Островский Александр Николаевич - Гроза.

hem. VARVARA. And you know, Katia, you don't love Tihon. KATERINA. Oh, yes, I do! I'm dreadfully sorry for him. VARVARA. Oh, no, you don't. If you're sorry for him you don't love him. And indeed you've no great reason to, I must own. And it's no good your being so close with me! I noticed a long while ago, that you were fond of some one. KATERINA (_with dismay_). How did you notice it? VARVARA. How absurd you are! I'm not a baby! Well, I'll tell you the first sign I knew by; directly you see him, your whole face is transformed. (_Katerina drops her eyes._) And that's not all.... KATERINA (_still looking down_). Well, whom then? VARVARA. Why, you know, what's the use of telling his name? KATERINA. No, tell it! Tell his name! VARVARA. Boris Grigoritch. KATERINA. Yes, yes, Varia! Only mind, Varia, for pity's sake.... VARVARA. What nonsense! _You'd_ better mind, and not betray yourself in any way. KATERINA. I can't deceive, I don't know how to conceal anything. VARVARA. But there's no doing without deceit; think where you're living! Our whole house rests on it! I wasn't fond of lying either, but I learnt the trick, when I had to. I was out walking yesterday, and so I saw him and had a few minutes talk with him. KATERINA (_after a short silence, looking down_). Well? VARVARA. He sent greetings to you. He was sorry, he said, that he never meets you. KATERINA (_her head still more bent down_). As if we could meet! And what would be the use.... VARVARA. He is so sad and unhappy.... KATERINA. Don't speak to me of him, for goodness' sake, don't speak of him! I don't want to know him even. I will love my husband: Tisha, my dear one, no one shall ever take your place! I did not want to think of him, you tempt me. VARVARA. All right, don't think of him; no one compels you to. KATERINA. You have no mercy on me! You say: don't think of him, and you mention him yourself! Do you suppose I want to think of him; but what can I do, when I can't get him out of my mind? Whatever I try to think, he seems always standing before my eyes. And I try to be different, and I can't. Do you know, last night, the evil one tempted me again. I was almost walking straight out of the house. VARVARA. You are such a fantastical creature, God bless you! What I think is: one should do what one likes, only be sure it's kept dark! KATERINA. I don't like that. What good can come of it! I had much better bear it as long as I can bear it. VARVARA. And when you can't bear it, what will you do? KATERINA. What shall I do? VARVARA. Yes, what will you do? KATERINA. Whatever I long to do, I will do. VARVARA. Just try; why they'd torment you to death. KATERINA. What do I care! I should go away, and that would be the end of it. VARVARA. Where would you go? You are a married woman. KATERINA. Ah, Varia, you don't know me! I pray, of course, it may never come to that! But if I am too miserable here, they would not keep me by any force on earth. I should throw myself out of the window, I should drown myself in the Volga. If I will not to live here, then I would not, they might cut me to pieces! (_Silence._) VARVARA. Do you know what, Katia! When Tihon's gone, let's sleep in the garden, in the summerhouse. KATERINA. Oh, why, Varia? VARVARA. Why, isn't it just the same to you? KATERINA. I'm timid of sleeping in a place I'm not used to. VARVARA. Timid, nonsense! Glasha will be with us. KATERINA. Still one feels nervous, somehow! But perhaps I will. VARVARA. I wouldn't have asked you, only mamma wouldn't let me alone, and I must. KATERINA (_looking at her_). What for? VARVARA.(_laughing_). We'll tell our fortunes together there. KATERINA. You must be joking. VARVARA. To be sure, I am joking; did you think I meant it?

  [_Silence_. KATERINA. Where can Tihon be? VARVARA. Why, do you want him? KATERINA. No, I only wondered, he has to start so soon. VARVARA. He's sitting locked up with mamma. She's nagging away at him now. KATERINA. What for? VARVARA. For nothing at all, teaching him to mind what he's about. He'll be a fortnight away out of her sight! Only fancy! She has an uneasy inkling all the time that he'll enjoy himself when he's his own master. And so she's busy now laying all sorts of injunctions upon him, each more imperative than the last, and then she'll take him up to the holy picture and make him swear solemnly that he'll do everything exactly and precisely according to her bidding. KATERINA. And so even when he's free he'll be as good as bound. VARVARA. Bound! Oh, will he! As soon as he gets away, he'll start drinking, you may be sure. He says nothing now, but all the while he's only thinking how to get away as soon as possible.

  [_Enter Mme. Kabanova and Kabanov_. SCENE III The Same with KABANOV and MADAME KABANOVA. MME. KABANOVA. Now do you remember everything I've told you? Mind you do remember it! Keep it in your heart! KABANOV. Yes, mamma. MME. KABANOVA. Well, now everything is ready. The horses are at the door. You've only to say good-bye and be off in God's name. KABANOV. Yes, mamma, it's time I was off. MME. KABANOVA. Well? KABANOV. What do you desire? MME. KABANOVA. Why are you standing about? Don't you know the way to do things? Lay your commands upon your wife, exhort her how she is to live in your absence.

  [_Katerina looks on the ground_. KABANOV. But she knows quite well without that. MME. KABANOVA. The way you talk! Come, come, give your commands, that I may hear what commands you lay upon her! And then when you come back, you can ask if she has performed everything exactly. KABANOV (_standing opposite Katerina_). Obey mamma, Katia. MME. KABANOVA. Tell her not to be saucy to her mother-in-law. KABANOV. Don't be saucy! MME. KABANOVA. To revere her mother-in-law as her own mother. KABANOV. Revere mamma, Katia, as your own mother. MME. KABANOVA. Not to sit with her hands in her lap like a fine lady. KABANOV. Do some work while I am away! MME. KABANOVA. Not to go staring out of window! KABANOV. But, mamma, whenever has she.... MME. KABANOVA. Come, come! KABANOV. Don't look out of window! MME. KABANOVA. Not to stare at young fellows while you are away! KABANOV. But that is too much, mamma, for mercy's sake! MME. KABANOVA (_severely_). Enough of this nonsense! It's your duty to do what your mother tells you. (_With a smile_) It's always as well when it's forbidden. KABANOV (_in great confusion_). Don't look at young men! [_Katerina looks sternly at him_. MME. KABANOVA. Well, now you can talk by yourselves a little, if you want to. Come, Varvara! [_They go out_. SCENE IV KABANOV and KATERINA (_she stands as though turned to stone_). KABANOV. Katia! (_Silence_.) Katia, you're not angry with me? KATERINA (_after a protracted silence-shakes her head_). No! KABANOV. But why are you like this? Come, forgive me! KATERINA (_still in the same position, slightly shaking her head_). Peace be with you! (_Hiding her face in her hands_) She has hurt me! KABANOV. If you take everything to heart so, you'll soon fall into a decline. Why listen to her! You know she must talk! Well then, let her talk, and you let it go in at one ear and out at the other. Come, good-bye, Katia! KATERINA (_falling on her husband's neck_). Tisha, don't go away! For God's sake, don't go away! Dear one, I implore you! KABANOV. I must, Katia. When mamma sends me, how can I not go? KATERINA. Well, take me with you, do take me! KABANOV (_freeing himself from her embrace_). But it's impossible! KATERINA. Oh, why, Tisha, impossible? KABANOV. Much fun there would be in going with you! You've worried me out of my life here between you! No sooner have I a hope of escaping than you want to fasten yourself upon me. KATERINA. Why, can it be that you are tired of me? KABANOV. No, I'm not tired of you; but to get out of this slavery a man would run away from the loveliest woman in the world! Just consider for a minute; I may not be good for much; but I'm a man anyway; and living all my life as you see, one's glad to run away from one's wife even. Why, when I think now, that for two whole weeks there'll be no storm hanging over me, no fetters on my legs,-do you suppose I can think of my wife? KATERINA. How can I care for you, when you say things like that? KABANOV. Say things? Why, what things am I to say? God knows what it is you're afraid of! You won't be alone, you know, you'll be with mamma. KATERINA. Don't speak of her, don't torture my heart! Ah, how wretched I am, how wretched! (_Weeps_.) Where can I go? Whom can I cling to? Merciful Heavens, I am lost! KABANOV. Come, be quiet! KATERINA (_goes up to her husband and draws him to her_). Tisha, dear one, if you would stay, if you would take me with you, how I would love you, how I would cherish you, my dear one! KABANOV. I can't make you out, Katia! Often there's no getting a word out of you, to say nothing of a kiss, and now you come coaxing up to me of your own accord. KATERINA. Tisha, what are you leaving me to? There'll be trouble when you're away! There'll be trouble! KABANOV. Now, come, I can't, so it's no use. KATERINA. Well, here then! Take from me some dreadful vow.... KABANOV. What vow? KATERINA. A vow that I will not dare while you're away on any ground whatever to speak with any outsider, nor see anyone,-that I will not even dare to think of anyone but you. KABANOV. But what's this for? KATERINA. Set my heart at rest, do this for me! KABANOV. But one can never answer for oneself like that, anything may come into one's head. KATERINA (_falling on her knees_). May I never look upon my father nor my mother! May I die impenitent, if I ... KABANOV (_pulling her up_). Hush! Nonsense! What wickedness is this! I won't hear you! [_Voice of Mme. Kabanova heard without, "It's time to start, Tihon!" Enter Mme. Kabanova, Varvara and Glasha._ SCENE V The same. MME. KABANOVA, VARVARA and GLASHA. MME. KABANOVA. Come, Tihon, it's time now! Set off on your way in God's name! (_sits down_). Sit down, all of you! (_All sit down. Silence_.) Now, good-bye! (_Gets up and all get up_.) KABANOV (_going up to his mother_). Good-bye, mamma! MME. KABANOVA (_with a wave of her hand points him to the ground_). At my feet! At my feet! (_Kabanov bows down to her feet, then kisses his mother_.) Say good-bye to your wife. KABANOV. Good-bye, Katia! [_Katerina falls on his neck_. MME. KABANOVA. What do you want to hang on his neck like that for, shameless hussy! It's not a lover you're parting from! He's your husband-your head! Don't you know how to behave? Bow down at his feet!

  [_Katerina bows down to his feet_. KABANOV. Good-bye, sister (_kisses Varvara_). Good-bye! Glasha (_kisses Glasha_). Good-bye, mamma! (_bows down to the ground_). MME. KABANOVA. Good-bye! Long farewells mean foolish tears.

  [_Kabanov goes out, after him Katerina, Varvara, and Glasha_. SCENE VI MME. KABANOVA (_alone_). MME. KABANOVA. The way young folks behave! It makes one laugh really to see them! If they weren't my own, I could laugh till I split. They don't know the way to do anything properly. Can't even take leave with decorum. A lucky thing it is for them that they have elder folk, who will keep their house together as long as they're living. And yet, the silly fools, they long to be their own masters, though when they do have their own way, they get in a mess directly to the scandal and amusement of all worthy folk. One here and there, to be sure, will be sorry for them, but for the most part they'll all laugh. No one can help laughing either; they'll invite guests, and not know how they should sit, and what's more, as likely as not, they leave out some one of their relations. It's simply comical. But the old order's passing away. There are some houses one doesn't care to go into. If you do cross the threshold, all you can do is to spit, and get away as quick as may be. What will happen when the old people are dead, how the world will go on, I really can't think. I'm thankful anyway, that I shall see nothing of it.

  [_Enter Katerina and Varvara._ SCENE VII MME. KABANOVA, KATERINA, and VARVARA. You make a boast of loving your husband so much; I see now how much your love's worth. Any other good wife, on seeing her husband off, would wail for a good hour and a half, lying on the steps; but one can see you're not much upset. KATERINA. There's no reason to be! Besides, I don't know how to wail. Why make the people laugh! MME. KABANOVA. No great art is needed. If you loved him you would have learnt to do it. If you can't wail properly, you should wail a little, if only for example. It is always more decorous; or else one sees it is all words with you. Well, I'm going to pray to God; do not interrupt me. VARVARA. I'm going out. MME. KABANOVA (_caressingly_). I've nothing against it! Go and enjoy yourself till your time comes. You'll have sitting indoors enough later on! [_Exeunt Mme. Kabanova and Varvara._ SCENE VIII KATERINA (_alone, dreamily_). Well, now, peace reigns in our house! Ah, the dreariness. If only there were children! That's the saddest thing! I have no children; I should sit with them and amuse them all day. I love talking to little children-they are angels, really. (_Silence._) If I had died when I was little, it would have been better. I should have looked down on to the earth from Heaven and been delighted with everything. I should have flown unseen wherever I liked. I would have floated into the country and fluttered from flower to flower, like a butterfly. (_Sinks into a reverie_) I know what I will do; I will begin some piece of work, as an offering to God. I will go to the bazaar, and buy some stuff and make some clothes to give to the poor. They will remember me in their prayers. And so I'll sit sewing with Varvara, and we shall not notice how the time passes; and soon Tisha will be back.

  [_Enter Varvara_. SCENE IX KATERINA and VARVARA. VARVARA (_putting a kerchief on her head before the looking-glass_). I am just going out for a walk now; Glasha's putting our beds in the summer house now, mamma's consented to let us sleep there. Mamma always keeps the little gate in the garden behind the raspberries locked up and hides the key. I've taken it and put another one in its place for her, so she won't notice it. Here, see, maybe, it will be wanted (_gives the key_). If I see him, I shall tell him to come to the little gate. KATERINA (_with horror, pushing away the key_). What for! what for! No! no! VARVARA. If you don't want it, I do; take it, it won't bite you! KATERINA. But what are you plotting, wicked girl? It's impossible! Do you know what you're doing? It's dreadful, dreadful! VARVARA. Well, well-Least said is soonest mended; and I've no time to stay either. It's time for my walk.

  [_Goes._ SCENE X KATERINA (_alone, holding the key in her hand_). The things she thinks of doing! Ah, she's a mad girl, really mad! Here is ruin! Here it is! Fling it away, fling it far away, drop it into the river, that it may never be found. It burns the hand like fire. (_Musing_) This is how we women come to ruin. How can anyone be happy in bondage? One may be driven to anything. Many a one is glad if she gets the chance; she flings herself headlong. But how can they, without thinking, without reflecting! Easy is the path that leads to misfortune! And then tears and anguish all your life: your bondage is bitterer than ever. (_Silence_) But bitter is a life of bondage, ah, how bitter! Who does not weep in it! Most of all, we women. Here am I now! I am fretting away my life, and I see no loophole of light and hope before me! And I never shall see it, that's certain! It'll be worse as it goes on. And now this wickedness too has come upon me. (_Muses_) If it were not for my mother-in-law! ... She is crushing me.... She has made the house hateful to me.... I loathe the very walls because of her. (_Looks dreamily at the key_) Throw it away? Of course, I must throw it away. And how came it into my hands? For my temptation, for my undoing. (_Listens_) Ah, someone is coming. How my heart is beating! (_hides the key in her pocket_) No! ... No one! ... Why was I so frightened? And I have put away the key.... Well, that's a sign it is to be! Fate itself, it seems, wills it! And where is the sin if I do look at him just once, from a distance. Even if I speak to him, still there's no harm in that! But what I said to Tihon ... why, he would not have it himself. And maybe, such a chance will not come again all my life long. Then I may well weep to myself-that there was a chance and I had not sense to seize it. But why talk, why cheat myself? If I die for it, I must see him. Whom am I trying to deceive.... Throw away the key! No, for nothing in the whole world! It is mine now.... Come what may, I will see Boris! Ah, night! come quickly! ACT III SCENE I The Street. The gates of the Kabanovs' house, a garden seat before the gates. MME. KABANOVA and FEKLUSHA (_sitting on the bench_). FEKLUSHA. The end of the world is at hand, ma'am, by every sign and token, Marfa Ignatievna, the end of the world is at hand. It's peace and paradise still here in your town, but in other towns it's simply Sodom, ma'am: the noise, the bustle, the incessant traffic! The people keep running, one one way, and one another. MME. KABANOVA. We've no need to hurry, my dear, we live without haste. FEKLUSHA. No, ma'am; there is peace and quietness in this town, because there are many people, you for instance, adorned with virtues, as with flowers; that's why everything is done decorously and tranquilly. Why, what is the meaning of all that haste and bustle, ma'am? It is vanity, to be sure! In Moscow now: the folk run to and fro; there's no knowing for why. It is all vanity. It is a people, full of vanity, ma'am, and so it runs to and fro. Each one fancies he's hurrying on business; he hastens, poor fellow, doesn't recognise people; it seems to him that someone is beckoning him; but when he gets to the place, sure enough it's empty, there's nothing there, it's only a dream. And he is downcast and disappointed. And another one fancies that he's overtaking someone he knows. Anyone looking on can see in a trice that there's no one; but it seems to him in his vanity and delusion that he's overtaking someone. Vanity, to be sure, is like a fog about them. Here among you on a fine evening like this, it's not often anyone even comes out to sit at his gate; but in Moscow now there's walking and playing, and a fearful racket going on in the street; a continual roar. And what's more, Marfa Ignatievna, ma'am, they've harnessed a fiery serpent to drive: all, look you, for the sake of more speed. MME. KABANOVA. I have heard tell of it, my dear. FEKLUSHA. But I, ma'am, have seen it with my own eyes; no doubt, others, in blindness and vanity, see nothing, so it seems a machine to them, but I saw it doing like this _(spreading out her fingers)_ with its paws. And a roar, too, that folks of righteous life hear for what it is. MME. KABANOVA. You can call it anything you like, call it a machine, if you will; the people is foolish and will believe anything. But as for me you might load me with gold, I wouldn't drive with such a thing. FEKLUSHA. The very idea, ma'am! The Lord preserve us from such a thing. And let me tell you too, Marfa Ignatievna, ma'am, a vision I had in Moscow. I went out early in the morning, it was just dawn, and on a high, very high house, on the roof, I saw someone standing, with a black face. You understand whom I mean. And he kept moving his hands, as though he were scattering something, but nothing fell. Then I divined that he was the enemy sowing tares, and the people in their blindness see it not, and gather them up. And that is why they run to and fro so, and the women among them are all so thin, and never get plump and comfortable, but always look as if they had lost something, or were looking for something, and that careworn they are, you feel sorry for them. MME. KABANOVA. Anything is possible, my dear, in our times, one can't be surprised at anything. FEKLUSHA. Hard times they are, Marfa Ignatievna, ma'am, very hard. Already the time has begun diminishing. MME. KABANOVA. How is that? diminishing, my dear? FEKLUSHA. We, of course-how should we observe it in our blindness and vanity? but wise people have observed that time has grown shorter with us. Once the summer and the winter dragged on endlessly, you got tired of looking for the end of them, but now, before one's time to look about one, they've flown. The days and the hours still seem the same, of course; but the time keeps growing shorter and shorter, for our sins. That's what the learned folk say about it. MME. KABANOVA. And worse than that will be, my dear. FEKLUSHA. I only trust we shan't live to see it. MME. KABANOVA. Maybe, we shall. [_Enter Dikoy._ SCENE II The Same and DIKOY. MME. KABANOVA. What brings you abroad so late, old friend? DIKOY. Why, who's to hinder me being out, I should like to know? MME. KABANOVA. Who wants to hinder you, indeed! DIKOY. Well, then what's the use of talking? Whose control am I under, hey? What next will you say? What the devil.... MME. KABANOVA. Now then, keep a little check on your tongue! You'd better look out for someone else to talk to! I won't let you off so easily as some do! Go your way wherever you're going. Come indoors, Feklusha.

  [_Gets up._ DIKOY. Wait a bit, old friend, wait a bit! Don't be angry. You're in no hurry to get home; your home's not many miles away. Here it is! MME. KABANOVA. If you've come on business, don't shout at me, but speak out plainly. DIKOY. I've no business, but I'm drunk, that's what it is! MME. KABANOVA. Well, would you have me praise you for that, hey? DIKOY. Needn't praise or blame. Only I'm drunk, and that's all about it. I can't get over it till I've slept it off. MME. KABANOVA. Well, go and have a sleep then. DIKOY. Where am I to go? MME. KABANOVA. Home, of course, where else? DIKOY. But if I don't want to go home. MME. KABANOVA. Why not, allow me to ask you? DIKOY. Because I've a row going on there. MME. KABANOVA. Why, who is there to quarrel with? You're the only quarrelsome one there, you know. DIKOY. Well, what if I am quarrelsome, hey? What of it, hey? MME. KABANOVA. Oh, nothing. Only there's no great glory in doing battle all your life with women, that's all. DIKOY. Well, I suppose they ought to obey me! Or am I to obey them, hey? MME. KABANOVA. I really wonder at you; with all the crowd of folks in your house, not a single one can do anything to your liking. DIKOY. That's so! MME. KABANOVA. Come, what do you want of me? DIKOY. Well, talk me out of my temper. You're the only person in the whole town who knows how to talk to me. MME. KABANOVA. Go in, Feklusha, and order a little something to be served. _(Feklusha goes.)_ Let's go indoors. DIKOY. No, I'm not going indoors, I'm worse indoors! MME. KABANOVA. How have they put you into such a rage? DIKOY. I've been so all day since the morning. MME. KABANOVA. I suppose they've been asking for money. DIKOY. As if they were in league together, damn them. One after another the whole day long they've been at me. MME. KABANOVA. No doubt you'll have to give it them, or they wouldn't persist. DIKOY. I know that; but what would you have me do, since I've a temper like that? Why, I know that I must pay, still I can't do it with a good will. You're a friend of mine, and I've to pay you something, and you come and ask me for it, I'm bound to swear at you! Pay I will, if pay I must, but I must swear too. For you've only to hint at money to me, and I feel hot all over in a minute; red-hot all over, and that's all about it. And to be sure at such times, I'd swear at anyone for nothing at all. MME. KABANOVA. You've no one over you, and so you think you can do as you like. DIKOY. No, you hold your tongue! Listen to me! I'll tell you the sort of troubles that happen to me. I had fasted and all ready for sacrament in Lent, and then the evil one thrusts a wretched peasant under my nose. He had come for money,-for wood he had supplied us. And for my sins he must needs show himself at a time like that! I fell into sin, of course, I pitched into him, pitched into him finely, I did, all but thrashed him. There you have it, my temper! Afterwards I asked his pardon, bowed down at his feet, upon my word I did. It's the truth I'm telling you, I bowed down at a peasant's feet. That's what my temper brings me to: on the spot there, in the mud I bowed down at his feet; before everyone, I did. MME. KABANOVA. But what do you work yourself up into a rage on purpose for? That's not right, my friend! DIKOY. On purpose? How d'you mean? MME. KABANOVA. I've seen you, I know all about it. When you see that people are going to ask you for anything, you go and pick a quarrel purposely with one of your household, so as to work yourself into a rage. For you know that when you're in a rage, no one dare come near you. That's a pretty thing! DIKOY. Well, what of it? Who likes parting with his property?

  [_Glasha comes in._ GLASHA. Marfa Ignatievna, lunch is served! MME. KABANOVA. Well, old friend, come in! Have a taste of what God has sent us! DIKOY. Much obliged. MME. KABANOVA. Pray walk in. _(Ushers Dikoy in front and follows him in. Glasha, folding her arms, stands at the gates.)_ GLASHA. If that isn't Boris Grigoritch coming. Sure now he's not after his uncle? Or may be, just out for a stroll-to be sure, out for a stroll, he must be. [_Enter Boris._ SCENE III GLASHA, BORIS, later KULIGIN. BORIS. Isn't my uncle inside? GLASHA. Yes. Do you want him? BORIS. They sent me from home to find out where he was. But since he's with you let him stop there; no one wants him. At home they're pleased and happy that he's out. GLASHA. Our good lady out to marry him, she'd soon make him mind what he's about. But I mustn't stop here gossiping with you! Good-bye. [_Exit._ BORIS. Ah, merciful Heavens! For one glimpse of her! I can't go into the house. No one calls anywhere uninvited in this place. What a life! We are living in the same town, almost next door; yet we barely see each other once a week, and then only in church, or in the street,-and that's all! When a woman's married here she might as well be buried,-it's all the same. _(Silence.)_ If only I had never seen her; it would have been better for me! I can only see her by snatches, and before people,-who are all eyes, staring at one. It's simply heartrending. And yet there's no mastering oneself. If I go out for a walk, I always find myself here at the gate. And what use is there in coming here? There's never any chance of seeing her, and what's more, it may give rise to gossip and do her harm. Well, it's a fine town, certainly!

  [_He is going, Kuligin comes, meeting him._ KULIGIN. Well, sir? out for a walk? BORIS. Yes, it's very pleasant out now. KULIGIN. Very pleasant it is, sir, walking now. The stillness, the sweet air, the scent of flowers from the far side of the Volga, the clear sky- The space aloft, filled full of stars, Stars numberless, space limitless. Shall we go to the parade, there's not a soul there. BORIS. Yes, come along. KULIGIN That's our town all over, sir! Here they've made a parade, but they don't walk there. They only walk out on fкte days, and then they only make a show of being out for a walk. They really come out to show off their best clothes. You never meet anyone but maybe a drunken attorney's clerk reeling home from the tavern. The poor have no time, sir, to walk out; they must work and worry day and night. Three hours' sleep is all they get out of the twenty-four. But what are the rich about? You'd wonder why they shouldn't walk about and enjoy the fresh air. But not a bit of it! They've all had their gates, sir, locked up long ago, and their dogs let loose. ... Do you suppose they are at work at their business, or praying to God? No, sir! And it's not for fear of thieves they lock themselves up; it's that folks shouldn't see the way they ill-treat their household, and bully their families. And the tears that flow behind those bolts, unseen, unheard of! But there's no need to tell you that, sir! You can judge of it for yourself. And the sordid sodden vice within those barred gates, sir! And all hidden and buried-no one sees or knows anything of it, God alone beholds it! Stare at me as you like, say they, in the street and among folk, but you've nothing to do with my family; that's what I have locks for, and bolts and bars and savage dogs. The family's something apart, secret! We know all about such secrets!-secrets, sir, that make one man merry, perhaps, while the rest are weeping and wailing. Much secrecy about it! Everyone knows! Robbing their orphans, kinsfolk, nephews, beating their dependents till they're too cowed to hint at what goes on within doors,-there's no great secret in that! But that's enough of them! Do you know, sir, who do go for walks here? The young fellows and girls. They steal an hour or two from sleep and walk out in couples. There's a couple over there!

  [_Kudriash and Varvara are seen. They kiss._ BORIS. They are kissing. KULIGIN. We don't think much of that.

  [_Kudriash goes off, and Varvara goes towards her own gate and beckons Boris, he goes up to her._ SCENE IV BORIS, KULIGIN and VARVARA. KULIGIN. I'll go to the parade, sir. I'm in your way. I'll wait for you there. BORIS. Very well, I'll come directly. VARVARA (_hiding her face in her kerchief_). Do you know the hollow behind the Kabanovs' garden? BORIS. Yes. VARVARA. You come there a little later on. BORIS. What for? VARVARA. How stupid you are! Come; then you'll see what for. Well, you'd better make haste now, since that person's waiting for you. (_Boris goes_.) There, he didn't know me! Well, now let him wonder, I know very well that Katerina won't hold out, she'll run out to see him. [_Goes in at the gate. Curtain_. SCENE V The scene changes. A hollow dell covered with bushes; at the top of it the Kabanovs' garden and a gate; a path leading down from it. (_Kudriash enters with a, guitar_.) KUDRIASH. No one. What is she up to? Well, I'll sit and wait for her. (_Seats himself on a stone_) This is slow; I'll sing a song (_sings_). As the Don Cossack, the Cossack, leads his horse to drink, The brave young man, he stands at the gate, At the gate he stands, and ponders in his heart, In his heart he ponders, how he will slay his wife. And the wife, the wife besought him, Falling down at his swift feet; Master, friend of my heart, I pray thee, Strike me not, slay me not in the evening! But kill me, slay me after midnight! Let my little children be asleep, My little children, and all my good neighbours. [_Enter Boris_. SCENE VI KUDRIASH and BORIS. KUDRIASH (_stops singing_). Hullo! Such a sober, staid person as you, out on the spree too? BORIS. Kudriash, is that you? KUDRIASH. It is, Boris Grigoritch. BORIS. What are you here for? KUDRIASH. What for? I suppose because I want to be here, Boris Grigoritch, since I am here. I shouldn't have come if I hadn't wanted to. Where is fortune taking you? BORIS (_looking carefully at the scene around him_). Look here, Kudriash, I've got to stop here, and I've no doubt it's all the same to you, so you might go and sit in some other place. KUDRIASH. No, Boris Grigoritch, you're here, I perceive, for the first time, but this is a place where I have often sat, and this little path has been trodden by my feet. I like you, sir, and am ready to do you any service; but you'll kindly refrain from meeting me in this path at night, lest evil come of it. Fair words are better than gold. BORIS. What is the matter with you, Vania? KUDRIASH. Vania, indeed! I know my name's Vania. But you go on your way, that's all about it. Find a girl to your liking, and walk out with her to your heart's content, and no one will say a word to you. But don't meddle with other fellows' girls! That's not the way we do things here, or the fellows will break your legs for you. For my girl ... Well, I don't know what I wouldn't do! I'd cut your throat! BORIS. You're angry for no reason; I've not the slightest idea of robbing you of her. I shouldn't have come here if I hadn't been told to. KUDRIASH. Who told you to? BORIS. I couldn't make out, it was dark. A girl stopped me in the street and said I was to come just here, behind the Kabanovs' garden, where there is a little path. KUDRIASH. Who could that be? BORIS. Listen, Kudriash. Could I speak to you openly, you wouldn't gossip? KUDRIASH. You needn't be afraid of that! I'm as safe as the grave. BORIS. I know nothing of your habits and ways of doing things here; but the fact is ... KUDRIASH. You're in love. BORIS. Yes, Kudriash. KUDRIASH. Oh, well, that's all right. We're free enough in that way. The girls amuse themselves as they like, and the father and mother have nothing to say to it. It's only the wives are kept shut up. BORIS. That's just what's so sad. KUDRIASH. You don't mean to say you're in love with a married woman? BORIS. She is married, Kudriash. KUDRIASH. Ah, Boris Grigoritch, you must drop that! BORIS. It's easy to say drop it! I daresay it's all the same to you, you'll throw up one and pick up another easily enough! But I can't do like that! If once I love ... KUDRIASH. That's as much as to say you're ready to ruin the poor thing completely, Boris Grigoritch! BORIS. God forbid! God forbid! No, Kudriash, how can you! I ready to ruin her! I only want to see her, to speak to her, I ask for nothing more. KUDRIASH. You can't answer for yourself like that, sir! And just think what sort of people you have to deal with here. You know them yourself. They'd be the death of her, they'd torment her into the grave. BORIS. Ah, don't say that, Kudriash, please don't frighten me! KUDRIASH. But does she care for you? BORIS. I don't know. KUDRIASH. Have you ever met then? BORIS. I have only once been in their house with my uncle. And I see her in church, and pass her sometimes on the parade. Ah, Kudriash, how she prays, if you could see her! the angelic smile on her face! her face seems to shed light. KUDRIASH. Oh, then it's the young wife of Kabanov. BORIS. Yes, Kudriash. KUDRIASH. Oh, so that's it! Well, I humbly congratulate you! BORIS. What for? KUDRIASH. Well, things look promising for you, since she's sent you word to come here. BORIS. Can it be she sent word? KUDRIASH. Why, who else could it be? BORIS. No, you're making fun of me! It can't be so. (_Clutches his head_.) KUDRIASH. What's the matter? BORIS. I shall go mad with joy. KUDRIASH. What next! I can't see anything to go mad about! You look out that you don't make a mess of things and get her into trouble! Her husband's a fool, we all know, but her mother-in-law is terrible.

  [_Varvara comes out of the gate._ SCENE VII The Same and VARVARA, afterwards KATERINA. VARVARA (_at the gate, sings_). "Beyond the river, the swift river, My Vania's walking, dear Vania's walking" ... KUDRIASH (_going on with the song_). "Going to the fair." (_Whistles._) VARVARA (_comes down the path and, hiding her face in her kerchief, goes up to Boris_). You wait a bit, lad. You've something to wait for. (_To Kudriash_) Let's go to the Volga. KUDRIASH. Why have you been so long? Kept me waiting again! You know I don't like it! (_Varvara puts one arm round him and they walk away._) BORIS. It's like a dream! This night, and singing and trysts! They're walking, their arms round each other. It is so new for me, so sweet! Here I am waiting for something. And what I am waiting for-I know not and cannot picture to myself; only my heart is throbbing and every nerve is quivering. I cannot think even what to say to her, I can hardly breathe, my knees are shaking! My stupid heart is in my mouth, I can't quiet it. Here she comes. (_Katerina slowly comes down the path, wrapt in a large white kerchief, her eyes fixed on the ground. Silence._) Is it you? Katerina Petrovna? (_Silence._) How can I ever thank you,-I don't know. (_Silence._) If you only knew, Katerina Petrovna, how I love you!

  [_Tries to take her hand._ KATERINA (_with terror, but not raising her eyes_). Do not touch me, do not touch me! Alas, alas! BORIS. Do not be angry! KATERINA. Go away from me, go away, unhappy man! Do you know that never by any prayer can I be free of this sin, never again! Like a stone it will lie on my soul, like a stone. BORIS. Do not send me away! KATERINA. Why did you come? Why did you come for my undoing? I am a wife, you know, I must live with my husband, till I lie in the grave.... BORIS. You told me yourself to come ... KATERINA. Till the grave; do you understand? BORIS. Better if I had never seen you. KATERINA (_with great emotion_). You see what I am preparing for myself? What is the only place left for me? BORIS. Calm yourself. (_Takes her hand_) Sit down! KATERINA. Why do you wish for my ruin? BORIS. How can I wish to injure you, when I love you more than anything in the world, more than myself? KATERINA. No, no! You have been the undoing of me. BORIS. Am I such a wicked wretch? KATERINA (_shaking her head_). I am lost, lost, lost! BORIS. God forbid! I'd rather perish myself! KATERINA. Have I not forsaken my home, and come out to you in the night? BORIS. You came of your own free will. KATERINA. I have no will. If I had had any will left of my own, I would not have come to you. (_Lifts her eyes and looks at Boris. A short silence_.) Your will is upon me now, don't you see that? [_Sinks on his neck_. BORIS (_puts his arms about Katerina_). My life! KATERINA. Ah, if death would come quickly now! BORIS. Why die when life is so sweet for us? KATERINA. No, life is not for me! I know it is not for me! BORIS. Don't say such things, please, don't torture me. KATERINA. Yes, you are happy, you are free as the air, but I! ... BORIS. No one shall know of our love. Do you think I have no feeling for you? KATERINA. Ah! Why feel for me, it's no one's fault. I have come to this of myself. Don't think of me! Anyone may know, anyone may see what I do! (_Takes Boris in her arms_.) Since I have not feared to do wrong for you, am I likely to fear the judgment of men? They do say, it will be better for one, if one has to suffer here on earth for any sin. BORIS. Come, why think of that, when we are happy now! KATERINA. Why, truly! I shall have long years to weep enough hereafter. BORIS. And I was so frightened, I thought you would send me away. KATERINA (_smiling_). Send you away! How could I? Not with my heart. If you had not come, think I should have gone to you myself. BORIS. I never even guessed you loved me. KATERINA. I have loved you for so long. It's as though, for my sins, you came here to torment me. Directly I saw you I ceased to belong to myself. From the first moment, I believe, if you had beckoned to me, I would have followed you; to the ends of the earth I would have followed you, and never looked back. BORIS. Has your husband gone away for long? KATERINA. For a fortnight. BORIS. O, then we will be happy! that is a long time. KATERINA. We will be happy. And then ... (_sinks into dreamy musing_). If they lock me up, that will be my death! And if they don't lock me up, I will find some way to see you again! [_Enter Kudriash and Varvara_. SCENE VIII The Same, with KUDRIASH and VARVARA. VARVARA. Well, have you made friends? (_Katerina hides her face on Boris's breast_). BORIS. Yes. VARVARA. You might go and walk about a bit and let us rest. When it's time to go in, Vania will shout. (_Boris and Katerina go away, Kudriash and Varvara sit down on the stone_.) KUDRIASH. This is a first-rate plan, getting out at the garden gate. It's fine and convenient for us. VARVARA. It's all my doing. KUDRIASH. There's no one like you for such things. But what if your mother catches you? VARVARA. Oh! How could she? It would never enter her head! KUDRIASH. But if by ill luck, it were to? VARVARA. Her first sleep is sound; in the early morning now, there is more chance of her being awake. KUDRIASH. But there's never any knowing! Some evil spirit might rouse her up. VARVARA. Well, even then! Our gate into the yard is locked on the inside, the garden side; she would knock and knock and then go away. And in the morning we'd declare we'd been sound asleep and heard nothing. Besides, Glasha's on the lookout; the faintest sound, she'd let us know in a minute. One can't do anything without some risk! No, indeed! the only thing is to mind what one's about and not get into a scrape. (_Kudriash strikes a few cords on the guitar. Varvara leans on the shoulder of Kudriash who plays softly, paying no attention to her. Varvara yawning_) How could we find out what time it is? KUDRIASH. It's one o'clock. VARVARA. How do you know? KUDRIASH. A watchman struck one blow on his board just now. VARVARA (_yawning_). It's late. Shout to them! We'll get out earlier tomorrow, so as to have longer. KUDRIASH (_gives a whistle and then sings loudly_) They're all going home! They're all going home! But I won't go home! BORIS (_behind the scenes_). I hear! VARVARA (_gets up_). Well, good-bye! (_yawns, then gives a cool kiss to Kudriash, as if he were an old and very intimate friend_). To-morrow mind you come earlier! (_Looks in the direction in which Boris and Katerina went away_) You've said good-bye enough, you're not parting for ever, you'll see each other to-morrow (_yawns and stretches, Katerina hurries in, followed by Boris_). SCENE IX KUDRIASH, VARVARA, BORIS and KATERINA. KATERINA. Come, let us go now, let us go! (_They go up the path, Katerina turns round_). Good-bye! BORIS. Till to-morrow. KATERINA. Yes, to-morrow! Tell me what you dream to-night!

  [_The girls reach the gate_. BORIS. Yes, yes. KUDRIASH (_sings and plays guitar_) Come out, lassie, while you may Till the glow of setting day! Ai-lalee, while you may, Till the glow of setting day! VARVARA (_at the gate_). Aye, my laddie, while I may, Till the glow of break of day! Ai-lalee, while I may, Till the glow of break of day! KUDRIASH. When the sun has risen fair And I may not linger mair.

  [_Exit singing._ ACT IV SCENE I In the foreground a narrow arcade running round an old building which has begun to fall into decay; bushes and grass about it; in the background the banks of the Volga and view beyond it. (_Several Persons of both Sexes approach the Arcade._) FIRST. It's spotting with rain, seems as though it might be a storm coming on. SECOND. Look, it's gathering yonder. FIRST. A good thing we've somewhere to take shelter.

  [_They all go under the arches._ A WOMAN. What a lot of folks out on the parade, too! To-day being a holiday, everyone's out walking. The merchants' ladies all pranked out in their best. FIRST. They'll stand up somewhere out of the rain. SECOND. Look, at the people hurrying this way now! FIRST (_staring round at the walls_). I say, old fellow, it must have been covered with paintings once, do you know. One can make them out even now, here and there. SECOND. To be sure! Of course the walls were covered with paintings. Now it's all been let go to rack and ruin, and the old place is falling to pieces. There's been nothing done to it since the fire. But to be sure you don't remember that fire, it will be forty years ago. FIRST. Whatever's this picture here, old fellow? It's not easy to make out what it's about. SECOND. That's a picture of the torments of hell. FIRST. Oh! so that's what it is! SECOND. And there's folks of all sorts and conditions going down into the fire, see? FIRST. To be sure, yes, I understand it now. SECOND. Of every sort and rank. FIRST. And niggers too? SECOND. Yes, niggers too. FIRST. And I say, old fellow, what's this? SECOND. That's the Lithuanian invasion. A battle, d'ye see? Our men fighting with the men of Lithuania. FIRST. Who were these Lithuanians? SECOND. Can't say. Lithuanians, to be sure. FIRST. But they do say, you know, they fell down on us from heaven. SECOND. I can't tell about that, I daresay they did. A WOMAN. What ignorance! Why, everyone knows the Lithuanians fell from heaven. Well to be sure! and it was in memory of the battle with them that these mounds were made. FIRST. There, old fellow! That's so, you see! [_Enter Dikoy and Kuligin, his head bare. All the bystanders bow and assume a respectful air on seeing Dikoy._ SCENE II The Same, DIKOY and KULIGIN. DIKOY. Ugh, I'm wet through. (_To Kuligin_) Get away from me! Let me alone! (_Angrily_) Fool of a man! KULIGIN. Saviol Prokofitch, it would be conferring a benefit, your worship, on all the residents in the town. DIKOY. Go along! A mighty benefit! Who wants such a benefit? KULIGIN. And on you, indeed, your worship, Saviol Prokofitch. To be set up, for instance, on the parade in the open space. And as for expense,-the expense would be trifling: a stone column (_indicates the size of each thing by gestures_), a copper disc, round like this, and a pivot, an upright pivot (_shows, gesticulating_) of the simplest description. I will put it all up and carve the figures on the face myself too. And, your worship, when you are pleased to take a walk, or any other people are out walking, you will go up to it, and see at once what o'clock it is. As it is, it's a fine position and a fine view and all, but, as it were, it wants something. And we have visitors too, your worship, who come here to see our views, and it will always be an ornament,-a pleasant object for the eye to rest on. DIKOY. But why on earth do you come pestering me with every sort of idiocy? It's possible, don't you see, that I don't want to talk to you. You ought first to ascertain whether I am disposed to listen to you or not, you dolt. What am I to you? ... am I your equal, eh? Damn the fellow! A mighty clever idea he's hit upon! And then up he must come and straightway start holding forth upon it. KULIGIN. If I were about my own business, I should be to blame certainly. But I am speaking in the public interest, your worship. And it's no great matter spending about a pound on a public object! More than that would not be needed, sir. DIKOY. I daresay you'd like to pocket the money; who knows anything of you? KULIGIN. Seeing that I want to give my services for nothing, your worship, how could I pocket anything? And everyone knows me here; no one can say any harm of me. DIKOY. They may know you, for all I care, but I don't want to know you. KULIGIN. Why insult an honest man, sir? DIKOY. Am I to account to you for what I say or do? Let me tell you I allow no one to criticise my actions-no, not folks of far more consequence than you. I shall think of you as I choose to think of you. Others may say you're an honest man, but I look upon you as a brigand, and that's all about it. You seem anxious to hear my opinion, so here it is! I say you're a brigand, and nothing else! Do you want to have the law of me, hey? Very well then, let me tell you you're a worm. If I choose, I spare you; if I choose, I can trample you under foot! KULIGIN. So be it, Saviol Prokofitch! I am only a poor man, sir, it costs little to be rude to me. But let me remind you, your honour, virtue i