footsteps grows louder, as if they were walking in the very room itself) Are they going?
SPERANSKY
Yes, they are going. (Pause)
TONY
I like you. Sing me that song of yours. I'll listen.
SPERANSKY
With your permission, Anthony. (Sings in an undertone, almost in a whisper, a dismal, long-drawn-out tune somewhat resembling a litany)
Life's a sham, 'tis false, untrue,
Death alone is true, aye, true.
(With increasing caution and pedantry, shaking his finger as if imparting a secret)
All things tumble, vanish, break,
Death is sure to overtake
Outcast, tramp, and tiniest fly
Unperceived by naked eye.
TONY
What?
SPERANSKY
Unperceived by naked eye,
Wheedling, coaxing, courting, wooing,
Death weds all to their undoing
And the myth of life is ended.
That's all, Anthony.
TONY
Keep still, keep still. You have sung your song—now keep quiet.
[Lipa enters, opens the window, removes the flowers, and looks out into the street. Then she lights the lamp.
TONY
Who is it? Is that you, Lipa? Lipa, eh, Lipa, where are they going?
LIPA
They are coming here for the feast-day. You had better go to bed,
Tony, or father will see you and scold you.
SPERANSKY
Big crowds, aren't they?
LIPA
Yes. But it's so dark, you can't see. Why are you so pale, Mr.
Speransky? It is positively painful to look at you.
SPERANSKY
That's how I feel, Miss Lipa.
[A cautious knock is heard at the window.
LIPA (opening the window)
Who is there?
TONY (to Speransky)
Keep quiet, keep quiet.
KING FRIAR (thrusting his smiling face through the window) Is Savva Yegorovich in? I wanted to ask him to come with me to the woods.
LIPA
No. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Vassya? To-morrow is a big feast-day in your monastery and you—
YOUNG FRIAR (smiling)
There are plenty of people in the monastery without me. Please tell Mr. Savva that I have gone to the ravine to catch fireflies. Ask him to call out: "Ho, ho!"
LIPA
What do you want fireflies for?
YOUNG FRIAR
Why, to scare the monks with. I'll put two fireflies next to each other like eyes, and they'll think it's, the devil. Tell him, please, to call: "Ho, ho, ho!" (He disappears in the darkness)
LIPA (shouting after him)
He can't come to-day. (To Speransky) Gone already—ran off.
SPERANSKY
They buried three in the cemetery to-day, Miss Olympiada.
LIPA
Have you seen Savva?
SPERANSKY
No, I am sorry to say I haven't. I say, they buried three people to-day. One old man—perhaps you knew him—Peter Khvorostov?
LIPA
Yes, I knew him. So he's dead?
SPERANSKY
Yes, and two children. The women wept a great deal.
LIPA
What did they die of?
SPERANSKY
I am sorry, but I don't know. It didn't interest me. Some children's disease, I suppose. When children die, Miss Olympiada, they turn all blue and look as if they wanted to cry. The faces of grown people are tranquil, but children's faces are not. Why is that so?
LIPA
I don't know—I've never noticed it.
SPERANSKY
It's a very interesting phenomenon.
LIPA
There's father now. I told you to go to bed. Now I've got to listen to your brawling. I'll get out.
(Exit. Enter Yegor Tropinin)
YEGOR
Who lighted the lamp?
SPERANSKY
Good evening, Mr. Tropinin.
YEGOR
Good evening. Who lighted the lamp?
SPERANSKY
Miss Olympiada.
YEGOR (blowing it out)
Learned it from Savva. (To Tony) And you, what's the matter with you? How long, how long, for Christ's sake? How long am I to stand all this from you, you good-for-nothing loafers? Eh? Where did you get the whiskey, eh?
TONY
At the bar.
YEGOR
It wasn't put there for you, was it?
TONY
You have a very funny face, father.
YEGOR
Give me the whiskey.
TONY
I won't.
YEGOR
Give here!
TONY
I won't.
YEGOR (slaps his face)
Give it to me, I say.
TONY (falls on the sofa, still holding on to the bottle)
I won't.
YEGOR (sitting down, calmly)
All right, swill until you bust, devil. What was I saying? That fool put it out of my head. Oh yes, the pilgrims are going, it strong this time. It's been a bad year for the crops. That's another reason, I suppose. There's no grub, they have nothing to eat, and so they'll pray. If God listened to every fool's prayer, we'd have a fine time of it. If he listened to every fool, what chance would the wise man have? A fool remains a fool. That's why he is called a fool.
SPERANSKY
That's correct.
YEGOR
I should say it is correct. Father Parfeny is a smart man. He flim-flams them all right. He put up a new coffin—did you hear that? The old one has all been eaten away by the pilgrims, so he put a new one into its place. It was old, so he put a new one instead. They'll eat that one away. No matter what you give them—Tony, are you drinking again?
TONY
I am.
YEGOR
I