THE POSSESSED

A Play in Three Parts by ALBERT CAMUS

Translated from the French by
JUSTIN OBRIEN
FOREWORD
THE POSSESSED is one of the four or five works that 1 rank above all others. In many ways I
can claim that I grew up on it and took sustenance from it. For almost twenty years, in any event,
1 have vis-ualized its characters on the stage. Besides having the stature of dramatic characters,
they have the appropriate behavior, the explosions, the swift and disconcerting gait. Moreover,
Dostoevsky uses a theater technique in his novels: he works through dialogues with few
indications as to place and action. A man of the theaterwhether actor, director, or author
always finds in him all the suggestions he needs. And now THE POSSESSED has reached the
stage after several years of labor and persistence. And yet I am well aware of all that separates the
play from that amazing novel! I merely tried to follow the books undercurrent and to proceed as
it does from satiric comedy to drama and then to tragedy. Both the original and the dramatic
adaptation start from a certain realism and endup in tragic stylization. As for the rest, I tried,
amidst this vast, preposterous, panting world full of outbursts and scenes of violence, never to
lose the thread of suffering and affection that makes Dostoevskys universe so close to each of us.
Dostoevskys characters, as we know well by now, are neither odd nor absurd. They are like us;
we have the same heart. And if THE POSSESSED is a prophetic book, this is not only because it
prefigures our nihilism, but also because its pro-tagonists are torn or dead souls unable to love
and suffering from that inability, wanting to believe and yet unable to do so like those who people
our society and our spiritual world today. The subject of this work is just as much the murder of
Shatov (in-spired by a real eventthe assassination of the student Ivanov by the nihilist
Nechayev) as the spiritual adventure and death of Stavrogin, a con-temporary hero. Hence we
have dramatized not only one of the masterpieces of world literature but also a work of current
application.
ALBERT CAMUS

N.B.
The adaptation of THE POSSESSED reintegrates into the work Stavrogin's confession (which
was not published because of censorship, though its place in the narrative is known to us) and
utilizes the several hundred pages that make up the NOTEBOOKS of THE POSSESSED kept by
the author while he was writing the novel.
1

DRAMATIS PERSON
GRIGORIEV, the narrator
STEPAN TROFIMQVICH
VERKHOVENSKY
VARVARA PETROVNA
STAVROGIN
LIPUTIN
SHIGALOV
IVAN SHATOV
VIRGINSKY
GAGANOV
ALEXEY YEGOROVICH
NICHOLAS STAVROGIN
PRASCOVYA DROZDOV
DASHA SHATOV
ALEXEY KIRILOV
LISA DROZDOV
MAURICE NICOLAEVICH
MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA
LEBYATKIN
CAPTAIN LEBYATKIN
PETER STEPANOVICH
VERKHOVENSKY
FEDKA
THE SEMINARIAN
LYAMSHIN
BISHOP TIHON
GAGANOVS SON
MARIA SHATOV
NOTE:
The necessities of stage production called for fairly numerous cuts in the text of the adaptation.
This edition contains all the passages and scenes cut in the production.
SETS
1. At Varvara Stavrogins. A luxurious period drawing room.
2. Filipovs poor rooming house. Double set, representing a living room and a small bedroom.
3. The street.
4. Lebyatkins dwelling. A wretched living room in the suburb.
5. The forest.
6. At Tihons. A vast hall in the Convent of the Virgin.
7. The main drawing room in the Stavrogin country-house, at Skvoreshniki.

FIRST PART
When the theater is altogether dark, a spotlight picks out the NARRATOR standing in front of the
curtain with hat in hand.
ANTON GRIGORIEV, the NARRATOR (courteous, colmy and ironic):
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The strange events you are about to witness took place in our provincial city under the influence
of my esteemed friend Professor Stepan Troflmovich Verkhovensky. The Professor had always
played a thoroughly patriotic role among us. He was liberal and idealistic, loving the West,
progress, justice, and generally everything lofty. But on those heights he unfortunately fell to
imagining that the Tsar and his Ministers had a particular grudge against him, and he settled
among us to play the part of the persecuted thinker in exile. It must be said that he did so with
great dignity. Simply, three or four times a year he had attacks of patriotic melancholy that kept
him in bed with a hot-water bottle on his belly. He lived in the house of his friend Varvara
Stavrogin, the widow of the General, who, after her husbands death, had entrusted to him the upbringing of her son, Nicholas Stavrogin. Oh, I forgot to tell you that Stepan Troflmovich was
twice widowed and once a father. He had shipped his son abroad. Both his wives had died young,
and, to tell the truth, they hadnt been very happy with him. But it is hardly possible to love ones
wife and justice at the same time. Consequently, Stepan Trofimovich transferred all his affection
to his pupil, Nicholas Stavrogin, to whose moral education he applied himself most rigorously
until Nicholas fled home and took to indulging in wild debauch. Hence, Stepan Trofimovich
remained alone with Varvara Stavrogin, who felt an unlimited friendship for him in other
words, she often hated him. That is where my story begins.

SCENE 1
The curtain rises on Varvara Stavrogins draining room. The NARRATOR goes over and sits
down at the table to play cards with STEPAN TROFIMOVICH.
STEPAN:
Oh, I forgot to ask you to cut the cards. Forgive me, Anton, but I didnt sleep well at all last night.
How I regretted having complained to you of Varvara!
GRIGORIEV:
You merely said she was keeping you out of vanity and that she was jealous of your education.
STEPAN:
Thats what I mean. But its not true! Your turn. You see, shes an angel of honor and sensitivity,
and Im just the reverse.
(VARVARA STAVROGIN comes in, but stops at the door.)
VARVARA:
Cards again! (They rise.) Sit down and go on. I am busy.
(She goes over to look at some papers on a table at the left. They continue playing, but STEPAN
TROFIMOVICH keeps glancing at VARVARA STAVROGIN, who finally speaks, avoiding his
eyes.)
I thought you were to work on your book this morning.
STEPAN:
I took a walk in the garden. I had taken Tocqueville under my arm
VARVARA:
And you read Paul de Kock instead. But you have been announcing your book for fifteen years
now.
STEPAN:
Yes, I have gathered the material, but I have to put it together. It doesnt matter anyway! I am
forgotten. No one needs me.
VARVARA:
You would be less forgotten if you played cards less often.
STEPAN:
Yes, I play cards. And its unworthy of me. But who is responsible? Who nipped my career in the
bud? Ah, que meure la Russie! Ill trump that.

VARVARA:
Nothing keeps you from working and from proving by your work that people were wrong to
neglect you.
STEPAN:
You are forgetting, chere amie, that I have published a great deal.
VARVARA:
Indeed? Who remembers that now?
STEPAN:
Who? Why, our friend here certainly remembers it.
GRIGORIEV:
Of course I do. To begin with, your lectures on the nature of the Arabs, then the start of your
study on the exceptional moral nobility of certain knights at a certain period, and, above all, your
thesis on the importance that the small city of Hanau might have achieved between 1413 and
1428 if it had not been prevented from doing so by half-hidden causes, which you analyzed
brilliantly.
STEPAN:
You have a memory like a steel trap, Anton. Thank you.
VARVARA:
That is not the point. The point is that for fifteen years you have been announcing a a book and
you havent written a single word of it.
STEPAN:
Of course not, that would be too easy! I want to be sterile and solitary! That will teach them what
they have lost. I want to be a living reproach!
VARVARA:
You would be if you spent less time in bed.
STEPAN:
What?
VARVARA:
Yes, to be a living reproach one has to stand on ones feet.
STEPAN:
Standing up or lying down, the important thing is to personify the idea. Besides, I am active, I am
active, and always according to my principles. This very week I signed a protest.
VARVARA:
Against what?
5

STEPAN:
I dont know. It was oh, Ive forgotten. Fallait protester, voila tout. Oh, in my time everything
was different. I used to work twelve hours a day .
VARVARA:
Five or six would have been enough .
STEPAN:
I used to spend hours in the library gathering mountains of notes. We had hope then! We used to
talk until daybreak, building the future. Oh, how noble we were then, strong as steel, firm as the
Rock of Gibraltar! Those were evenings truly worthy of Athens: music, Spanish melodies, love of
humanity, the Sistine Madonna O ma noble et fidele amie, have you any idea of all I gave up?
VARVARA:
No.
(She rises.)
But I know that if you talked until dawn you couldnt work twelve hours a day. Besides, all this is
mere talk! You know that at long last I am expecting my son, Nicholas, any moment. I must
have a word with you.
(GRIGORIEV gets up, comes over, and kisses her hand.)
Thank you, Anton, you are discreet. Stay in the garden and you can come back later.
(GRIGORIEV leaves.)
STEPAN:
Quel bonheur, ma noble amie, de revoir notre Nicolas!
VARVARA:
Yes, I am very happy. He is my whole life. But I am worried.
STEPAN:
Worried?
VARVARA:
Yes dont act like a male nurse I am worried. By the way, since when have you been
wearing red neckties?
STEPAN:
Why, just today I
VARVARA:
It doesnt suit your age, in my opinion. Where was I? Yes, I am worried. And you know very well
why. All those rumors I cant believe them, and yet I cant forget them. Debauchery, violence,
6

duels, he insults everybody, he frequents the dregs of society! Absurd, absurd! And, yet, suppose
it were true?
STEPAN:
But it isnt possible. Just remember the dreamy, affectionate child he was. Just remember the
touching melancholies he used to fail into. No one but an exceptional soul can feel such
melancholy as I am well aware.
VARVARA:
You are forgetting that he is no longer a child.
STEPAN:
But his health is poor. Just remember: he used to weep for nights on end. Can you imagine him
forcing men to fight?
VARVARA:
He was in no way weak! What has made you imagine that? He was simply high-strung, thats all.
But you got it into your head to wake him up in the middle of the night, when he was twelve
years old, to tell him your troubles. Thats the kind of tutor you were.
STEPAN:
The cher ange loved me. He used to ask me to confide in him and would weep in my arms.
VARVARA:
The angel has changed. I am told that I wouldnt recognize him now, that his physical strength is
exceptional.
STEPAN:
But what does he tell you in his letters?
VARVARA:
His letters are few and far between but always respectful.
STEPAN:
You see?
VARVARA:
I see nothing. You should get out of the habit of talking without saying anything. And, besides,
the facts speak for themselves. Did he or didnt he have his commission taken away from him
because he had seriously wounded another officer in a duel?
STEPAN:
Thats not a crime. He was motivated by the warmth of his noble blood. Thats all very
chivalrous.
VARVARA:
Yes. But it is less chivalrous to live in the vilest sections of St. Petersburg and to enjoy the
7

company of cutthroats and drunkards.

STEPAN (laughing):
Oh, thats simply Prince Harrys youth all over again!
VARVARA:
What do you mean by that?
STEPAN:
Why, Shakespeare, ma noble amie, immortal Shakespeare, the genius of geniuses, great Will, in
short, who shows us Prince Harry indulging in debauch with his friend Falstaff.
VARVARA:
I shall reread the play. By the way, are you taking any exercise? You are well aware that you
should walk six versts a day. Good. In any case, I asked Nicholas to come home. I want you to
sound him out. I plan to keep him here and to arrange his marriage.
STEPAN:
His marriage! Oh, how romantic that is! Have you anyone in mind?
VARVARA:
Yes, I am thinking of Lisa, the daughter of my friend Prascovya Drozdov. They are in
Switzerland with my ward, Dasha . But what does it matter to you?
STEPAN:
I love Nicholas as much as my own son.
VARVARA:
That isnt much. Altogether, you have seen your son only twice, including the day of his birth.
STEPAN:
His aunts brought him up and I sent him regularly the income from the little estate his mother left
him, and all the time I suffered bitterly from his absence. Moreover, hes a complete dud, poor in
spirit and poor in heart. You should see the letters he writes me! You would think he was speaking
to a servant. I asked him with all my paternal love if he didnt want to come and see me. Do you
know what he replied? If I come home, it will be to check up on my accounts, and to settle
accounts too.
VARVARA:
Why dont you learn once and for all to make people respect you? Well, I shall leave you. It is
time for your little gathering. Your friends, your little spree, cards, atheism, and, above all, the
stench, the stench of tobacco and of men I am leaving. Dont drink too much; you know it
upsets you . Good-by!
(She looks at him; then, shrugging her shoulders:)
A red necktie!
8

(She leaves.)
STEPAN (follows her with his eyes, starts to stammer, then looks toward the desk):
O femme cruelle, implacable! And I cant talk to her! I shall write her a letter!
(He goes toward the table.)
VARVARA (thrusting her head in the door):
And, by the way, stop writing me letters. We live in the same house; it is ridiculous to exchange
letters. Your friends are here.
(She leaves, GRIGORIEV, LIPUTIN, and SHIGALOV come in.)
STEPAN:
Good day, my dear Liputin, good day. Forgive my emotion. I am hated . Yes, I am literally
hated. But I dont care! Your wife is not with you?
LIPUTIN:
No. Wives must stay at home and fear God.
STEPAN:
But arent you an atheist?
LIPUTIN:
Yes. Shhhh! Dont say it so loud. Thats just it. A husband who is an atheist must teach his wife
the fear of God. That liberates him even more. Look at our friend Virginsky. I just met him now.
He had to go out and do his marketing himself because his wife was with Captain Lebyatkin.
STEPAN:
Yes, yes, I know what people say, but its not true. His wife is a noble creature. Besides, they all
are.
LIPUTIN:
What, not true? I was told it by Virginsky himself. He converted his wife to our ideas. He
convinced her that man is a free creature, or ought to be such. So she freed herself and, later on,
simply told Virginsky that she was dismissing him as her husband and taking Captain Lebyatkin
in his place. And do you know what Virginsky said to his wife when she announced this news?
He said: My dear, up to now I merely loved you; from now on, I esteem you.
STEPAN:
Hes a true Roman.
GRIGORIEV:
I was told, on the contrary, that when his wife dismissed him, he burst into sobs.
STEPAN:
9

Yes, yes. Hes an affectionate soul,

(SHATOV comes in.)
But heres our friend Shatov. Any news of your sister?
SHATOV:
Dasha is about to come home. Since you ask me, I shall tell you that she is bored in Switzerland
with Prascovya Drozdov and Lisa. I am telling you, although in my opinion it is no concern of
yours.
STEPAN:
Of course not. But she is coming home, and that is the main thing. Oh, my dear friends, its
impossible to live far from Russia
LIPUTIN:
But its impossible to live in Russia too. We need something else, and there is nothing.
STEPAN:
What do you suggest?
LIPUTIN:
Everything must be made over.
SHIGALOV:
Yes, but you dont draw the conclusions,
(SHATOV goes over and sits down gloomily and places his cap beside him. VIRGINSKY and then
GAGANOV come in.)
STEPAN:
Good day, my dear Virginsky. How is your wife?
(VIRGINSKY turns away.)
Good, were fond of you, you know, very fond of you!

GAGANOV:
I was just going by and I came in to see Varvara Stavrogin. But perhaps I am in your way?
STEPAN:
No, no! Au banquet de famine there is always room. We were just beginning to discuss things. I
know you are not afraid of a few paradoxes.
GAGANOV:
10

Aside from the Tsar, Russia, and the family, everything is open to discussion.
(To SHATOV) Dont you agree?
SHATOV:
Everything is open to discussion. But certainly not with you.
STEPAN (laughing):
We must drink to the conversion of our good friend Gaganov.
(He rings a bell.)
That is, if Shatov, irascible Shatov, allows us to. For our good Shatov is irascible; he boils over at
nothing at all. And if you want to discuss with him, you have to tie him down first. You see, hes
already leaving. He has taken offense. Come, come now, my good friend, you know how fond we
are of you.
SHATOV:
Then dont insult me.
STEPAN:
But who is insulting you? If I did so, I beg your pardon. I am well aware that we talk too much.
We talk when we ought to act. Act, act or, in any case, work. For twenty years now I have
been sounding the alarm and urging people to work. Russia cant arise without ideas. And we
cant have ideas without working. Lets get down to work, then, and eventually well have an
original idea .
(ALEXEY YEGOROVICH, the butler, brings in drinks and leaves.)
LIPUTIN:
Meanwhile, we should suppress the army and the navy.
GAGANOV:
Both at once?
LIPUTIN:
Yes, in order to have universal peace!
GAGANOV:
But if others dont suppress theirs, wouldnt they be tempted to invade us? How can we know?
LIPUTIN:
By suppressing ours. That way we shall know.
STEPAN (quivering with excitement):
Ah! Cest un paradoxe! But there is truth in it .
VIRGINSKY:
11

Liputin goes too far because he despairs of ever seeing our ideas dominate. I think we should
begin at the beginning and get rid of priests and the family at the same time.
GAGANOV:
Gentlemen, I can take any joke whatever but to suppress at one and the same time the army,
the navy, the family, the priestsno, no, no .
STEPAN:
Theres no harm in talking about it. One can talk of anything.
GAGANOV:
But to suppress everything like that all at onceno. Ah, no. No
LIPUTIN:
Come, now. Dont you think Russia needs reform?
GAGANOV:
Yes, probably. Everything isnt perfect in our country.
LIPUTIN: Then it must be dismembered.
STEPAN and GAGANOV:
What?
LIPUTIN:
Yes, of course. To reform Russia, it has to be made into a federation. But before it can be
federated, it has to be dismembered. Its mathematically simple.
STEPAN:
It deserves reflection.
GAGANOV:
I Oh, no. I wont let anyone lead me around by the nose .
VIRGINSKY:
Reflection calls for time, and abject poverty cant wait.
LIPUTIN:
We must think of the most urgent first. The most urgent need is for everyone to be able to eat.
Books, art galleries, theaters are for later on, later on. A pair of shoes is worth more than
Shakespeare.
STEPAN:
Oh, I cant admit this. No, no, my good friend, immortal genius shines over all mankind. Let
everyone go barefoot and long live Shakespeare.
SHIGALOV:
12

You dont any of you draw the conclusions.

(He leaves.)
LIPUTIN:
Allow me
STEPAN:
No, no, I cannot accept that. Nous qui aimons le peuple
SHATOV:
YOU dont love the masses.
VIRGINSKY:
What? I
SHATOV (rising in anger):
You dont love either Russia or the masses. You have lost contact with the masses. You talk about
them as if they were a distant tribe with exotic customs that move you to pity. You have lost track
of them, and without the masses, there is no god. This is why all of you and all of us, yes, all of
us, are so wretchedly cold and indifferent. We are merely out of step, nothing else. You yourself,
Stepan Trofimovich, I make no exception for you, let it be known, although you taught us all. In
fact, I am speaking especially to you.
(He seizes his cap and rushes toward the door, but STEPAN TROFIMOVICH calls out to stop
him.)
STEPAN:
All right, Shatov, since you insist, I am angry with you. Now let us make it up.
(He holds out his hand, and SHATOV reluctantly shakes it.)
Lets drink to universal reconciliation!
GAGANOV:
Lets drink. But I wont let anyone lead me around by the nose.
(Toast, VARVARA STAVROGIN enters.)
VARVARA:
Please dont get up. Drink to the health of my son, Nicholas, who has just arrived. He has gone
up to change, and I have asked him to come and say hello to your friends.
STEPAN:
How did he seem to you, ma noble amie?
VARVARA:
13

His appearance and good health delighted me.

(She looks at them.)
Yes, why not say so? There have been so many rumors re-cently that I am glad to have a chance
to show what my son is.
GAGANOV:
We are delighted to see him, my dear!
VARVARA (looking at SHATOV) :
And you, Shatov, are you happy to see your friend again?
(SHATOV gets up and, as he does so, awkwardly knocks over a small intarsia table.)
Pick up that table, please. It will be chipped, but theres no use cry-ing over that.
(To the others) What were you talking about?
STEPAN:
Of hope, ma noble amie, and of the lumi-nous future already visible at the end of our dark way
Oh, we shall be consoled for such sufferings and persecutions. Exile will come to an end, for
dawn is already in sight .
(NICHOLAS STAVROGIN appears upstage and stands still on the threshold.)
STEPAN:
Ah, mon cher enfant!
(VARVARA makes a move toward STAVROGIN, but his unemotional manner stops her. She looks
at him with anguish. A few seconds of general embarrassment.)
GAGANOV:
How are you, my dear Nicholas?
STAVROGIN:
I am well, thank you.
(A merry scene of greeting ensues, STAVROGIN steps toward his mother and kisses her hand.
STEPAN TROFIMOVICH goes up to him and embraces him. STAVROGIN smiles at STEPAN and
resumes his unemotional manner while the others, except SHATOV, greet him. But his prolonged
silence dampens the enthusiasm.)
VARVARA {looking at NICHOLAS) :
Dear, dear child, you are sad, you are bored. That is right.
STEPAN {bringing him a glass):
My good Nicholas!
14

VARVARA:
GO on, I beg you. We were talking of the dawn, I believe.
(STAVROGIN lifts his glass as a toast in the direction of SHATOV, who leaves the room without
saying a word, STAVROGIN sniffs the contents of his glass and sets it down on the table without
drinking it.)
LIPUTIN {after a moment of general embarrassment):
Good. Did you know that the new governor had already arrived?
{In his corner on the left, VIRGINSKY says something to GAGANOV, who answers:)
GAGANOV:
I wont let anyone lead me around by the nose.
LIPUTIN:
It seems that he wants to upset everything. But it would surprise me if he did.
STEPAN:
It wont last. Just a touch of administrative intoxication!
(STAVROGIN has gone over to the spot vacated by SHATOV. Standing very upright with a
faraway, gloomy look on his -face, he is watching GAGANOV.)
VARVARA:
What do you mean now?
STEPAN:
Why, you know the symptoms, dont you? For instance, just entrust any old nitwit with selling
tickets behind the window of the most insignificant station and immediately, when you go to get a
ticket, that nitwit will look at you as if he were Jupiter, just to show his power. The nitwit is
drunk, you see. He is suffering from administrative intoxication.
VARVARA:
Come to the point, I beg you.
STEPAN:
I simply meant However that may be, I know the new governor somewhat. A very handsome
man, isnt heabout forty years old?
VARVARA:
Where did you get the idea that he is a handsome man? He has pop eyes.
STEPAN:
Thats true, but Well, in any case, I accept the opinion of the ladies.
15

GAGANOV:
We cant criticize the new governor before seeing him at work, can we?
LIPUTIN:
And why shouldnt we criticize him? Hes the governor; isnt that enough?
GAGANOV:
Allow me
VIRGINSKY:
Its through reasoning like Gaganovs that Russia is sinking into ignorance. If a horse were
named governor, Gaganov would wait to see him at work.
GAGANOV:
Oh! But, allow rne, you are insulting me, and I wont permit it. I said or, rather I repeat: I
wont let anyone lead me around by the nose .
(STAVROGIN crosses the stage amid the silence that sets in with his first step, advances like a
sleepwalker toward GAGANOV, slowly raises his arm, seizes GAGANOVS nose, and, gently
pulling it, makes GAGANOV step toward the center of the stage. With anguish in her voice,
VARVARA STAVROGIN shouts: )
VARVARA: Nicholas!
(NICHOLAS lets go of GAGANOV, steps backward a few steps, and looks at him, smiling absentmindedly. After a second of stupor, general tumult. The others surround GAGANOV and lead him
to a chair, into which he sinks. NICHOLAS STAVROGIN turns on his heels and leaves the room,
VARVARA STAVROGIN, hardly knowing what she is doing, takes up a glass and carries it over to
GAGANOV.)
VARVARA: He How could he ? Help, help!
(to STEPAN)
Oh, my God, lies mad, hes mad!
STEPAN (hardly knowing what he is doing either):
No, tres chere, mere thoughtlessness, youth
VARVARA (to GAGANOV):
Forgive Nicholas, my friend, I beg of you.
(STAVROGIN enters. After a brief hesitation he walks firmly toward GAGANOV, who gets up,
frightened. Then rapidly and with a frown:)
STAVROGIN:
Of course you will forgive me! A sudden whim A stupid distraction
16

STEPAN (stepping up to the other side of STAVROGIN, who is looking vacantly ahead of him):
Thats not an acceptable apology, Nicholas. (With anguish) Je vous en prie, mon enfant. You have
a noble heart, you are well brought up and cultured, and suddenly you seem to us enigmatica
dangerous person. At least have pity on your mother.
STAVROGIN (looking at his mother, then at GAGANOV) :
All right. I shall apologize. But I shall do so secretly to Mr. Gaganov, who will understand me.
(GAGANOV steps forward hesitantly, STAVROGIN leans over and seizes GAGANOVS ear in his
teeth.)
GAGANOV (in pain):
Nicholas! Nicholas!
(The others, who havent yet understood the situation, look at him.)
GAGANOV (in terror):
Nicholas, you are biting my ear! (Screaming) Hes biting my ear!
(STAVROGIN lets go of him and stands staring at him with a dull look on his face, GAGANOV
rushes out, screaming with fright.)
GAGANOV:
Watch out! Watch out!
VARVARA (going to her son):
Nicholas, for the love of God!
(NICHOLAS looks at her, laughs weakly, then col-lapses on the -floor in a sort of fit.)
BLACKOUT
THE NARRATOR:
Gaganov stayed in bed several weeks. Nicholas Stavrogin likewise. But he eventually got up,
made his apologies most honorably, and set out for a rather long trip. The only place where he
stayed for a time was Genevanot because of the hectic charm of that city, but because there he
found the Drozdov ladies.

17

SCENE 2
Varvara Stawrogins drawing room, VARVARA STAVROGIN and PRASCOVYA DROZDOV
are on the stage.
PRASCOVYA:
Oh, my dear, I can say that I am pleased to return Dasha Shatov to you. I have no criticism to
make, for my part, but it seems to me that if she hadnt been there, there would not have been that
little misunderstanding between your Nicholas and my Lisa. I assure you that I know nothing, for
Lisa is much too proud, too obstinate, to have spoken to me. But the fact is that they are on the
outs, that Lisa was humiliated, God alone knows why, and that perhaps your Dasha would have
something to say about it, although
VARVARA:
I dont like insinuations, Prascovya. Tell all you have to tell. Are you trying to imply that Dasha
had an intrigue with Nicholas?
PRASCOVYA:
An intrigue, dearwhat a word! Besides, I dont want to imply I love you too much How
can you imagine ? {She dries a tear.)
VARVARA:
Dont weep. Im not hurt. Just tell me what took place.
PRASCOVYA:
Why, nothing at all. He is in love with Lisa, thats certain. I couldnt be mistaken on that point.
Feminine intuition! But you know Lisas character. I suppose one might say-obstinate and
scornfulyes, thats it! And Nicholas is proud. What prideoh, he is indeed your son! Well, he
couldnt put up with her little jokes. And, in return, he bantered.
VARVARA:
Bantered?
PRASCOVYA:
Yes, thats the word. In any case, Lisa constantly tried to start a quarrel with Nicholas.
Sometimes when she was aware that he was talking with Dasha, you couldnt hold her back.
Really, my dear, it was unbearable. The doctors forbade me to get excited, and, furthermore, I
was so bored on the shores of that lake, and I had a toothache. Since then I have learned that the
Lake of Geneva predisposes people to toothaches, and that thats one of its peculiarities. Finally
Nicholas left. In my opinion, they will make up.

18

VARVARA:
Such a slight misunderstanding doesnt mean a thing. Besides, I know my Dasha too well. Its
utterly absurd. Moreover, I shall get at the facts of the matter. (She rings.)
PRASCOVYA:
No, I assure you
(ALEXEY YEGOROVICH enters.)
VARVARA:
Tell Dasha that I am waiting for her.
(ALEXEY YEGOROVICH leaves.)
PRASCOVYA:
I was wrong, dear, to speak to you of Dasha. There was nothing but the most ordinary
conversations between her and Nicholas, and there was no whispering. At least in my presence.
But I felt Lisas irritation. And then that lakeyou have no idea! It does calm you, to be sure, but
only because it bores you. Yet, if you know what I mean, simply by boring you it irritates you .
(DASHA enters.)
My Dashenka, my little one! How I hate giving you up. We shall miss our good evening
conversations in Geneva. Oh! Geneva! Au revoir, chere!
(To DASHA)
Au revoir, ma mignonne, ma cherie, ma colombe.
(She leaves.)
VARVARA:
Sit down there,
(DASHA sits down.)
Embroider,
(DASHA picks up an embroidery -frame from the table.)
Tell me about your trip.
DASHA (in a steady, dull voice, somewhat tired):
Oh! I had a good time, and I learned a great deal. Europe is very instructiveyes, instructive. We
are so far behind them. They
VARVARA:
Forget Europe. You have nothing particular to tell me?
19

DASHA (looks at her):

No, nothing.
VARVARA:
Nothing on your mind, or on your conscience, or in your heart?
DASHA (with a sort of colorless conviction) :
Nothing.
VARVARA:
I was sure of it. I never had the slightest doubt about you. I have treated you as my daughter, and
I am aiding your brother. You wouldnt do anything that might hurt me, would you?
DASHA:
No, nothing, God bless you.
VARVARA:
Listen. I have been thinking about you. Drop your embroidery and come over near me.
(DASHA moves closer to her.)
Do you want to get married?
(DASHA looks at her.)
Wait a moment, dont answer. I am thinking of someone older than you. But you are a reasonable
girl. Besides, he is still very presentable. I am thinking of Stepan Trofimovich, who was your
professor and whom you have always esteemed. Well?
(DASHA keeps on looking at her fixedly.)
I know, he is frivolous. He whimpers and he thinks about himself too much. But he has decided
qualities that you will appreciate, particularly because I ask it of you. He deserves to be loved
because he is defenseless. Do you understand that?
(DASHA nods affirmatively. Bursting out)
I was sure of it; I was sure of you. As for him, he will love you because he is obligated! He must
adore you! Listen, Dasha. He will obey you. Unless you are an idiot, you can force him to. But
never push him to extremesthat is the first rule of conjugal life. Oh, Dasha, there is no greater
happiness than sacrificing oneself. Besides, you will be doing me a great favor, and that is the
important thing. But I am not forcing you in any way. It is up to you to decide. Speak.
DASHA (slowly):
If it is absolutely necessary, I shall do it.
20

VARVARA:
Absolutely? What are you alluding to, my child?
(DASHA lowers her head in silence.)
What you have just said is a stupidity. I am going to marry you off, to be sure, but not out of
necessity, you understand. The idea just came to me, thats all. Theres nothing to hide, is there?
DASHA:
No. I shall do as you wish.
VARVARA:
Hence you consent. So lets get to the details. Right after the ceremony, I shall give you fifteen
thousand rubles. Out of those fifteen thousand, you will give eight thousand to Stepan
Trofimovich. Allow him to receive his friends once a week. If they should come more often, put
them out. Moreover, I shall be there to keep an eye on things.
DASHA:
Has Stepan Trofimovich said anything to you about this?
VARVARA:
No, he hasnt said anything. But he will.
(She rises suddenly and throws her black shaivl over her shoulders, DASHA continues to stare at
her.)
You are an ungrateful girl! What are you thinking of? Do you think I am going to compromise
you? Why, he will come on his knees to beg you to marry him! He will be bursting with
happiness, thats how it will be!
(STEPAN TROFIMOVICH enters, DASHA rises.)
STEPAN:
Oh! Dashenka, my pretty girl, what a delight to find you among us again.
(He kisses her.)
Here you are at last!
VARVARA:
Leave her alone. You have all of life ahead of you to caress her. And I have something to say to
you.
(DASHA leaves.)
STEPAN:
Soit, mon amie, soit. But you know how much I love my little pupil.
21

VARVARA:
I know. But dont keep calling her my little pupil. She is grown-up! Its irritating! Hum, you
have been smoking.
STEPAN:
Cest-a-dire
VARVARA:
Sit down. Thats not the question. The question is that you must get married.
STEPAN (stupefied):
Get married? A third time, and at the age of fifty-three!
VARVARA:
Well, what difference does that make? At fifty-three we are at the peak of life. I know what I am
saying, for I am almost there. Besides, you are a handsome man.
STEPAN:
YOU have always been indulgent toward me, mon amie. Mais je dois vons dire je ne
mattendais pas Yes, at the age of fifty we are not yet old. That is obvious.
(He looks at her.)
VARVARA:
I shall help you. She will not be without a dowry. Oh! I forgot: you are marrying Dasha.
STEPAN (giving a start):
Dasha But I thought Dasha! But shes only a child!
VARVARA:
A twenty-year-old child, grace a Dieul Dont roll your eyes that way, please; youre not in the
circus. You are intelligent, but you dont understand anything. You need someone to take care of
you constantly. What will you do if I die? Dasha will be an excellent housekeeper for you.
Moreover, I shall be there; Im not going to die right away. Besides, she is an angel of kindness.
(Bursting out in anger)
You understand, I am telling you that she is an angel of kindness!
STEPAN:
I know, but such a difference in age I was thinking If necessary, you see, someone of my
own age
VARVARA:
Well, you will educate her, you will develop her heart. You will give her an honorable name.
Perhaps you will be her savioryes, her savior.
22

STEPAN:
But what about her? Have you talked to her?
VARVARA:
Dont worry about her. Of course, it is up to you to urge her, to beg her to do you that honor, you
understand. But dont worry, for I shall be there. Besides, you love her.
(STEPAN TROFIMOVICH rises and staggers.)
Whats the matter with yon?
STEPAN:
I I accept, of course, of course, because you wish it, but I should never have thought that you
would agree
VARVARA:
What do you mean?
STEPAN:
Without an overriding reason, without an urgent reason I should never have thought that you
could accept seeing me married to to another woman.
VARVARA (rises suddenly):
Another woman!
(She looks at him with flashing eyes, then heads toward the door. Before reaching it, she turns to
him.)
I shall never forgive you, never, you understand, for having imagined for one second that
between you and me
(She is on the point of leaving, hut GRIGORIEV enters.)
I Good day, Grigoriev.
(To STEPAN TROFIMOVICH)
So you have accepted. I shall arrange the details myself. Moreover, I am on my way to
Prascovyas to tell her about the plan. And take care of yourself. Dont let yourself get any older!
(She leaves.)
GRIGORIEV:
Our friend seems thoroughly upset.
STEPAN:
In other words Oh, I shall eventually lose all patience and cease wanting
23

GRIGORIEV:
Wanting what?
STEPAN:
I agreed because I am bored with life and nothing matters to me. But if she exasperates me,
things might begin to matter to me. I shall be aware of the insult and I shall refuse.
GRIGORIEV:
YOU will refuse?
STEPAN:
To get married. Oh, I shouldnt have talked about it! But you are rny friend; it is as if I were
talking to myself. Yes, I am asked to marry Dasha, and I accepted in principle, I accepted. At my
age! Oh, my dear friend, for any soul that is the least bit proud, the least bit free, marriage is
death itself. Marriage will corrupt me and sap my energy; I shall no longer be able to serve the
cause of humanity. Children will come, and God alone will know whether they are mine. No,
after all, they wont be mine; the wise man can face the truth. And I have accepted! Because I am
bored. No, its not because I am bored that I accepted. But theres that debt .
GRIGORIEV:
You are doing yourself an injustice. A man doesnt have to need money to marry a pretty young
girl.
STEPAN:
Alas, I need money more than I need a pretty girl . You know that I didnt manage very well
that property my son inherited from his mother. He is going to demand the eight thousand rubles I
owe him. He is accused of being a revolutionary, a socialist, of aiming to destroy God and
property, and so forth. I dont know about God, but as for property, he clings to his own, I assure
you . Besides, its a debt of honor for me. I must sacrifice myself.
GRIGORIEV:
But all this does you honor. Why are you complaining?
STEPAN:
Theres something else to it. I suspect Well Oh, I am not as stupid as I seem in her
presence! Why this marriage in haste? Dasha was in Switzerland. She saw Nicholas. And now
GRIGORIEV:
I dont understand.
STEPAN:
Yes, theres a mystery about it. Why such a mystery? I dont want to cover up the sins of others.
Yes, the sins of others! O God who art so great and so good, who will console me!
(LISA and MAURICE NICOLAEVICH enter.)
24

LISA:
Here he is at last, Maurice, this is he, this is the man.
(To STEPAN TROFIMOVICH)
YOU recognize me, dont you?
STEPAN:
Dieuf Dieu! Chere Lisa! At last a minute of happiness!
LISA:
Yes. Its been twelve years since we have seen each other. And you are happy, arent you, to see
me again? You havent forgotten your little pupil?
(STEPAN TROFIMOVICH rushes toward her, seizes her hand, and stares at her, unable to
speak.)
LISA:
Here are some flowers for you. I wanted to bring you a cake, but Maurice Nicolaevich advised
flowers. He has such a sense of propriety. This is Maurice: I should like you to become good
friends. I like him very much. Yes, he is the man I like most in the world. Maurice, I want you to
meet my dear old professor.
MAURICE:
I feel most honored.
LISA (to STEPAN):
What a delight to see you again! And yet I am sad. Why do I always feel sad at such moments?
You are such a learned man cant you tell me? I always imagined that I should be madly happy
when I saw you again and that I should remember everything, and here I am not at all happy
and, yet, I love you.
STEPAN (with the flowers in his hand):
it doesnt matter. Here I am too, loving you dearly, and you see Im on the point of weeping.
LISA:
Why, you have my portrait on the wall!
(She goes and takes down a miniature.)
Can this be I? Was I really so pretty? But I wont look at it! One life ends, another begins, then it
yields to still another, and so on ad infinitum.
(Looking at GRIGORIEV)
You see how all this calls up the past!
25

STEPAN:
Forgive me, I was forgetting to introduce Grigoriev, an excellent old friend.
LISA (with a touch of coquetry):
Oh, yes, you are the confidant! I like you very much.
GRIGORIEV:
I dont deserve such an honor.
LISA:
Come, now, dont be ashamed of being a good man.
(She turns her back on him and he looks at her with admiration.)
Dasha came back with us. But you know that already, of course. Shes a dear. I should like her to
be happy. By the way, she told me a lot about her brother. What is Shatov like?
STEPAN:
Well, hes a dreamer! He was a socialist, then he abjured his ideas, and now he lives according to
God and Russia.
LISA:
Yes, someone told me that he was a bit odd. I want to know him. I should like to give him some
work to do.
STEPAN:
Indeed, that would be a godsend for him.
LISA:
A godsendwhy? I want to know him; I am Interested. I mean, I really need someone to help
me.
GRIGORIEV:
I know Shatov rather well, and, if I can help you, Ill go and see him at once.
LISA:
Yes, yes. I may even go myself. Although I dont want to disturb him, nor anyone else in that
house. But we will have to be back home in a quarter of an hour. Are you ready, Maurice?
MAURICE:
I am at your beck and call.
LISA:
Splendid. You are good.
(To STEP AN TROFIMOVICH as she goes toward the door)
26

I imagine you are like me: I detest men who are not good, even if they are very handsome and
very intelligent. The important thing is a good heart. By the way, let me congratulate you on your
marriage.
STEPAN:
What, you know?
LISA:
Of course. Varvara has just told us. What good news! And I am sure that Dasha was not expecting
it. Come, Maurice
BLACKOUT
THE NARRATOR: So I went to see Shatov because Lisa wanted me to and it already seemed to
me that I could refuse her nothing, although I did not for a moment believe the explanations she
gave for her sudden whim. This took me, and takes you likewise, to a less elegant section of town
where landlady Filipov rented rooms and a common living room to odd individuals such as
Lebyatkin and his sister Maria, Shatov, and, above all, the engineer Kirilov.

27

SCENE 3
The scene shows a living room and a small bedroom, Shatovs, on the right. The living room has
a door on the left opening into Kirilovs room and two doors upstage, one for the outer entrance
and the other opening onto the stairs leading to the upper story. In the center of the living room
KIRILOV, facing the audience, is doing his exercises with a most serious look on his face.
KIRILOV:
One, two, three, four One, two, three, four
{He takes a deep breath.)
One, two, three, four
(GRIGORIEV enters.)
GRIGORIEV:
Am I disturbing you? I was looking for Ivan Shatov.
KIRILOV:
He is out. You are not disturbing me, but I still have one exercise to do. Allow me.
{He goes through his exercise, muttering numbers as he does so.)
There. Shatov will be back soon. May I give you some tea? I like drinking tea at night. Especially
after my exercises. I walk a great deal, up and down, and I drink tea until dawn.
GRIGORIEV:
Do you go to bed at dawn?
KIRILOV:
Always. I have for a long time. At night I reflect.
GRIGORIEV:
All night long?

KIRILOV (calmly):
Yes, it is essential. You see, I am concerned with the reasons why men dont dare kill themselves.
GRIGORIEV:
Dont dare? In your opinion, there are not enough suicides?
28

KIRILOV (absent-minded):
Normally, there ought to be many more.
GRIGORIEV (ironically):
And what, in your opinion, keeps people from killing themselves?
KIRILOV:
The pain. Those who kill themselves through madness or despair dont think of the pain. But
those who kill themselves through reason obviously think of it.
GRIGORIEV:
What, are there people who kill themselves through reason?
KIRILOV:
Many. Were it not for the pain and the prejudice, there would be many more, a very large number,
probably all men.
GRIGORIEV:
What?
KIRILOV:
But the idea that they will suffer keeps them from killing themselves. Even when one knows
there is no pain, the idea remains. Just imagine a stone as big as a house falling on you. You
wouldnt have time to feel anything, to suffer at all. Well, even so, men are afraid and hesitate. It
is interesting.
GRIGORIEV:
There must be another reason.
KIRILOV:
Yes The other world.
GRIGORIEV:
You mean punishment.
KIRILOV:
No, the other world. People think there is a reason for going on living.
GRIGORIEV:
And there isnt any?
KIRILOV:
No, there is none, and thats why we are free. It is a matter of indifference whether we live or die.
GRIGORIEV:
How can you say that so calmly?
29

KIRILOV:
I dont like getting into disputes, and I never laugh.
GRIGORIEV:
Man is afraid of death because he likes life, because life is good, thats all.
KIRILOV (suddenly bursting out):
But thats cowardice, just cowardice! Life isnt good. And the other world does not exist! God is
simply a ghost conjured up by fear of death and suffering. In order to be free, it is essential to
overcome pain and terror, it is essential to kill oneself. Then there will no longer be any God, and
man will at last be free. Then history will be divided into two parts: from the ape to the
destruction of God, and from the destruction of God
GRIGORIEV:
To the ape.
KIRILOV:
To the divinity of man.
(Suddenly calm)
The man who dares to kill himself is God. No one had ever thought of that. But I have.
GRIGORIEV:
There have been millions of suicides.
KIRILOV:
Never for that reason. Always from fear. Never to kill fear. The man who kills himself to kill fear
will at that very moment become God.
GRIGORIEV:
I am afraid he wont have time.
KIRILOV (rising and slowly with scorn in his voice):
I am sorry that you seem to be laughing.
GRIGORIEV:
Forgive me; I wasnt laughing. But it is all so strange.
KIRILOV:
Why strange? The strange thing is that people can live without thinking of that. I cant think of
anything else. All my life I have thought of nothing else.
(He gestures to GRIGORIEV, inho leans forward.)
All my life I have been tormented by God.
30

GRIGORIEV:
Why do you speak to me this way? You dont know me.
KIRILOV:
You look like my brother, who died seven years ago.
GRIGORIEV:
Did he exert a great influence over you?
KIRILOV:
No. He never said anything. But you look very much like him, extraordinarily like him.
(SHATOV comes in. KIRILOV rises.)
I beg to inform you that Mr. Grigoriev has been waiting for you for some time.
(He leaves.)
SHATOV:
Whats the matter with him?
GRIGORIEV:
I dont know. If I understood what he was saying, he wants all of us to commit suicide to prove to
God that he doesnt exist.
SHATOV:
Yes, hes a nihilist. He caught the bug in America.
GRIGORIEV:
In America?
SHATOV:
Thats where I met him. We starved together and slept together on the bare ground. That was the
time when I felt the same as all those thwarted people. We wanted to go there to experience
directly how it feels to be placed in the worst social conditions.
GRIGORIEV:
Good Lord! Why go so far? All you had to do was sign up for the harvest twenty kilometers from
here.
SHATOV:
I know. But thats how mad we were. Kirilov hasnt changed, although there is in him a deep
passion and a resistance that I respect. In America he starved without a word of com-plaint.
Fortunately, a generous friend sent us money to get back home.
(He looks fixedly at the NARRATOR.)
31

You dont ask who that man was?

GRIGORIEV:
Who?
SHATOV:
Nicholas Stavrogin.
(Silence.)
And you probably think you know why he did it?
GRIGORIEV:
I pay no attention to gossip.
SHATOV:
Well, even if he did have an affair with my wife?
(He stares at him.)
I havent yet paid him back. But I shall do so. I dont want to have anything to do with such
people.
(Pause.)
You see, Grigoriev, all those people, Liputin, Shigalov, and so many others, like Stepan
Trofimovichs son and even Stavroginyou know what motivates them? Hatred.
(The NARRATOR makes a gesture of protest.)
Yes. They hate their country. They would be the first to suffer dreadfully if their country could be
suddenly reformed, if it became exceptionally prosperous and happy. They wouldnt have anyone
to spit on any more. Whereas now they can spit on their country and wish her all kinds of
misfortune.
GRIGORIEV:
And you, Shatov?
SHATOV:
I love Russia now, although I am not worthy of her. That is why I am saddened by her misfortune
and my own unworthiness. And they, my former friends, accuse me of having betrayed them.
(He turns away.)
Meanwhile, I ought to earn some money to repay Stavrogin. I absolutely must.
GRIGORIEV:
32

It so happens

(There is a knock at the door, SHATOV goes to open it. LISA enters with a bundle of newspapers
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 Trofimovichs 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 havent had time Shatov, Elizabeth Drozdov, whom you know by name, has
asked me to talk to you about something.
LISA:
I am happy to know you. I have heard about you. Peter Verkhovensky told me you were
intelligent. 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
isnt 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:
Its 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.
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.
33

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, doesnt Captain Lebyatkin 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 GRIGORIEV.)
He wrote me a letter with a poem in it, and he says that he has things to tell me. I didnt
understand it at all.
(To SHATOV)
What do you think of him?
SHATOV:
Hes 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 back your newspapers. I cannot accept this work.
34

LISA:
Why not? Have I hurt you?
SHATOV:
Thats not it. You mustnt count on me for this chore, thats 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 havent 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 toward 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 GRIGORIEV.)
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 dont 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.)
SHATOV (laughing):
35

But I have no comb.

(MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA combs his hair.)
MARIA:
Really? Well, later on, when my Prince comes back, Ill 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 cant understand anyone
being bored. Being sad doesnt amount to being bored. I am sad, but I enjoy myself 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
hasnt the slightest no-tion of timeshe forgets everything that has just happened,
(GRIGORIEV points toward her.)
No, I can talk in her presence; she has already forgotten 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 wont finish it until tomorrow.
(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 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
cant cards also?
(She scatters them over the table and gets up.)
Everyone lies except the Mother of God!
36

(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 everything. Thats 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 SHATOVS shoulders.)
Shatoushka, is it true that your wife left you?
SHATOV:
It is true. She forsook me.
MARIA (caressing his face):
Dont be angry. I too am grieving. I had a dream, you know. He returned. 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 dont you ever question me about anything?
SHATOV:
Because I know that you will never tell me anything.
MARIA:
No, oh, no, I wont tell anything! They can kill me, they can burn me alive, but I wont tell
anything. Theyll never know anything!
SHATOV:
See!
MARIA:
Yet if you who are so kindhearted asked me, then perhaps Why dont 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.
37

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, its my lackey? Well, what does it matter? Well send him to the kitchen.
(But SHATOV draws her toward the door upstage.)
Dont worry, Shatoushka, dont 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 Captain Ignatius Lebyatkin, in the service of the 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 wouldnt dare.
SHATOV:
38

You may be a captain, but you are a coward. And you would be afraid of your master.
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 wont 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
dishonored, and by whom? And who had seduced Shatovs 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 ones
fellow citizens naked is generally a painful experience. 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.

39

SCENE 4
At Varvara Stavrogins, GRIGORIEV and STEPAN TROFIMOVICH.
STEPAN:
Ah, my friend, everything is about to be decided. If Dasha accepts, I shall be a married man next
Sunday, and thats not funny. But since my very dear Varvara Stavrogin asked me to come today
and settle everything, I shall obey her. Didnt I behave badly toward her?
GRIGORIEV:
No, not at all. You were simply taken by surprise.
STEPAN:
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?
STEPAN:
Yes, just imagine: she is told that Nicholas 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, dont forget.
Poor man, I shouldnt want to be in his place. But, then, mine isnt 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:
40

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 dont care! Ill marry Dasha even if I am just covering up the sins
of others.
GRIGORIEV:
Dont 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 Ive 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 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.
STEPAN:
No, she meant just what she said, although I dont 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.
41

STEPAN:
All right. That is probably better, after all. The later, the better. You probably know Varvaras
plans for her?
SHATOV:
Yes.
STEPAN:
Good, good! In that case, lets say no more about it, lets 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 herself at my feet as we were leaving Mass and kissed my
hand,
(ALEXEY YEGOROVICH comes in.)
Coffee and dont 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.)
42

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 SHATOV.)
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. Dont be afraid.
STEPAN:
Chere amie
VARVARA:
Oh, you, be quiet. The situation is bad enough without your making it any worse! Alexey, ask
Dasha to come down.
PRASCOVYA:
Lisa, we must leave now. This doesnt concern you. We have no further contact with this house.
VARVARA:
You have gone a little too far, Prascovya. Thank God that theres no one but friends here to hear
43

you.
PRASCOVYA:
If they are friends, so much the better. 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,
VARVARA 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.)
STEPAN (after making signals intended to attract VARVARA STAVROGINS attention):
Here is Dasha.
MARIA:
Oh! How beautiful she is! Well, Shatoushka, your sister doesnt look like you at all.
VARVARA (to DASHA):
Do you know this person?
DASHA:
Ive never seen her. But I suppose she is Lebyatkins sister.
MARIA:
Yes, he is my brother. But, above all, he is my lackey. I didnt know you either, dearie. And yet I
wanted very much to meet you, especially after my lackey told me that you had given him
money. Now I am happyyou are charming. Yes, charming, I tell you.
VARVARA:
What money is she talking about?
DASHA:
Nicholas Stavrogin had asked me in Switzerland to hand over a certain sum to Maria Lebyatkin.
VARVARA:
Nicholas?
DASHA:
Nicholas himself.
VARVARA (after a silence):
44

All right. Since he did so without mentioning it to me, he must have had reasons for doing so. But
in the future I shall ask you to be more careful. That Lebyatkin does not have a good reputation.
MARIA:
Oh, no! And if he comes, you must send him to the kitchen. Thats his place. You can give him
coffee if you wish. But I hold him in utter contempt.
ALEXEY YEGOROVICH (coming in):
A certain Mr.Lebyatkin is very insistent about being announced.
MAURICE:
Allow me to say, madame, that he is not the kind of man to be received in good society..
VARVARA:
Yet I am going to receive him.
(To ALEXEY YEGOROVICH)
Tell him to come up.
(ALEXEY YEGOROVICH leaves.)
Since you must know, I received anonymous letters informing me that my son is a monster and
warning me against a crippled woman destined to play a large part in my life. I want to get to the
bottom of the matter.
PRASCOVYA:
I, too, have received those letters. And you know what they say about this woman and Nicholas
.
VARVARA:
I know.
(LEBYATKIN comes in, titillated without being quite drunk. He goes toward VARVARA
STAVROGIN.)
LEBYATKIN:
I have come,. madame
VARVARA:
Sit down in that chair, sir. You can be heard just as well from there.
(He wheels about and goes and sits down.)
Now, will you introduce yourself?
LEBYATKIN (rising):
45

Captain Lebyatkin. I have come, madame

VARVARA:
Is this person your sister?
LEBYATKIN:
Yes, madame. She eluded my vigi-lance for I wouldnt want you to think that I was saying
anything bad about my sister, but
(He taps his forehead with his finger.)
VARVARA:
Did this misfortune happen long ago?
LEBYATKIN:
On a certain day, madame, yes, a certain day I have come to thank you for having taken her in.
Here are twenty rubles.
(He goes toward her as the others all bestir themselves as if to protect VARVARA STAVROGIN.)
VARVARA:
Why, you must be mad, my man.
LEBYATKIN:
No, madame. Rich is your dwelling and poor is the dwelling of the Lebyatkins, but Maria my
sister, nee Lebyatkin, the nameless Maria would not have accepted from anyone but you the ten
rubles you gave her. From you, madame, and from you alone she will accept anything. But while
she accepts with one hand, she gives with the other to one of your charities.
VARVARA:
That is done through my porter, sir, and you may do so as you leave. I beg you therefore to put
your money away and not to wave it in my face. I shall thank you also to sit down again. Now
explain yourself and tell me why your sister can accept anything from me.
LEBYATKIN:
Madame, that is a secret that I shall carry to the grave with me.
VARVARA:
Why?
LEBYATKIN:
May I ask you a question openly, in the Russian manner, from the depths of my heart?
VARVARA:
I am listening.
LEBYATKIN:
46

Is it possible to die just because of too noble a soul?

VARVARA:
That is a question I have never asked myself.
LEBYATKIN:
Really never? Well, if thats the way it is
(He strikes his chest vigorously.)
Be silent, heart; there is no hope!
(MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA busts out laughing.)
VARVARA:
Stop talking in conundrums, sir, and answer my question. Why can she accept anything from me?
LEBYATKIN:
Why? Oh, madame, every day for millennia the whole of nature has been asking the Creator
Why? and we are still awaiting the reply. Is Captain Lebyatkin to be the only one to answer?
Would that be fair? I should like to be named Paul and yet I am named Ignatius.
Why? I am a poet, with the soul of a poet, and yet I live in a pigsty. Why?
VARVARA:
You are expressing yourself bombas-tically, and I look upon that as insolent.
LEBYATKIN:
No, madame, not insolent. I am just an infinitesimal insect, but the insect does not complain. A
man is sometimes forced to put up with the dishonor of his family rather than to speak the truth.
So Lebyatkin will not complain; he will not say one word too many. You must, madame, admit
his greatness of soul!
(ALEXEY YEGOROVICH comes in, showing great emotion.)
ALEXEY YEGOROVICH:
Nicholas Stavrogin has come.
(All turn toward the door. Hasty steps are heard and PETER VERKHOVENSKY enters.)
STEPAN:
But
PRASCOVYA:
But its
PETER:
Greetings, Varvara Stavrogin.
47

STEPAN:
Peter! Why, its Peter, my son!
(He rushes up and embraces PETER.)
PETER:
All right. All right. Dont get excited.
(He breaks away.)
Just imagine, I rush in expecting to find Nicholas Stavrogin. He left me a half-hour ago at
Kirilovs and asked me to meet him here. He will be here any minute, and I am happy to
announce this good news.
STEPAN:
But I havent seen you in ten years.
PETER (moving from one person to another in the room):
All the more reason for not going all to pieces. Behave yourself! Oh, Lisa, how happy I am! And
your esteemed mother hasnt forgotten me? How are your legs? Dear Varvara Stavrogin, I had
told my father, but naturally he forgot.
STEPAN:
Man enfant, quelle joie!
PETER:
Yes, you love me. But leave me alone. Ah! Here is Nicholas!
(STAVROGIN enters.)
VARVARA:
Nicholas!
(At the tone of her voice, STAVROGIN stops dead.)
I beg you to tell me at once, before you take even one step, whether it is true that this woman here
is your legitimate wife.
(STAVROGIN stares at her, smiles, then walks toward her and kisses her hand. With the same
calm stare he walks toward MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA. MARIA gets up with an expression of
painful delight on her face.)
STAVROGIN (with extraordinary gentleness and affection) :
You must not stay here.
MARIA:
48

May I, right here and now, kneel down before you?

STAVROGIN (smiling):
No, you may not. I am not your brother or your fiance or your husband, am I? Take my arm. With
your permission, I shall take you home to your brother.
(She casts a frightened look toward LEBYATKIN.)
Fear nothing. Now that I am here, he will not touch you.
MARIA:
Oh, I fear nothing. At last you have come. Lebyatkin, call for the carriage.
(LEBYATKIN leaves, STAVROGIN gives his arm to MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA, who takes it with a
radiant expression on her face. But as she walks she stumbles and would fall but for STAVROGIN
holding her. He leads her toward the exit, showing her great consideration, amid an absolute
silence. LISA, who has risen from her chair, sits down again with a shudder of disgust. As soon
as they have left, everyone stirs.)

VARVARA (to PRASCOVYA DROZDOV) :

Well, did you hear what he just said?
PRASCOVYA:
Of course. Of course! But why didnt he answer you?
PETER:
Why, he couldnt, I assure you!
VARVARA (suddenly looking at him):
Why not? What do you know about it?
PETER:
I know all about it. But the story was too long for Nicholas to relate just now. I can tell it to you,
for I saw it all.
VARVARA:
If you give me your word of honor that what you say will not hurt Nicholas in any way
PETER:
Quite the contrary! He will even be grateful to me for having spoken. You see, we were together
in St. Petersburg five years ago and Nicholas was leadinghow shall I put it?an ironic life.
Yes, thats the word. He was bored then, but did not want to fall into despair. Hence he did
nothing and went out with anyone at all. Through nobility of soul, you might say, like a man
above all that sort of thing. In short, he spent his time with knaves. Thus it is that he knew that
Lebyatkin, a fool and parasite. He and his sister were living in abject poverty. One day in a
49

cabaret someone insulted that lame girl. Nicholas got up, seized the insulter by the collar, and
with a single blow threw him out. Thats all.
VARVARA:
What do you mean, thats all?
PETER:
Yes, thats where it all started. The lame girl fell in love with her Knight, who nevertheless never
spoke two sentences to her. People made fun of her. Nicholas was the only one who didnt laugh
and treated her with respect.
STEPAN:
Why, that is very chivalrous.
PETER:
Yes, you see, my father feels the same way the lame girl did. Kirilov, on the other hand, did not.
VARVARA:
Why not?
PETER:
He used to say to Nicholas: Its because you treat her like a duchess that she is losing all selfpossession.
LISA:
And what did the Knight reply?
PETER:
Kirilov, he said, you think I am making fun of her, but you are wrong. I respect her, for she is
worth more than all of us.
STEPAN:
Sublime! And even, you might say, chivalrous .
PETER:
Yes, chivalrous. Unfortunately, the lame girl eventually came to imagine that Nicholas was her
fiance. Finally, when Nicholas had to leave Petersburg, he arranged to leave behind an annual
allowance for the lame girl.
LISA:
Why that?
PETER:
I dont know. A whim perhapsthe kind a man indulges in when he is prematurely tired of
existence. Kirilov, on the other hand, claimed that it was the fancy of a blase young man who
wanted to see how far he could lead a half-crazy cripple. But I am sure thats not true.
50

VARVARA (in a state of rapture):

Why, of course not! Its just like Nicholas! Its just like me! Being carried away like that, blind
generosity taking up the defense of anything weak, infirm, perhaps even unworthy
(She looks at STEPAN TROFIMOVICH.)
protecting the creature for years on end Why, its me all over again! Oh, I have been guilty
toward Nicholas! As for that poor creature, its very simple: I shall adopt her.
PETER:
And you will be doing right. For her brother persecutes her. He got it into his head that he had a
right to dispose of her allowance. Not only does he take everything she has, not only does he beat
her and take her money, but he drinks it all up, he insults her benefactor, threatens to drag him
before the law if the allowance is not paid to him directly. In fact, he considers Nicholass gift as
if it were a sort of tribute.
LISA:
A tribute for what?
PETER:
Well, how should I know? He talks of his sisters honor, of his family. But honor is a vague word,
isnt it? Very vague.
SHATOV:
Is it a vague word, really?
(All look at him.)
Dasha, is it a vague word to you?
(DASHA looks at him.)
Answer me.
DASHA:
No, brother, honor exists.
(STAVROGIN enters, VARVARA rises and goes rapidly toward him.)
VARVARA:
Oh, Nicholas, will you forgive me?
STAVROGIN:
I am the one to be forgiven, Mother. I should have explained to you. But I was sure that Peter
Verkhovensky would inform you.
VARVARA:
51

Yes, he did. And I am happy . You were chivalrous.

STEPAN:
Sublime is the word.
STAVROGIN:
Chivalrous, indeed! So thats how you see it? I suppose I owe this compliment to Peter
Verkhovensky. And you must believe him, Mother. He lies only in exceptional circumstances,
(PETER VERKHOVENSKY and STAVROGIN look at each other and smile.)
Good, but I beg your forgiveness once more for my attitude.
{In a harsh, crisp voice)
In any case, the subject is closed now. Theres no point in bringing it up again.
(LISA bursts out with a hysterical laugh.)
STAVROGIN:
Good day, Lisa. I hope you are well.
LISA:
Please forgive me. I believe you know Maurice Nicolaevich. Good Lord, Maurice, how is it
possible to be so tall?
MAURICE:
I dont understand.
LISA:
Oh, nothing I was just thinking . Supposing that I were lame, you would lead me through
the streets, you would be chivalrous, wouldnt you? You would be devoted to me?
MAURICE:
Most certainly, Lisa. But why talk of such a misfortune?
LISA:
Most certainly you would be chivalrous. Well, you so tall and I crippled and deformed, wed
make a ridiculous couple.
(VARVARA STAVROGIN and PRASCOVYA DROZDOV go toward LISA. But STAVROGIN turns
and goes toward DASHA.)
STAVROGIN:
Ive heard of your marriage, Dasha, and I want to congratulate you.
(DASHA turns her head away.)
52

My congratulations are sincere.

DASHA:
I know it.
PETER:
Why these congratulations? Am I to assume that there is some good news?
PRASCOVYA:
Yes, Dasha is getting married.
PETER:
Why, its wonderful! Accept my congratulations too. But you have lost your bet. You told me in
Switzerland that you would never get married. Decidedly, its an epidemic. Do you know that my
father is getting married too?
STEPAN:
Peter!
PETER:
Well, didnt you write me so? To be sure, you werent very clear. First you declare yourself to be
delighted and then you ask me to save you; you tell me that the girl is a pure diamond, but that
you must get married to cover sins committed in Switzerland; you ask my consentwhat a
topsy-turvy world this is!and you beg me to save you from this marriage.
(To the others, laughing)
What on earth could he mean? But thats the way his generation isbig words and vague ideas!
(He seems suddenly to become aivare of the effect of his ivords.)
Well, whats the matter? It looks as if Ive pulled a boner .
VARVARA (stepping toward him with flushed face) :
Did Stepan Trofimovich write you that in so many words?
PETER:
Yes, here is his letter. It is long, like all of his letters. I never read them all the way through, I
must confess. Besides, he doesnt care, for he writes them especially for posterity. But theres no
harm in what he says.
VARVARA:
Nicholas, was it Stepan Trofimovich who informed you of this marriage? In the same manner, I
suppose?
53

STAVROGIN:
He did write me, in fact, but a very-noble letter.
VARVARA:
Thats enough!
(She turns toward STEPAN TROFIMOVICH.)
Stepan Trofimovich, I expect a great service of you. I expect you to leave this house and never
appear in my presence again.
(STEPAN TROFIMOVICH steps toward her and bows with great dignity, then goes over toward
DASHA.)
STEPAN:
Dasha, forgive me for all this. I thank you for having accepted.
DASHA:
I forgive you, Stepan Trofimovich. I feel nothing but affection and esteem for you. You, at least,
continue to respect me.
PETER (striking his forehead):
Now I understand! Why, he meant with Dasha! Forgive me, Dasha. I didnt know. If only my
father had had the sense to tell me instead of indulging in innuendo!
STEPAN (looking at him):
Is it possible that you knew nothing! Is it possible that you are not putting on an act?
PETER:
Well, you see, Varvara Stavrogin, hes not only an aged child, hes also an aged naughty child.
How could I have understood? A sin committed in Switzerland! Just try to make out what he
means!
STAVROGIN:
Be quiet, Peter, your father acted nobly. And you have insulted Dasha, whom all of us here
respect.
(SHATOV gets up and walks toward STAVROGIN, who smiles at him but ceases to smile when
SHATOV is close to him. Everyone stares at them. Silence. Then SHATOV slaps him as hard as
he can. VARVARA screams, STAVROGIN seizes SHATOV by the shoulders, then lets him go and
puts his hands behind his back, SHATOV backs up as STAVROGIN stares at him. STAVROGIN
smiles, bows, and leaves.)
LISA:
Maurice, come here. Give me your hand!
54

(Pointing to STAVROGIN)
You see that man? You wont see any better. Maurice, before all let me declare that I have agreed
to be your wife!
MAURICE:
Are you sure, Lisa, are you sure?
LISA (staring at the door through which STAVROGIN has gone out, her -face bathed in tears):
Yes, yes, I am sure!
CURTAIN

55

SECOND PART
SCENE 5
At Varvara Stavrogin's. ALEXEY YEGOROVICH holds on his arm a coat, a scarf, and a hat. In
front of him STAVROGIN is dressing to go out. PETER VERKHOVENSKY, looking sullen, is
near the table.
STAVROGIN {to PETER) :
And if you speak to me again like that, you will feel my cane.
PETER:
There was nothing insulting in my proposition. If you really think of marrying Lisa
STAVROGIN:
you can free me from the only obstacle separating me from her. I know it, but dont say it
again. Id rather not have to use my cane on you. My gloves, Alexey.
ALEXEY:
It is raining, sir. At what time shall I expect you?
STAVROGIN:
At two oclock at the latest.
ALEXEY:
Very well, sir.
(STAVROGIN takes his cane and is about to leave by the small door.)
May God bless you, sir. But only if you are planning a good deed.
STAVROGIN:
What?
ALEXEY:
56

May God bless you. But only if you are planning a good deed.
STAVROGIN {after a silence and with his hand on ALEXEYS arm):
My good Alexey, I remember the time when you used to carry me in your arms.
{He goes out. ALEXEY leaves by a door upstage. PETER VERKHOVENSKY looks around him,
then goes over and ransacks the drawer of a secretary. He takes out some letters and reads them,
STEPAN TROFIMOVICH enters, PETER hides the letters.)
STEPAN:
Alexey Yegor ovich told me you were here, son.
PETER:
Why, what are you doing in this house? I thought you had been driven out.
STEPAN:
I came to get the last of my things, and I am going to leave without hope of returning and without
recriminations.
PETER:
Oh, youll come back! A parasite is always a parasite.
STEPAN:
I dont like the way you talk to me.
PETER:
You have always said that truth was par-amount. The truth is that you pretended to be in love
with Varvara Petrovna and that she pretended not to see that you were in love with her. As a
reward for such silliness, she was keeping you. Hence you are a parasite. I advised her yesterday
to put you in a suitable home.
STEPAN:
You spoke to her about me?
PETER:
Yes. She told me that tomorrow she would have a conversation with you to settle everything. The
truth is that she wants to see you squirm once more. She showed me your letters. How I laughed
good Lord, how I laughed!
STEPAN:
You laughed. Have you no heart?] Do you know what a father is?
PETER:
You taught me what a father is. You never provided for me. I wasnt weaned yet when you
shipped me off to Berlin by the post. Like a parcel.

57

STEPAN:
Wretch! Although I sent you by the post, my heart continued to bleed!
PETER:
Mere words!
STEPAN:
Are you or arent you my son, monster?
PETER:
You must know better than I. To be sure, fathers are inclined to have illusions about such things.
STEPAN:
Shut up!
PETER:
I will not. And dont whimper. You are a patriotic, sniveling, whimpering old woman. Besides, all
Russia whimpers. Fortunately, we are going to change all that.
STEPAN:
Who is we?
PETER:
Why, we normal men. We are going to remake the world. We are the saviors.
STEPAN:
Is it possible that anyone like you aims to offer himself up to men in the place of Christ? But just
look at yourself!
PETER:
Dont shout. We shall destroy everything. Well not leave a stone standing, and then well begin
all over again. Then there will be true equality. You preached equality, didnt you? Well, you shall
have it! And I bet that you wont recognize it.
STEPAN:
I shall not recognize it if it looks like you. No, it was not of such things that we used to dream! I
dont understand anything any more. I have given up understanding.
PETER:
All that comes from your sick old nerves. You made speeches. We act. What are you complaining
about, scatterbrained old man?
STEPAN:
How can you be so insensitive?

58

PETER:
I followed your teachings. According to you, the thing to do was to treat injustice harshly and to
be sure of ones rights, to go ever forward toward the future! Well, thats where were going, and
we shall strike hard. A tooth for a tooth, as in the Gospels!
STEPAN:
You poor fellow, its not in the Gospels!
PETER:
The devil take it! I have never read that confounded book. Nor any other book. Whats the use?
What matters is progress.
STEPAN:
No, youre crazy! Shakespeare and Hugo dont stand in the way of progress. Quite the contrary, i
assure you!
PETER:
Dont get excited! Hugo is an old pair of buttocks. As for Shakespeare, our peasants working in
the fields dont need him. They need shoes instead. They will be given them as soon as
everything is destroyed.
STEPAN (trying to be ironic):
And when will this be?
PETER:
In May. In June everyone will be making shoes,
(STEPAN TROFIMOVICH falls into a chair, crushed.)
Rejoice, ancestor,for your ideas are going to be put into practice.
STEPAN:
They are not my ideas. You want to destroy everything; you dont want to leave a single stone
standing. But I wanted people to love one another.
PETER:
No need for love! Science will take its place.
STEPAN:
But that will be boring.
PETER:
Why should it be boring? Thats an aris-tocratic idea. When men are equal, they are not bored.
They dont have a good time either. Nothing matters and everything is on the same plane. When
we have justice plus science, then both love and boredom will be done away with. People will
forget.
59

STEPAN:
No man will ever be willing to forget his love.
PETER:
Again youre indulging in words. Just remember, ancestor, that you forgot; you got married three
times.
STEPAN:
Twice. And after a long interval.
PETER:
Long or short, people forget. Consequently, the sooner they forget, the better. Oh, but you get on
my nerves, never knowing what you want! I know what I want. Half the heads will have to be cut
off. Those that remain will be taught to drink.
STEPAN:
It is easier to cut off heads than to have ideas.
PETER:
What ideas? Ideas are nonsense. Nonsense has to be suppressed to achieve justice. Nonsense was
good enough for oldsters like you. A man has to choose. If you believe in God, you are forced to
say nonsense. If you dont believe in him and yet refuse to admit that everything must be razed,
you will still talk nonsense. Youre all in the same boat, and consequently you cant keep
yourselves from talking nonsense. / say that men must act. Ill destroy everything and others will
construct. No more reform and no more improvement. The more things are improved and
reformed, the worse it is. The sooner people begin to destroy, the better it is. Lets begin by
destroying. What happens afterward doesnt concern us. The rest is nonsense, nonsense!
STEP AN (rushing out of the TOOTH, terrified):
Hes mad, hes mad .
(PETER VERKHOVENSKY laughs uproariously.)
BLACKOUT
THE NARRATOR:
Well, so much for that! I have forgotten to tell you two facts. The first is that the Lebyatkins had
mysteriously moved while Stavrogin was bedridden and had settled in a little house in the
suburbs. The second is that a convicted murderer had escaped and was prowl-ing among us. As a
result, rich people did not go out at night.
The street at night, STAVROGIN is walking in the dark, unaware that FEDKA is following him.

60

SCENE 6
The common room of the Filipov rooming house In Epiphany Street, KIRILOV is on all fours to
retrieve a a ball that has rolled under a piece of furniture. While he is in that position,
STAVROGIN opens the door, KIRILOV, with the ball in his hand, gets up as he sees him come
in.
STAVROGIN:
You are playing ball?
KIRILOV:
I bought it in Hamburg to throw it up and catch it; nothing strengthens the back like that. Besides,
I play with the landladys boy.
STAVROGIN:
Do you like children?
KIRILOV:
Yes.
STAVROGIN:
Why?
KIRILOV:
I like life. You want tea?
STAVROGIN:
Yes.
KIRILOV:
Sit down. What do you want of me?
STAVROGIN:
61

A service. Read this letter. It is a chal-lenge from the son of Gaganov, whose ear I bit some time
back,
(KIRILOV reads it and then places it on the table and looks at STAVROGIN.)
[Yes, he has already written me several times to insult me. In the beginning I answered to assure
him that if he was still suffering from the insult I had done his father, I was ready to offer him
every apology. I insisted that my deed had not been pre-meditated and that I was ill at the time.
Instead of calming him, this seemed to irritate him even more, if I can believe what he said about
me. Today I am handed this letter.] Have you read what he says at the end?
KIRILOV:
Yes, he speaks of a face Id like to smack.
STAVROGIN:
Thats it. Hence I have to fight him, although I dont want to. I have come to ask you to be my
second.
KIRILOV:
Ill go. What should I say?
STAVROGIN:
Begin by repeating my apologies for the offense done to his father. Tell him that I am ready to
forget his insults if only he will cease writing me this kind of letter, especially with such vulgar
expressions.
KIRILOV:
He wont accept. Its clear that he wants to fight you and kill you.
STAVROGIN:
I know it.
KIRILOV:
Good. Tell me your conditions for the duel.
STAVROGIN:
I want everything to be over tomorrow. Go and see him tomorrow morning at nine oclock. We
can be on the field at about two. The weapon will be the pistol. The barriers will be ten yards
apart. Each of us shall take his stand ten paces from his barrier. At the signal we shall walk
toward each other. Each may shoot as he walks. We shall shoot three times. Thats all.
KIRILOV:
Ten yards between the barriers isnt much.
STAVROGIN:
Twelve, if you prefer. But no more. Have you pistols?
62

KIRILOV:
Yes. You want to see them?

STAVROGIN :
Certainly.
(KIRILOV kneels doivn in front of a traveling bag and takes out a pistol case, which he places on
the table in front of STAVROGIN.)
KIRILOV:
I also have a revolver I bought in America.
(He shows it to him.)
STAVROGIN:
YOU have many guns. And very handsome ones.
KIRILOV:
They are my sole wealth.
(STAVROGIN looks at him fixedly, then closes the pistol case without ceasing to look at him.)
STAVROGIN (with a slight hesitation):
Are you still firm in your intention?
KIRILOV (immediately and with a most natural manner) :
Yes.
STAVROGIN:
I mean in regard to suicide.
KIRILOV:
I understood what you meant. Yes, I have the same intentions.
STAVROGIN:
Ah! And when will it be?
KIRILOV:
Soon.
STAVROGIN:
You seem very happy.
KIRILOV:
I am.
63

STAVROGIN:
I understand that. I have sometimes thought of it. just imagine that you have committed a crime,
or, rather, a particularly cowardly, shameful deed. Well, a bullet in the head and everything ceases
to exist! What does shame matter then!
KIRILOV:
Thats not why I am happy.
STAVROGIN:
Why, then?
KIRILOV:
Have you ever looked at the leaf of a tree?
STAVROGIN:
Yes.
KIRILOV:
Green and shiny, with ail its veins visible in the sunlight? Isnt it wonderful? Yes, a leaf jus-tifies
everything. Human beings, birth and death everything one does is good.
STAVROGIN:
And even if
(He stops.)
KIRILOV:
Well?
STAVROGIN:
If a man harms one of those children you love a little girl, for instance If he dishonors her,
is that good too?
KIRILOV (staring at him in silence):
Did you do that?
(STAVROGIN shakes his head oddly in silence.)
If a man commits such a crime, that is good too. And if someone splits open the head of a man
who dishonored a child or if, on the other hand, he is forgiven, all that is good. When we know
that once and for all, then we are happy.
STAVROGIN:
When did you discover that you were happy?
KIRILOV:
64

Last Wednesday. During the night. At two thirty-five.

(STAVROGIN rises suddenly.)
STAVROGIN:
Was it you whojighted the lamp in front of the icon?
KIRILOV:
It was I.
STAVROGIN:
DO you pray?
KIRILOV:
Constantly. Do you see that spider? I watch her and am grateful to her for climbing. Thats my
way of praying.
STAVROGIN:
DO you believe in a future life?
KIRILOV:
Not in eternal life in the future. But in eternal life here below.
STAVROGIN:
Here below?
KIRILOV:
Yes. At certain moments. Such a joy that one would die if it lasted more than five seconds.
(STAVROGIN looks at him with a sort of contempt.)
STAVROGIN:
And you claim not to believe in God!
KIRILOV {quite simply):
Stavrogin, I beg you not to use irony in talking to me. Just remember what you were for me, the
part you played in my life.
STAVROGIN:
Its late. Be on time tomorrow morning at Gaganovs. Remember nine oclock.
KIRILOV:
I am punctual. I can wake up when I want to. When I go to bed I tell myself Seven oclock, and
I awake at seven oclock.
STAVROGIN:
That is a very valuable trait.
65

KIRILOV:
Yes.
STAVROGIN:
Go and sleep. But first tell Shatov that I want to see him.
KIRILOV:
Just a minute.
(He takes a stick from the comer and knocks on the side wall.)
There, hell come now. But what about you; wont you sleep? You are dueling tomorrow.
STAVROGIN:
Even when I am tired, my hand never trembles.
KIRILOV:
Thats a valuable trait. Good night.
(SHATOV appears in the doorway upstage, KIRILOV smiles at him and leaves by the side door,
SHATOV stares at STAVROGIN and then enters slowly.)
SHATOV:
HOW you worried me! Why were you so slow in coming?
STAVROGIN:
Were you so sure that I would come?
SHATOV:
I couldnt imagine that you would forsake me. I cant get along without you. Just remember the
part you played in my life.
STAVROGIN:
Then why did you strike me?
(SHATOV says nothing.)
Was it because of my affair with your wife?
SHATOV:
No.
STAVROGIN:
Because of the rumor that started about your sister and me?
SHATOV:
66

I dont think so.

STAVROGIN:
Good. It hardly matters anyway. As I dont know where Ill be tomorrow evening, I came merely
to give you a warning and to ask you a service. Here is the warning: you may be murdered.
SHATOV:
Murdered?
STAVROGIN:
By Peter Verkhovenskys group.
SHATOV:
I knew it. But how did you find it out?
STAVROGIN:
I belong to their group. Like you.
SHATOV:
You, Stavrogin, are a member of their society? You joined up with those vain and idi-otic
flunkies? How could you? Is that worthy of Nicholas Stavrogin?
STAVROGIN:
Forgive me, but you ought to get out of the habit of looking upon me as the Tsar of all the Russias
and yourself as just a speck of dust.
SHATOV:
Oh, dont talk to me that way! You know very well that they are knaves and flunkies and that you
dont belong among them!
STAVROGIN:
Indubitably they are knaves. But what does that matter? To tell the truth, I dont belong altogether
to their society. Whenever I helped them in the past, I did so as a dabbler and because I had
nothing better to do.
SHATOV:
Is it possible to do such things as a dabbler?
STAVKQGIN:
People sometimes get married as dabbiers, or have children and commit crimes as dabblers! But,
speaking of crimes, you are the one running the risk of being killed. Not I. At least not by them.
SHATOV:
They have nothing against me. I joined their organization. But my ideas changed when I was in
America. I told them so when I got back. I was very fair in telling them that we disagreed on all
points. Thats my privilege, the right of my conscience. I will not accept
67

STAVROGIN:
Dont shout,
(KIRILOV comes in, picks up the pistol case, and leaves.)
Verkhovensky wont hesitate to liquidate you if he gets the idea that you might compromise their
organization.
SHATOV:
They make me laugh. Their organization doesnt even exist.
STAVROGIN:
I suppose in fact that its all a figment of Verkhovenskys brain. The others think he is a delegate
of an international organization and so they follow him. But he has the talent to make them accept
his myth. Thats the way you form a group. And then someday, starting from the first group, he
may succeed in creating the international organization.
SHATOV:
That insect, that poor fool, that idiot who doesnt know anything about Russia!
STAVROGIN:
It is true that such people dont know anything about Russia. But, after all, they know only a little
less about it than we do. Besides, even an idiot can shoot a revolver. Which is why I came to
warn you.
SHATOV:
Thank you. And I thank you particularly for doing so after I struck you.
STAVROGIN:
Not at all. I return good for evil.
(He laughs.)
Dont worry, I am a Christian. Or, rather, I should be if I believed in God. But
(He gets up.)
there is no hare.
SHATOV:
No hare?
STAVROGIN:
Yes, to make jugged hare, you need a hare. To believe in God, you need a God.
(He laughs again, but icily this time.)
68

SHATOV (greatly excited):

Dont blaspheme like that! Dont laugh! And get rid of that pose; take on a normal human
manner. Speak simply and humanly, if only for once in your life! And remember what you used
to say before I left for America.
STAVROGIN:
I dont remember.
SHATOV:
Ill tell you. Its high time for someone to tell you the truth about yourself, to strike you if need be
and remind you of what you are. Do you recall the time when you used to tell me that the Russian
people alone would save the universe in the name of a new God? Do you remember your words:
A Russian atheist is an impossibility? You didnt say then that the hare doesnt exist.
STAVROGIN:
I seem indeed to remember our conversations.
SHATOV:
The devil take your conversations! There were no conversations! There was simply a master
proclaiming great truths and a disciple rising from the dead. I was the disciple and you were the
master.
STAVROGIN:
Great truths, really?
SHATOV:
Yes, really. Wasnt it you who told me that if it were mathematically proven that truth stood apart
from Christ, you would rather be with Christ than with truth? Wasnt it you who used to say that
the blind life-force driving a nation in search of its god is greater than reason and science and that
it alone determines good and evil, and that hence the Russian nation, if it is to march in the van of
humanity, must follow its Christ? I believed you. The seed germinated in me, and
STAVROGIN:
I am happy for your sake.
SHATOV:
Drop that pose! Drop it at once or Ill Yes, you told me all that. And at the same time you used
to say just the opposite to Kirilov, as I learned from him in America. You were pouring falsehood
and negation into his heart. You were driving his reason toward madness. Have you seen him
since? Have you contem-plated your handiwork?
STAVROGIN:
Let me point out to you that Kirilov himself has just told me he was utterly happy.
SHATOV:
That is not what I am asking you. How could you tell him one thing and me the opposite?
69

STAVROGIN:
Probably I was trying, in both cases, to persuade myself.
SHATOV (with a note of despair):
And now you are an atheist and dont believe what you taught me?
STAVROGIN:
And you?
SHATOV:
I believe in Russia, in its orthodoxy, in the body of Christ . I believe that the second coming
will take place in Russia. I believe
STAVROGIN:
And in God?
SHATOV:
I I shall believe in God one day.
STAVROGIN:
Thats just it. You dont believe. Besides, can anyone be intelligent and still believe? Its an
impossibility.
SHATOV:
NO, I didnt say that I didnt believe. We are all dead or half dead and incapable of believing. But
men must rise up, and you must be the first. I am the only one who knows your intelli-gence,
your genius, the breadth of your culture, of your conceptions. In the whole world each generation
produces but a handful of superior men, two or three. You are one of them. You are the only one,
yes, the only one who can raise the flag.
STAVROGIN:
I note that everyone at the moment wants to thrust a flag into my hands. Verkhovensky, too,
would like me to bear their flag. But he does so because he admires what he calls my
extraordinary aptitude for crime. What should I make of all this?
SHATOV:
I know that you are also a monster. That you have been heard to assert that you saw no difference
between any bestial act and a great deed of sacrifice. [It is even said that in St. Petersburg you
belonged to a secret society that indulged in revolting debauches.] They say, they also saybut I
cant believe thisthat you used to attract children to your house to defile them.
(STAVROGIN suddenly rises.)
Answer. Tell the truth. Nicholas Stavrogin cannot lie to Shatov, who struck him in the face. Did
you do that? If you did it, you could not bear the flag and I should understand your despair and
70

your help-lessness.
STAVROGIN:
Enough. Such questions are unseemly.
(He stares at SHATOV.)
What does it matter anyway? I am interested only in more ordinary questions. Such as: should
one live or should one destroy oneself?
SHATOV:
Like Kirilov?
STAVROGIN (with a sort of melancholy):
Like Kirilov. But he will go all the way. He is a Christ.
SHATOV:
And you Would you be capable of destroying yourself?
STAVROGIN (painfully):
I ought to! I ought to! But I am afraid of being too cowardly. Perhaps I shall do so tomorrow.
Perhaps never. That is the question the only question I ask myself.
SHATOV (hurling himself at STAVROGIN and seizing him by the shoulder):
Thats what you are seeking. You are seeking punishment. Kiss the ground, water it with your
tears, beg for mercy!
STAVROGIN:
Hands off, Shatov.
(He holds him at a distance, and with an expression of pain)
Just remember: I could have killed you the other day and I folded my hands behind my back. So
dont persecute me.
SHATOV (leaping backward):
Oh, why am I condemned to believe in you and to love you? I cannot tear you from my heart,
Nicholas Stavrogin. I shall kiss your footprints on the floor when you have left.
STAVROGIN (with the same expression):
I regret to have to tell you, but I cannot love you, Shatov.
SHATOV:
I know it. You cannot love anyone because you are a man without roots and without faith. Only
men who have roots in the soil can love and believe and build. The others destroy. And you
destroy everything without intending to, and you are even drawn to idiots like Verkhovensky who
want to destroy for their own com-fort, simply because it is easier to destroy than not to destroy.
71

But I shall lead you back to your former way. You will find peace and I shall cease being alone
with what you have taught me.
STAVROGIN:
Thank you for your good intentions. But until you have a chance to help me find the hare, you
could do me the more modest service I came to ask of you.
SHATOV:
And what is it?
STAVROGIN:
If I happened to disappear in one way or another, I should like you to take care of my wife.
SHATOV:
Your wife? Are you married?
STAVROGIN:
Yes, to Maria Timofeyevna. I know that you have considerable influence over her. You are the
only one who can
SHATOV:
SO it is true that you married her?
STAVROGIN:
Four years ago in Petersburg.
SHATOV:
Were you obliged to marry her?
STAVROGIN:
Obliged? No.
SHATOV:
Have you a child by her?
STAVROGIN:
She has never had a child and couldnt have one. Maria Timofeyevna is still a virgin. But I ask
you simply to take care of her.
(SHATOV, dazed, watches him leaving. Then he runs after him.)
SHATOV:
Ah! I understand. I know you. I know you. You married her to punish yourself for a dreadful
crime,
(STAVROGIN makes a gesture of impatience.)
72

Listen, listen, go and see Tihon.

STAVROGIN:
Who is Tihon?
SHATOV:
A former bishop who has retired here to the Monastery of St. Euthymia. He will help you.
STAVROGIN (staring at him):
Who in this world could help me? Not even you, Shatov. And Ill never ask you anything again.
Good night.

SCENE 7
A bridge at night, STAVROGIN is walking in another direction under the rain, having opened his
umbrella, FEDKA pops up behind him.
FEDKA:
Might I, sir, take advantage of your umbrella?
(STAVROGIN stops. He and FEDKA face each other under the umbrella.)
STAVROGIN:
Who are you?
FEDKA:
No one important. But you, you are Mr. Stavrogin, a noble lord!
STAVROGIN:
You are Fedka, the convict!
FEDKA:
I am not a convict any more. I was sent up for life, to be sure. But I found time dragging and
changed my status.
STAVROGIN:
What are you doing here?
FEDKA:
Nothing. I need a passport. In Russia its impossible to make a move without a passport.
Fortunately, a man you know, Peter Verkhovensky, promised me one. Meanwhile, I was lying in
wait for you in the hope that Your Grace would give me three rubles.
STAVROGIN:
73

Who gave you the order to lie in wait for me?

FEDKA:
No one, no one! Although Peter Verkhovensky told me incidentally that perhaps with my talents I
could do a service for Your Grace, in certain circumstances, by ridding you of people who are in
your way. As he told me also that you ?would go over this bridge to see a certain party on the
other side of the river, I have been waiting for you the past three nights. You see that I deserve my
three rubles.
STAVROGIN:
Good. Listen. I like to be understood. You will not receive a kopeck from me and I neither have
nor shall have need of you. If I ever find you in my way again on this bridge or anywhere else,
Ill bind you and hand you over to the police.
FEDKA:
Yes, but I need you.
STAVROGIN:
Begone or Ill strike you.
FEDKA:
Please take into consideration, sir, that I am a poor defenseless orphan and that it is raining!
STAVROGIN:
I give you my word of honor that if I meet you again, Ill bind you up.
FEDKA:
Ill wait for you anyhow. You never know!
(He disappears, STAVROGIN stares in his direction for a moment.)
BLACKOUT

74

SCENE 8
The Leby atklni dwelling, STAVROGIN is already in the room, LEBYATKIN is relieving him of
his umbrella.
LEBYATKIN:
What frightful weather! Oh, you are all wet.
{He pushes up an armchair.)
I beg you, I beg you.
{He straightens up.)
Ah, you are looking at this room. You see, I live like a monk. Abstinence, solitude, poverty,
according to the three vows of the knights of old.
STAVROGIN:
Do you think the knights of old took such vows?
LEBYATKIN:
I dont know. I am perhaps confusing things
.
STAVROGIN:
You are certainly confusing things. I hope that you havent been drinking.
LEBYATKIN:
Hardly at all.
STAVROGIN:
I asked you not to get drunk.

75

LEBYATKIN:
Yes. Odd request!
STAVROGIN:
Where is Maria Timofeyevna?
LEBYATKIN:
In the next room.
STAVROGIN:
Is she sleeping?
LEBYATKIN:
Oh, no, she is telling her fortune. She is expecting you. As soon as she heard the news, she got all
dressed up.
STAVROGIN:
I shall see her in a moment. But first I have something to settle with you!

LEBYATKIN:
I hope so. So many things have piled up in my heart. I should like to be able to talk freely with
you, as I used to do. Oh, you have played such a great part in my life. And now I am treated so
cruelly.
STAVROGIN:
I see, Captain, that you havent changed at all in the past four years.
(He stares at him silently.)
So they are right, those who claim that the second half of a human life is determined by the habits
acquired during the first half.
LEBYATKIN:
Oh! What sublime words! Why, the enigma of life is solved! And yet I insist that I am casting
my skin like a serpent. Besides, I have written my will.
STAVROGIN:
Thats odd. To bequeath what and to whom?
LEBYATKIN:
I want to leave my skeleton to the medical students.
STAVROGIN:
And you hope for payment during your lifetime?

76

LEBYATKIN:
And why not? You see, I read the biography of an American in the newspapers. He bequeathed
his huge fortune to scientific founda-tions, his skeleton to the medical students of the city, and his
skin to be made into a drum on which the American national anthem would be beaten night and
day. But, alas, we are merely pygmies in comparison to the Americans and their boldness of
thought. If I tried to do the same, Id be accused of being a socialist and my skin would be
confiscated. Consequently, I had to be satisfied with the students. I want to leave them my
skeleton on condition that a label will be stuck to my skull saying: A repentant free-thinker.
STAVROGIN:
So you know that you are in danger of death.
LEBYATKIN (giving a start):
No, not at all. What do you mean? What a joke!
STAVROGIN:
Didnt you write a letter to the governor to denounce Verkhovenskys group, to which you belong
nevertheless?
LEBYATKIN:
I dont belong to their group. I agreed to hand out proclamations, but only to do a service, as it
were. I wrote the governor to explain something of the sort to him. But if Verkhovensky really
thinks Oh, I must get to St. Petersburg. Thats why I was waiting for you. Anyway, my dear
benefactor, I need money to go there.
STAVROGIN:
You will have nothing from me. I have already given you too much.
LEBYATKIN:
Thats true. But I accepted the shame of it.
STAVROGIN:
What shame is*there in the fact that your sister is my legitimate wife?
LEBYATKIN:
But the marriage is kept secret! It is kept secret and there is a fatal mystery about it! I receive
money from youail right, thats normal. Then I am asked: Why do you receive that money? I
am bound by my word and cannot answer, thus wronging my sister and the honor of my family.
STAVROGIN:
I have come to tell you that I am going to make up for that outrage done to your noble family.
Tomorrow, probably, I shall announce our marriage officially. Hence the question of the family
dishonor will be settled. And likewise, of course, the question of the allowance that I shant have
to pay you.
LEBYATKIN (panic-stricken) :
But its not possible. You cant make this marriage public. She is half crazy.
77

STAVROGIN :
Ill take care of that.
LEBYATKIN:
What will your mother say? You will have to take your wife into your house.
STAVROGIN:
That doesnt concern you.
LEBYATKIN:
But what shall I become? You are casting me off like an old worn-out shoe.
STAVROGIN:
Yes, like an old shoe. Thats the correct expression. Now call Maria Timofeyevna,
(LEBYATKIN goes out and brings back MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA, who stands in the middle of the
room.)
STAVROGIN (to LEBYATKIN):
Leave now. No, not that way. Im afraid you would listen to us. I mean outside.
LEBYATKIN:
But its raining.
STAVROGIN:
Take my umbrella.
LEBYATKIN (bewildered):
Your umbrellareally, am I worthy of that honor?
STAVROGIN:
Every man is worthy of an umbrella.
LEBYATKIN:
Yes, yes, of course, thats a part of the rights of man!
(He goes out.)
MARIA:
May I kiss your hand?
STAVROGIN:
No. Not yet.
MARIA:
All right. Sit down in the light so that I can see you.
78

(To reach the armchair, STAVROGIN walks toward her. She crouches down with her arm raised
as if to protect herself, an expression of fright on her face, STAVROGIN stops.)
STAVROGIN:
I frightened you. Forgive me.
MARIA:
Never mind. No, I was wrong.
(STAVROGIN sits down in the light, MARIA TIMOFEYEVNA screams.)
STAVROGIN (with a touch of impatience):
Whats the matter?
MARIA:
Nothing. Suddenly I didnt recognize you. It seemed to me that you were someone else. What are
you holding in your hand?
STAVROGIN:
What hand?
MARIA:
Your right hand. Its a knife!
STAVROGIN:
But look, my hand is empty.
MARIA:
Yes. Last night I saw in a dream a man who looked like my Prince, but it wasnt he. He was
coming toward me with a knife. Ah!
(She screams.)
Are you the murderer from my dream or my Prince?
STAVROGIN:
You are not dreaming. Calm yourself.
MARIA:
If you are my Prince, why dont you kiss me? To be sure, he never kissed me. But he was
affectionate. I dont feel anything affectionate in you. On the other hand, theres something
stirring in you that threatens me. He called me his dove. He gave me a ring. He said: Look at it
in the evening and Ill come to you in your sleep.
STAVROGIN:
Where is the ring?
79

MARIA:
My brother drank it up. And now I am alone at night. Every night
(She weeps.)
STAVROGIN:
Dont weep, Maria Timofeyevna. From now on we shall live together.
(She stares at him fixedly.)
MARIA:
Yes, your voice is soft now. And I recall. I know why you are telling me we shall live together.
The other day in the carriage you told me that our marriage would be made public. But Im afraid
of that too.
STAVROGIN:
Why?
MARIA:
Ill never know how to handle guests. I dont suit you at all. I know, there are lackeys.
But I saw your familyall those ladiesat your house. They are the ones I dont suit.
STAVROGIN:
Did they do anything to hurt you?
MARIA:
Hurt? Not at all. I was watching you all. There you were, getting excited and bickering. You dont
even know how to laugh freely when you are together. So much money and so little joy! Its
dreadful. No, I wasnt hurt. But I was sad. It seemed to me that you were ashamed of me. Yes,
you were ashamed, and that morning you began to be rrtore remote. Your very face changed. My
Prince went away, and I was left with the man who scorned me, who perhaps hated me. No more
kind wordsjust impatience, anger, the knife
(She gets up, trembling.)
STAVROGIN (suddenly beside himself):
Enough! You are mad, mad!
MARIA (in a meek little voice):
Please, Prince, go outside and come back in.
STAVROGIN (still trembling and impatiently):
Come back in? Why come back in?
MARIA:
So that Ill know who you are. For those five years I was waiting for him to come, I constantly
80

imagined the way he would come in. Go outside and come back in as if you had just returned
from a long absence, and then perhaps Ill recognize you.
STAVROGIN:
Be quiet. Now, listen carefully. I want all. your attention. Tomorrow, if Im still alive, I shall
make our marriage public. We shall not live in my house. We shall go to Switzerland, to the
mountains. We shall spend our whole life in that gloomy, deserted spot. That is how I see things.
MARIA:
Yes, yes, you want to die, you are already burying yourself. But when you come to want to live
again, you will want to get rid of me. No matter how!
STAVROGIN:
No. I shall not leave that place; Ill not leave you. Why do you talk to me this way?
MARIA:
Because now I have recognized you and I know that you are not my Prince. He would not be
ashamed of me. He would not hide me in the mountains. He would show me to everyone yes,
even to that young lady who couldnt take her eyes off me the other day. No, you look very much
like my Prince, but its all over. I have seen through you. You want to make an impression on
that young lady. You covet her.
STAVROGIN:
Will you listen to me? Cease this madness!
MARIA:
He never told me I was mad. He was a Prince, an eagle. He could fall at the feet of God if he
wanted to, and not fall at the feet of God if he didnt want to. As for you, Shatov slapped you.
You are a lackey too.

STAVROGIN (taking her by the arm):

Look at me. Recognize me. I am your husband.
MARIA:
Let go of me, impostor. I dont fear your knife. He would have defended me against the whole
world. You want my death because I am in your way.
STAVROGIN:
What have you said, you wretch! What have you said?
(He flings her backward. She falls and he rushes toward the door. She stumbles after him. But
LEBYATKIN suddenly appears and holds her down while she screams.)
MARIA:
Assassin! Anathema! Assassin!
81

BLACKOUT

SCENE 9
The bridge, STAVROGIN is walking rapidly while muttering to himself. When he has gone
beyond the middle of the bridge, FEDKA pops up behind him. STAVROGIN turns around
suddenly, seizes him by the neck, and pins him face downward on the ground, without seeming to
make an effort. Then he lets go of him. At once FEDKA is on his feet with a broad, short knife in
his hand.
STAVROGIN:
Put away that knife!
(FEDKA hides the knife, STAVROGIN turns his back and continues walking, FEDKA follows
him. A long walk. The bridge has now been replaced by a long, deserted street.)
I almost broke your neck, I was so angry.
FEDKA:
You are strong, Excellency. The soul is weak, but the body is vigorous. Your sins must be great.
STAVROGIN {laughing):
So youve gone in for preaching? Yet I have heard that you robbed a church last week.
FEDKA:
TO tell the truth, I had gone in to pray. And then it occurred to me that Divine Grace had led me
there and that I should take advantage of it because God was willing to give me a little help.
STAVROGIN:
You slaughtered the watchman too.

82

FEDKA:
YOU might say we cleaned out the church together. But in the morning, down by the river, we
fell to disputing as to who should carry the big bag. And then I sinned.
STAVROGIN:
Superb. Go on slaughtering and robbing!
FEDKA:
Thats what little Verkhovensky told me. Im quite willing. There are plenty of opportunities.
Why, at Captain Lebyaktins, where you went this evening
STAVROGIN (suddenly stopping):
Well?
FEDKA:
NOW, dont hit me again! I mean that that drunkard leaves the door open every night, he is so
drunk. Anyone could go in and kill everyone in the house, both brother and sister.
STAVROGIN:
Did you go in?
FEDKA:
Yes.
STAVROGIN:
Why didnt you kill everybody?
FEDKA:
I made a little calculation.
STAVROGIN:
What?
FEDKA:
I could steal a hundred and fifty rubles after having killed himafter having killed them, I mean.
But if I am to believe little Verkhovensky, I could get fifteen hundred rubles from you for the
same work. So
(STAVROGIN looks at him in silence.)
I am turning to you as to a brother or father. Nobody will ever know anything about it, not even
young Verkhovensky. But I need to know whether you want me to do it: just give me the word or
a little down payment,
(STAVROGIN begins to laugh as he looks at him.)
Now, wouldnt you like to give me the three rubles I asked you for earlier?
83

(STAVROGIN, still laughing, takes bills out of his pocket and drops them on the ground one by
one. FEDKA picks them up, uttering ahs ivhich go on after the light has dimmed to a
BLACKOUT.)
THE NARRATOR:
The man who kills, or plans to kill, or lets others be killed, often wants to die himself. He is a
comrade of death. Perhaps that is what Stavrogins laugh meant. But it is not certain that Fedka
understood it thus.
BLACKOUT

SCENE 10
The Forest of Brykovo. It is wet and ivindy. The trees are bare, the ground is soaking wet. On the
stage are two barriers. In front of one of them, STAVROGIN, wearing a light coat and a white
beaver hat, and in front of the other, GAGANOVthirty-three years old, tail, fat, well fed, blond.
In the middle are the seconds, MAURICE NICOLAEVICH on Gaganovs side and
KIRILOV. The opponents already hold their pistols.
KIRILOV:
And now for the last time I propose a reconciliation. I say this only to observe the rules; it is my
duty as a second.
MAURICE:
I wholeheartedly approve Mr. Kirilovs words. The idea that there can be no reconciliation on the
field is merely a prejudice which we can leave to the French. Besides, theres no sense in this
duel, since Mr. Stavrogin is ready to offer his apologies again.
STAVROGIN:
I confirm once more my proposal to offer every possible apology.
GAGANOV:
But this is unbearable! Were not going to go through the same comedy again.
(To MAURICE NICOLAEVICH)
If you are my second and not my enemy, explain to this man
(He points at him with his pistol.)
that his concessions only aggravate the insult. He always seems to consider that my offensive
84

remarks cant touch him and that there is no shame in dodging me. He insults me constantly, I tell
you, and you are only irritating me so that Ill miss him.
KIRILOV:
Thats enough. I beg you to follow my orders. Back to your places.
(The opponents go back to their places behind the barriers, almost in the wings.)
One, two, three, go.
(The opponents walk toward each other, GAGANOV shoots, stands still for a moment, and,
seeing that he missed STAVROGIN, goes and takes his place at his barrier, STAVROGIN walks
toward him and shoots above GAGANOV. Then he takes out a pocket handkerchief and wraps it
around his little finger.)
KIRILOV:
Are you wounded?
STAVROGIN:
The bullet scraped me.
KIRILOV:
If your opponent does not declare himself satisfied, your duel must continue.
GAGANOV:
I declare that that man shot intentionally in the air. Its one more insult.
STAVROGIN:
I give you my word of honor that I have no intention of insulting you. I shot in the air for reasons
that concern no one but me.
MAURICE:
It seems to me, however, that if one of the opponents declares in advance that he will shoot in the
air, the duel cannot go on.
STAVROGIN:
I never said that I would shoot in the air each time. You dont know how I shall shoot the second
time.
GAGANOV:
I repeat that he did it on purpose. But I want to shoot a second time, according to my right.

KIRILOV (wryly):
It is in fact your right.

85

MAURICE:
Since that is the way it is, the duel goes on.
(They start in the same way. GAGANOV reaches the barrier and takes aim for a long time at
STAVROGIN, who stands waiting with his arms at his sides, GAGANOVS hand trembles.)
KIRILOV:
You are aiming too long. Shoot. Shoot quickly.
(GAGANOV shoots, STAVROGINS hat flies off. KIRILOV picks it up and gives it to
STAVROGIN. Together they examine the hat.)
MAURICE:
Your turn to shoot. Dont keep your opponent waiting.
(STAVROGIN looks at GAGANOV and shoots his pistol upward, GAGANOV, mad with rage,
runs offstage. MAURICE NICOLAEVICH follows him.)
KIRILOV:
Why didnt you kill him? You have insulted him even more seriously.
STAVROGIN:
What should I have done?
KIRILOV:
Either not provoke him to a duel or else kill him.
STAVROGIN:
I didnt want to kill him. But if I had not provoked him, he would have slapped me in public.
KIRILOV :
Well, then, you would have been slapped!
STAVROGIN:
Im beginning to feel as if I didnt understand. Why does everybody expect of me what no one
expects of anyone else? Why must I endure what no one endures and accept burdens that no one
could carry?
KIRILOV:
You go out of your way to seek those burdens, Stavrogin.
STAVROGIN:
Ah!
(A pause.)
You noticed that?
86

KIRILOV:
Yes.
STAVROGIN:
Is It as obvious as that?
KIRILOV:
Yes,
(Silence, STAVROGIN puts on his hat and arranges it carefully. He resumes his distant manner,
then looks at KIRILOV.)
STAVROGIN (slowly ):
One tires of burdens, Kirilov. It is not my fault that that idiot missed me.
BLACKOUT

SCENE 11
At Varvara Stavgorin's. STAVROGIN, in the center, is asleep bolt upright on the sofa, with a
bandage on his finger. He scarcely seems to be breathing. His face is pale and severe, as if
petrified, and he is frowning. DASHA conies in and rushes to him, stops, and stares at him. She
makes the sign of the cross over him. He opens his eyes and remains motionless, staring fixedly
at the same point in front of him.
DASHA:
Are you wounded?
STAVROGIN {looking at her):
No.
DASHA:
Did you draw blood?
STAVROGIN:
No, I killed no one and, above all, no one killed me, as you see. The duel took place quite
stupidly. I shot in the air and Gaganov missed me. I have no luck. But I am tired and should like
to be alone.
DASHA:
All right. I shall stop seeing you, since you constantly run away from me. I know that at the end
Ill find you.
STAVROGIN:
At the end?
87

DASHA:
Yes. When all is over, call me and Ill come.
{He looks at her and seems to ivake up completely.)
STAVROGIN {in a natural manner):
I am so vile and cowardly, Dasha, that I believe I shall actually call you at the very end. And you,
despite all your prudence, will come running in fact. But, tell me, will you come, whatever the
end is?
(DASHA is silent.)
Even if in the meantime I have committed the worst of crimes?
DASHA (looking at him):
Are you going to bring about your wifes death?
STAVROGIN:
No. No. Neither hers nor anyones. I dont want to. Perhaps I shall bring about the death of the
other one, the girl . Perhaps I shall not be able to keep myself from doing so. Oh, leave me,
Dasha. Why destroy yourself by following me?
(He gets up.)
DASHA:
I know that at the end Ill be alone with you, and Im waiting for that moment. I pray for it.
STAVROGIN:
So you pray?
DASHA:
Yes. Ever since a certain day, I havent ceased praying.
STAVROGIN:
And suppose I dont call you? Suppose I take flight .
DASHA:
That cant be. You will tall me.
STAVROGIN:
There is great contempt in what you are saying.
DASHA:
There is not only contempt.
STAVROGIN (laughing):
88

So there is contempt. That doesnt matter. I dont want to cause your ruin.
DASHA:
You wont cause my ruin. If I dont come with you, I shall become a nun and take care of the
sick.
STAVROGIN:
A nurse! Thats it. Thats it. You are interested in me just as a nurse would be. After all, thats
probably what I need the most.
DASHA:
Yes, you are ill.
(STAVROGIN suddenly takes a chair and flings it without apparent effort across the room,
DASHA screams, STAVROGIN turns his back on her and goes and sits down. Then he talks quite
naturally, as if nothing had happened.)
STAVROGIN:
You see, Dasha, I constantly have vi-sions now. Theyre a kind of little demon. There is one,
above all .
DASHA:
You already told me about him. You are ill.
STAVROGIN:
Last night he sat down very close to me and didnt leave me. He is stupid and insolent. And
second-rate. Yes, second-rate. I am furious that my personal demon should be second-rate.
DASHA:
You talk about him as if he really existed. Oh, may God save you from that!
STAVROGIN:
No, no, I dont believe in the devil. Yet last night the demons came out of every swamp and
swooped down upon me. Why, a little devil on the bridge offered to cut the throats of Lebyatkin
and his sister, Maria Timofeyevna, to get rid of my marriage. He asked for a down payment of
three rubles, but he calculated the cost of the operation at fifteen hundred rubles. He was a
bookkeeper devil.
DASHA:
Are you sure he was a vision?
STAVROGIN:
No, he was not a vision. It was Fedka, the escaped convict.
DASHA:
What did you reply?
89

STAVROGIN:
Why, nothing at all. To get rid of him, I gave him the three rubles and even more.
(DASHA exclaims.)
Yes. He must think I am in agreement. But dont let your kind heart worry. For him to act, 1 shall
have to give him the order. Perhaps, after all, I shall give it!
DASHA (clasping her hands):
Good Lord, good Lord, why do you torment me like this?
STAVROGIN:
Forgive me. It was only a joke. Besides, Ive been like this since last nightI have a terrible
impulse to laugh, to laugh without stopping, endlessly .
(He gives a forced, hollow laugh, DASHA stretches out her hand toward him.)
I hear a carriage. It must be my mother.
DASHA:
May God preserve you from your demons. Call me. I shall come.
STAVROGIN:
Listen, Dasha. If I were to go and see Fedka and give him the order, would you come, would you
come even after the crime?
DASHA (in tears):
Oh, Nicholas, Nicholas, I beg you, dont stay alone like this . Go and see Tihon at the
seminary; he will help you.
STAVROGIN:
YOU too!
DASHA:
Yes, Tihon. And afterward I shall come. I shall come .
(She flees, weeping.)
STAVROGIN:
Of course shell come. With delight.
(With disgust)
Ah!
ALEXEY YEGOROVICH (coming in):
Maurice Nicolaevich wishes to see you.
90

STAVROGIN:
He? What can he
(He has a snmg smile.)
Ill see him.
(MAURICE NICOLAEVICH enters and ALEXEY YEGOROVICH leaves, MAURICE
NICOLAEVICH sees STAVROGINS smile and stops, as if he were about to ivheel around and
leave. But STAVROGINS expression changes, and, with a look of sincere surprise, he holds out
his hand, which MAURICE NICOLAEVICH does not shake, STAVROGIN smiles again, but
courteously this time.)
STAVROGIN:
Sit down.
(MAURICE NICOLAEVICH sits on a chair and STAVROGIN at an angle on the sofa. For a
minute STAVROGIN looks silently at his visitor, who seems to hesitate and then suddenly speaks.)
MAURICE:
If you can, marry Lisa Nicolayevna.
(STAVROGIN stares at him without any change of expression, MAURICE NICOLAEVICH stares
back.)
STAVROGIN (after a pause):
If I am not wrong, Lisa Nicolayevna is your fiancee.
MAURICE:
Yes, we are officially engaged.
STAVROGIN:
Have you had a quarrel?
MAURICE:
No. She loves and esteems me, in her own words. And her words are the most precious thing in
the world to me.
STAVROGIN:
I can understand that.
MAURICE:
I know that if you were to call her, though she stood at the altar in her wedding veil, she would
forsake me and everyone else to follow you.

91

STAVROGIN:
Are you sure of that?
MAURICE:
Yes, she says she hates you, and she is sincere. But in reality she loves you insanely. And
although she says she loves me, there are moments when she hates me cordially.
STAVROGIN:
Yet I am surprised that you can dispose of Lisa Nicolayevna. Did she authorize you to do so?
MAUSICE:
You have just made a vulgar remark, a remark full of vengeance and scorn. But Im not afraid to
humiliate myself even more. No, I have no right, nor any authority. Lisa doesnt know what I am
doing. Without her knowing it, I have come to tell you that you alone can make her happy and
that you must take my place at the altar. Moreover, after saying this, I could never marry her. I
could never live with myself.
STAVROGIN:
If I married her, would you kill yourself after the ceremony?
MAURICE:
No. Much later. Perhaps never
STAVROGIN:
YOU are saying that to set my mind at rest.
MAURICE:
To set your mind at rest! A little blood more or lesswhat does that matter to you!
STAVROGIN (after a pause):
I assure you that I am deeply touched by your proposition. However, what makes you think that
my feelings for Lisa are such that I want to marry her?
MAURICE (rising suddenly):
What? Dont you love her? Didnt you try to win her hand?
STAVROGIN:
I cant ever talk to anyone of my feelings for a woman, except to the woman herself. Forgive me,
but thats a quirk of my nature. However, I can tell you the truth as to everything else: I am
married, and hence it is not possible for me to marry another woman or to try to win her hand, as
yon say.
(MAURICE NICOLAEVICH looks at him as if petrified, grows pale, and strikes the table
violently with his fist.)
MAURICE:
If after such a confession you dont leave Lisa alone, Ill take a club and beat you to death like a
92

dog.
{He leaps up and rushes out, at the door bumping into PETER VERKHOVENSKY, who is on the
point of coming in.)
PETER:
Why, hes crazy I What did you do to him?
STAVROGIN (laughing):
Nothing. Besides, it doesnt concern you.
PETER:
I am sure he came to offer you his fiancee. Eh? I am the one who indirectly pushed him into it, if
you want to know. And if he refuses to give her to us, well take her ourselves, wont we?
Shes a juicy morsel.
STAVROGIN:
You still intend to help me take her, I see.
PETER:
As soon as you decide to. Well get rid of your responsibilities for you. It wont cost you
anything.
STAVROGIN:
Oh, yes it will. Fifteen hundred rubles
ALEXEY (coming in):
Peter Verkhovensky insists on seeing you.
PETER (following him closely):
I have just met Maurice Nicolaevich. He wanted to give you his fiancee. I advised him to wait.
Besides, we dont really need him; she is crazy to come. Well go and get her ourselves, wont
we? Shes a juicy morsel. By the way, what have you come for?
PETER:
What? Have you forgotten? What about our meeting? I have come to remind you that it takes
place in an hour.
STAVROGIN:
Oh, to be sure! Excellent idea. You couldnt have picked a more opportune moment. I feel like
having a good time. What part am I supposed to play?
PETER:
YOU are one of the members of the Central Committee and you know all about the whole secret
organization.
STAVROGiN:
93

What am I to do?
PETER:
just assume a mysterious look, thats all.
STAVROGiN:
But there is no Central Committee?
PETER:
Yes, there is. You and I.
STAVROGIN:
In other words, you. And there is no organization?
PETER:
There will be one if I can manage to organize those idiots into a group, to weld them into a single
unit.
STAVROGIN:
How will you go about it?
PETER:
Well, to begin with, titles and functions secretary, treasurer, presidentyou know the kind of
thing! Then sentimentality. For them justice is a matter of sentimentality. Hence, they must be
given plenty of opportunity to talk, especially the stupider ones. In any case, they are united by
fear of opinion. That is the motivating force, the real cement. The thing they fear most of all is
being taken for reactionaries. Consequently, they are obliged to be revolutionaries.
They would be ashamed of thinking for themselves, of having an individual Idea. As a result,
they will think as I want them to.
STAVROGIN :
Excellent program! But I know a much better way of cementing this pretty group together. Force
four members to kill the fifth on the pretext that he is a stool pigeon, and they will be bound by
blood. But how stupid I amits precisely your idea, isnt it, since you want to have Shatov
killed?
PETER:
I! Why what makes you think of such a thing!
STAVROGIN:
No, Vm not thinking of It. But you are. And if you want my opinion, its not at all stupid. In order
to bind men together, there is something stronger than sentimentality or fear of opinion; it is
dishonor. The best way of attract-ing our fellow citizens and of sweeping them along with you is
to preach publicly the right to dishonor.
PETER:
Yes, I know it. Hurrah for dishonor and everybody will come to us; no one will want to lag
94

behind. Ah, Stavrogin, you understand everything! You will be the leader and Ill be your
secretary. We shall set sail on a noble ship. The masts will be of polished wood, the sails silken,
and on the high stern we shall put Lisa Nicolayevna.
STAVROGIN:
There are only two objections to that prophecy. The first is that I shall not be your leader
PETER:
YOU will; Ill explain to you.
STAVROGIN:
The second is that Ill not help you no kill Shatov to bind your idiots together.
(He laughs uproariously.)
PETER (bursting with ivrath):
I I must go and tell Kirilov.
(He rushes out. The moment he is gone, STAVROGIN ceases laughing and sits down on the sofa,
silent and sinister-looking.)
BLACKOUT
The street, PETER VERKHOVENSKY is walking toward Kirilovs.
THE NARRATOR (suddenly appearing as VERKHOVENSKY disappears):
At the same time that Peter Verkhovensky arrived, something began spread-ing over the town.
Mysterious fires broke out; the number of thefts doubled. A second lieuten-ant who had got into
the habit of lighting candles in his room in front of books expounding materialistic ideas
suddenly scratched and bit his commanding officer. A lady of the highest society began beating
her children at fixed intervals and insulting the poor whenever she had an opportunity. And
another wanted to practice free love with her husband. Thats impossible, she was told. What
do you mean? she exclaimed; were free, arent we? We were free indeed, but of what?

95

SCENE 12
KIRILOV, FEDKA, and PETER VERKHOVENSKY in the living room of the Filipov rooming
house. Shatoifs room is dimly lighted.
PETER (to FEDKA):
Mr. Kirilov will hide you.
FEDKA:
You are a vile little insect, but Ill obey you, Ill obey you. Just remember what you promised me.
PETER:
Go and hide.
FEDKA:
Ill obey. Just remember,
(FEDKA disappears.)
KIRILOV (as if noting a fact):
He loathes you.
PETER:
He doesnt have to like me; all he has to do is obey me. Sit down, I have something to say to you.
I came to remind you of the agreement binding us.
KIRILOV:
I am not bound by anything or to anything.
96

PETER (giving a start):

What, have you changed your mind?
KIRILOV:
I have not changed my mind. But I act according to my own will. I am free.
PETER:
All right, all right. I am willing to admit that it is your own free will, provided that your will
hasnt changed. You get excited about a word. You have become very irritable of late.
KIRILOV:
I am not irritable, but I dont like you. Yet I shall keep my word.
PETER:
But it must be very clear between us. You still intend to kill yourself?
KIRILOV:
Still.
PETER:
Fine. Admit that no one is forcing you to it.
KIRILOV:
You are expressing yourself stupidly.
PETER:
All right, all right. I expressed myself very stupidly. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, no one can
force you. Let me go on. You belonged to our organization and you confessed your plan to one of
its members?
KIRILOV:
I did not confess anything; I simply said what I would do.
PETER:
Good, good. Indeed, there was no reason to confess anything. You simply made a state-ment.
Fine.
KIRILOV:
No, its not fine. Youre just talking. I made up my mind to kill myself because I want to. You
saw that my suicide could help the organization. If you commit a crime here and the guilty are
pursued, I blow out my brains, leaving a letter in which I declare that I am the guilty one. So you
asked me to wait a while before killing myself. I answered that I would wait, since it didnt
matter to me.
PETER:
Good. But you gave your word to write the letter with my help and to wait for my orders. Only in
97

this matter, of course, for in everything else you are free.

KIRILOV:
I didnt give my word. I agreed because it was a matter of indifference to me.
PETER:
If you wish. Do you still feel the same?
KIRILOV:
Yes. Will it be soon?

PETER:
In a few days.
KIRILOV (rising as if reflecting):
Of what should I declare myself guilty?
PETER:
Youll know In time.
KIRILOV:
Good. But dont forget this: Ill not help you In any way against Stavrogin.
PETER:
All right, all right.
(SHATOV enters from an inner room, KIRILOV sits down in a corner.)
PETER:
Its good of you to have come.
SHATOV:
I dont need your approval.
PETER:
You are wrong. In the fix you are In, you will need my help, and I have already used up
considerable breath in your favor.
SHATOV:
I dont have to answer to anyone. I am free.
PETER:
Not altogether. Many things were entrusted to you. You have no right to break off without
warning.

98

SHATOV:
I sent a very clear letter.
PETER:
We didnt understand it clearly. They say that you might denounce them now. I defended you.
SHATOV:
Yes, just as there are lawyers who make a business of getting people hanged.
PETER:
In any case, they have agreed now for you to be free if only you return the printing press and the
papers.
PETER:
Where is the press?
SHATOV:
In the forest. Near the Brykovo clearing. I buried everything in the ground.
PETER (with a sort of smile):
In the ground? Very good! Why, its very good indeed!
(There is a knock at the door. The plotters enter: LIPUTIN, VIRGINSKY, SHIGALOV,
LYAMSHIN, and a defrocked seminarian. As they settle doivn, they are already talking, SHATOV
and KIRILOV in a comer.)
VIRGINSKY (at the door):
Ah! Here is Stavrogin.
LIPUTIN:
Hes just in time.
THE SEMINARIAN:
Gentlemen, I am not accustomed to waste my time. Since you were so kind as to invite me to this
meeting, may I ask a question?
LIPUTIN:
GO ahead, comrade, go ahead. Everyone here likes you since you played that practical joke on
the woman distributing religious tracts by sticking obscene photographs in her Bibles.
THE SEMINARIAN:
It wasnt a practical joke. I did it out of conviction, being of the opinion that God must be
destroyed.
LIPUTIN:
Is that what they teach in the seminary?
99

THE SEMINARIAN:
No. In the seminary they suffer because of God. Consequently they hate him. In any case, here is
my question: has the meeting begun or not?
SHIGALOV:
Allow me to pointbut that we continue to talk aimlessly. Can the authorities tell us why we are
here?
(All look toward Verkhovensky, tuho changes his position as if he avere about to speak.)
LIPUTIN (in a hurry):
Lyamshin, please, sit down at the piano.
LYAMSHIN:
What? Again! Its the same every time!
LIPUTIN:
If you play, no one can hear us. Play, Lvamshin! For the cause!
VIRGINSKY:
Why, yes, play, Lyamshin.
(LYASSSHIN sits doivn at the piano and plays a ivaltz haphazardly. All look toward
VERKHOVENSKY, who, far from speaking, has resumed his somnolent position.}
LIPUTIN:
Verkhovensky, have you no declaration to make?
PETER (yawning):
Absolutely none. But I should like a glass of cognac.
LIPUTIN:
And you, Stavrogin?
STAVROGIN:
NO, thanks, Ive given up drinking.
LIPUTIN:
Im not talking of cognac. Im asking you if you want to speak.
STAVROGIN:
Speak? What about? No.
(VIRGINSKY gives the bottle of cognac to PETER VERKHOVENSKY, who drinks a great deal
during the evening. But SHIGALOV rises, dull and somber-looking, and lays on the table a thick
notebook filled with fine writing, which all look at with fear.)
100

SHIGALOV:
I request the floor.
VIRGINSKY:
You have it. Take it.
(LYAMSHIN plays louder.)
THE SEMINARIAN:
Please, Mr. Lyamshin, but really we cant hear ourselves.
(LYAMSHIN stops playing.)
SHIGALOV:
Gentlemen, in asking for your attention, I owe you a few preliminary explanations.
PETER:
Lyamshin, pass me the scissors that are on the piano.
LYAMSHIN:
Scissors? For what?
PETER:
I forgot to cut my nails. I should have done so three days ago. Go on, Shigalov, go on; Im not
listening.
SHIGALOV:
Having devoted myself wholeheartedly to studying the society of the future, I reached the
conclusion that from the earliest times down to the present all creators of social systems simply
indulged in nonsense. So I had to build my own system of organization. Here it is!
(He strikes the notebook.)
To tell the truth, my system is not completely finished. In its present state, however, it deserves
discussion. For I shall have to explain to you also the contradiction to which it leads.
Starting from unlimited freedom, I end up in fact with unlimited despotism.
VIRGINSKY:
That will be hard to make the people swallow!
SHIGALOV:
Yes. And yetlet me insist upon itthere is not and there cannot be any other solution to the
social problem than mine. It may lead to despair, but there is no other way.
THE SEMINARIAN:
If I have understood properly, the agenda concerns Mr. Shigalovs vast despair.
101

SHIGALOV:
Your expression is more nearly correct than you think. Yes, I was brought smack up against
despair. And yet there was no other way out but my solution. If you dont adopt it, you will do
nothing worth while. And someday youll come around to it.
THE SEMINARIAN:
I suggest voting to find out just how far Mr. Shigalovs despair interests us and whether it is
necessary for us to devote our meeting to the reading of his book.
VIRGINSKY:
Lets vote! Lets vote!
LYAMSHIN:
Yes, yes.

LIPUTIN:
Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Lets not get excited. Shigalov is too modest. I have read his book.
Certain of its conclusions are debatable. But he started from human nature as we now know it
through science and he really solved the social problem.
THE SEMINARIAN:
Really?
LIPUTIN:
Yes indeed. He proposes dividing humanity into two unequal parts. About a tenth will have
absolute freedom and unlimited authority over the other nine tenths, who will have to lose their
personality and become like a flock of sheep. Kept in the state of complete submission of sheep,
they will, on the other hand, achieve the state of innocence of sheep. In short, it will be Eden,
except that men will have to work.
SHIGALOV:
Yes. Thats how I achieve equality. All men are slaves and equal in their slavery. They cant be
equal otherwise. Hence it is essential to level. For instance, the level of education and talent will
be lowered. Since men of talent always tend to rise, Ciceros tongue will have to be torn out,
Copemicuss eyes gouged out, and Shakespeare stoned. There is my system.
LIPUTIN:
Yes, Mr. Shigalov discovered that superior faculties are germs of inequality, hence of despotism.
Consequently, as soon as a man is seen to have superior gifts, he is shot down or impris-oned.
Even very handsome people are suspect in this regard and must be suppressed.
SHIGALOV:
And even fools, if they are very notable fools, for they might lead others into the temptation of
glorying in their superiority, which is a germ of despotism. By these means, on the other hand,
equality will be absolute.
102

THE SEMINARIAN:
But you have fallen into a contradiction. Such equality is despotism.
SHIGALOV:
Thats true, and thats what drives me to despair. But the contradiction disappears the moment
you say that such despotism is equality.
PETER (yawning):
What nonsense!
LIPUTIN:
Is it really nonsense? On the contrary, I find it very realistic.
PETER:
I wasnt speaking of Shigalov or of his ideas, which bear the mark of genius, of course, but I
meant all such discussions.
LIPUTIN:
By discussing, one might reach a result. That is better than maintaining silence while posing as a
dictator.
(All approve this direct blow.)
PETER:
Writing and constructing systems is just nonsense. An aesthetic pastime. You are simply bored
here, thats all.
LIPUTIN:
We are merely provincial, to be sure, and therefore worthy of pity. But up to now you havent
brought out anything sensational either. Those tracts you gave us say that universal society will
be improved only by lopping off a hundred million heads. That doesnt seem to me any easier to
put into practice than Shigalovs ideas.
PETER:
The fact is that, by lopping off a hundred million heads you progress faster, obviously.
THE SEMINARIAN:
You also run the risk of getting your own head lopped off.
PETER:
Its a disadvantage. And thats the risk you always run when you try to establish a new religion.
But I can very well understand, sir, that you would hesitate. And I consider that you have the
right to withdraw.
THE SEMINARIAN:
I didnt say that. And I am ready to bind myself difinitively to an organization if it proves serious
103

and efficient.
PETER:
What, you would be willing to take an oath of allegiance to the group we are organiz-ing?
THE SEMINARIAN:
That is to say Why not, if
PETER:
Listen, gentlemen. I can understand very well that you expect from me explanations and
revelations about the workings of our organization. But I cannot give them to you unless I am
sure of you unto death. So let me ask you a question. Are you in favor of endless discussions or in
favor of millions of heads? Of course, this is merely an image. In other words, are you in favor of
wallowing in the swamp or of crossing it at full speed?
LYAMSHIN (gaily):
At full speed, of course, at full speed! Why wallow?
PETER:
Are you therefore in agreement as to the methods set forth in the tracts I gave you?
THE SEMINARIAN:
That is to say Why, of course But they still have to be specified!
PETER:
If you are afraid, there is no point in specifying.
THE SEMINARIAN:
No one here is afraid and you know it. But you are treating us like pawns on a chessboard.
Explain things to us clearly and we can consider them with you.
PETER:
Are you ready to bind yourself to the organization by oath?
VIRGINSKY:
Certainly, if you ask it of us decently.
PETER (nodding toward SHATOV):
Liputin, you havent said anything.
LIPUTIN:
I am ready to answer that question and any others. But I should first like to be sure that there is
no stool pigeon here.
(Tumult, LYAMSHIN rushes to the piano.)
PETER (apparently very much alarmed);
104

What? What do you mean? You alarm me. Is it possible that there is a spy among us?
(All talk at once.)
LIPUTIN:
We would be compromised!
PETER:
Id be more compromised than you. Hence, you must all answer a question which will decide
whether we are to separate or go on. If one of you learned that a murder was being prepared for
the good of the cause, would he go and warn the police?
(To THE SEMINARIAN)
allow me to ask you first.
THE SEMINARIAN:
Why me first?
PETER:
I dont know you so well.
THE SEMINARIAN:
Such a question is an insult.
PETER:
Be more precise.
THE SEMINARIAN (furious):
I would not denounce the group, of course not.
PETER:
And you, Virginsky?
VIRGINSKY:
No, a hundred times no!
LIPUTIN
: But why is Shatov getting up?
(SHATOV has in fact stood up. Tale with wrath, he stares at PETER VERKHOVENSKY and then
strides toward the door.)
PETER:
Your attitude may harm you greatly, Shatov.
SHATOV:
105

At least it may be useful to the spy and scoundrel that you are. So be satisfied. I shall not stoop to
answering your vicious question.
{He goes out. Tumult. Everyone has got up except STAVROGIN. KIRILOV goes slowly back into
hit room, PETER VERKHOVENSKY drinks another glass of cognac.)
LIPUTIN:
Well! The test has done some good. Now we know.
(STAVROGIN gets up.)
LYAMSHIN:
Stavrogin didnt answer either.
VIRGINSKY:
Stavrogin, can you answer the question?
STAVROGIN:
I dont see the need of it.
VIRGINSKY:
But we all compromised ourselves and you didnt!
STAVROGIN:
Well, then, you will be compromised and I wont be.
(Tumult.)
THE SEMINARIAN:
But Verkhovensky didnt answer the question either.
STAVROGIN:
TO be sure.
(He goes out.)
(PETER VERKHOVENSKY rushes after him and then returns suddenly.)
PETER:
Listen. Stavrogin is the delegate. You must all obey him, and also me, his second, unto death.
Unto death, you understand. And remember that Shatov has just clearly taken his stand as a
traitor and that traitors must be punished. Take an oath. Come now, take an oath .
THE SEMINARIAN:
To what?
PETER:
106

Are you men or arent you? And will you hesitate before an oath of honor?
VIRGINSKY (somewhat bewildered):
But what must we swear?
PETER:
TO punish traitors. Quickly, take an oath. Hurry, now. I must catch up with Stavrogin. Take an
oath .
(They all raise their hands very slowly, PETER VERKHOVENSKY rushes outside.)
BLACKOUT

SCENE 13
First in the street and then at Varvara Stavrogins. STAVROGIN and PETER VERKHOVENSKY.
PETER {running after STAVROGIN) :
Why did you leave?
STAVROGIN:
I had had enough. And your comedy with Shatov nauseated me. But Ill not let you get away with
it.
PETER:
He put the finger on himself.
STAVROGIN (stopping):
You are a liar. I have already told you why you needed Shatovs blood. He is to serve you to
cement your group together. You just succeeded very cleverly in getting him to leave. You knew
that he would refuse to say I shall not denounce the group. And that he would consider it
cowardly to answer you.
PETER:
All right, all right! But you shouldnt have left. I need you.
STAVROGIN:
I suspect as much, since you want to push me into having my wife slaughtered. But why? How
can I be useful to you?
107

PETER:
How? Why, in every way . Besides, you spoke the truth. Be on my side and I shall get rid of
your wife for you.
(PETER VERKHOVENSKY grasps STAVROGIN by the arm. STAVROGIN tears himself away,
seizes him by the hair, and flings him to the ground.)
Oh, you are strong! Stavrogin, do what I ask of you and tomorrow I shall bring you Lisa
Drozdov. Will you? Answer! Listen, Ill let you keep Shatov too if you ask me to.
STAVROGIN:
So its true that you have made up your mind to kill him?
PETER (getting up):
How can that matter to you? Wasnt he mean to you?
STAVROGIN:
Shatov is good. You are mean.
PETER:
I am. But I didnt slap you.
STAVROGIN:
If you raised a hand against me, Id kill you on the spot. You know very well that I can kill.
PETER:
I know it. But you wont kill me because you despise me.
STAVROGIN:
You are perspicacious.
(He walks away.)
PETER:
Listen! Listen
(PETER gives a signal, FEDKA appears, and together they follow STAVROGIN. The curtain
representing the street rises to show Varvara Stavrogiws drawing room. DASHA is on the stage.
Hearing PETER VERKHOVENSKYS voice, she goes out on the right, STAVROGIN and PETER
VERKHOVENSKY enter.)
PETER:
Listen
STAVROGIN:
You are obstinate . Tell me once and for all what you expect of me and leave.
108

PETER:
Yes, yes. All right.
(He looks at the door on the side.)
just a minute.
(He goes toward the door and opens it carefully.)
STAVROGIN:
My mother never listens at doors.
PETER:
Im sure she doesnt. You nobles are far above that. I, on the contrary, listen at doors. Besides, I
thought I heard a sound. But thats not the question. You want to know what I expect of you?
(STAVROGIN is silent.)
Well, this is it . Together well rouse Russia and lift her from the mire.
STAVROGIN:
She is heavy.
PETER:
Ten more groups like this one and well be powerful.
STAVROGIN:
Ten groups of idiots like these!
PETER:
Its idiots who make history. For instance, just look at the governors wife, Julia Mikhailovna.
She is with us. How incredibly stupid!
STAVROGIN:
YOU are not going to tell me that she is plotting?
PETER:
NO. But her idea is that Russian youth must be kept from heading toward the abyss and by that
she means toward revolution. Her system is simple. The thing to do is to praise revolution, to be
on the side of youth, and to show them that it is quite possible to be a revolutionary and the
governors wife. Then youth will realize that this is the best regime, since you can insult it
without danger and even be rewarded for planning its destruction.
STAVROGIN:
YOU must be exaggerating. It isnt possible to be that stupid.
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PETER:
Oh, they are not so stupid; theyre just idealists. Fortunately, / am not an idealist. But I am not
intelligent either. What?
STAVROGIN:
I didnt say anything.
PETER:
TOO bad. I hoped you would say: Why, yes, you are intelligent.
STAVROGIN:
I never thought of saying anything of the sort.
PETER {with hatred in his voice)
You are right; I am stupid. Thats why I need you. My organization does not have a head.
STAVROGIN:
You have Shigalov.
{He yawns.)
PETER {with the same hatred in his voice):
Dont make fun of him. Absolute leveling is an excellent ideanot at all ridiculous. Its one of the
elements of my plan. We shall have to organize it carefully. People will be forced to spy on one
another and to denounce one another. That way therell be no more selfishness! From time to
time a few convulsions, carefully controlled, just enough to overcome boredom. [We leaders will
take care of that. For there will be leaders, since there must be slaves.] Hence total obedience,
absolute deper-sonalization, and every thirty years we shall authorize convulsions, and then
everyone will fall on one another and devour one another.
STAVROGIN {looking at him.):
I have wondered for a long time what you resembled. But I made the mistake of looking for my
comparison in the animal kingdom. It has just come to me.
PETER {his mind on other things):
Yes, yes.
STAVROGIN:
You resemble a Jesuit.
PETER:
All right, all right. But the Jesuits have the idea. They discovered the formula. The plot, the lie,
and a single aim! Impossible to live otherwise in the world. Besides, we shall have to have the
Pope on our side.

110

STAVROGIN:
The Pope?
PETER:
Yes, but its very complicated. First the Pope would have to come to an agreement with the
International. Its too soon for that. That will come inevitably later on, because its the same
spirit. Then there will be the Pope at the summit, we around him, and beneath us the masses
governed by Shigalovs system. But thats an idea for the future. Meanwhile, work must be
divided. So in the West there will be the Pope, and among us among us there will be you.
STAVROGIN:
Decidedly you are drunk. Get out.
PETER:
Stavrogin, you are handsome. Are you aware that you are handsome, and strong, and intelligent?
No, you dont know it, for you are also unsophisticated. I do know it, and thats why you are my
idol. I am a nihilist, and nihilists need idols. You are the man we need. You never insult anyone
and yet everyone hates you. You treat people as your equals and yet they are afraid of you. But
you are afraid of nothing; you can sacrifice your own life as easily as anyone elses. That Is
excellent. Yes, you are the man I need, and I cant think of any other. You are the leader, you are
the sun.
(He suddenly seizes Stavrogifis hand and kisses it. STAVROGIN repulses him.)
Dont despise me. Shigaiov has found the system, but I alone have discovered the way of putting
it into practice. I need you. Without you I am nothing. With you I shall destroy the old Russia and
build the new.
STAVROGIN:
What Russia? The Russia of spies?
PETER:
When we hold power in our hands, we shall be able perhaps to make people more virtu-ous, if
you really insist. But for the moment, to be sure, we need one or two thoroughly immoral
generations; we need an exceptional, revolting corruption that will transform man into a filthy,
cowardly, and selfish insect. Thats what we need. And, on the side, well give them a touch of
fresh blood so that theyll get a taste for it.
STAVROGIN:
I always knew you werent a socialist. Youre a scoundrel.
PETER:
All right, all right. A scoundrel. But let me explain my plan. We begin the general up-heaval.
Fires, crimes, incessant strikes, everything a mockery. You see what I mean? Oh, it will be
wonderful! A heavy fog will descend over Russia. The earth will bewail its former gods. And
111

then
{He pauses.)
STAVROGIN:
And then
PETER:
We shall bring forth the new Tsar.
(STAVROGIN looks at him and moves slowly away from him.)
STAVROGIN:
I see. An impostor.
PETER:
Yes. Well say that he ? hiding but that he is about to appear. He exists, but no one has seen him.
Just imagine the force of that ideaHe is is hiding! He can be shown perhaps to one out of a
hundred thousand. And the rumor will spread over the whole country. He has been seen. Will
you accept?
STAVROGIN:
Accept what?
PETER:
Why, being the new Tsar.
STAVROGIN:
Ah! So thats your plan!

PETER:
Yes. Just listen. With you it will be possible to build up a legend. You will have only to appear
and you will be triumphant. At first, he is hiding, he is hiding, and we shall pronounce in your
name two or three judgments of Solo-mon. If one request out of ten thousand is satisfied, all will
turn to you. In every village each peasant will know that somewhere there is a box in which he
can put his request. And throughout the country the rumor will spread! A new law has been
passed, a just law. The seas will rise up and the old wooden hulk will sink. And then we can
think of building in steel. Well?
(STAVROGIN laughs in scorn.)
Oh, Stavrogin, dont leave me alone. Without you I am like Columbus without America. Can you
imagine Columbus without America? I, in turn, can help you. Ill fix everything for you.
Tomorrow Ill bring you Lisa. You want her; you want Lisa dreadfully, I know. Just one word and
112

Ill fix up everything.

STAVROGIN (turning toward the window):
And afterward, of course, you will have a hold on me .
PETER:
What does that matter? You will have a hold on Lisa. She is young and pure .
STAVROGIN (with an odd expression, as if fasci-nated):
She is pure .
(PETER VERKHOVENSKY whistles piercingly.)
What are you doing?
(FEDKA appears.)
PETER:
Here is a friend who can help us. Just say yes, Stavrogina simple yesand Lisa is yours, and
the world is ours.
(STAVROGIN turns toward FEDKA, who is smiling calmly. From another room DASHA screams,
bursts in, and throws herself on STAVROGIN.)
DASHA:
Oh, Nicholas, I beg you, dont stay with these men. Go and see Tihonyes, Tihon, as I have
already told you. Go and see Tihon.
PETER:
Tihon? Who is that?
FEDKA:
A holy man. Dont say anything bad about him, you little sneak; I forbid you.
PETER:
Why? Did he help you kill someone? Does he too belong to the Church of Blood?
FEDKA:
NO. I kill. But he forgives crime.
BLACKOUT
THE NARRATOR:
Personally, I didnt know Tihon. I simply knew what was said of him in our town. The humble
people attributed great holiness to him. But the authorities disapproved of his library, in which
works of piety stood side by side with plays and perhaps even worse. Offhand, Id say there was
113

no chance Stavrogin would pay him a visit.

SCENE 14
Tihons cell in the Convent of the Virgin, TIHON and STAVROGIN are standing.
STAVROGIN:
Did my mother tell you I was mad?
TIHON:
NO. She didnt talk of you exactly as of a madman. But she told me of a slap you received and of
a duel .
{He sits down with a groan.)
STAVROGIN:
Are you ill?
TIHON:
I have pains in my legs. And I dont sleep very well.
STAVROGIN:
Do you want me to leave you?
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TIHON:
NO. Sit down!
(STAVROGIN sits down with his hat in his hand, like a man observing ceremony. But he seems to
have trouble breathing.)
You too look ill.
STAVROGIN (with the same manner):
I am. You see, I have hallucinations. I often see or feel near me a sort of creature who is mocking,
wicked, rational, and who takes on different aspects. But its always the same creature. He drives
me wild. I shall have to consult a doctor.
TIHON:
Yes. Do so.
STAVROGIN:
No, its useless. I know who it is. And you do too.
TIHON:
You mean the Devil?
STAVROGIN:
Yes. You believe in him, dont you? A man of your calling is obliged to believe in him.
TIHON:
Well, Id say that in your case it is more probably an ailment.
STAVROGIN:
You are skeptical, I see. Do you at least believe in God?
TIHON:
I believe in God.
STAVROGIN:
It is written: If you believe and if you command the mountain to be removed, you shall be
obeyed. Can you move a mountain?
TIHON:
Perhaps. With the help of God.
STAVROGIN:
Why perhaps? If you believe, you must say yes.
TIHON:
My faith is imperfect.
115

STAVROGIN:
Well, its a pity. Do you know the answer that a certain bishop made? With the knife at his throat,
a barbarian asked him if he believed in God. Very little, very little, the bishop replied. Thats
not worthy, is it?
TIHON:
His faith was imperfect.
STAVROGIN (smiling):
Yes, yes. But, in my opinion, faith must be perfect or there is no faith. Thats why Im an atheist.
TIHON:
The complete atheist is more respectable than the man who is indifferent. He is on the last rung
preceding perfect faith.
STAVROGIN:
I know it. Do you remember the passage from the Apocalypse about the lukewarm?
TIHON:
Yes. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then
because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest
STAVROGIN:
That will do.
(A silence. Without looking at him)
You know, I like you very much.

TIHON (in a whisper):

I like you too.
(Rather long silence. Stroking Stavrogins elbow ivith his finger)
Dont be annoyed.
STAVROGIN (giving a start):
How did you know
(He resumes his normal tone of voice.)
Indeed, yes, I was annoyed because I told you that I liked you.

116

TIHON (firmly):
Dont be annoyed, and tell me everything.
STAVROGIN:
So you are sure that I came with an ulterior motive?
TIHON (lowering his eyes):
I read it on your face when you came in.
(STAVROGIN is pale and his hands tremble. He takes several sheets of paper out of his pocket.)
STAVROGIN:
All right. I wrote a story about myself which I am going to publish. Whatever you may say to me
about it wont change my decision in any way. However, I should like you to be the first to know
this story, and Im going to tell it to you.
(TIHON slowly nods his head.)
Stop up your ears. Promise not to listen to me and I shall speak,
(TIHON doesnt answer.)
From 1861 to 1863 I lived in Petersburg indulging in debauch-eries that provided no pleasure. I
was living with nihilist comrades who adored me because of my money. I was dreadfully bored.
So much so that I might have hanged myself. The reason that I didnt hang myself then is that I
was hoping for something, I didnt know just what.
(TIHON says nothing.)
I had three apartments.
TIHON :
Three?
STAVROGIN:
Yes. One in which I had set up Maria Lebyatkin, who later became my legitimate wife. And two
others in which I used to receive my mistresses. One of them was rented to me by shopkeepers
who occupied the rest of the apartment and worked elsewhere. Hence I was alone there, rather
often, with their twelve-year-old daughter named Matriocha.
(He stops.)
TIHON :
Do you want to go on or stop there?
STAVROGIN:
Ill go on. She was a very gentle and calm child, pale blonde and freckled. One day I couldnt
117

find my pocket knife. I mentioned it to the mother, who accused her daughter and beat her, in my
presence, until she bled. That evening I found the pocket knife in the folds of my blanket. I put it
into my waistcoat pocket and, once outside, threw it away in the street so that no one would know
about it. Three days later I went back to Matriochas house.
(He stops.)
TIHON:
Did you tell her parents?
STAVROGIN:
NO. They werent there. Matriocha was alone.
TIHON:
Ah!
STAVROGIN:
Yes. Alone. She was sitting in a corner on a little bench. She had her back turned. For some time I
watched her from my room. Suddenly she began to sing softly, very softly. My heart began
beating violently. I got up and slowly approached Matriocha. The windows were dec-orated with
geraniums; the sun was hot. I sat down silently beside her on the floor. She was frightened and
suddenly stood up. I took her hand and kissed it; she laughed like a child; I made her sit down
again, but she again got up with a frightened look. I kissed her hand again. I drew her onto my
lap. She withdrew a bit and smiled again. I was laughing too. Then she threw her arms around
my neck and kissed me
.
(He stops, TIHON looks at him. STAVROGIN stares hack at him and then, showing a blank sheet)
At this point in my story I left a blank.
TIHON:
Are you going to tell me what followed?
STAVROGIN (laughing awkwardly, his face distorted):
No, no. Later on. When you become worthy of it
(TIHON stares at him.)
But nothing happened at all; what are you thinking? Nothing at ail It would be better if you
didnt look at me.
(In a whisper)
And dont try my patience,
(TIHON lowers his eyes.)
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When I returned two days later, Matriocha fled into the other room as soon as she saw me. But it
was clear to me that she hadnt said anything to her mother. Yet I was afraid. During that whole
time I was horribly afraid that she would talk. Finally, one day her mother told me, before leaving
us alone, that the girl was in bed with a fever. I sat down in my room and, without stirring,
watched the bed in the darkness of the other room. An hour later she moved. She came out of the
darkness, emaciated in her nightgown, came to the door of my room, and there, tossing her head,
shook her frail little fist at me. Then she fled. I heard her run along the inner balcony. I got up and
saw her disappear into a nook where wood was kept. I knew what she was going to do. But I sat
down again and forced myself to wait twenty minutes. Someone was singing in the courtyard; a
fly was buzzing near me. I caught it, held it in my hand a moment, and then let it go. I recall that
on a geranium near me a tiny red spider was walking slowly. When the twenty minutes were up, I
forced myself to wait a quarter of an hour more. Then, as I left, I looked into the nook through a
crack. Matriocha had hanged herself. I left and spent the evening playing cards, with the feeling
that a weight had been lifted from me.
TIHON:
A weight lifted from you?
STAVROGIN (with a change in manner):
Yes. But at the same time I knew that the feeling was based on a horrible cowardice and that
never again, never again, could I feel noble in this life, or in another life, never .
TIHON:
Is that why you acted so strangely here?
STAVROGIN:
Yes. I should have liked to kill myself. But I didnt have the courage. So I ruined my life in the
stupidest way possible. I led an ironic life. It occurred to me that it would be a good idea quite
stupid, reallyto marry a crazy woman, a cripple, and so I did. I even accepted a duel and kept
from shooting in the hope of being killed foolishly. Finally I accepted the heaviest
responsibilities, without believing in them. But all that was in vain! And now I live between two
dreams. In one of them there are happy islands surrounded by a sun-drenched sea where men
wake up and go to bed innocent, and in the other I see an emaciated Matriocha tossing her head
and shaking her little fist at me . Her little fist. . I should like to erase a deed from my life, and
I cannot.
(He hides his head in his hands.Then, after a silence, he straightens up.)
TIHON: Are you really going to publish this story?
STAVROGIN:
Yes. Yes!
TIHON:
Your intention is noble. The spirit of peni-tence can go no further. It would be an admirable
action to punish oneself this way if only
119

STAVROGIN:
If?
TIHON:
If only it were a true penance.
STAVROGIN:
What do you mean?
TIHON:
You express directly in your narrative the need felt by a heart mortally wounded. This is why you
wanted to be spat upon, to be slapped, and to be shamed. But at the same time there is pride and
defiance in your confession. Sensuality and idleness have made you insensitive, incapable of
loving, and you seem to be proud of that insensitivity. You are proud of what is shameful. That is
despicable.
STAVROGIN:
I thank you.
TIHON:
Why?
STAVROGIN:
Because, although you are annoyed with me, you dont seem to feel any disgust and you talk to
me as to an equal.
TIHON:
I was disgusted. But you have so much pride that you didnt notice it. Yet your words You talk
to me as to an equal are beautiful words. They show that your heart is great and your strength
tremendous. But that great useless strength in you frightens me because it seeks to express itself
only in foul deeds. You have negated everything, you no longer love anything, a punishment
pursues all those who break away from their native soil, from the truth belonging to their own
people and their own time.
STAVROGIN:
I dont fear that punishment, or any other.
TIHON:
One must fear, on the contrary. Or else there is no punishment but only delight. Listen.
If someone, someone you didnt know, whom you would never see again, read that confession
and forgave you silently in his heart, would that bring you peace?
STAVROGIN:
That would bring me peace.
(In a whisper)
If you forgave me, that would do me great good.
120

(He stares at him and then breaks out in violent passion.)

No! I want to win my own forgiveness! That is my principal and sole aim. Only then will the
vision disappear! That is why I long for an exceptional suffering; that is why I seek it myself!
Dont discourage me or I shall burst with rage!
TIHON (rising):
If you believe that you can forgive yourself, and that you will achieve your forgiveness in this
world through suffering, if you seek solely to obtain that forgivenessoh, then you have
complete faith! God will forgive you your absence of faith, for you venerate the Holy Ghost
without knowing it.
STAVROGIN:
There can be no forgiveness for me. It is written in your books that there is no greater crime than
to offend one of these little ones.
TIHON:
If you forgive yourself, Christ will forgive you likewise.
STAVROGIN:
No. No. Not he. Not he. There can be no forgiveness! Never again, never again
(STAVROGIN takes his hat and strides toward the door like a madman. But he turns back toward
TIHON and resumes his ceremonious manner. Me seems exhausted.}
I shall return. We shall talk of all this again. I assure you that Im very happy to have met you. I
appreciate your welcome and your understanding.
TIHON:
Are you leaving already? I wanted to ask you a favor . But I fear
STAVROGIN:
Please do.
{He negligently picks up a little crucifix from the table.)
TIHON:
Dont publish that story.
STAVROGIN:
I warned you that nothing will stop me. I shall make it known to the whole world!
TIHON:
I understand. But I propose to you an even greater sacrifice. Give up your intention and in this
way you will overcome your pride, you will crush your demon, and you will achieve liberty.
121

{He clasps his hands.)

STAVROGIN:
You take all this too much to heart. If I listened to you, Id just settle down, have children,
become a member of a club, and come to the monastery on holy days.
TIHON:
No. I am suggesting a different penance. In this monastery there is an ascetic, an old man of such
Christian wisdom that neither I nor even you can imagine it. Go to him, submit to his authority
for five or seven years, and you will obtain, I promise you, everything for which you thirst.
STAVROGIN {in a bantering tone of voice):
Enter the monastery? Why not? After all, I am convinced that I could live like a monk, although I
am gifted with a bestial sensuality,
(TIHON cries out, with his hands stretched in front of him.)
Whats the matter?
TIHON:
I see, I see clearly that you have never been closer to committing another crime even more
heinous than the one you have just related.
STAVROGIN:
Calm yourself. I can promise you not to publish this story immediately.
TIHON:
NO. NO. There will come a day, an hour, before that great sacrifice, when you will look for a
way out in a new crime, and you will commit it only to avoid publication of these pages!
(STAVROGIN stares at him -fixedly, breaks the crucifix, and drops the -pieces on the tabled)
CURTAIN

122

THIRD PART

SCENE 15
At Varvara Stavrogiris. STAVROGIN comes in, his face distorted, hesitates, wheels around, and
then disappears through the door upstage, GRIGORIEV and STEPAN TROFIMOVICH come in,
greatly excited.
STEPAN:
But, after all, what does she want of me?
GRIGORIEV:
I dont know. She asked you to come at once.
STEPAN:
It must be the house search. She heard of it. She will never forgive me.
GRIGORIEV:
But who came to search you?
123

STEPAN:
I dont know, une espece dAllemand, who directed everything. I was excited. He talked. No, I
was the one who talked. I told him my whole lifefrom the political point of view, I mean. I was
excited but dignified, I assure you. Yet I fear I may have wept.
GRIGORIEV:
But you should have demanded his search warrant. You should have shown a little arrogance.
STEPAN:
Listen, Anton, dont criticize me. When you are unhappy, there is nothing more unbearable than
having friends tell you that you have made a mistake. In any case, I have taken my pre-cautions. I
have had warm clothing packed.
GRIGORIEV:
For what reason?
STEPAN:
Well, if they come to get me Thats the way it is now: they come, they seize you, and then
Siberia or worse. Consequently I sewed thirty-five rubles into the lining of my waistcoat.
GRIGORIEV:
But theres no question of your being arrested.
STEPAN:
They must have received a telegram from St. Petersburg.
GRIGORIEV:
About you? But you havent done anything.
STEPAN:
Yes, yes, Ill be arrested. And off to prison, or else they forget you in a dungeon.
(He bursts into sobs.)
GRIGORIEV:
Come, come, calm yourself. You havent anything on your conscience. Why are you afraid?
STEPAN:
Afraid? Oh, Im not afraid! I mean, Im not afraid of Siberia. Theres something else I fear. I fear
shame.
GRIGORIEV:
Shame? What shame?
STEPAN:
The whip!
124

GRIGORIEV:
What do you mean, the whip? You frighten me, my friend.
STEPAN:
Yes, they flog you too.
GRIGORIEV:
But why should they flog you? You havent done anything.
STEPAN:
Thats just it. Theyll see that I havent done anything and theyll flog me.
GRIGORIEV:
You should take a rest after you have seen Varvara Stavrogin.
STEPAN:
What will she think? How will she react when she learns of my shame? Here she is.
(He makes the sign of the cross,)

GRIGORIEV:
You make the sign of the cross?
STEPAN:
Oh, Ive never believed in that. But, after all, its better not to take any chances.
(VARVARA STAVROGIN comes in. They rise.)
VARVARA (to GRIGORIEV):
Thank you, Anton. Would you be so kind as to leave us alone?
(To STEP AN TROFIMOVICH)
Sit down,
(GRIGORIEV leaves. She goes to the desk and writes a note rapidly. Meanwhile, STEPAN
TROFIMOVICH squirms on his chair. Then she turns around toward him.)
Stepan Trofimovich, we have questions to settle before separating definitively. I shall be blunt.
(He cringes on his chair.)
Dont say a word. Let me do the talking. I consider myself committed to continuing your
allowance of twelve hundred rubles. I am adding eight hundred rubles for exceptional expenses.
125

Is that enough for you? It seems to me that it is not negligible. So you will take this money and
go to live, as you will, in Petersburg, in Moscow, abroad, but not in my house. Do you
understand?
STEPAN:
Not long ago you made another arbitrary demand, just as urgent and just as categorical. I
submitted to it. I disguised myself as a fiance and danced the minuet for love of you .
VARVARA:
You didnt dance. You came to my house wearing a new necktie, pomaded and per-fumed. You
had an urgent desire to get married; it could be seen on your face, and, take my word for it, it was
not pretty to see. Especially with an innocent young girl, almost a child
STEPAN:
Please lets not talk about it any more. I shall go to a home for the aged.
VARVARA:
People dont go to a home for the aged when they have an income of two thousand rubles. You
say that because your son, who, by the way, is more intelligent than you say he is, joked one day
about a home. But there are all sorts of homes and there are even some that take in generals. So
you could have a game of whist there
STEPAN:
Passorts. Lets not mention it.
VARVARA:
Passons? So you are becoming rude now? In that case, lets end our conversation right here. You
are forewarned: henceforth we shall live apart.
STEPAN:
And thats all? Thats all that remains of our twenty years together? Is that our final farewell?
VARVARA:
Yes, what about those twenty years! Twenty years of vanity and posturing! Even the letters you
sent me were written for posterity. You are not a friend; you are a stylist!
STEPAN:
You talk like my son. I see that he has influenced you.
VARVARA:
So you dont think Im big enough to think for myself? What have you done for me during these
twenty years? You even refused me the books that I ordered for you. You wouldnt give them to
me until you had read them yourself, and since you never read them I had to wait for them twenty
years. The truth is that you were jealous of my intellectual development.
STEPAN (in despair):
But is it possible to break off everything for so little reason!
126

VARVARA:
When I came back from abroad and wanted to tell you my impressions of the Sistine Madonna,
you didnt even listen to me; you simply smiled with an air of superiority.
STEPAN:
I smiled, yes, but I didnt feel superior.
VARVAKA:
There was no reason to, in any case! No one is interested in that Sistine Madonna except a few
old simpletons like you. Thats obvious.
STEPAN:
What is obvious, after all these cruel words, is that I must leave. Mark my words: I shall take up
my beggars staff and bag; I shall leave all your gifts and Ill start out on foot to end my life as a
tutor in the home of some shopkeeper or die of hunger in a ditch. Farewell.
(VARVARA STAVROGIN rises, exploding.)
VARVARA:
I was sure of it. I have known for years that you were simply waiting for the chance to dishonor
me. You are capable of dying just so that my house will be slandered.
STEPAN:
You have always despised me. But I shall end my life like a knight faithful to his lady. From this
minute forward, I shall accept nothing more from you and shall honor you in a disinterested way.
VARVARA:
That will be new.
STEPAN:
I know, you have never had any regard for me. Yes, I was your parasite and I was occasionally
weak. But to live as a parasite never was the ruling principle of my conduct. It just happened, I
dont know how. I always thought there was something between us over and above eating and
drinking, and I never was vulgar. Well, now Ill take to the road to right my wrongs! It is very
late, the autumn is well along, the countryside is thick in fog, the frost of old age covers rny -way,
and in the howling of the wind I can hear the call of the grave. En route, cependant! Oh, I say
farewell to you, my dreams! Vingt ans!
(His face is covered with tears.)
Allans!
VARVARA {she is deeply moved, but stamps her foot):
This is just one more bit of childish-ness. You will never be capable of carrying out your selfish
threats. You wont go anywhere, you wont find any shopkeepers, and you will remain on my
neck, continuing to draw your allowance and to receive your dreadful friends every Tuesday.
127

Farewell, Stepan Trofimovich!

STEPAN:
Alea jacta est.
(He rushes out.)
VARVARA:
Stepan!
(But he has disappeared. She walks in circles, tearing her muff to pieces, then flings herself on
the sofa in tears. Outside, vague noises.)
GRIGORIEV (coming in):
Where was Stepan Trofimovich going? And there is an uprising in town!
VARVARA:
An uprising?
GRIGORIEV:
Yes. The workers from Spigulins fac-tory are holding a demonstration in front of the governors
house. The governor himself is reported to have gone mad.
VARVARA:
Good Lord, Stepan may get caught in the uprising!
(There enter, ushered in by ALEXEY YEGOROVICH: PRASCOVYA DROZDOV, LISA,
MAURICE NICOLAEVICH, and DASHA.)
PRASCOVYA:
Oh! Good heavens! Its the revolution! And my poor legs that cant drag me any further,
{There enter VIRGINSKY, LIPUTIN, and PETER VERKHOVENSKY.)
PETER:
Things are stirring, things are stirring. That idiot of a governor had an attack of brain fever.
VARVARA:
Have you seen your father?
PETER:
No, but hes not running any risk. He might be flogged, but that will do him good.
(STAVROGIN appears. His necktie is twisted out of place. He looks a bit mad, for the first time.)
VARVARA:
Nicholas, whats the matter with you?
128

STAVROGIN:
Nothing. Nothing. It seemed to me that someone was calling me. No No Who would call
me?
(LISA takes a step forward.)
LISA:
Nicholas Stavrogin, a certain Lebyatkin, who calls himself your wifes brother, is sending me
improper letters claiming to have revelations to make about you. If he is really your relative, keep
him from bothering me.
(VARVARA rushes toward LISA.)
STAVROGIN (with strange simplicity):
I have in fact the misfortune of being related to that man. It is four years now since I married his
sister, nee Lebyatkin, in Petersburg.
(VARVARA lifts up her right arm as if to shield her face and falls in a faint. All rush toward her
except LISA and STAVROGIN.)
STAVROGIN (in the same tone of voice):
Now is the time to follow me, Lisa. We shall go to my country house at Skvoreshniki.
(LISA walks toward him like an automaton. MAURICE NICOLAEVICH, who was paying
attention to VARVARA PETROVNA, rises and rushes toward her.)
MAURICE:
Lisa!
(A gesture on her part stops him.)
LISA:
Have pity on me.
(She follows STAVROGIN.)
BLACKOUT
THE NARRATOR (in front of a curtain lighted by the burning city):
The fire that had been smolder-ing for so long finally burst forth. It first burst out in reality the
night that Lisa followed Stavrogin. The fire destroyed the suburb separating Stavrogins country
house from the town. In that suburb stood the house lived in by Lebyatkin and his sister, Maria.
But the fire burst forth likewise in peoples souls. After Lisas flight, misfortune followed
misfortune.

129

SCENE 16
The drawing room of the country house at Skvoreshniki. Six a.m. LISA, wearing the same dress,
which is now rumpled and badly hooked up, is standing by the French window watching the fires
of the city. She shudders, STAVROGIN comes in from the outside.
STAVROGIN:
Alexey has gone on horseback to get news. In a few minutes we shall know all. It is said that a
part of the suburb has already burned down. The fire broke out between eleven and midnight.
(LISA turns around suddenly and goes over and sits down in an armchair.)
LISA:
Listen to me, Nicholas. We havent much longer to be together and I want to say all I have to say.
STAVROGIN:
What do you mean, Lisa? Why havent we much longer to be together?
LISA:
Because I am dead.
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STAVROGIN:
Dead? Why, Lisa? You must live.
LISA:
You have forgotten that as we arrived here yesterday I told you that you had brought a dead
woman. I have lived since then. I have had my hour of life on earth, and that is enough. I dont
want to be like Christofor Ivanovich. You remember?
STAVROGIN:
Yes.
LISA:
He bored you dreadfully, didnt he, at Lau-sanne? He always used to say: I have come just for a
minute and then he would stay all day. I dont want to be like him.
STAVROGIN:
Dont talk that way. You are hurting yourself and hurting me too. I swear to you that I love you
more at this moment than I did yesterday when we arrived here.
LISA:
What an odd declaration!
STAVROGIN:
We shant separate again. We shall leave together.
LISA:
Leave? Why? To be reborn together, as you said. No, all that is too sublime for me. If I were to
leave with you, it would be for Moscow, to have a home and live among friends. That is my ideal,
a very middle-class ideal. But, as you are married, all this is pointless.
STAVROGIN:
But, Lisa, have you forgotten that you gave yourself to me?
LISA:
I havent forgotten it. I want to leave you now.
STAVROGIN:
YOU are taking revenge on me lor your whim of yesterday.
LISA:
That is a thoroughly vulgar thought.
STAVROGIN:
Then why did you do it?
LISA:
131

What do you care? You are guilty of nothing; you dont have to answer to anyone.
STAVROGIN:
Dont despise me that way. I fear nothing except losing the hope you gave me. I was lost, like a
drowning man, and I thought that your love would save me. Do you have any idea what that new
hope cost rile? I paid for It with life itself.
LISA:
Your life or someone elses?
STAVROGIN (thoroughly upset):
What do you mean? Tell me at once what you mean!
LISA:
I simply asked you if you had paid for that hope with your life or mine. Why do you stare at me
so? What did you think? You look as if you were afraid, as if you had been afraid for some
time . You are so pale now .
STAVROGIN:
If you know something, / know nothing, I swear. Thats not what I meant.
LISA (terrified):
I dont understand you.
STAVROGIN (siting doavn and hiding his face in his hands):
A bad dream A nightmare We were talking of two different things.
LISA:
I dont know what you were talking about.
(She stares at him.)
Nicholas
(He raises his head.)
Is it possible that you didnt guess yesterday that I would leave you today? Did you know ityes
or no? Dont lie: did you know it?
STAVROGIN:
I knew it.
LISA:
You knew it and yet you took me.
STAVROGIN:
Yes, condemn me. You have the right to do so. I knew also that I didnt love you and yet I took
132

you. I have never felt love for anyone. I desire, thats all. And I took advantage of you.
But I have always hoped that someday I could love, and I have always hoped that it would be
you. The fact that you were willing to follow me gave strength to that hope. I shall love, yes, I
shall love you. . .
LISA:
You will love me! And I imagined Ah! I followed you through pride, in order to rival you in
generosity; I followed you to ruin myself with you and to share your misfortune.
(She weeps.)
But, despite everything, I imagined that you loved me madly. And you You hope to love me
someday. What a little fool I was! Dont make fun of these tears. I love being sentimental about
myself. But that is enough! I am not capable of anything and you are not capable of anything
either. Let us console ourselves by sticking out our tongues at each other. That way our pride at
least will not suffer.
STAVROGIN:
Dont weep. I cant endure it.
LISA:
I am calm. I gave my life for an hour with you. Now I am calm. As for you, you will forget. You
will have other hours and other moments.
STAVROGIN:
Never, never! No one but you
LISA (looking at him with a wild hope):
Ah! You
STAVROGIN:
Yes, yes. I shall love you. Now I am sure of it. Someday my heart will relax at last, I shall bow
my head and forget myself in your arms. You alone can cure me .
LISA (who has recovered possession of herself, with a dull tone of despair):
Cure you! I dont want to. I dont want to be a Sister of Charity for you. Ask Dasha instead; she
will follow you every-where like a dog. And dont worry about me. I knew in advance what was
in store for me. I always knew that if I followed you, you would lead me to a spot inhabited by a
monstrous spider as big as a man, that we would spend our life watching the spider and trembling
with fear, and that our love would go no farther .
(ALEXEY YEGOROVICH comes in.)
ALEXEY: Sir, sir, they have found
{He stops as he sees LISA.)
133

I Sir, Peter Verkhovensky wishes to see you.

STAVROGIN:
Lisa, wait in this room.
{She goes toward it. ALEXEY YEGOROVICH goes out.)
Lisa
{She stops.)
If you hear anything, you might as well know now that / am the guilty one.
{She looks at him in fright and slowly backs into the study, PETER VERKHOVENSKY comes in.)
PETER:
Let me tell you first of all that none of us is guilty. It was a mere coincidence. Legally you are not
involved .
STAVROGIN:
They were burned? Assassinated?
PETER:
Assassinated. Unfortunately, the house only half burned and the bodies were found.
Lebyatkins throat was slit. His sister had been slashed over and over again with a knife. But it
was a prowler, most certainly. I have heard that, the night before, Lebyatkin was drunk and
showed everybody the fifteen hundred rubles I had given him.
STAVROGIN:
You had given him fifteen hundred rubles?
PETER:
Yes. Quite deliberately. And from you.
STAVROGIN:
From me?
PETER:
Yes. I was afraid he would denounce us and I gave him the money so that he could get to St.
Petersburg .
(STAVROGIN takes a few steps with an absent-minded stare.)
But listen at least to the way things turned out .
(He grasps STAVROGIN by the lapel of his Prince Albert, STAVROGIN gives him a violent blow.)
134

Oh, you might have broken my arm! Of course, he boasted of having that money. Fedka saw it,
thats all. Im sure now that it was Fedka. He must not have understood your true intentions .
STAVROGIN {oddly absent-minded):
Was it Fedka who lighted the fire?
PETER:
No. No. You know that such fires were planned in our group action. Its a very Russian way of
starting a revolution . But it came too soon! I was disobeyed, thats all, and Ill have to take
steps. But dont forget that this misfortune has its advantages. For instance, you are a widower
and you can marry Lisa tomorrow. Where is she? I want to give her the good news.
(STAVROGIN laughs suddenly, but with a sort of wild laugh.)
You are laughing?
STAVROGIN:
Yes. I am laughing at one who apes me, I am laughing at you. Good news, indeed! But dont you
think that those corpses will upset her somewhat?
PETER:
Not at all! Why? Besides, legally And shes a young lady who isnt fazed by anything. Youll
be amazed to see the way she steps over those corpses. Once shes married, shell f orget
STAVROGIN:
There will be no marriage. Lisa will remain alone.
PETER:
No? As soon as I saw you together, I realized that it hadnt worked. Ah! A complete flop? Ill bet
you spent the whole night seated on different chairs, wasting precious time discussing very
serious things.] Besides, I was sure that it would all end in nonsense . Good. I shall easily
marry her off to Maurice Nicolaevich, who must be waiting for her outside now in the rain. As
for the othersthe ones who were killed its better not to tell her anything about that. Shell
find out soon enough.
(LISA comes in.)
LISA:
What shall I find out soon enough? Who has killed someone? What did you say about Maurice
Nicolaevich?
PETER:
Well, young lady, so we listen at doors!
LISA:
What did you say about Maurice Nicolaevich? Has he been killed?
135

STAVSOGIN:
No, Lisa. It was only my wife and her brother who were killed.
PETER (in a hurry):
A strange, a monstrous coincidence! Someone took advantage of the fire to kill and rob them. It
must have been Fedka.
LISA:
Nicholas! Is he telling the truth?
STAVROGIN:
No. He is not telling the truth.
(LISA moans.)
PETER:
But dont you see that this man has lost his reason! Besides, he spent the night with you. Hence
LISA:
Nicholas, talk to me as if you stood before God at this moment. Are you guilty or not? I will trust
your word as I would Gods word. And I shall follow you, like a dog, to the end of the world.
STAVROGIN (slowly):
I did not kill and I was against that murder, but I knew they would be assassinated and I did not
keep the murderers from doing it. Now, leave me.
LISA (looking at him with horror):
No! No! No!
(She rushes off, shouting.)
PETER:
So I have wasted my time with you!
STAVROGIN (in a dull voice):
Me. Oh! Me
(He laughs madly all of a sudden; then, getting up, shouts in a thundrous voice)
I loathe and detest everything that exists in Russia, the people, the Tsar, and you and Lisa. I hate
everything that lives on earth, and myself first of all. So let destruction reign and crush them all,
and with them all those who ape Stavrogin, and Stavrogin himself .
BLACKOUT

136

SCENE 17
In the street, LISA is running, PETER VERKHOVENSKY is running after her.
PETER:
Wait, Lisa, wait. Ill take you home. I have a fiacre.
LISA {bewildered):
Yes, yes, you are good. Where are they? Where is the blood?
PETER:
Stop! What can you do? Its raining, you see. Come. Maurice Nicolaevich is here.
LISA:
Maurice! Where is he? Oh, my God, hes waiting for me! He knows!
PETER:
What does that matter? Surely he doesnt have any prejudices!
LISA:
Wonderful, wonderful! Ah, he mustnt see me. Lets flee in the woods, in the fields .

137

(PETER leaves and LISA continues running. MAURICE 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 dont reject me!
LISA:
Maurice, dont abandon me! Im afraid of death. I dont want to die.
MAURICE:
You are soaked! Good Lord! And its still raining!
LISA:
It doesnt matter. Come, lead me. I want to see the blood. They killed his wife, Ive heard. And he
says he was the one who killed her. But its not true, is it? Oh, I must see with my own eyes those
who were killed because of me . Hurry! Hurry! Oh, Maurice, dont 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, arent
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 youand 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 couldnt do otherwise. I am fleeing their delirium, their nightmare, and I am going in
search of Russia. But you are both soaked. Here, take my umbrella,
(MAURICE automatically takes the umbrella.)
Ill find a cart of some kind. But, dear Lisa, what did you just say? Has someone been killed?
138

(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:
Its Stavrogins wench. Its 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, dont forsake me.
(LISA falls back dead.)
Lisa, dear Lisa, now its 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. Shatovs wife returned after three years absence.
But what Shatov took for a new beginning was in reality to be an end.

139

SCENE 18
Shatovs room, MARIA SHATOV is standing ivith a traveling bag in her hand.
MARIA:
Ill 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. Ill sell something and go to the hotel.
(She sits down on the bed.)
SHATOV:
Maria, you mustnt talk of a hotel. You are at home here.
MARIA:
No, I am not at home here. We separated three years ago. Dont 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 doesnt matter anyway. You are the only person who ever
told me she loved me. Thats enough. You are doing what you want, and now you are here.
MARIA:
Yes, you are good. I have come back under your roof because I have always considered you a
good manso far above all those scoundrels .
140

SHATOV:
Listen, Maria, you look exhausted. Please dont get annoyed. If youd 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 child. Give me some tea if you have any. Its so cold
here.
SHATOV:
Yes, yes, you shall have tea.
MARIA:
You dont have any here?
SHATOV;
There will be some. There will be some.
(He steps out and knocks at Kirilovs 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 tootake it.
SHATOV:
Ill 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.
141

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 cant receive you now.
LYAMSHIN:
I have something to tell you. I have come to tell you from Verkhovensky that everything 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 is burled. I shall
come to get you tomorrow at exactly six oclock, before dawn.
SHATOV:
Ill come. Now go. My wife has come back,
(LYAMSHIN leaves, SHATOV goes back toward 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? Im in your bed. Ah!
(She stiffens as if in a sort of attack and grips SHATOVs 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 dont understand you.
MARIA:
No, its nothing . Dont stand still. Tell me something . Talk to me of your new ideas. What
are you preaching now? You cant keep yourself from preaching; its in your nature.
142

SHATOV:
Yes That is I am preaching God now.
MARIA:
And yet you dont believe in him.
(New attack.)
Oh, how unbearable you are!
(She repulses SHATOV, who is bending over the bed.)
SHATOV:
Maria, Ill do what you want . Ill keep moving . Ill talk.
MARIA:
But dont you see that its begun?
SHATOV:
Begun? What has?
MARIA:
Dont you see that Im about to give birth? Oh! Cursed be this child!
(SHATOV gets up.)
Where are you going, where are you going? I forbid you!
SHATOV:
Ill be back, Ill be back. We need money and a midwife . OE, Maria! Kirilov! Kiriiovi
(BLACKOUT. Then the light gradually increases in the room.)
SHATOV:
Shes in the next room with him.
MARIA:
He is beautiful.
SHATOV:
What a great joy!
MARIA:
What shall I name him?
SHATOV.
143

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. Its 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:
Whats that?
SHATOV:
I had forgotten it. Maria, I must leave you. Ill 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 .
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.
144

(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,
LYAMSHIN 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 arrives with THE SEMINARIAN and LIPUTIN.
PETER {lifts his lantern and looks at them all in the face):
I hope you havent forgotten what was agreed.
VIRGINSKY:
Listen. I know that Shatovs wife came back to him last night and that she gave birth to a child.
Anyone who knows human nature 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.
145

PETER:
Well, let me point out to you that Shatov now considers this denunciation just and necessary.
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. Well ask him to give his word of honor. Thats all.
PETER:
You cant talk of honor unless youre 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 conclusion 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 assassination contradicts my system. Farewell. As for
denouncing you, you know that I wont do it.
(He wheels about and goes away.)
PETER:
Stay here! Well catch up with that madman. Meanwhile, I must tell you that Shatov already
told Kiriiov of his intention of denouncing 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 remind you that we are to throw him into the pond afterward and then scatter.
Kirilovs 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 answers it.)
Lets hide.

(They all hide except LIPUTIN. LYAMSHIN and SHATOV come on stage.)

146

SHATOV:
Well! You are silent? Where Is your pickax? Dont be afraid. Theres 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 SHATOVS forehead, SHATOV utters a
brief desperate cry: Maria! VERKHOVENSKY shoots, VIRGINSKY, ivho has not taken part in
the murder, suddenly begins to tremble and to scream.)
VIRGINSKY:
Thats not the way. No, no. Thats 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, VIRGINSKY, in fright, tears himself
away, LYAMSHIN throws himself on PETER VERKHOVENSKY, screaming likewise. He is seized
and silenced, VIRGINSKY weeps.)
No, no, thats not the way .
PETER (looking at them with scorn):
Filthy cowards!
BLACKOUT

147

SCENE 20
The street, VERKHOVENSKY, hastening toward the Filipov rooming house, encounters
FEDKA.
PETER:
Why the hell didnt you stay hidden, as I had ordered you to?
FEDKA:
Dont talk that way to me, you little sneak. I didnt want to compromise Mr. Kirilov, who is an
educated man.
PETER:
DO you or dont you want a passport and money to go to Petersburg?
FEDKA:
You are a louse. Thats 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: its you.
PETER {beside himself):
You wretch, Ill hand you over to the police at once!
{He takes out his revolver. Quicker than he, FEDKA strikes him four times on the head, PETER
148

jails, FEDKA runs away with a burst of laughter, PETER picks himself up.)
Ill find you at the other end of the world. Ill crush you. As for Kirilov !
{He runs toward the Filipov rooming house.)
BLACKOUT

SCENE 21
The Filipov rooming house.
KIRILOV (in complete blackness):
You killed Shatov! 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. Whats 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 advance because you were afraid I would kill you. But Ill not
kill. Although although
149

(He continues taking aim. Then he lowers his arm, laughing.)

PETER:
I knew you wouldnt 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:
Im sorry about Shatov.
PETER:
SO am I.
KIRILOV:
Shut up, you wretch, or Ill kill you.
PETER:
All right. I dont regret him . Besides, theres 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. Everything is just words.
KIRILOV:
All my life I wanted there to be something other than words. Thats 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 VERKHOVENSKY.)
Oh, youre the last man I shall ever see. I dont want us to separate in hatred.
PETER:
I assure you that I have nothing against you personally.
KIRILOV:
150

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 coward. Its despicable, I know.
KIRILOV (with increasing excitement):
Yes, yes, its 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 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 understood your point of view completely. If God is a lie,
then we are alone and free. You kill yourself 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 understood. Ah! Everyone will understand if even a low scoundrel like you can
understand. But someone has to begin and kill himself to prove to others the terrible freedom of
man. I am unfortunate because I am the first and because I am dreadfully frightened. I am Tsar
only for a short time. But I shall begin and open the door. And all men will be happy; they will all
be Tsars and forever.
(He rushes to the table.)
Ah! Give me the pen. Dictate and Ill sign anything. Even that I killed Shatov. Dictate. I dont
fear anyone; everything is a matter of indifference. All that is hidden will be known, and you will
be crushed. I believe. I believe. Dictate.
PETER (leaps up and places paper and pen in front of KIRILOV) :
I, Alexey Kirilov, declare
KIRILOV:
Yes. To whom? To whom? I want to know to whom Im making this declaration.
PETER:
TO no one, to everyone. Why specify? To the whole world.
KIRILOV:
To the whole world! Bravo. And without repenting. I dont want any repenting. I dont want to
address myself to the authorities. Go ahead, dictate. The universe is evil. Ill sign.
PETER:
Yes, the universe is evil. And down with the authorities! Write.
151

KIRILOV:
Wait a minute! I want to draw on the top of the page a face sticking out its tongue.
PETER:
No. No drawing. The tone is enough.
KIRILOV:
The toneyes, thats it. Dictate the tone.
PETER:
I declare that this morning I killed the student Shatov in the woods for his betrayal and his
denunciation in the matter of the proclamation.
KIRILOV:
IS that ail? I want to insult them too.
PETER:
Thats enough. Give it to me. But you havent dated it or signed. Sign it now.
KIRILOV:
I want to insult them.
PETER:
Put down Long live the Republic. Thatll get them.
KIRILOV:
Yes. Yes. No, Im going to put: Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death. There. And then in
French: gentilhomme, seminariste russe et citoyen du monde civilise. There! There! Its
perfect. Perfect.
(He gets up, takes the revolver, and runs and turns out the lamp. The stage isjn complete
darkness. He shouts in the darkness at the top of his lungs)
At once! At once!
(A shot rings out. Silence. Someone can be heard groping in the darkness, PETER
VERKHOVENSKY lights a candle and casts a light on KIRILOVS body.)
PETER:
Perfect!
(He goes out.)
MARIA SHATOV (shouting on the landing):
Shatov! Shatov!
BLACKOUT
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THE NARRATOR:
Denounced by the weak Lyamshin, Shatovs murderers were arrested, except for Verkhovensky,
who at that moment, com-fortably Installed in a first-class carriage, was crossing the frontier and
outlining new plans for a better society. But if such as Verkhovensky are immortal, it is not
certain that such as Stavrogin are.

SCENE 22
At Varvara Stavrogins, VARVARA STAVROGIN is putting on a cape. Beside her, DASHA is
wearing mourn-ing. ALEXEY YEGOROVICH IS at the doOT.
VARVARA:
Prepare the carriage!
(ALEXEY leaves.)
To run away like that at his age, and in the rain!
(She -weeps.)
The fool! The fool! But he is ill now. Oh! Ill bring him back dead or alive!
(She starts toward the door, stops, and comes back toward DASHA.)
My dear, my dear!
(She kisses her and leaves, DASHA watches her from the window, then goes and sits down.)
DASHA:
Protect them ail, good Lord, protect them all before protecting me too.

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(STAVROGIN suddenly enters, DASHA stares at him fixedly. Silence.)

You have come to get me, havent you?
STAVROGIN:
Yes.
DASHA:
What do you want with me?
STAVROGIN:
I have come to ask you to leave with me tomorrow.
DASHA:
I will! Where shall we go?
STAVROGIN :
Abroad. We shall settle there for good. Will you come?
DASHA:
Ill come.
STAVROGIN:
The place I am thinking of is lugubri-ous. At the bottom of a ravine. The mountain cuts off the
view and crushes ones thoughts. It is the one place in the world that is most like death.
DASHA:
Ill follow you. But you will learn to live, to live again . You are strong.
STAVROGIN (with a wry smile):
Yes, I am strong. I was capable of being slapped without saying a word, of overpowering a
murderer, of living in dissipation, of publicly confessing my downfall. I can do anything. I have
infinite strength. But I dont know where to apply it. Everything is for-eign to me.
DASHA:
Ah, may God give you just a little love, even if I am not the object of it!
STAVROGIN:
Yes, you are courageous; you will be a good nurse! But, let me repeat, dont let yourself be taken
in. I have never been able to hate anything. Hence, I shall never love. I am capable only of
negation, of petty negation. If I could believe in something, I could perhaps kill myself. But I
cant believe.
DASHA (trembling):
Nicholas, such a void is faith or the promise of faith.
STAVROGIN (looking at her after a moment of silence):
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Hence, I have faith.

(He straightens up.)
Dont say anything. I have something to do now.
(He gives a strange little laugh.)
What weakness to have come for you! You were dear to me, and in my sorrow it was pleasant to
be with you.
DASHA:
You made me happy by coming.
STAVROGIN (stares at her with an odd look):
Happy? All right, all right No, it isnt possible. I bring nothing but evil . But Im not
accusing anyone.
(He goes out on the right. Hubbub outside. VARVARA comes in upstage. Behind her, STEPAN
TROFIMOVICH is carried like a child by a tall, stalwart peasant.)
VARVARA:
Quick, put him on this sofa.
(To ALEXEY YEGOROVICH)
GO and get the doctor.
(To DASHA)
YOU, get the room warmed up.
(After laying STEPAN on the sofa, the peasant withdraws.)
Well! You poor fool, did you have a good walk?
(He faints. Panic-stricken, she sits down beside him and taps his hands.)
Oh, calm yourself, calm yourself! My dear! Oh, tormentor, tormentor!
STEPAN (lifting his head):
Ah, cherel Ah, cherel VARVARA: No, just wait, keep quiet.
(He takes her hand and squeezes it hard. Suddenly he lifts VARVARA.? hand to his lips. Gritting
her teeth, VARVARA STAVROGIN stares at a corner of the room.)
STEPAN:
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I loved you .
VARVARA:
Keep quiet.
STEPAN:
I loved you all my life, for twenty years .
VARVARA:
But why do you keep repeating: I loved you, I loved you? Enough Twenty years are over,
and theyll not return. Im just a fool!
(She rises.)
If you dont go to sleep again, Ill
(With a sudden note of affection)
Sleep. Ill watch over you.
STEPAN:
Yes. I shall sleep.
(He begins raving, but in an almost reasonable way.)
Chere et incomparable amie, it seems to me yes, I am almost happy. But happiness doesnt suit
me, for right away I begin to forgive my enemies. If only I could be forgiven too.
VARVARA (deeply moved and speaking bluffly):
You will be forgiven. And yet
STEPAN:
Yes. I dont deserve it, though. We are all guilty. But when you are here, I am innocent as a child.
Chere, I have to live in the presence of a woman. And it was so cold on the high-way . But I
got to know the people. I told them my life.
VARVARA:
You spoke about me in your taverns!
STEPAN:
Yes but only by allusion you see. And they didnt understand a word. Oh, let me kiss the
hem of your frock!
VARVARA:
Stay still. You will always be impossible.
STEPAN:
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Yes, strike me on the other cheek, as in the Gospels. I have always been a wretch. Except with
you.
VARVARA (weeping):
With me too.
STEPAN (getting excited):
No, but all my life Ive lied even when I told the truth. I never spoke with the truth in mind,
but solely with myself in mind. Do you realize that I am lying even now, perhaps?
VARVARA:
Yes, you are lying.
STEPAN:
That is The only true thing is that I love you. As for all the rest, yes, I am lying, thats certain.
The trouble is that I believe what I say when I lie. The hardest thing is to go on living and not to
believe in ones own lies. Mais vous etes Id, vous nf aiderez .
(He swoons.)
VARVARA: Come back to life! Come back to life! Oh, he is burning hot! Alexey!
(ALEXEY YEGOROVICH enters.)
ALEXEY:
The doctor is coming, madame.
(ALEXEY goes out on the right, VARVARA turns back toward STEPAN.)
STEPAN:
Chere, chere, vous voila! I reflected on the road and I understood many things that we should
give up negating. We should never negate anything again . Its too late for us, but for those to
come, the young who will take our place, la jeune Russie
VARVARA:
What do you mean?
STEPAN:
Oh! Read me the passage about the swine.
VARVARA (frightened):
About the swine?
STEPAN:
Yes, in St. Luke, you know, when the devils enter into the swine,
(VARVARA goes to get the Gospels on her desk and leafs through them.)
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Chapter VIII, verses 32 to 36.

VARVARA (standing near him and reading):
Then went the devils up out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently
down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.
And when they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told this in the city
and in the country.
Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom
the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were
afraid.
STEPAN:
Ah, yes! Yes Those devils who depart from the sick man, chere, you seewell, you recognize
them . They are our defects, our impurities, of course, and the sick man is Russia . But the
impurities leave him, they enter into the swine, I mean us, my son, the others, and we run
violently down a steep place as if possessed of the devil, and we shall perish. But the sick man
will be cured and he will sit at the feet of jesus and all will be cured . Yes, Russia will be cured
someday!
VARVARA:
Youre not going to die. You say that just to torment me a little more, cruel man .
STEPAN:
No, chere, no Besides, I shall not die altogether. We shall be raised from the dead, we shall be
raised from the dead, wont we? If God is, we shall be raised . That is my profession of faith.
And I make it to you whom I loved .
VARVARA:
God is, Stepan Troflmovich. I assure you that he exists.
STEPAN:
I realized that on the road amidst my people. I have lied all life long. Tomorrow, tomorrow,
chere, we shall live again together .
(He falls back dead.)
VARVARA:
Dasha!
(Then, standing stiffly)
O,mon Dieu, have pity on this child!
ALEXEY (rushing out of the room on the right):
Madame, madame!
158

(DASHA comes on.)

There! Look there!
(He points to the room.)
Mr. Stavrogin!
(DASHA runs toward the room. A gasp is heard from her. Then she comes out slowly.)
DASHA (falling on her knees):
He has hanged himself.
(The NARRATOR enters.)
THE NARRATOR:
Ladies and gentlemen, one word more. After Stavrogins death the doctors con-ferred and
pronounced that he showed not the slightest sign of insanity.
CURTAIN
A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
THROUGHOUT his distinguished literary career Albert Camus has devoted himself with passion
to the theater. When he was working his way through school and university in Algeria, where he
was born in 1913, he organized a theatrical stock company and took part as actor, adaptor, and
director. Between 1944 and 1949 four Camus plays (The Misunderstanding, Caligula, State of
Siege, and The Just Assassins) were produced in Paris; not only had he made a brilliant mark for
himself in France during the war years as a novelist, es-sayist, and journalist, but Camuss place
in the post-war theater was assured. Between 1953
and 1957 he adapted and directed five plays, the most successful of which was his version of
Faulkners Requiem for a Nun, produced in 1957, the same year that he was awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature. Camuss eagerly anticipated re-creation and lavish production of
Dostoevskys The Possessed was the high point of the 1959 theater season in Paris; it was then
presented at the Venice Festival and toured Europe for five months.

A NOTE ON THE TYPE

THE TEXT of this book was set on the Linotype in Janson, a remitting made direct from the type
cast from matrices long thought to have been made by Anton Janson, a Dutchman who was a
practising type-founder in Leipzig during the years 1668-1687. However, it has been conclusively
demonstrated that these types are actually the work of Nicholas Kis (1650-1702), a Hungarian
159

who learned his trade most probably from the master Dutch type-founder Dirk Voskens.
The type is an excellent example of the influ-ential and sturdy Dutch types that prevailed in
England prior to the development by William Caslon (1692-1766) of his own incomparable
designs, which he evolved from these Dutch faces.
The Dutch in their turn had been influenced by Claude Garamond (i;io-is6i) in France. The
general tone of the Janson, however, is darker than Garamond and has a sturdiness and substance
quite different from its predecessors. This book was composed, printed, and bound by Kingsport
Press, Inc., Kingsport, Tennessee. The paper was manufactured by P. H. Glatfelter Company,
Spring Grove, Pennsylvania. Typography based on designs by HARRY FORD.

160