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The Live Corpse, a play by Leo Tolstoy |
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Act 3 Scene 1 |
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_ ACT III SCENE I [Prince Abrezkov, a sixty-year-old bachelor with moustaches, a retired army man, elegant, very dignified and melancholy-looking. Anna Dmitrievna Karenina (Victor's mother), a fifty-year-old "grande dame" who tries to appear younger, and intersperses her remarks with French expressions.] [Anna Dmitrievna's sitting-room, furnished with expensive simplicity, and filled with souvenirs.] [Anna Dmitrievna is writing. Footman enters.] FOOTMAN. Prince Abrezkov ... ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Yes, certainly ... [Turns round and touches herself up before the looking-glass]. [Enter Abrezkov.] PRINCE ABREZKOV. _J'espère que je ne force pas la consigne...._[8] [Kisses her hand]. [NOTE 8: I hope I am not forcing myself on you.] ANNA DMITRIEVNA. You know that _vous êtes toujours le bienvenu_[9]--and to-day especially! You got my note? [NOTE 9: You are always welcome.] PRINCE ABREZKOV. I did, and this is my answer. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Ah, my friend! I begin quite to despair. _Il est positivement ensorcelE!_[10] I never before knew him so insistent, so obstinate, so pitiless, and so indifferent to me. He has quite changed since that woman dismissed her husband! [NOTE 10: He is positively bewitched!] PRINCE ABREZKOV. What are the facts? How do matters actually stand? ANNA DMITRIEVNA. He wants to marry her come what may. PRINCE ABREZKOV. And how about the husband? ANNA DMITRIEVNA. He agrees to a divorce. PRINCE ABREZKOV. Dear me! ANNA DMITRIEVNA. And he, Victor, lends himself to it, with all the abominations--lawyers, proofs of guilt--_tout ça est dEgoutant_![11] And it doesn't seem to repel him. I don't understand him--he was always so sensitive, so reserved ... [NOTE 11: It is all disgusting!] PRINCE ABREZKOV. He is in love! Ah, when a man really loves ... ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Yes, but how is it that in our day love could be pure--could be a loving friendship, lasting through life? That kind of love I understand and value. PRINCE ABREZKOV. Nowadays the young generation no longer contents itself with those ideal relations. _La possession de l'âme ne leur suffit plus._[12] It can't be helped!... What can one do with him? [NOTE 12: For them, to possess the soul is no longer enough.] ANNA DMITRIEVNA. You must not say that of _him_--but it's as if he were under a spell. It's just as if he were someone else.... You know, I called on her. He begged me so. I went there, did not find her in, and left my card. _Elle m'a fait demander si je ne pourrais la recevoir_;[13] and to-day [looks at the clock] at two o'clock, that is in a few minutes' time, she will be here. I promised Victor I would receive her, but you understand how I am placed! I am not myself at all; and so, from old habit, I sent for you. I need your help! [NOTE 13: She inquired whether I would receive her.] PRINCE ABREZKOV. Thank you. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. This visit of hers, you understand, will decide the whole matter--Victor's fate! I must either refuse my consent--but how can I? PRINCE ABREZKOV. Don't you know her at all? ANNA DMITRIEVNA. I have never seen her. But I'm afraid of her. A good woman could not consent to leave her husband, and he a good man, too! As a fellow-student of Victor's he used to visit us, you know, and was very nice. But whatever he may be, _quels que soient les torts qu'il a eus vis-à-vis d'elle_,[14] one must not leave one's husband. She ought to bear her cross. What I don't understand is how Victor, with the convictions he holds, can think of marrying a divorced woman! How often--quite lately--he has argued warmly with SpItsin in my presence, that divorce was incompatible with true Christianity; and now he himself is going in for it! _Si elle a pu le charmer à un tel point_[15] ... I am afraid of her! But I sent for you to know what _you_ have to say to it all, and instead of that I have been doing all the talking myself! What do you think of it? Tell me your opinion. What ought I to do? You have spoken with Victor? [NOTE 14: However he may have wronged her.] [NOTE 15: If she has been able to charm him to such a degree ...] PRINCE ABREZKOV. I have: and I think he loves her. He has grown used to loving her; and love has got a great hold on him. He is a man who takes things slowly but firmly. What has once entered his heart will never leave it again; and he will never love anyone but her; and he can never be happy without her, or with anyone else. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. And how willingly VArya KazAntseva would have married him! What a girl she is, and how she loves him! PRINCE ABREZKOV [smiling]. _C'est compter sans son hôte!_[16] That is quite out of the question now. I think it's best to submit, and help him to get married. [NOTE 16: That's reckoning without your host!] ANNA DMITRIEVNA. To a divorced woman--and have him meet his wife's husband?... I can't think how you can speak of it so calmly. Is she a woman a mother could wish to see as the wife of her only son--and such a son? PRINCE ABREZKOV. But what is to be done, my dear friend? Of course it would be better if he married a girl whom you knew and liked; but since that's impossible ... Besides it's not as if he were going to marry a gipsy, or goodness knows who ...! Lisa Protasova is a very nice good woman. I know her, through my niece Nelly, and know her to be a modest, kind-hearted, affectionate and moral woman. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. A moral woman--who makes up her mind to leave her husband! PRINCE ABREZKOV. This is not like you! You're unkind and harsh! Her husband is the kind of man of whom one says that they are their own worst enemies; but he is an even greater enemy to his wife. He is a weak, fallen, drunken fellow. He has squandered all his property and hers too. She has a child.... How can you condemn her for leaving such a man? Nor has she left him: he left her. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Oh, what mud! What mud! And I have to soil my hands with it! PRINCE ABREZKOV. And how about your religion? ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Of course, of course! To forgive, "As we forgive them that trespass against us." _Mais, c'est plus fort que moi!_[17] [NOTE 17: But it's beyond me!] PRINCE ABREZKOV. How could she live with such a man? If she had not loved anyone else she would have had to leave him. She would have had to, for her child's sake. The husband himself--an intelligent kind-hearted man when he is in his senses--advises her to do it.... [Enter Victor, who kisses his mother's hand and greets Prince Abrezkov.] VICTOR. Mother, I have come to say this: Elisabeth Andreyevna will be here in a minute, and I beg, I implore you--if you still refuse your consent to my marriage ... ANNA DMITRIEVNA [interrupting him] Of course I still refuse my consent ... VICTOR [continues his speech and frowns] In that case I beg, I implore you, not to speak to her of your refusal! Don't settle matters negatively ... ANNA DMITRIEVNA. I don't expect we shall mention the subject. For my part, I certainly won't begin. VICTOR. And she is even less likely to. I only want you to make her acquaintance. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. The one thing I can't understand is how you reconcile your desire to marry Mrs. Protasova, who has a husband living, with your religious conviction that divorce is contrary to Christianity. VICTOR. Mother, this is cruel of you! Are we really so immaculate that we must always be perfectly consistent when life is so complex? Mother, why are you so cruel to me? ANNA DMITRIEVNA. I love you. I desire your happiness. VICTOR [to Prince Abrezkov] Prince! PRINCE ABREZKOV. Of course you desire his happiness. But it is not easy for you and me, with our grey hairs, to understand the young; and it is particularly difficult for a mother grown accustomed to her own idea of how her son is to be happy. Women are all like that. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Yes, yes indeed! You are all against me! You may do it, of course. _Vous êtes majeur._[18] ... But you will kill me! [NOTE 18: You are of age.] VICTOR. You are not yourself. This is worse than cruelty! PRINCE ABREZKOV [to Victor] Be quiet, Victor. Your mother's words are always worse than her deeds. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. I shall tell her how I think and feel, but I will do it without offending her. PRINCE ABREZKOV. Of that I am sure. [Enter footman.] PRINCE ABREZKOV. Here she is. VICTOR. I'll go. FOOTMAN. Elisabeth Andreyevna Protasova. VICTOR. I am going. _Please_, Mother! [Exit.] [Prince Abrezkov also rises.] ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Ask her in. [To Prince Abrezkov] No, you must please stay here! PRINCE ABREZKOV. I thought you'd find a _tête-à-tête_ easier. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. No, I'm afraid ... [Is restless] If I want to be left _tête-à-tête_ with her, I will nod to you. _Cela dependra._[19] ... To be left alone with her may make it difficult for me. But I'll do like that if ... [Makes a sign]. [NOTE 19: It will depend.] PRINCE ABREZKOV. I shall understand. I feel sure you will like her. Only be just. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. How you are all against me! [Enter Lisa, in visiting dress and hat.] ANNA DMITRIEVNA [rising] I was sorry not to find you in, and it is kind of you to call. LISA. I never dreamed that you'd be so good as to call.... I am so grateful to you for wishing to see me. ANNA DMITRIEVNA [pointing to Prince Abrezkov] You are acquainted? PRINCE ABREZKOV. Yes, certainly. I have had the pleasure of being introduced. [They shake hands and sit down] My niece Nelly has often mentioned you to me. LISA. Yes, she and I were great friends [glancing timidly at Anna Dmitrievna], and we are still friendly. [To Anna Dmitrievna] I never expected that you would wish to see me. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. I knew your husband well. He was friendly with Victor, and used to come to our house before he left for Tambov. I think it was there you married? LISA. Yes, it was there we married. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. But after his return to Moscow he never visited us. LISA. Yes, he hardly went out anywhere. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. And he never introduced you to me. [Awkward silence.] PRINCE ABREZKOV. The last time I met you was at the theatricals at the DenIsovs'. They went off very well; and you were acting. LISA. No ... Yes ... Of course ... I did act. [Silence again]. Anna Dmitrievna, forgive me if what I am going to say displeases you, but I can't and don't know how to dissemble! I have come because Victor Mihaylovich said ... because he--I mean, because you wished to see me.... But it is best to speak out [with a catch in her voice] ... It is very hard for me.... But you are kind. PRINCE ABREZKOV. I'd better go. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Yes, do. [Prince Abrezkov takes leave of both women, and exit.] ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Listen, Lisa ... I am very sorry for you, and I like you. But I love Victor. He is the one being I love in the world. I know his soul as I know my own. It is a proud soul. He was proud as a boy of seven.... Not proud of his name or wealth, but proud of his character and innocence, which he has guarded. He is as pure as a maiden. LISA. I know. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. He has never loved any woman. You are the first. I do not say I am not jealous. I am jealous. But we mothers--your son is still a baby, and it is too soon for you--we are prepared for that. I was prepared to give him up to his wife and not to be jealous--but to a wife as pure as himself ... LISA. I ... have I ... ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Forgive me! I know it was not your fault, but you are unfortunate. And I know him. Now he is ready to bear--and will bear--anything, and he would never mention it, but he would suffer. His wounded pride would suffer, and he would not be happy. LISA. I have thought of that. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Lisa, my dear, you are a wise and good woman. If you love him you must desire his happiness more than your own. And if that is so, you will not wish to bind him and give him cause to repent--though he would never _say_ a word. LISA. I know he wouldn't! I have thought about it, and have asked myself that question. I have thought of it, and have spoken of it to him. But what can I do, when he says he does not wish to live without me? I said to him: "Let us be friends, but do not spoil your life; do not bind your pure life to my unfortunate one!" But he does not wish for that. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. No, not at present.... LISA. Persuade him to leave me, and I will agree. I love him for his own happiness and not for mine. Only help me! Do not hate me! Let us lovingly work together for his happiness! ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Yes, yes! I have grown fond of you. [Kisses her. Lisa cries] And yet, and yet it is dreadful! If only he had loved you before you married ... LISA. He says he did love me then, but did not wish to prevent a friend's happiness. ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Ah, how hard it all is! Still, we will love one another, and God will help us to find what we want. VICTOR [entering] Mother, dear! I have heard everything! I expected this: you are fond of her, and all will be well! LISA. I am sorry you heard. I should not have said it if ... ANNA DMITRIEVNA. Still, nothing is settled. All I can say is, that if it were not for all these unfortunate circumstances, I should have been glad. [Kisses her]. VICTOR. Only, please don't change! [Curtain.] _ |
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