SCENE THE NINTH.
A Tavern near the Lithuanian Frontier.
MISAEL AND VARLAAM , dressed as friars GRIGORY OTREPIEFF , in a layman's dress . HOSTESS. TOW WATCHMEN .
HOSTESS .
What can I serve you with, my honest sirs?
VARLAAM .
With aught God sends us, hostess. Hast thou wine?
HOSTESS .
What think you, fathers? Straight I'll bring you some.
MISAEL .
Why, mate, art thou so fallen in the dumps? Here we are close to the Lithuanian frontier thou hast been so eager about.
GRIGORY .
Till I am in Lithuania, there is no quiet or repose for me.
VARLAAM .
What is the great charm that Lithuania has for thee? Now, father Misael and I, poor sinner, since we have hooked the monastery, do not bother our heads, whether we be in Lithuania or in Russia. Fiddle or psaltery, it is all the same to us, provided only the wine does not fail... Ah, here it comes.
MISAEL .
Admirably spoken, father Varlaam, and to the point.
HOSTESS .
Here is the wine, my fathers. Drink, and health and good luck attend you!
MISAEL .
Thanks, my dear: may the Lord bless thee! ( They drink; Varlaam sings snatches from a song ). Why dost thou not join us in our song and drink?
GRIGORY .
I don't wish.
MISAEL .
Every one is free to do as he likes.
VARLAAM .
Ah, father Misael, it is only when in drink, a man knows the joys of Paradise! Let us drink to the health of our hostess. ( He drinks .) Now, father Misael, when I am drinking, I hate your sober folk. You see, drinking, that's one thing, and sour prudery, that's another. Do you wish to jog with us, very pleased, if you will join; if not, get out, and the deuce take you. Jesters and priests never make good mates!
GRIGORY .
Drink, and lay down the law for thyself!... Thou seest,
I too, when it is necessary, can speak to the point!
VARLAAM .
And pray, why lay down a law for myself?
MISAEL .
Let him alone, and leave off bothering, father Varlaam!
VARLAAM .
Tell me, who is this drink-faster? He of his own accord joined our company, never once telling us who he is, or where he comes from. And now he begins to sermonise.
GRIGORY .
Where does this road lead to?
HOSTESS .
Into Lithuania, good friend, to the Louovie hills.
GRIGORY .
And is it far to the Louovie hills?
HOSTESS .
Not very far, thou canst easily get there by night fall, unless, by chance, thou art stopped at the gates, or by the watchmen, on the road.
GRIGORY .
How stopped? What dost thou mean?
HOSTESS .
There is a runaway from Moscow they are after, and orders have been given to stop and search all travellers.
GRIGORY .
A regular St. George's Day for me! ( Aloud .) But who is it they are after? Who has run away from Moscow?
HOSTESS .
The Lord alone knows! some robber or brigand; at any rate, honest people can no longer travel freely. And what will come of it all? Nothing: they will never catch the poor devil. As if there were no other way into Lithuania, than by the highroad! Why, one has only to turn to the left, go through the pine-forest up to the chapel on the Tchekansky river, and then cut across the marsh to Chopino, and from thence to Zachereva, and from there any child can get to the Louovie hills. These blessed watchmen are only a burden to honest travellers, and we poor people are robbed on every side by the brutes. ( A noise is heard .) What is that? Here are the cursed scoundrels! They have come to search the place.
GRIGORY .
Hostess, is there no corner in the house, where one can hide?
HOSTESS .
No, dear friend, I should only be too glad myself to hide somewhere. There is nothing to be done when they come, but to give them wine and bread, and God knows what else I wish they would burst with their gorging!
WAICHMEN .
Good day, hostess!
HOSTESS .
Welcome, good friends! Please, come in.
SECOND WATCHMAN .
We are in luck to-day: a drinking bout is going on. ( To the monks .) What people are you?
VARLAAM .
We are aged servants of the Lord, peaceable monks, on our way through the villages, to collect the alms of the faithful in aid of our monastery.
FIRST WATCHMAN
And thou?
MISAEL .
Our companion...
GRIGORY
A layman of the neighbouring town. I am their guide as far as the frontier, and there I must leave them and go home.
MISAEL .
What, hast thou changed thy mind?
GRIGORY .
Hush! be silent!
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Hostess, bring some more wine! We will have a drink and a chat with these monks.
SECOND WATCHMAN .
The younker does not seem to be very flush: there is nothing to be got out of him, but the old men...
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Keep quiet, we will soon ferret out all about them.... Well, my fathers, and how is your business going?
VARLAAM .
Badly, my son, very badly. Times have changed; Christians have grown stingy, and become lovers of pelf and hoarders of money. They give but little to the Lord. The nations of the earth have fallen into sin; they have given themselves up to buying and selling; they think only of this world's goods, and have no care for their soul. We trudge and trudge, begging here and begging there, and at the end of three days have not made a half-copeck. A wicked world! One week goes by, a second and a third; and when at last we turn out the bag, there is so little in it, that we are ashamed to return to the monastery, and what is to be done? Out of very grief, we drink away the trumpery sum. We can't help ourselves! Yes, things go badly, and the last days have come upon us!
HOSTESS .
The Lord have mercy on us and deliver us from evil!
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Alexis, you have the Imperial Decree?
SECOND WATCHMAN .
Yes, I have it here in my pocket.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Give it me.
MISAEL .
Why dost thou look at me so fixedly?
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Why, you see, an evil-minded heretic, named Grigory Otrepieff, has run away from Moscow. May be, thou hast heard about it?
MISAEL .
No, I have heard nothing of it.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
So, thou hast heard nothing of it? Very good! Now, this runaway heretic the Tsar has ordered to be arrested and hanged. You know that?
MISAEL .
No, no: I know nothing of the affair.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Canst thou read?
VARLAAM ,
When I was young, I learned to read; but I have forgotten since.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
And thou?
MISAEL .
The Lord has not given me that gift.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Well, here is the Tsar's Decree.
MISAEL .
But what has it to do with me?
FIRST WATCHMAN .
It seems to me that this fugitive heretic, thief, and rogue is no other than thyself.
MISAEL .
Good God! What art thou saying?
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Wait a little! Shut to the doors! We'll soon get at the truth.
HOSTESS
Ah, how they like to torture honest folk! they won't even let this poor man alone!
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Who is here able to read?
GRIGORY .
I can read and write.
FIRST WATCHMAN
Indeed? And who taught thee?
GRIGORY .
Our sacristan.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Well, read that out loud.
GRIGORY .
Grigory, an unworthy monk of Tchudoff Monastery, of the family of the Otrepieffs, has fallen into heresy, and with his devilish errors has sought to contaminate the holy brotherhood. From information received, it appears that this accursed Grigory has fled to the borders of Lithuania...
FIRST WATCHMAN .
And thou still affirmest, thou art not the man?
GRIGORY .
And the Tsar hereby orders him to be arrested...
FIRST WATCHMAN .
And to be hanged.
GRIGORY .
There is nothing here about hanging.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Nonsense! Of course every word is not put down in full! So, please, read it properly and correctly: to be arrested and hanged.
GRIGORY .
And to be hanged. Grigory is about fifty years of age, of middle height, bald-headed, with a light gray beard, and a prominent belly.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Friends, that is Grigory! Seize him, and bind him!
It has turned out differently to what I expected.
VARLAAM .
Hands off, you rogues! What kind of Grigory, pray, am I? How, fifty years of age, a gray beard, and a prominent belly! Nay, brother, thou art too young to trick me like that! I have got out of the way of reading, and can't very easily spell out the words; but when it comes to hanging, I can read fast enough. (Reads with difficulty.) This Grigory is about twenty years of age. Where is there a word about fifty? Canst thou not read, dear brother? Twenty!
SECOND WATCHMAN .
Yes, I recollect, it was twenty; that is what we were told.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
How is this, friend? It seems, you are fond of playing a joke.
VARLAAM .
He is of short stature, with broad chest, one arm shorter than the other, blue eyes, reddish hair, a mole on his cheek, and another on his forehead... What dost thou say, friend; I fancy, thou art the man.
WATCHMAN .
Hold him! Hold him there!
A Tavern near the Lithuanian Frontier.
MISAEL AND VARLAAM , dressed as friars GRIGORY OTREPIEFF , in a layman's dress . HOSTESS. TOW WATCHMEN .
HOSTESS .
What can I serve you with, my honest sirs?
VARLAAM .
With aught God sends us, hostess. Hast thou wine?
HOSTESS .
What think you, fathers? Straight I'll bring you some.
MISAEL .
Why, mate, art thou so fallen in the dumps? Here we are close to the Lithuanian frontier thou hast been so eager about.
GRIGORY .
Till I am in Lithuania, there is no quiet or repose for me.
VARLAAM .
What is the great charm that Lithuania has for thee? Now, father Misael and I, poor sinner, since we have hooked the monastery, do not bother our heads, whether we be in Lithuania or in Russia. Fiddle or psaltery, it is all the same to us, provided only the wine does not fail... Ah, here it comes.
MISAEL .
Admirably spoken, father Varlaam, and to the point.
HOSTESS .
Here is the wine, my fathers. Drink, and health and good luck attend you!
MISAEL .
Thanks, my dear: may the Lord bless thee! ( They drink; Varlaam sings snatches from a song ). Why dost thou not join us in our song and drink?
GRIGORY .
I don't wish.
MISAEL .
Every one is free to do as he likes.
VARLAAM .
Ah, father Misael, it is only when in drink, a man knows the joys of Paradise! Let us drink to the health of our hostess. ( He drinks .) Now, father Misael, when I am drinking, I hate your sober folk. You see, drinking, that's one thing, and sour prudery, that's another. Do you wish to jog with us, very pleased, if you will join; if not, get out, and the deuce take you. Jesters and priests never make good mates!
GRIGORY .
Drink, and lay down the law for thyself!... Thou seest,
I too, when it is necessary, can speak to the point!
VARLAAM .
And pray, why lay down a law for myself?
MISAEL .
Let him alone, and leave off bothering, father Varlaam!
VARLAAM .
Tell me, who is this drink-faster? He of his own accord joined our company, never once telling us who he is, or where he comes from. And now he begins to sermonise.
GRIGORY .
Where does this road lead to?
HOSTESS .
Into Lithuania, good friend, to the Louovie hills.
GRIGORY .
And is it far to the Louovie hills?
HOSTESS .
Not very far, thou canst easily get there by night fall, unless, by chance, thou art stopped at the gates, or by the watchmen, on the road.
GRIGORY .
How stopped? What dost thou mean?
HOSTESS .
There is a runaway from Moscow they are after, and orders have been given to stop and search all travellers.
GRIGORY .
A regular St. George's Day for me! ( Aloud .) But who is it they are after? Who has run away from Moscow?
HOSTESS .
The Lord alone knows! some robber or brigand; at any rate, honest people can no longer travel freely. And what will come of it all? Nothing: they will never catch the poor devil. As if there were no other way into Lithuania, than by the highroad! Why, one has only to turn to the left, go through the pine-forest up to the chapel on the Tchekansky river, and then cut across the marsh to Chopino, and from thence to Zachereva, and from there any child can get to the Louovie hills. These blessed watchmen are only a burden to honest travellers, and we poor people are robbed on every side by the brutes. ( A noise is heard .) What is that? Here are the cursed scoundrels! They have come to search the place.
GRIGORY .
Hostess, is there no corner in the house, where one can hide?
HOSTESS .
No, dear friend, I should only be too glad myself to hide somewhere. There is nothing to be done when they come, but to give them wine and bread, and God knows what else I wish they would burst with their gorging!
WAICHMEN .
Good day, hostess!
HOSTESS .
Welcome, good friends! Please, come in.
SECOND WATCHMAN .
We are in luck to-day: a drinking bout is going on. ( To the monks .) What people are you?
VARLAAM .
We are aged servants of the Lord, peaceable monks, on our way through the villages, to collect the alms of the faithful in aid of our monastery.
FIRST WATCHMAN
And thou?
MISAEL .
Our companion...
GRIGORY
A layman of the neighbouring town. I am their guide as far as the frontier, and there I must leave them and go home.
MISAEL .
What, hast thou changed thy mind?
GRIGORY .
Hush! be silent!
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Hostess, bring some more wine! We will have a drink and a chat with these monks.
SECOND WATCHMAN .
The younker does not seem to be very flush: there is nothing to be got out of him, but the old men...
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Keep quiet, we will soon ferret out all about them.... Well, my fathers, and how is your business going?
VARLAAM .
Badly, my son, very badly. Times have changed; Christians have grown stingy, and become lovers of pelf and hoarders of money. They give but little to the Lord. The nations of the earth have fallen into sin; they have given themselves up to buying and selling; they think only of this world's goods, and have no care for their soul. We trudge and trudge, begging here and begging there, and at the end of three days have not made a half-copeck. A wicked world! One week goes by, a second and a third; and when at last we turn out the bag, there is so little in it, that we are ashamed to return to the monastery, and what is to be done? Out of very grief, we drink away the trumpery sum. We can't help ourselves! Yes, things go badly, and the last days have come upon us!
HOSTESS .
The Lord have mercy on us and deliver us from evil!
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Alexis, you have the Imperial Decree?
SECOND WATCHMAN .
Yes, I have it here in my pocket.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Give it me.
MISAEL .
Why dost thou look at me so fixedly?
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Why, you see, an evil-minded heretic, named Grigory Otrepieff, has run away from Moscow. May be, thou hast heard about it?
MISAEL .
No, I have heard nothing of it.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
So, thou hast heard nothing of it? Very good! Now, this runaway heretic the Tsar has ordered to be arrested and hanged. You know that?
MISAEL .
No, no: I know nothing of the affair.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Canst thou read?
VARLAAM ,
When I was young, I learned to read; but I have forgotten since.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
And thou?
MISAEL .
The Lord has not given me that gift.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Well, here is the Tsar's Decree.
MISAEL .
But what has it to do with me?
FIRST WATCHMAN .
It seems to me that this fugitive heretic, thief, and rogue is no other than thyself.
MISAEL .
Good God! What art thou saying?
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Wait a little! Shut to the doors! We'll soon get at the truth.
HOSTESS
Ah, how they like to torture honest folk! they won't even let this poor man alone!
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Who is here able to read?
GRIGORY .
I can read and write.
FIRST WATCHMAN
Indeed? And who taught thee?
GRIGORY .
Our sacristan.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Well, read that out loud.
GRIGORY .
Grigory, an unworthy monk of Tchudoff Monastery, of the family of the Otrepieffs, has fallen into heresy, and with his devilish errors has sought to contaminate the holy brotherhood. From information received, it appears that this accursed Grigory has fled to the borders of Lithuania...
FIRST WATCHMAN .
And thou still affirmest, thou art not the man?
GRIGORY .
And the Tsar hereby orders him to be arrested...
FIRST WATCHMAN .
And to be hanged.
GRIGORY .
There is nothing here about hanging.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Nonsense! Of course every word is not put down in full! So, please, read it properly and correctly: to be arrested and hanged.
GRIGORY .
And to be hanged. Grigory is about fifty years of age, of middle height, bald-headed, with a light gray beard, and a prominent belly.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
Friends, that is Grigory! Seize him, and bind him!
It has turned out differently to what I expected.
VARLAAM .
Hands off, you rogues! What kind of Grigory, pray, am I? How, fifty years of age, a gray beard, and a prominent belly! Nay, brother, thou art too young to trick me like that! I have got out of the way of reading, and can't very easily spell out the words; but when it comes to hanging, I can read fast enough. (Reads with difficulty.) This Grigory is about twenty years of age. Where is there a word about fifty? Canst thou not read, dear brother? Twenty!
SECOND WATCHMAN .
Yes, I recollect, it was twenty; that is what we were told.
FIRST WATCHMAN .
How is this, friend? It seems, you are fond of playing a joke.
VARLAAM .
He is of short stature, with broad chest, one arm shorter than the other, blue eyes, reddish hair, a mole on his cheek, and another on his forehead... What dost thou say, friend; I fancy, thou art the man.
WATCHMAN .
Hold him! Hold him there!