Savva and the Life of Man Part 47

Talk sense. Stop blubbering.

KONDRATY _(waving his hand)_

I am not angry with you. I bear you no grudge. Who are you that I should bear any resentment against you?

SAVVA

Talk sense.

KONDRATY

I'll tell Miss Olympiada. I won't speak to you. You knew me as a drunkard, Miss Olympiada, a mean, worthless creature. Now listen. _(To Speransky)_ And you, young man, may listen also. It will teach you a lesson. It will show you how G.o.d works His will unseen.

LIPA

I see, Father Kondraty. Forgive me.

KONDRATY

G.o.d will forgive you. Who am I to forgive you? So that's the way it was, Miss Olympiada. I followed your advice and went to the Father Superior with the infernal machine. It was indeed an infernal machine!

And I told him everything, just the way I felt, with a perfect candor and purity of heart.

SPERANSKY _(guessing)_

Is that how it happened? What a remarkable event!

FRIAR _(quietly)_

Keep quiet. What are you b.u.t.ting in for?

KONDRATY

Ye-es. The Father Superior turned pale. "You scamp," he said, "do you know with whom you have had dealings?" "I do," I said, trembling all over. Well, they called together the whole brotherhood and discussed the matter in secret. And then the Father Superior said to me: "It's this way, Kondraty," he said. "G.o.d has chosen you as the instrument of His sacred will. Yes. _(Weeps)_ G.o.d has chosen you as the instrument--"

LIPA

Well? Go on.

KONDRATY

Ye-es, hm. "Go," he said, "and put down the machine as you were told to do, and set it going according to the directions. Carry out the devil's plot in full. I and the other brothers will sing a hymn quietly as we carry the ikon away. Yes, that's what we'll do. We'll carry the ikon away. And thus the devil will be made a fool of."

SAVVA

Ah!

LIPA _(astonished)_

But, Father Kondraty, how can that be?

_[Savva laughs heartily._

KONDRATY

Patience, patience, Miss Olympiada. "And when," said the Father Superior, "the devil's plot shall have been carried out, then we'll put the ikon--the dear, precious ikon--back in His place." Well, I won't attempt to describe the scene that took place when we carried the ikon away. It's beyond my power. The brothers sobbed and wept.

Not one of them was able to sing. The little candles burned with tiny little flames. And then when we carried Him out to the gate, and when we began to think and remembered--who is now in His sacred place--we lay around the ikon, our faces on the ground, and cried and wept bitter, bitter tears, tears of pity and contrition. "O Thou, our own, our precious idol, have mercy on us, return to Thy place." _(Lipa cries; the Friar wipes his eyes with his fist)_ And then--bang! went the machine, and the sulphurous smoke spread all around so that it was impossible to breathe. _(In a whisper)_ And then many beheld the devil in the smoke, and they were so terrified that they lost consciousness.

It was horrible! And then, as we carried Him back, all of one accord, as though we had agreed beforehand, began to sing "Christ is arisen."

That's how it happened.

SAVVA

You hear, Lipa? But what's the matter with you? Why are you all crying?

FRIAR

It makes one feel so sorry, Mr. Savva.

SAVVA

Why, they fooled you, they played a trick on you. Or else you are all lying, lying with your tears.

_[Kondraty makes a gesture of indifference._

LIPA _(shaking her head, weeping)_

No, Savva, you don't understand. Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!

KONDRATY

You have no G.o.d, that's the reason you don't understand; You have only reason, and pride, and malice. That's why you don't understand.

Ah, Mr. Savva, you wanted to ruin me too. And I tell you as a Christian--it would have been better if you had never been born.

SAVVA

Oh, fiddlesticks! Whom do you think you can hoodwink? Do you think I have turned blind?

KONDRATY _(turning away with a wave of his hand)_

You can shout as much as you like.

FRIAR

Mr. Savva, you mustn't shout, you mustn't. We have already attracted the attention of the crowd. They are looking at us.

SAVVA _(laying his hand on Kondraty's shoulder and speaking in a low voice)_ Look here, I understand. Of course, in the presence of people--but you understand, don't you, Kondraty? You are a clever man, a very bright man. You understand that all this is nonsense. Just consider, brother, consider a moment. Didn't they carry the ikon away?

Then where is the miracle?

KONDRATY _(twisting himself free from Savva's grasp, shaking his head and speaking aloud)_ Then you don't understand? No, you don't understand. What of it?