrupt me, my dear! Anything a man does always seems right to you!
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. Oh! I don’t know. I was saying ——
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. But you never do know what you are saying, because when you men begin playing the fool, il n’y a pas de raison que ça finisse.4 I am only saying that if I were in your place, I should not allow it. J’aurais mis bon ordre à toutes ces lubies.5 What does it all mean? A husband, the head of a family, has no occupation, abandons everything, gives everything away, et fait le généreux à droite et à gauche.6 I know how it will end! Nous en savons quelque chose.7
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH to Mary Ivánovna. But do explain to me, Mary, what is this new movement? Of course I understand Liberalism, County Councils, the Constitution, schools, reading-rooms, and tout ce qui s’en suit;8 as well as Socialism, strikes, and an eight-hour day; but what is this? Explain it to me.
MARY IVÁNOVNA. But he told you about it yesterday.
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. I confess I did not understand. The Gospels, the Sermon on the Mount — and that churches are unnecessary! But then how is one to pray, and all that?
MARY IVÁNOVNA. Yes. That is the worst of it. He would destroy everything, and give us nothing in its place.
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. How did it begin?
MARY IVÁNOVNA. It began last year, after his sister died. He was very fond of her, and her death had a very great effect on him. He became quite morose, and was always talking about death; and then, you know, he fell ill himself with typhus. When he recovered, he was quite a changed man.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. But, all the same, he came in spring to see us again in Moscow, and was very nice, and played bridge. Il était très gentil et comme tout le monde.9
MARY IVÁNOVNA. But, all the same, he was then quite changed.
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. In what way?
MARY IVÁNOVNA. He was completely indifferent to his family, and purely and simply had l’idée fixe. He read the Gospels for days on end, and did not sleep. He used to get up at night to read, made notes and extrActs, and then began going to see bishops and hermits — consulting them about religion.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. And did he fast, or prepare for communion?
MARY IVÁNOVNA. From the time of our marriage — that’s twenty years ago — till then he had never fasted nor taken the sacrament, but at that time he did once take the sacrament in a monastery, and then immediately afterwards decided that one should neither take communion nor go to church.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. That’s what I say — thoroughly inconsistent!
MARY IVÁNOVNA. Yes, a month before, he would not miss a single service, and kept every fast-day; and then he suddenly decided that it was all unnecessary. What can one do with such a man?
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. I have spoken and will speak to him again.
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. Yes!
