The Possessed

have any prejudices!

  LISA: Wonderful, wonderful! Ah, he mustn't see

  me. Let's flee in the woods, in the fields. . . .

  (PETER leaves and LISA continues running. MAU-

  RICE appears and pursues her. She falls. He bends

  over her, weeping, takes off his coat, and covers

  her with it. She kisses his hand, weeping.)

  MAURICE: Lisa! I am nothing compared to you,

  but don't reject me!

  LISA: Maurice, don't abandon me! I'm afraid of

  death. I don't want to die.

  MAURICE: You are soaked! Good Lord! And it's

  still raining!

  LISA: It doesn't matter. Come, lead me. I want to

  * This scene was cut in production.

  Third Part

  160

  see the blood. They killed his wife, I've heard.

  And he says he was the one who killed her. But

  it's not true, is it? Oh, I must see with my own

  eyes those who were killed because of me. . . .

  Hurry! Hurry! Oh, Maurice, don't forgive me.

  I was wicked. Why should anyone forgive me?

  Why are you weeping? Strike me and kill me,

  right here!

  MAURICE: No one has the right to judge you. And

  I least of all. May God forgive you!

  (Little by little the curtain is lighted by the

  flames of the fire, and the sound of the crowd

  can be heard, STEPAN TROFIMOVICH appears in

  traveling costume with a traveling bag in his left

  hand, a staff and an umbrella in his right hand.)

  STEPAN (in delirium): Oh, you! Chere, chere, is

  it possible? In this fog . . . You see the fire!

  . . . You are unhappy, aren't you? I can see it.

  We are all unhappy, but we must forgive them

  all. To shake off the world and become free, it

  faut pardonner, pardonner, par dormer. . . .

  LISA: Oh! Get up! Why are you kneeling?

  STEPAN: At the moment of saying farewell to tEe

  world, I want to say farewell to you?and so to

  my whole past. (He weeps.) I am kneeling down

  before everything that was beautiful in my life.

  I dreamed of scaling the heights to heaven, and

  here I am in the mud, a crushed old man. . . .

  See their crime in all its red horror. They

  couldn't do otherwise. I am fleeing their delirium,

  their nightmare, and I am going in search of Rus-

  sia. But you are both soaked. Here, take my

  umbrella, (MAURICE automatically takes the um-

  161 Scene ij

  brella.) I'll find a cart of some kind. But, dear

  Lisa, what did you just say? Has someone been

  killed? (LISA starts to swoon.) Oh, my God, she

  is fainting!

  LISA: Quick, Quick, Maurice. Give this child back

  his umbrella! At once! {She turns back toivard

  STEP AN TROFIMQVICH.) I want to make the sign

  of the cross over you, poor man. You, too, pray

  for poor Lisa!

  (STEPAN TROFIMQVICH goes off, and they ivalk

  toward the -flames. The noise increases. The

  flames are becoming brighter. The crowd is now

  shouting.)

  VOICES: It's Stavrogin's wench. It's not enough for

  them to kill people. They also want to see the

  bodies.

  (A man strikes LISA. MAURICE NICOLAEVICH

  throws himself on him. They fight, LISA picks

  herself up. Two other men strike her, one of

  them with a stick. She falls. Everything becomes

  calm, MAURICE NICOLAEVICH takes her in his arms

  and drags her toward the light.)

  MAURICE: Lisa, Lisa, don't forsake me. (LISA falls

  back dead.) Lisa, dear Lisa, now it's my turn to

  join you!

  BLACKOUT]

  THE NARRATOR: While they were looking every-

  where for Stepan Trofimovich, who was wan-

  dering on the road like a deposed king, events

  were precipitated. Shatov's wife returned after

  three years' absence. But what Shatov took for

  a new beginning was in reality to be an end.

  SCENE 18

  Shatov's room, MARIA SHATOV is standing ivith a

  traveling bag in her hand.

  MARIA: I'll not stay long, just long enough to find

  work. But if I am in your way, I beg you to tell

  me at once quite honestly. I'll sell something and

  go to the hotel. (She sits down on the bed.)

  SHATOV: Maria, you mustn't talk of a hotel. You

  are at home here.

  MARIA: No, I am not at home here. We separated

  three years ago. Don't get it into your head that

  I am repenting and coming back to begin over

  again.

  SHATOV: No, no, that would be pointless. But it

  doesn't matter anyway. You are the only person

  who ever told me she loved me. That's enough.

  You are doing what you want, and now you are

  here.

  MARIA: Yes, you are good. I have come back un-

  der your roof because I have always considered

  you a good man?so far above all those scoun-

  drels. . . .

  SHATOV: Listen, Maria, you look exhausted. Please

  don't get annoyed. ... If you'd only take a

  little tea, for instance. Tea always does one good.

  If you would only . . .

  MARIA: Yes, I would. You are still just as much a

  163 Scene 18

  child. Give me some tea if you have any. It's so

  cold here.

  SHATOV: Yes, yes, you shall have tea.

  MARIA: You don't have any here?

  SHATOV; There will be some. There will be some.

  (He steps out and knocks at Kirilov's door.) Can

  you lend me some tea?

  KIRILOV: Come in and drink it!

  SHATOV: NO. My wife has come back. . . .

  KIRILOV: Your wife!

  SHATOV (sputtering and half weeping): Kirilov,

  Kirilov, we suffered together in America.

  KIRILOV: Yes, yes, wait. (He disappears and re-

  appears with a tea tray.) Here it is. Take it. And

  a ruble too?take it.

  SHATOV: I'll give it back to you tomorrow! Ah,

  Kirilov!

  KIRILOV: No, no, I am glad she has come back and

  that you still love her. I am glad that you turned

  to me. If you need anything, just call me at any

  time whatever. I shall be thinking of you and her.

  SHATOV: Oh, what a man you would be if you

  could only get rid of your dreadful ideas.

  (KIRILOV disappears suddenly, SHATOV stares after

  him. There is a knock at the door, LYAMSHIN

  comes in.)

  SHATOV: I can't receive you now.

  LYAMSHIN: I have something to tell you. I have

  come to tell you from Verkhovensky that every-

  thing is arranged. You are free.

  SHATOV: IS that true?

  LYAMSHIN: Yes, absolutely free. You will just

  have to show Liputin the place where the press

  Third Part 164

  is burled. I shall come to get you tomorrow at

  exactly six o'clock, before dawn.

  SHATOV: I'll come. Now go. My wife has come

  back, (LYAMSHIN leaves, SHATOV goes back to-

&
nbsp; ward the room, MARIA has gone to sleep. He

  places the tray on the table and matches her.)

  Oh, how beautiful you are!

  MARIA {waking up) ? Why did you let me go to

  sleep? I'm in your bed. Ah! (She stiffens as if in

  a sort of attack and grips SHATOV'j hand.)

  SHATOV: You are suffering, my dear. I shall call the

  doctor. . . . Where does it hurt? Do you want

  compresses? I know how to make them. . . .

  MARIA: What? What do you mean?

  SHATOV: Nothing ... I don't understand you.

  MARIA: No, it's nothing. . . . Don't stand still.

  Tell me something. . . . Talk to me of your new

  ideas. What are you preaching now? You can't

  keep yourself from preaching; it's in your nature.

  SHATOV: Yes . . . That is ... I am preaching

  God now.

  MARIA: And yet you don't believe in him. (New

  attack.) Oh, how unbearable you are! (She re-

  pulses SHATOV, who is bending over the bed.)

  SHATOV: Maria, I'll do what you want. . . . I'll

  keep moving. . . . I'll talk.

  MARIA: But don't you see that it's begun?

  SHATOV: Begun? What has?

  MARIA: Don't you see that I'm about to give

  birth? Oh! Cursed be this child! (SHATOV gets

  up.) Where are you going, where are you going?

  I forbid you!

  SHATOV: I'll be back, I'll be back. We need money

  165 Scene 18

  and a midwife. . . . OE, Maria! . . . Kirilov!

  Kiriiovi

  (BLACKOUT. Then the light gradually increases in

  the room.)

  SHATOV: She's in the next room with him.

  MARIA: He is beautiful.

  SHATOV: What a great joy!

  MARIA: What shall I name him?

  SHATOV. Shatov. He is my son. Let me fix your

  pillows.

  MARIA: Not like that! How awkward you are!

  {He does his best.)

  MARIA {without looking at him): Lean over me!

  {He leans totoard her.) Closer! Closer! {She slips

  her arm around his neck and kisses him.)

  SHATOV: Maria! My love!

  {She rolls on her side.)

  MARIA: Ah! Nicholas Stavrogin is a wretch. {She

  bursts into sobs. He caresses her and talks to her

  softly.)

  SHATOV: Maria. It's over now. The three of us will

  live together calmly, and we shall work.

  MARIA {reaching out and grasping him in her

  arms): Yes, we shall work, we shall forget

  everything, my love. . . .

  {There is a knock at the door of the living

  room.)

  MARIA: What's that?

  SHATOV: I had forgotten it. Maria, I must leave

  you. I'll be gone a half-hour.

  MARIA: You are going to leave me alone? We

  have just found each other after all these years

  and you are leaving me. . . .

  Third Part

  166

  SHATOV: But this is the last time. After this we

  shall be together forever. Never, never again shall

  we think of the horror of the past.

  (He kisses her, takes up his cap, and gently

  closes the door. In the living room LYAMSHIN is

  waiting for him.)

  SHATOV: Lyamshin, have you ever been happy in

  your life?

  (BLACKOUT. Then LYAMSHIN and SHATOV step

  around the curtain representing the street, LYAM-

  SHIN stops and hesitates.)

  SHATOV: Well! What are you waiting for? (They

  continue walking.)

  BLACKOUT

  SCENE 19

  The Forest of Brykovo. SHIGALOV and VIRGINSKY

  are already there when PETER VERKHOVENSKY ar-

  rives with THE SEMINARIAN and LIPUTIN.

  PETER {lifts his lantern and looks at them all in the

  face): I hope you haven't forgotten what was

  agreed.

  VIRGINSKY: Listen. I know that Shatov's wife

  came back to him last night and that she gave

  birth to a child. Anyone who knows human na-

  ture knows that he will not denounce us now.

  He is happy. Perhaps we could postpone this for

  the present.

  PETER: If you suddenly became happy, would you

  postpone accomplishing an act of justice that you

  considered just and necessary?

  VIRGINSKY: Certainly not. Certainly not. But . . .

  PETER: You would prefer to be unhappy rather

  than to be cowardly?

  VIRGINSKY: Certainly ... I should prefer it.

  PETER: Well, let me point out to you that Shatov

  now considers this denunciation just and neces-

  sary. Besides, what happiness could there possibly

  be in the fact that his wife, after an escapade of

  three years, has returned to him to give birth to

  a child by Stavrogin?

  VIRGINSKY {interrupting): Yes, but I protest.

  Third Part

  168

  We'll ask him to give his word of honor. That's

  all.

  PETER: You can't talk of honor unless you're in

  the pay of the government.

  LIPUTIN: How dare you? Which of us here is in

  the pay of the government?

  PETER: You, perhaps. . . . Traitors are always

  afraid at the moment of danger.

  SHIGALOV: Enough. I must speak up. Since last

  night I have scrupulously examined the question

  of this assassination and have reached the conclu-

  sion that it was useless, frivolous, and petty. You

  hate Shatov because he despises you and he in-

  suited you all. That is a personal question. But

  personal questions lead to despotism. Hence I am

  leaving you. Not out of fear of danger nor out

  of friendship for Shatov, but because this assassi-

  nation contradicts my system. Farewell. As for

  denouncing you, you know that I won't do it.

  (He wheels about and goes away.)

  PETER: Stay here! . . . We'll catch up with that

  madman. Meanwhile, I must tell you that Shatov

  already told Kiriiov of his intention of denounc-

  ing us. It was Kiriiov who told me, because he

  was shocked by it. Now you know everything.

  And, furthermore, you have taken an oath.

  (They look at one another.) Good. Let me re-

  mind you that we are to throw him into the pond

  afterward and then scatter. Kirilov's letter will

  cover all of us. Tomorrow I am leaving for St.

  Petersburg. You will have news from me soon.

  (A shrill whistle. After a hesitation LIPUTIN an-

  swers it.) Let's hide.

  169 Scene 19

  (They all hide except LIPUTIN. LYAMSHIN and

  SHATOV come on stage.)

  SHATOV: Well! You are silent? Where Is your

  pickax? Don't be afraid. There's not a soul here.

  You could shoot a cannon off here and no one

  would hear a thing in the suburb. Here it is. (He

  strikes the ground ivith his foot.) Right here.

  (THE SEMINARIAN and LIPUTIN leap on him from

  the rear, seize his arms, and pin him to the ground.

  PETER VERKHOVENSKY puts his revolver to SHA-

  TOV'S forehead, SHATOV utters a br
ief desperate

  cry: "Maria!" VERKHOVENSKY shoots, VIRGINSKY,

  ivho has not taken part in the murder, suddenly

  begins to tremble and to scream.)

  VIRGINSKY: That's not the way. No, no. That's

  not the way at all. . . . No . . . (LYAMSHIN,

  ivho has stood behind him all the time without

  taking part in the murder either, suddenly grabs

  him from behind and begins screaming, VIRGIN-

  SKY, in fright, tears himself away, LYAMSHIN

  throws himself on PETER VERKHOVENSKY, scream-

  ing likewise. He is seized and silenced, VIRGINSKY

  weeps.) No, no, that's not the way. . . .

  PETER (looking at them with scorn): Filthy cow-

  ards!

  BLACKOUT

  SCENE 20

  The street, VERKHOVENSKY, hastening toward the

  Filipov rooming house, encounters FEDKA.

  PETER: Why the hell didn't you stay hidden, as I

  had ordered you to?

  FEDKA: Don't talk that way to me, you little sneak.

  I didn't want to compromise Mr. Kirilov, who is

  an educated man.

  PETER: DO you or don't you want a passport and

  money to go to Petersburg?

  FEDKA: You are a louse. That's what I think you

  are. You promised me money in the name of Mr.

  Stavrogin to shed innocent blood. I know now

  that Mr. Stavrogin was not informed. So that the

  real murderer is neither me nor Mr. Stavrogin:

  it's you.

  PETER {beside himself): You wretch, I'll hand you

  over to the police at once! {He takes out his re-

  volver. Quicker than he, FEDKA strikes him four

  times on the head, PETER jails, FEDKA runs away

  with a burst of laughter, PETER picks himself up.)

  I'll find you at the other end of the world. I'll

  crush you. As for Kirilov . . . ! {He runs to-

  ward the Filipov rooming house.)

  BLACKOUT

  SCENE 21

  The Filipov rooming house.

  KIRILOV (in complete blackness): You killed Sha-

  tov! You killed him! You killed him! (The lights

  come up gradually.)

  PETER: I have explained it a hundred times. Shatov

  was on the point of denouncing us all.

  KIRILOV: Shut up. You killed him because he spat

  in your face in Geneva.

  PETER: For that. And for many other things too.

  What's the matter with you? Oh . . .

  (KIRILOV has taken out a revolver and is aiming at

  him. PETER VERKHOVENSKY takes out his revolver

  too.)

  KIRILOV: You had got your weapon ready in ad-

  vance because you were afraid I would kill you.

  But I'll not kill. Although . . . although . . .

  (He continues taking aim. Then he lowers his

  arm, laughing.)

  PETER: I knew you wouldn't shoot. But you took

  a big risk. / was going to shoot. . . .

  (He sits down again and pours himself some tea

  with a trembling hand, KIRILOV lays his revolver

  on the table, starts walking up and down, and

  stops in front of PETER VERKHOVENSKY.)

  KIRILOV: I'm sorry about Shatov.

  PETER: SO am I.

  Third Part 172

  KIRILOV: Shut up, you wretch, or I'll kill you.

  PETER: All right. I don't regret him. . . . Besides,

  there's not much time. I must take a train at dawn

  and cross the frontier.

  KIRILOV: I understand. You are leaving your

  crimes behind and taking shelter yourself. Filthy

  swine!

  PETER: Filth and decency are just words. Every-

  thing is just words.

  KIRILOV: All my life I wanted there to be some-

  thing other than words. That's what I lived for,

  so that words would have a meaning, so that they

  would be deeds also. . . .

  PETER: And so?

  KIRILOV: So . . . (He looks at PETER VERKHOVEN-

  SKY.) Oh, you're the last man I shall ever see. I

  don't want us to separate in hatred.

  PETER: I assure you that I have nothing against

  you personally.

  KIRILOV: We are both miserable wretches, and I

  am going to kill myself and you will go on living.

  PETER: Of course I shall go on living, lama cow-

  ard. It's despicable, I know.

  KIRILOV (with increasing excitement): Yes, yes,

  it's despicable. Listen. Do you remember what

  Christ Crucified said to the thief who was dying

  on his right hand? "Today shalt thou be with me

  in Paradise." The day ended, they died, and there

  was neither Paradise nor Resurrection. And yet

  he was the greatest man on earth. Without that

  man the whole planet and everything on it is

  simply meaningless. Well, if the laws of nature

  did not even spare such a man, if they forced him

  173 Scene 2i

  to live in lies and to die for a lie, then this whole

  planet is but a lie. What is the good of living,

  then? Answer, if you are a man.

  PETER: Yes, what is the good of living! I have un-

  derstood your point of view completely. If God

  is a lie, then we are alone and free. You kill your-

  self and prove that you are free and there is no

  God. But for that you must kill yourself.

  KIRILOV {more and more excited): You have un-

  derstood. Ah! Everyone will understand if even

  a low scoundrel like you can understand. But