The Possessed

Home > Fiction > The Possessed > Page 7
The Possessed Page 7

by Albert Camus

doesn't exist.

  STAVROGIN: I seem indeed to remember our con-

  versations.

  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.] Wasn't it you who told me

  79 Scene 6

  that if it were mathematically proven that truth

  stood apart from Christ, you would rather be

  with Christ than with truth? [Wasn't 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 I'll

  . . . 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 oppo-

  site?

  STAVROGIN: Probably I was trying, in both cases,

  to persuade myself.

  SHATOV (with a note of despair): And now you

  are an atheist and don't 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�

  Second Part

  80

  STAVROGIN": And in God?

  SHATOV: I ... I shall believe in God one day.

  STAVROGIN: That's just it. You don't believe. Be-

  sides, can anyone be intelligent and still believe?

  It's an impossibility.

  SHATOV: NO, I didn't say that I didn't believe. We

  are all dead or half dead and incapable of believ-

  ing. 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. Verkhoven-

  sky, too, would like me to bear their flag. But he

  does so because he admires what he calls my "ex-

  traordinary 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. Peters-

  burg you belonged to a secret society that in-

  dulged in revolting debauches.] They say, they

  also say�but I can't believe this�that you used

  to attract children to your house to defile them.

  . . . (STAVROGIN suddenly rises.) Answer. Tell

  the truth. Nicholas Stavrogin cannot lie to Sha-

  tov, who struck him in the face. Did you do that?

  If you did it, you could not bear the flag and I

  8i

  Scene 6

  should understand your despair and your help-

  lessness.

  STAVROGIN: Enough. Such questions are unseemly.

  (He stares at SHATOV.) What does it matter any-

  way? / am interested only in more ordinary ques-

  tions. Such as: should one live or should one

  destroy oneself?

  SHATOV: Like Kirilov?

  STAVROGIN (ivith 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): That's 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 don't

  persecute me.

  SHATOV (leaping backward): Oh, why am I con-

  demned to believe in you and to love you? I can-

  not 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 be-

  Second Part 82

  cause 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 Verkho-

  vensky who want to destroy for their own com-

  fort, simply because it is easier to destroy than

  not to destroy.] 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 couldn't

  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

  83
Scene 6

  you. You married her to punish yourself for a

  dreadful crime, (STAVROGIN makes a gesture of

  impatience.) 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 I'll

  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 um-

  brella, FEDKA pops up behind him.

  FEDKA: Might I, sir, take advantage of your um-

  brella?

  (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 it's

  impossible to make a move without a passport.

  Fortunately, a man you know, Peter Verkhoven-

  sky, promised me one. Meanwhile, I was lying in

  wait for you in the hope that Your Grace would

  give me three rubles.

  STAVROGIN: Who gave you the order to lie in wait

  for me?

  FEDKA: No one, no one! Although Peter Verkho-

  vensky told me incidentally that perhaps with my

  talents I could do a service for Your Grace, in

  85 Scene 7

  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 de-

  serve 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 any-

  where else, I'll bind you and hand you over to

  the police.

  FEDKA: Yes, but / need you.

  STAVROGIN: Begone or I'll strike you.

  FEDKA: Please take into consideration, sir, that I

  am a poor defenseless orphan and that it is rain-

  ing!

  STAVROGIN: I give you my word of honor that if I

  meet you again, I'll bind you up.

  FEDKA: I'll wait for you anyhow. You never

  know!

  (He disappears, STAVROGIN stares in his direction

  for a moment.)

  BLACKOUT

  SCENE 8

  The Leby atklni dwelling, STAVROGIN is already in

  the room, LEBYATKIN is relieving him of his um-

  brella.

  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 don't know. I am perhaps confusing

  things.

  STAVROGIN: You are certainly confusing things. I

  hope that you haven't been drinking.

  LEBYATKIN: Hardly at all.

  STAVROGIN: I asked you not to get drunk.

  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!

  87 Scene 8

  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 haven't

  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 de-

  termined 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: That's 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?

  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, I'd 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

  Second Part 88

  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: Didn't you write a letter to the gov-

  ernor to denounce Verkhovensky's group, to

  which you belong nevertheless?

  LEBYATKIN: I don't 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 Ver-

  khovensky really thinks . . . Oh, I must get to

  St. Petersburg. That's 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: That's 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 you�ail right, that's nor-

  mal. Then I am aske
d: "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

  89 Scene 8

  noble family. Tomorrow, probably, I shall an-

  nounce our marriage officially. Hence the ques-

  tion of the family dishonor will be settled. And

  likewise, of course, the question of the allowance

  that I shan't have to pay you.

  LEBYATKIN (panic-stricken) �. But it's not possible.

  You can't make this marriage public. She is half

  crazy.

  STAVROGIN : I'll take care of that.

  LEBYATKIN: What will your mother say? You will

  have to take your wife into your house.

  STAVROGIN: That doesn't concern you.

  LEBYATKIN: But what shall / become? You are

  casting me off like an old worn-out shoe.

  STAVROGIN: Yes, like an old shoe. That's the cor-

  rect 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. I'm afraid you would listen to us. I

  mean outside.

  LEBYATKIN: But it's raining.

  STAVROGIN: Take my umbrella.

  LEBYATKIN (bewildered): Your umbrella�really,

  am I worthy of that honor?

  STAVROGIN: Every man is worthy of an umbrella.

  LEBYATKIN: Yes, yes, of course, that's 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.

  Second Part 90

  (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 TIMO-

  FEYEVNA screams.)

  STAVROGIN (with a touch of impatience): What's

  the matter?

  MARIA: Nothing. Suddenly I didn't 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. It's 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 wasn't 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 don't you kiss

  me? To be sure, he never kissed me. But he was

  affectionate. I don't feel anything affectionate in

  you. On the other hand, there's something stir-

  ring in you that threatens me. He called me his

  dove. He gave me a ring. He said: "Look at it

  in the evening and I'll come to you in your

  sleep."

  STAVROGIN: Where is the ring?

  MARIA: My brother drank it up. And now I am

  alone at night. Every night . . . (She weeps.)

  91 Scene 8

  STAVROGIN:' Don't 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 to-

  gether. The other day in the carriage you told

  me that our marriage would be made public. But

  I'm afraid of that too.

  STAVROGIN: Why?

  MARIA: I'll never know how to handle guests. I

  don't suit you at all. I know, there are lackeys.

  But I saw your family�all those ladies�at your

  house. They are the ones I don't 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 don't even know how to laugh freely when

  you are together. So much money and so little

  joy! It's dreadful. No, I wasn't 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 words�just 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 I'll know who you are. For those

  Second Part 92

  five years I was waiting for him to come, I con-

  stantly imagined the way he would come in. Go

  outside and come back in as if you had just re-

 

‹ Prev