Works of Ivan Turgenev (Illustrated) (453 page)

Kuzovkin: But I have no voice at all, and as far as my lack of appreciation is concerned, I shall remain under obligations to my grave, and I shall be ready to make any sacrifice.

Tropachev: But we don’t ask any sacrifice from you.

Just sing us a song — that’s all. Well . . . [Kuzovkin is silent.] Commence.

Kuzovkin [after a moment’s silence, starts]: “On the street . . .” [but his voice breaks down at the second word]. I can’t, so help me God, I can’t!

Tropachev: Well, well, don’t be timid!

Kuzovkin [looking at him]: No, I am not going to sing!

Tropachev: You will not?

Kuzovkin: I cannot.

Tropachev: If that’s the case, do you see this glass of champagne? I’ll pour it down the back of your collar!

Kuzovkin [with some little agitation]: You wouldn’t do that! I haven’t deserved it. No one ever allowed himself . . . Please, that isn’t nice.

Eletski [to Tropachev]: Finissez . . . You see he’s quite upset.

Tropachev [to Kuzovkin]: You don’t want to sing?

Kuzovkin: I cannot sing!

Tropachev: You don’t want to? [Goes up to him.] One . . .

Kuzovkin [pleadingly to Eletski]: Pavel Nikolaich . . .

Tropachev: Two . . . [Going up nearer to Kuzovkin.]

Kuzovkin [stepping backward, mournfully and with some despair]: Please! Why do you behave like that towards me? I don’t even have the honor of knowing you. . . . And I am, as it were, a nobleman myself. Please take note of that. And I cannot sing! You saw it yourself. . . .

Tropachev: For the last time . . .

Kuzovkin: Enough, I tell you. ... I am not your clown!

Tropachev: Is it so unusual for you to be one?

Kuzovkin [a little hotly]: Find another clown for yourself!

Eletski: Really, leave him alone.

Teopachev: Why, he used to be your father - in - law’s clown.

Kuzovkin: That’s a matter of the past. [Wiping his face.] And my head doesn’t seem to work right to - day somehow.

Eletski: Well, just as you please about it.

Kuzovkin [somewhat downcast]: Don’t be angry with me, Pavel Nikolaich.

Eletski: What makes you think that I am angry?

Kuzovkin: Some other time I might do it with pleasure. [Trying to assume a jolly aspect.] But now, be so magnanimous as to pardon me if I have transgressed somewhat. I got a little excited, gentlemen, but what could I do? I am old, and out of the habit of drinking.

Teopachev: Well, drink this glass at least.

Kuzovkin [joyfully]: With pleasure. With great pleasure. [Takes the glass and drinks.] To the health of the esteemed and dear arrival . . .

Teopachev: And won’t you sing for us now?

Kuzovkin [the wine beginning to show its effect on him, and increasing as he drinks the last glass]: So help me God, I can’t! [Laughs.] In years gone by, I sang no worse than others, but now times have changed. Who am I now? A nonentity. The same as he. . . . [Pointing to Ivanov and laughing.] Now I am good for nothing. However, you’ll pardon me. I am old — that’s what is the matter with me. All I have drunk to - day is two or three glasses, but there is something wrong up here. [Points to his head.]

Teopachev [who, in the meantime, has been whispering to Karpachov]: That’s only the way it seems to you. [Karpachov goes away and takes Petr with him.] Why didn’t you finish telling us your story?

Kuzovkin: That’s right, that’s right — I didn’t finish it. If you want me to, I’m ready. [Laughs.] But be a little indulgent. Permit me to sit down. My legs refuse to hold me up.

Tropachev [hands him a chair]: Sit down, sit down.

Kuzovkin [sits down with his face towards the audience and speaks slowly, growing more drunk quickly]: Where did I stop? Oh, yes! Hanginmeister. Hanginmeister is a German — that’s understood. What did he care? He worked in the commissary department, and stole all there was. Then he said that the note was his too, and I am a nobleman. But what did I want to say? Oh, yes, he said, “Either pay or make me possessor of the estate. Either pay or make me possessor of the estate. Either pay or make me possessor of the estate . . .”

Tropachev: You are asleep, my dear fellow. Wake up!

Kuzovkin [wakes up a little, then falls into a sleeping condition again. He speaks with some effort]: Who — I? What makes you think . . . But that doesn’t matter. I am not sleeping. People sleep nighttime, now, now it’s daytime. Hanginmeister — this Hanginmeister, Hanginmeister, he is my real enemy. People tell me about this and that ... but I say, Hanginmeister. Hanginmeister is the man who stands in my way. Karpachov enters vrith a huge clown’s cap made of blue, stiff paper, and after having winked at Tropachev, he stealthily walks up in the rear of Kuzovkin. Trembinski is bursting with laughter. Ivanov, pale and down - hearted, looks out from under lowered brows.] And I know why he doesn’t like me. I know he spoiled my whole life, this Hanginmeister. From my very childhood . . . [Karpachov carefully puts the cap on Kuzovkin.] But I forgive him. May the Lord be with him! May the Lord be with him . . . [Everybody is giggling. Kuzovkin stops talking, and perplexedly looks around him. Ivanov goes up to him, takes hold of his hand, and whispers to him, “Look what they’ve put on your head. They are making a clovm out of you.” Kuzovkin lifts his hand up to his head, feels the cap, and slowly puts his hand down over his face, closes his eyes, and suddenly begins to wvep, murmuring.] Why, why, why? [But he does not take off the cap.]

[Tropachev, Trembinski, and Karpachov continue to laugh. Pete also laughs, and looks in through the door.]

Eletski: Enough, Vasili Semenych. Aren’t you ashamed to cry over a little nonsense like this?

Kuzovkin [taking his hand away from his face]: A little nonsense! No, that’s not nonsense, Pavel Nikolaich. [Gets up and throws the cap on the floor.] On the first day of your arrival ... On the first day . . . [His voice breaks down.] That’s the way you behave towards an old man — towards an old man, Pavel Nikolaich. That’s the way! Why, why do you besmirch me like that? What have I done to you? I have awaited your arrival with the greatest joy . . . Why, Pavel Nikolaich . . .?

Tropachev: Well, well, what is the matter with you anyway?

Kuzovkin [growing paler and letting himself go]: I am not talking to you. You permitted yourself to make a fool of me, and you are glad. I am addressing you, Pavel Nikolaich. Because your deceased father - in - law permitted himself to joke with me a little, for the bread that he gave me and the clothes, that doesn’t follow that you ought to do the same. Yes, for his presents I paid with my blood, with bitter tears. Well do you envy me too? Oh, Pavel Nikolaich, it’s a shame, it’s a shame, for men like you . . . And you are considered an educated man from the capital.

Eletski [haughtily]: Listen,’ it seems that you have forgotten yourself. Go into your room and sleep it off. You are drunk. You can hardly stand up.

Kuzovkin [losing control of himself more and more]: I’ll sleep it off, Pavel Nikolaich. Possibly I am drunk, but who got me drunk. But that isn’t the point, Pavel Nikolaich. Take note of this: You have poked fun at me in the presence of everybody. You have besmirched me. The very first day of your arrival, and if I should want to, if I should want to say one word . . .

Ivanov [semi - audibly]: Bethink yourself, Vasili.

Kuzovkin: Let me alone. Yes, my dear sir, if I should want to . . .

Eletski: Oh, he’s drunk. He doesn’t know what he is talking about.

Kuzovkin: I beg your pardon, I am drunk, but I know what I’m talking about. You are now a great man, an official, an educated man, and I am a clown, a fool — I am not worth a copper, I am a beggar, I eat the bread of charity, but do you know who I am? You married . . . Whom did you marry?

Eletski [starts to take Tropachev away]: I beg your pardon, I didn’t expect such nonsense.

Tropachev: I must confess I didn’t either.

Eletski [to Trembinski]: Take him out of here, please. [Starts to go into the reception - room.]

Kuzovkin: Wait a minute, my dear sir. You haven’t told me yet whom you married.

[Olga appears in the door of the reception - room, and remains standing there surprised. Her husband signals her to go away. She doesn’t understand his signals.]

Eletski [to Kuzovkin]: Go, go! . . .

Trembinski [goes up to Kuzovkin and takes him by the hand]: Come on.

Kuzovkin [pushing him away]: Don’t drag me. [Following Eletski with his eyes.] You, sir, are a famous man, isn’t that true? You have married Olga Petrovna Korina. The Korinas are an old family, an ancient family, but do you know who she is, who Olga Petrovna is? She . . . she is my daughter!

[Olga disappears.]

Eletski [stops as though thunderstruck]: You . . . you have lost your mind!

Kuzovkin [after a moment’s silence, puts his hand on his head]: Yes, I have lost my mind. [i?«ns away, bumping against everything, Ivanov after him.]

Eletski [turning to Tropachev]: He’s crazy!

Tropachev: Sure enough!

[Both quietly go into the reception - room. Trembinski and Karpachov look at one another with great surprise.]

Curtain

ACT TWO

Scene
: A reception - room richly furnished in the old - fashioned style. On the right is a doorway leading into the sitting - room. On the left, a door leading into Olga Petrovna’s room. Olga is sitting on a divan, and near her Praskovia Ivanovna.

Praskovia [after a little silence]: What shall I do, madam? What girls will it please you to have me assign to be your maids?

Olga [with some impatience]: Any of them you like!

Praskovia: Akulina, the lame girl, is a very good girl. Martha also, Marchukov’s daughter. Will you have them?

Olga: Very well. What’s the name of that girl — I mean that girl who is good - looking, and wears the blue dress?

Praskovia [hesitatingly]: Blue . . .? Oh, yes! You mean Mashka. You can have her, but she is a saucy girl, awfully saucy. She isn’t a bit obedient, and her behavior isn’t the best. However, just as you like about it.

Olga: I like her looks, but if she doesn’t behave well . . .

Praskovia: She behaves badly, she’s no good. It isn’t worth while . . . [After a moment’s silence.] Oh, dear madam, how beautiful you look! How much you resemble your mother! . . . My dear ... I can’t look at you enough! Looking at you . . . Permit me to kiss your hand, dear.

Olga: All right, Praskovia, you may go.

Praskovia: Yes, ma’am. Don’t you want anything?

Olga: No, I don’t need anything.

Praskovia: Yes, ma’am. So I will send in Akulina and Martha?

Olga: All right, go. [Praskovia starts to go.] Tell somebody that I should like to see Pavel Nikolaich.

Praskovia: Yes, ma’em. [Goes out.]

Olga [alone]: What does it mean? What did I hear yesterday? I couldn’t sleep the whole night. The old man must have been out of his mind. [

[Eletski enters.]

Eletski [with a care - worn face goes up to her]: Did you wish to see me, Olga?

Olga: Yes. I wanted to ask you. In the garden near the pond the paths are overgrown with grass. In the front of the house, it has been cleaned up, but there they forgot about it. Tell them to clean it up.

Eletski: I have already given orders.

Olga: Thank you. And tell somebody to buy bells in the city for my cows to put on their necks.

Eletski: All right. That will be done. [Starts to go.] Anything else you’d like?

Olga: Are you busy, dear?

Eletski: The accounts have been brought in from the office.

Olga: If that’s the case, I’m not going to detain you. We can go to the woods a little before dinner.

Eletski: Surely. [Starts to go again.]

Olga [permitting him to get to the door]: Paul!

Eletski [turning around]: What?

Olga: Tell me, please; I didn’t have time to ask you about it yesterday — what was the trouble yesterday after lunch?

Eletski: Nothing in particular. Only I am sorry that it came out the very first day of our arrival. However, I am to blame a little for it myself. We took it into our heads to get that old man, Kuzovkin, drunk. To be exact about the matter, it was more the work of our neighbor, Monsieur Tropachev. At first, he was a little funny. He chattered, told us all sorts of nonsense — then he began to be a little boisterous. However, that isn’t anything anyway — it’s not worth while mentioning.

Olga: It seemed to me . . .

Eletski: Stop, stop! In the future we must be a little more careful — that’s all. [After a moment’s thought.] However, I have already taken the necessary steps in the matter.

Olga: How’s that?

Eletski: Well, you see, although it wasn’t anything really, yet there were strangers here who saw and heard. It wasn’t nice to have it happen in a respectable house, so I made the necessary arrangements.

Olga: What arrangements did you make?

Eletski: Well, you see I, I ... I explained it to the old man that it would be disagreeable for him to remain here in our house after such an occurrence, as you yourself said. He immediately agreed with me, for he sobered up. Surely he is a poor man, and he hasn’t anything to live on. Well, then, we’ll send him away to a house on one of jour other estates. We’ll give him a little money and food. He will be satisfied. I am not going to deny him anything.

Olga: Paul, it seems to me that for such a piece of nonsense you are punishing him too severely. He has been living in this house so long that he’s used to it here. He has known me from my childhood. Truly it seems to me that he may be kept here.

Eletski: Olga, no. There are reasons for it. Surely we can’t exact anything from the old man, especially when he was irresponsible. However, let me have my way in this matter. I repeat, I have strong reasons for it.

Olga: As you like.

Eletski: Moreover, I think he has packed up his things already.

Olga: But he won’t go without saying good - bye to me!

Eletski: I think he will come in to say good - bye to you. However, if it should be disagreeable to you, you needn’t receive him.

Olga: On the contrary, I wish to have a talk with him.

Eletski: Just as you like, Olga. But I shouldn’t advise you. You will get worked up, and then, of«course, he is an old man and you have known him from your childhood. . . . I confess, I do not like to change my decision.

Olga: Oh, you needn’t be afraid of that. Only I really think that he’ll go away without saying good - bye to me. Please send somebody to find out whether he has gone or not.

Eletski: As you please. [Rings the hell.]
Vous etes jolie comme un ange aujourd’hui.

Petr [entering]: What do you wish, sir?

Eletski: Go, my dear fellow, and find out whether Kuzovkin has left or not. [Looking at Olga.] So you want him to come to say good - bye to you?

Petr [going out]: Yes, sir.

Olga: Paul, I have something to ask you.

Eletski [kindly]: Well, speak it out — what is it?

Olga: Listen. When Kuzovkin comes in, leave us to ourselves.

Eletski [after a moment’s pause with a cold smile]: It seems best to me not to. You won’t be comfortable alone with him.

Olga: No, please. I have something to talk to him about. I want to ask him something. I want to talk with him alone.

Eletski [looking at her fixedly]: Did you . . . yesterday?

Olga [looking at Eletski in the most innocent manner]: What?

Eletski [quickly]: Well, as you like. As you please about it. Here, I think he is coming.

[Kuzovkin enters, very pale.]

Olga: How do you do, Vasili Petrovich? [Kuzovkin bows silently.] How do you do? [To Eletski.] Eh, bien, mon ami. Je vous en prie.

Eletski [to his wife]: Oui. [To Kuzovkin.] Are you all packed up?

Kuzovkin [in an undertone and with considerable difficulty]: I am all packed up.

Eletski: Olga Petrovna wishes to speak with you . . . to say good - bye to you. If you need anything, please tell her about it. [To Olga.] Au revoir. You won’t be long with him, will you?

Olga: I don’t know. I don’t think so.

Eletski: Very well. [Goes out to the sitting - room.]

Olga [sits on the divan, and points Kuzovkin to a chair]: Sit down, Vasili Petrovich. [Kuzovkin bows, but does not sit down.] Sit down, I ask you. [Kuzovkin sits down. For some little time, Olga doesn’t know how to begin the conversation.] You are going to leave us, I hear.

Kuzovkin [without raising his eyes]: That’s right.

Olga: Pavel Nikolaich has told me about it. Believe me, I don’t quite like that.

Kuzovkin: Don’t let that disturb you. I am extremely much obliged to you ... I will . . .

Olga: In your new place you will be just as comfortable, even more so. You’ll have your quiet. I’ll see to that.

Kuzovkin: I am very much obliged to you. I feel that I do not deserve that much. A piece of bread, a little corner in a room somewhere — I don’t need anything any more. [After a moment’s silence, he gets up.] And now permit me to say good - bye. I am to blame, but pardon an old man.

Olga: Why are you in such a hurry? Wait a little.

Kuzovkin: As you say. [He sits down again.]

Olga [after a short silence]: Listen, Vasili Petrovich, tell me frankly, what happened to you in the morning.

Kuzovkin: I am guilty, Olga Petrovna. I alone am guilty.

Olga: However, how is it that you . . .?

Kuzovkin: Please do not ask me, Olga Petrovna. It’s not worth while. I am guilty all around, and that’s all. Pavel Nikolaich is positively right. He ought to punish me more severely. I shall pray for him the rest of my life.

Olga: I confess that I cannot see such a great fault in it. You aren’t a young man any more. You are out of the habit of drinking. Well . . . and you were a little noisy.

Kuzovkin: No, Olga Petrovna. Don’t try to justify me. I am extremely much obliged to you for it, but I feel that I am guilty.

Olga: Maybe you said something insulting to my husband? Or to Mr. Tropachev?

Kuzovkin [letting his head hang low]: I am guilty all round, that’s all.

Olga [with some agitation]: Listen, Vasili Petrovich, do you remember well what you said?

Kuzovkin [shudders and looks at Olga; slowly]: I don’t know.

Olga: I was told that you said . . .

Kuzovkin [interrupting her]: I lied, Olga Petrovna. Positively lied! The first thing that came to my mind I said. I am guilty. I wasn’t in my right mind.

Olga: However, it would never have entered your mind without any cause for it.