Plays by Aleksandr Nikolaevich Ostrovsky Part 29

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Very well, Mitya, if you are needed there--we won't keep you; G.o.d be with you! Good-by!

MiTYA. [_Bows down to the feet of _PELAGeYA EGoROVNA, _exchanges kisses with her and with_ ANNA IVaNOVNA; _then bows again and waits_] Might I be allowed to say good-by to Lyubov Gordeyevna? You see we have lived in the same house--maybe I shall die before I see her again!

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Yes, you must, you must. Say good-by to her, of course!

Annushka, go and fetch Lyubov.

ANNA IVaNOVNA. [_Shaking her head_] "One man leads her by one hand, another by the other, a third stands and sheds tears; he loved her, but did not get her."

SCENE V

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA and MiTYA

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Oh, Mitya, my dear! What trouble we are in! How can we drive it away--get rid of it--I cannot think. It's as if a thunderbolt had struck me! I can't recover myself.

MiTYA. You have no one to blame but yourself for your unhappiness, Pelageya Egorovna; you are marrying her off yourself, ma'am.

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Yes, we are doing it ourselves; we are marrying her off ourselves! Only it's not with my consent, Mitya! If I had my way, do you think I'd give her up? Do you think I'm her enemy?

MiTYA. He's a man--from what I hear--not a very great catch! There's nothing good to be heard of him--except what's bad.

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. I know, Mitya dear, I know.

MiTYA. Well, from all accounts, I must say this, that most likely Lyubov Gordeyevna, married to such a man, and living far away from you, will absolutely perish--no doubt of it.

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Oh, don't speak of it to me, don't speak of it! I'm distracted enough about it without your saying anything. I've worn my eyes out with gazing at her! If I could only look at her enough to last me forever! It's as if I were getting ready to bury her.

MiTYA. [Nearly weeping] How can such things happen? How can people do such things? She's your own daughter, I suppose!

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. If she weren't my own, then I shouldn't be weeping and wailing, and my heart wouldn't be breaking over her tears.

MiTYA. Why weep? It would be better not to marry her. Why are you ruining the girl's life, and giving her into slavery? Isn't this a sin? You will have to answer for it to G.o.d.

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. I know, I know it all, but I tell you, Mitya, it's not my doing. Why do you keep on blaming me? It's horrible enough for me without your talking about it, and you stir me up still more. Mitya, you should pity me!

MiTYA. It's true, Pelageya Egorovna, but I can't endure this sorrow. Maybe it's worse for me than for you! I trust you so much, Pelageya Egorovna, that I will open my heart to you as if you were my own mother. [_Dries his eyes with his handkerchief_] Yesterday evening, when you were having the evening party. [_Tears prevent him from speaking_]

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Well, well, tell me, tell me!

MiTYA. Well, then, she and I made a compact in the dark, that we would go together to you and to Gordey Karpych, and beg you humbly; we were going to say: "Give us your blessing; we cannot live without each other any longer."

[_Dries his tears_] And now suddenly, this morning, I heard--and my arms just dropped by my side!

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. What are you saying?

MiTYA. I swear it, Pelageya Egorovna, in the name of the Lord!

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Oh, my dear boy! What a luck-less lad you are, now that I know all!

_LYUBoV GORDeYEVNA comes in._

SCENE VI

The same and LYUBoV GORDeYEVNA

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Here, Lyubov dear! Mitya has come to say good-by; he is going away from here to his mother's.

MiTYA. [Bows] Good-by, Lyubov Gordeyevna! Don't bear me any ill will!

LYUBoV GORDeYEVNA. Good-by, Mitya! [_Bows_]

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Kiss each other good-by; it may be that G.o.d will not let you see each other again. Well, never mind! [_MiTYA and LYUBoV GORDeYEVNA kiss each other; she seats herself on the sofa and weeps; MiTYA also weeps_] Stop, stop your weeping! you will drive me wild!

MiTYA. Oh, I'll risk everything now; everything in the world! [_Goes to PELAGeYA EGoROVNA_] Pelageya Egorovna, are you sorry to marry your daughter to an old man, or not?

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. If I weren't sorry, I shouldn't be crying.

MiTYA. Will you permit me to speak, Pelageya Egorovna?

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. Speak!

MiTYA. This is what I have to say: Get her ready and put on her warm clothes. Let her slip out quietly; I'll seat her in my fairy sleigh, and that's the last of us. Then the old man will never see her any more than his own ears! And no matter if I do go to ruin! I will take her to my mother and there we will get married. Oh, just give us a chance! I want some joy in life! At any rate, if I have to pay the price, at least I shall know that I've really lived.

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. What do you mean? What do you mean, you scamp?

LYUBoV GORDeYEVNA. What an idea, Mitya!

MiTYA. So you don't love me? Or have you ceased to love me?

LYUBoV GORDeYEVNA. What you say is dreadful!

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. What an idea, you scamp! Who would dare to take such a sin on his soul? Yes, come to your senses! What are you thinking of?

MiTYA. Why, I said if you're sorry! But if you're not sorry--then give her to Afrikan Savvich; sell her into slavery forever and ever. You'll be miserable yourselves when you see her wretched life; you'll come to your senses, you and Gordey Karpych, but then it will be too late.

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. But how could you, without her father's blessing? How could you? Judge for yourself!

MiTYA. Certainly, how could we live without a blessing! Then you bless us, Pelageya Egorovna. [_Kneels down_] and Gordey Karpych, it may be--himself, in time--somehow---

PELAGeYA EGoROVNA. What can I say to you? I feel altogether distracted.--Yes, I'm going out of my mind! I don't know anything! I don't remember anything! Yes, yes, my head spins. Oh, my darlings, my heart is torn!

LYUBoV GORDeYEVNA. _Goes to MiTYA_] No, Mitya, this can't be! Don't torture yourself for nothing; stop! [Raises him up] Don't tear my soul! Already my heart is all withered away within me! G.o.d be with you; good-by!

MiTYA. Why did you deceive me and mock at me?