The Possessed Read online

under her arm.)

  LISA (to GRIGORIEV): Oh, you are already here!

  (She goes toward him.) So I was right when I

  thought yesterday at Stepan Trofimovich's that

  you would help me. Have you had a chance to

  talk to this Mr. Shatov? (Meanwhile, she has

  been looking eagerly around her.)

  GRIGORIEV: Here he is. But I haven't had time . . .

  Shatov, Elizabeth Drozdov, whom you know by

  name, has asked me to talk to you about some-

  thing.

  LISA: I am happy to know you. I have heard about

  you. Peter Verkhovensky told me you were in-

  telligent. Nicholas Stavrogin also told me about

  you. (SHATOV turns away.) In any case, here is

  my idea. In my opinion, and I think that you will

  agree with me, our country isn't sufficiently

  known. So I thought it would be worth while to

  gather in a single book all the significant events

  our newspapers have reported in several years.

  Such a book would automatically be Russia. If

  you would only help me ... I need someone

  highly competent, and of course your work

  would be paid for.

  [SHATOV: It's an interesting idea, even intelligent.

  ... It deserves thinking about. . . . Yes, it

  does.

  LISA (delighted): If the book sells, we shall share

  the profits. You would provide the outline and

  the work, and I the initial idea and the necessary

  funds.

  First Part 38

  SHATOV: But what makes you think that I can do

  this work? Why I rather than someone else?

  LISA: Weil, what I heard of you made me like

  you. Will you accept?

  SHATOV: Maybe. Yes. Can you leave me your

  newspapers? I shall think about it.

  LISA (claps her hands with joy): Oh! How happy

  I am! How proud I shall be when the book

  comes out! ] (All this time she has been looking

  around her.) By the way, doesn't Captain Leb-

  yatkin live here?

  GRIGORIEV: Yes, of course. I thought I told you so.

  Are you interested in him?

  LISA: In him? Yes, but not only ... In any case,

  he is interested in me. . . . (She looks at GRI-

  GORIEV.) He wrote me a letter with a poem in it,

  and he says that he has things to tell me. I didn't

  understand it at all. (To SHATOV) What do you

  think of him?

  SHATOV: He's a drunkard and a dishonest man.

  LISA: But I have heard that he lives with his sister.

  SHATOV: Yes.

  LISA: It is said that he bullies her. (SHATOV looks at

  her fixedly without answering.) But people say

  so many things, after all. I shall ask Nicholas

  Stavrogin, who knows her well, who knows her

  even very well, according to what I have heard.

  , � . (SHATOV keeps on staring at her. With a

  sudden outburst of enthusiasm) Oh, listen, I want

  to see her at once. I must see her in the flesh.

  Please help me. I really must.

  SHATOV (goes and picks up the newspapers): Take

  39 Scene 3

  back your newspapers. I cannot accept this work.

  LISA: Why not? Have I hurt you?

  SHATOV: That's not it. You mustn't count on me

  for this chore, that's all.

  LISA: What chore? This job is not imaginary. I

  want to do it.

  SHATOV: Yes. You had better go home now.

  GRIGORIEV (affectionately): Yes. Please go home.

  Shatov will think about it. I shall come and see

  you and keep you informed.

  (LISA looks at them, whimpers, then goes off in a

  hurry.)

  SHATOV: It was a pretext. She wanted to see Maria

  Timofeyevna, and I haven't sunk low enough to

  play a part in such a comedy.

  (MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA has come in behind him.

  She is holding a roll in her hand.)

  MARIA: Good day, Shatoushka!

  (GRIGORIEV bows, SHATOV goes toward MARIA

  TIMOFEYEVNA and takes her arm. She walks to-

  ward the table in the center, places her roll on

  the table, pulls out a drawer, and takes out a deck

  of cards without paying any attention to GRI-

  GORIEV.) MARIA (shuffling the cards): I was fed

  up with staying alone in my room.

  SHATOV: I am pleased to see you.

  MARIA: I am too. That man . . . (She points to

  GRIGORIEV.) I don't know him. Let us honor all

  visitors! Yes, i always enjoy talking with you,

  even though you are always disheveled. You live

  like a monk; let me comb your hair. (She takes

  a little comb from her pocket.)

  First Part 40

  SHATOV (laughing): But I have no comb.

  (MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA combs his hair.)

  MARIA: Really? Well, later on, when my Prince

  comes back, I'll give you mine. (She makes a

  part, steps back to judge the impression it makes,

  and puts the comb in her pocket.) Shall I tell

  you, Shatoushka? (She sits down and begins to

  play solitaire.) You are intelligent and yet you

  are bored. After all, you are all bored. I can't

  understand anyone being bored. Being sad doesn't

  amount to being bored. / am sad, but I enjoy my-

  self hugely.

  SHATOV: Even when your brother is here?

  MARIA: You mean my lackey? He is my brother,

  to be sure, but, above all, he is my lackey. I order

  him about: "Lebyatkin, water!" He goes and gets

  it. Sometimes I make the mistake of laughing at

  him, and when he is drunk he beats me. (She

  goes on playing solitaire.)

  SHATOV (to GRIGORIEV): That is true. She treats

  him like a lackey. He beats her, but she is not

  afraid of him. Besides, she hasn't the slightest no-

  tion of time�she forgets everything that has just

  happened, (GRIGORIEV points toward her.) No, I

  can talk in her presence; she has already for-

  gotten us because very soon she stops listening

  and falls back into her daydreams. Do you see

  that roll? Probably she has nibbled it only once

  since this morning and won't finish it until to-

  morrow.

  (MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA picks up the roll without

  ceasing to look at her cards, but she holds it in

  her hand without biting into it. During the

  4i Scene 3

  course of the conversation she puts it down on

  the table again.)

  MARIA: A move, a wicked man, a betrayal, a

  deathbed . . . Why, these are all lies! If people

  can lie, why can't cards also? (She scatters them

  over the table and gets up.) Everyone lies except

  the Mother of God! (She smiles as she looks at

  her feet.)

  SHATOV: The Mother of God?

  MARIA: Why, yes, the Mother of God, nature,

  great mother earth! She is good and true. Do you

  remember what is written, Shatoushka? "When

  you have wet the earth with your tears to the

  depth of a
foot, then you will take joy in every-

  thing." That's why I weep so often, Shatoushka.

  There is no harm in these tears. All tears are tears

  of joy or promises of joy. (Her face is bathed in

  tears. She puts her hands on SHATOV'J shoulders.)

  Shatoushka, is it true that your wife left you?

  SHATOV: It is true. She forsook me.

  MARIA (caressing his face): Don't be angry. I too

  am grieving. I had a dream, you know. He re-

  turned. He, my Prince, returned and called me

  in a sweet voice: "My dear one," he said, "my

  dear one, come and join me." And I was happy.

  I kept repeating: "He loves me, he loves me."

  SHATOV: Perhaps he will really come.

  MARIA: Oh, no, it was only a dream! My Prince

  will not come. I shall remain alone. Oh, my dear

  friend, why don't you ever question me about

  anything?

  SHATOV: Because I know that you will never tell

  me anything.

  First Part 42

  MARIA: No, oh, no, I won't tell anything! They

  can kill me, they can burn me alive, but I won't

  tell anything. They'll never know anything!

  SHATOV: See!

  MARIA: Yet if you who are so kindhearted asked

  me, then perhaps . . . Why don't you ask me?

  Ask me, ask properly, Shatoushka, and I shall tell

  you. Beg me to talk, Shatoushka. And I shall talk,

  I shall talk. . . .

  (SHATOV says nothing and MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA

  faces him with her face bathed in tears. Then a

  fracas and oaths are heard at the door.)

  SHATOV. Here is your brother. Go back to your

  room or he will beat you again.

  MARIA {bursting out laughing): Oh, it's my

  lackey? Well, what does it matter? We'll send

  him to the kitchen. (But SHATOV draws her to-

  ward the door upstage.) Don't worry, Sha-

  toushka, don't worry. If my Prince comes back,

  he will defend me.

  (LEBYATKIN comes in and slams the door, MARIA

  TIMOFEYEVNA remains upstage with a frozen

  smile of scorn on her face.)

  LEBYATKIN (singing drunkenly):

  I have come to tell you

  That the sun is up,

  That the woods are swooning

  Under his ardent kisses.

  Who goes there? Friend or foe? (To MARIA

  TIMOFEYEVNA) You, get back in your room!

  SHATOV: Leave your sister alone.

  LEBYATKIN (bowing to GRIGORIEV): Retired Cap-

  tain Ignatius Lebyatkin, in the service of the

  43 Scene 3

  whole world and of his friends, just so they are

  faithful friends! Oh, the swine! And, first of all,

  I want you all to know that 1 am in love with

  Lisa Drozdov. She is a star and a horsewoman.

  In short, a star on horseback. And lama man of

  honor.

  SHATOV: Who sells his sister.

  LEBYATKIN (shouting): What? The same old

  calumny! Do you know that I could shame you

  with a single word?

  SHATOV: Say the word.

  LEBYATKIN: You think I wouldn't dare.

  SHATOV: YOU may be a captain, but you are a

  coward. And you would be afraid of your mas-

  ter.

  LEBYATKIN: He is provoking me, and you are a

  witness to it, sir! Well, do you know whose wife

  this woman is?

  (GRIGORIEV steps forward.)

  SHATOV: Whose? You won't dare say.

  LEBYATKIN: She is . . . She is . . .

  (MARIA TTMOFEYEVNA steps forward, her mouth

  open and speechless.)

  BLACKOUT

  THE NARRATOR: Whose wife was that wretched

  cripple? Was it true that Dasha had been dis-

  honored, and by whom? And who had seduced

  Shatov's wife? Well, we shall be told! Indeed,

  just as the climate of our little city had become

  so tense, a newcomer came with a flaming torch

  which blew up everything and stripped everyone

  naked. And, take my word for it, seeing one's

  fellow citizens naked is generally a painful ex-

  First Part 44

  perience. So the son of the humanist, the off-

  spring of the liberal Stepan Trofimovich, Peter

  Verkhovensky, to call hirn by name, popped up

  at the moment when he was least expected.

  SCENE 4

  At Varvara Stavrogift's, GRIGORIEV and STEP AN TRO~

  FIMOVICH.

  STEP AN: Ah, my friend, everything is about to be

  decided. If Dasha accepts, I shall be a married

  man next Sunday, and that's not funny. [But

  since my very dear Varvara Stavrogin asked me

  to come today and settle everything, I shall obey

  her. Didn't I behave badly toward her?

  GRIGORIEV: NO, not at all. You were simply taken

  by surprise.

  STEP AN: Yes, I did. When I think of that generous

  and compassionate woman, so indulgent to all my

  petty foibles! I am a spoiled child with all the

  selfishness of a child and none of the innocence.

  She has been taking care of me for twenty years.

  And I, at the very moment when she is receiving

  these dreadful anonymous letters . . .

  GRIGORIEV: Anonymous letters?

  STEP AN: Yes, just imagine: she is told that Nicho-

  las has given his property to Lebyatkin. That

  Nicholas is a monster. Poor Lisa! But you are in

  love with her, I know.

  GRIGORIEV: How dare you?

  STEPAN: All right, all right, forget it. Maurice

  Nicolaevich is in love with her too, don't forget.

  Poor man, I shouldn't want to be in his place.

  First Part 46

  But, then, mine isn't much easier.] In any case,

  however ashamed of myself I am, I wrote to

  Dasha.

  GRIGORIEV: Good Lord! What did you tell her?

  STEPAN: Well ... I wrote to Nicholas too.

  GRIGORIEV: Are you crazy?

  STEPAN: But my intention was noble. After all,

  just imagine that something really took place in

  Switzerland, or that there was a beginning, a

  little beginning, or even a very little beginning of

  something. I had to question their hearts first of

  all. I wanted them to know that I knew, so that

  they would feel freer. I acted through noble

  motives.

  GRIGORIEV: But it was utterly stupid!

  STEPAN: Yes, yes, it was foolish. But how else

  could I behave? Everything is open and above-

  board now. I wrote to my son too. And yet I

  don't care! I'll marry Dasha even if I am just

  covering up the sins of others.

  GRIGORIEV: Don't say that.

  STEPAN: Oh, if only next Sunday would never

  come! It would be easy for God to perform a

  miracle and to cross one Sunday off the calendar.

  If only to prove his power to the atheists once

  and for all! Flow I love her! How I've loved her

  for twenty years! Can she really think for a

  minute that I am getting married because of
fear,

  or poverty? I am doing it for her alone.

  GRIGORIEV: Of whom are you talking?

  STEPAN: Why, of Varvara, of course. She is the

  only woman I have adored for the last twenty

  years, (ALEXEY YEGOROVICH comes in, escorting

  47 Scene 4

  SHATOV.) Ah, here is our quick-tempered friend.

  You have come to see your sister, I suppose. . . .

  SHATOV: NO. I have been summoned by Varvara

  Stavrogin for a matter in which I am involved.

  That is the way, I believe, that the police word it

  when they issue a summons.

  STEP AN: No, she meant just what she said, al-

  though I don't know what the business is, nor

  whether you are involved. In any case, our very

  dear Varvara is at Mass. As for Dasha, she is in

  her room. Do you want me to send for her?

  SHATOV: NO.

  STEPAN: All right. That is probably better, after

  all. The later, the better. You probably know

  Varvara's plans for her?

  SHATOV: Yes.

  STEPAN: Good, good! In that case, let's say no

  more about it, let's say no more about it. Of

  course, I can imagine that you were surprised. I

  was myself. So suddenly . . .

  SHATOV: Shut up.

  STEPAN: All right. Be polite, my dear Shatov, at

  least today. Yes, be patient with me. My heart is

  heavy.

  (VARVARA STAVROGIN and PRASCOVYA DROZDOV

  enter, escorted by MAURICE NICHOLAEVICH.)

  PRASCOVYA: What a scandal! And Lisa mixed up

  in all that!

  VARVARA {ringing for a servant): Be quiet! What

  do you call a scandal? That poor girl has lost her

  reason. Be a little charitable, my dear Prascovya!

  STEPAN: What? What happened?

  VARVARA: Nothing. A poor crippled girl threw

  First Part 48

  herself at my feet as we were leaving Mass and

  kissed my hand, (ALEXEY YEGOROVICH comes in.)

  Coffee . . . and don't unharness the horses.

  PRASCOVYA: In front of everybody, and they all

  crowded around!

  VARVARA: Of course, in front of everybody!

  Thank God the church was well filled! I gave

  her ten rubles and picked her up. Lisa insisted on

  taking her back to her home.

  (LISA enters, holding MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA by the

  hand.)

  LISA: No, I changed my mind. I thought that you

  would all be pleased to know Maria Timofeyevna

  better.

  MARIA: How beautiful it is! (She perceives SHA-

  TOV.) What, you are here, Shatoushka! What are

  you doing in high society?

  VARVARA (to SHATOV) : Do you know this woman?

  SHATOV: Yes.

  VARVARA: Who is she?

  SHATOV: See for yourself.

  (She looks with anguish at MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA.

  ALEXEY YEGOROVICH comes in with coffee on a

  tray.)

  VARVARA (tO MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA): You Were

  cold a moment ago, my dear. Drink this coffee�

  it will warm you up.

  MARIA (smiling) : Yes. Oh, I had forgotten to give

  you back the shawl you lent me.

  VARVARA: Keep it. It is yours. Sit down and drink

  your coffee. Don't be afraid.

  STEPAN: Chere amie�

  VARVARA: Oh, you, be quiet. The situation is bad

  49 Scene 4

  enough without your making it any worse!

  Alexey, ask Dasha to come down.

  PRASCOVYA: Lisa, we must leave now. This doesn't

  concern you. We have no further contact with

  this house.

  VARVARA: You have gone a little too far, Pras-

  covya. Thank God that there's no one but friends

  here to hear you.

  PRASCOVYA: If they are friends, so much the bet-

  ter. But / am not afraid of public opinion. You

  are the one who, despite all your pride, trembles

  at the thought of what people will say. You are

  the one who is afraid of the truth.

  VARVARA: What truth, Prascovya?

  PRASCOVYA: This truth.

  (She points at MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA, who, seeing

  a finger pointing at her, giggles and fidgets, VAR-

  VARA stands up, white in the face, and mutters

  something that is not heard, DASHA enters upstage,

  and no one sees her but STEP AN TROFIMOVICH.)

  STEP AN (after making signals intended to attract

  VARVARA STAVROGIN'J- attention): Here is Dasha.

  MARIA: Oh! How beautiful she is! Well, Sha-

  toushka, your sister doesn't look like you at all.

  VARVARA (to DASHA): Do you know this person?

  DASHA: I've never seen her. But I suppose she is

  Lebyatkin's sister.

  MARIA: Yes, he is my brother. But, above all, he

  is my lackey. I didn't know you either, dearie.

  And yet I wanted very much to meet you, espe-

  cially after my lackey told me that you had given

  him money. Now I am happy�you are charm-

  ing. ... Yes, charming, I tell you.

  First Part 50

  VARVARA: What money is she talking about?

  DASHA: Nicholas Stavrogin had asked me in Swit-

  zerland to hand over a certain sum to Maria Leb-