ivanoff-第9节
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out of spite? To give the devil something to do; eh; Paul?
LEBEDIEFF。 You are talking nonsense; Count。 You and I must fix
our thoughts on dying now; we have left Martha's money far behind
us; our day is over。
SHABELSKI。 No; I shall certainly marry her; upon my word; I
shall!
Enter IVANOFF and LVOFF。
LVOFF。 Will you please spare me five minutes of your time?
LEBEDIEFF。 Hallo; Nicholas! 'He goes to meet IVANOFF' How are
you; old friend? I have been waiting an hour for you。
AVDOTIA。 'Bows' How do you do; my son?
IVANOFF。 'Bitterly' So you have turned my library into a bar…room
again; have you? And yet I have begged you all a thousand times
not to do so! 'He goes up to the table' There; you see; you have
spilt vodka all over my papers and scattered crumbs and cucumbers
everywhere! It is disgusting!
LEBEDIEFF。 I beg your pardon; Nicholas。 Please forgive me。 I have
something very important to speak to you about。
BORKIN。 So have I。
LVOFF。 May I have a word with you?
IVANOFF。 'Pointing to LEBEDIEFF' He wants to speak to me; wait a
minute。 'To LEBEDIEFF' Well; what is it?
LEBEDIEFF。 'To the others' Excuse me; ladies and gentlemen; I
want to speak to him in private。
SHABELSKI goes out; followed by AVDOTIA; BORKIN; and LVOFF。
IVANOFF。 Paul; you may drink yourself as much as you choose; it
is your weakness; but I must ask you not to make my uncle tipsy。
He never used to drink at all; it is bad for him。
LEBEDIEFF。 'Startled' My dear boy; I didn't know that! I wasn't
thinking of him at all。
IVANOFF。 If this old baby should die on my hands the blame would
be mine; not yours。 Now; what do you want? 'A pause。'
LEBEDIEFF。 The fact is; NicholasI really don't know how I can
put it to make it seem less brutalNicholas; I am ashamed of
myself; I am blushing; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth。
My dear boy; put yourself in my place; remember that I am not a
free man; I am as putty in the hands of my wife; a slaveforgive
me!
IVANOFF。 What does this mean?
LEBEDIEFF。 My wife has sent me to you; do me a favour; be a
friend to me; pay her the interest on the money you owe her。
Believe me; she has been tormenting me and going for me tooth and
nail。 For heaven's sake; free yourself from her clutches!
IVANOFF。 You know; Paul; that I have no money now。
LEBEDIEFF。 I know; I know; but what can I do? She won't wait。 If
she should sue you for the money; how could Sasha and I ever look
you in the face again?
IVANOFF。 I am ready to sink through the floor with shame; Paul;
but where; where shall I get the money? Tell me; where? There is
nothing I can do but to wait until I sell my wheat in the autumn。
LEBEDIEFF。 'Shrieks' But she won't wait! 'A pause。'
IVANOFF。 Your position is very delicate and unpleasant; but mine
is even worse。 'He walks up and down in deep thought' I am at my
wit's end; there is nothing I can sell now。
LEBEDIEFF。 You might go to Mulbach and get some money from him;
doesn't he owe you sixty thousand roubles?
IVANOFF makes a despairing gesture。
LEBEDIEFF。 Listen to me; Nicholas; I know you will be angry; but
you must forgive an old drunkard like me。 This is between
friends; remember I am your friend。 We were students together;
both Liberals; we had the same interests and ideals; we studied
together at the University of Moscow。 It is our Alma Mater。 'He
takes out his purse' I have a private fund here; not a soul at
home knows of its existence。 Let me lend it to you。 'He takes out
the money and lays it on the table' Forget your pride; this is
between friends! I should take it from you; indeed I should! 'A
pause' There is the money; one hundred thousand roubles。 Take
it;
go to her y ourself and say: 〃Take the money; Zinaida; and may
you choke on it。〃 Only; for heaven's sake; don't let her see by
your manner that you got it from me; or she would certainly go
for me; with her old jam! 'He looks intently into IVANOFF'S face'
There; there; no matter。 'He quickly takes up the money and
stuffs it back into his pocket' Don't take it; I was only joking。
Forgive me! Are you hurt?
IVANOFF waves his hand。
LEBEDIEFF。 Yes; the truth is 'He sighs' This is a time of
sorrow and pain for you。 A man; brother; is like a samovar; he
cannot always stand coolly on a shelf; hot coals will be dropped
into him some day; and thenfizz! The comparison is idiotic; but
it is the best I can think of。 'Sighing' Misfortunes wring the
soul; and yet I am not worried about you; brother。 Wheat goes
through the mill; and comes out as flour; and you will come
safely through your troubles; but I am annoyed; Nicholas; and
angry with the people around you。 The whole countryside is
buzzing with gossip; where does it all start? They say you will
be soon arrested for your debts; that you are a bloodthirsty
murderer; a monster of cruelty; a robber。
IVANOFF。 All that is nothing to me; my head is aching。
LEBEDIEFF。 Because you think so much。
IVANOFF。 I never think。
LEBEDIEFF。 Come; Nicholas; snap your fingers at the whole thing;
and drive over to visit us。 Sasha loves and understands you。 She
is a sweet; honest; lovely girl; too good to be the child of her
mother and me! Sometimes; when I look at her; I cannot believe
that such a treasure could belong to a fat old drunkard like me。
Go to her; talk to her; and let her cheer you。 She is a good;
true…hearted girl。
IVANOFF。 Paul; my dear friend; please go; and leave me alone。
LEBEDIEFF。 I understand; I understand! 'He glances at his watch'
Yes; I understand。 'He kisses IVANOFF' Good…bye; I must go to the
blessing of the school now。 'He goes as far as the door; then
stops' She is so clever! Sasha and I were talking about gossiping
yesterday; and she flashed out this epigram: 〃Father;〃 she said;
〃fire…flies shine at night so that the night…birds may make them
their prey; and good people are made to be preyed upon by gossips
and slanderers。〃 What do you think of that? She is a genius;
another George Sand!
IVANOFF。 'Stopping him as he goes out' Paul; what is the matter
with me?
LEBEDIEFF。 I have wanted to ask you that myself; but I must
confess I was ashamed to。 I don't know; old chap。 Sometimes I
think your troubles have been too heavy for you; and yet I know
you are not the kind to give in to them; you would not be
overcome by misfortune。 It must be something else; Nicholas; but
what it may be I can't imagine。
IVANOFF。 I can't imagine either what the matter is; unlessand
yet no 'A pause' Well; do you see; this is what I wanted to
say。 I used to have a workman called Simon; you remember him。
Once; at threshing…time; to show the girls how strong he was; he
loaded himself with two sacks of rye; and broke his back。 He died
soon after。 I think I have broken my back also。 First I went to
school; then to the university; then came the cares of this
estate; all my plansI did not believe what others did; did not
marry as others did; I worked passionately; risked everything; no
one else; as you know; threw their money away to right and left
as I did。 So I heaped the burdens on my back; and it broke。 We
are all heroes at twenty; ready to attack anything; to do
everything; and at thirty are worn…out; useless men。 How; oh; how
do you account for this weariness? However; I may be quite wrong;
go away; Paul; I am boring you。
LEBEDIEFF。 I know what is the matter with you; old man: you got
out of bed on the wrong side this morning。
IVANOFF。 That is stupid; Paul; and stale。 Go away!
LEBEDIEFF。 It is stupid; certainly。 I see that myself now。 I am
going at once。 'LEBEDIEFF goes out。
IVANOFF。 'Alone' I am a worthless; miserable; useless man。 Only a
man equally miserable and suffering; as Paul is; could love or
esteem me now。 Good God! How I loathe myself! How bitterly I hate
my voice; my hands; my thoughts; these clothes; each step I take!
How ridiculous it is; how disgusting! Less than a year ago I was
healthy and strong; full of pride and energy and enthusiasm。 I
worked with these hands here; and my words could move the dullest
man to tears。 I could weep with sorrow; and grow indignant at the
sight of wrong。 I could feel the glow of inspiration; and
understand the beauty and romance of the silent nights which I
used to watch through from evening until dawn; sitting at my
worktable; and giving up my soul to dreams。 I believed in a
bright future then; and looked into it as trustfully as a child
looks into its mother's eyes。 And now; oh; it is terrible! I am
tired and without hope; I spend my days and nights in idleness; I
have no control over my feet or brain。 My estate is ruined; my
woods are falling under the blows of the axe。 'He weeps' My
neglected land looks up at me as reproachfully as an orphan。 I
expect nothing; am sorry for nothing; my whole soul trembles at
the thought of each new day。 And what can I think of my treatment
of Sarah? I promised her love and happiness forever; I opened her
eyes to the promise of a future such as she had never even
dreamed of。 She believed me; and though for five years I have
seen her sinking under the weight of her sacrifices to me; and
losing her strength in her struggles with her conscience; God
k