The Possessed

by Albert Camus

tion if it proves serious 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 organiza-

  tion. But I cannot give them to you unless I am

  sure of you unto death. So let me ask you a ques-

  tion. 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 speci-

  fying.

  THE SEMINARIAN: No one here is afraid and you

  know it. But you are treating us like pawns on a

  Second Part

  120

  chessboard. Explain things to us clearly and we

  can consider them with you.

  PETER: Are you ready to bind yourself to the or-

  ganization by oath?

  VIRGINSKY: Certainly, if you ask it of us decently.

  PETER (nodding toward SHATOV): Liputin, you

  haven't 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); 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: I'd 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 don't 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?

  121

  Scene 12

  (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, Sha-

  tov.

  SHATOV: 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 ex-

  cept 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 didn't answer either.

  VIRGINSKY: Stavrogin, can you answer the ques-

  tion?

  STAVROGIN: I don't see the need of it.

  VIRGINSKY: But we all compromised ourselves and

  you didn't!

  STAVROGIN: Well, then, you will be compromised

  and I won't be.

  (Tumult.)

  THE SEMINARIAN: But Verkhovensky didn't an-

  swer 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

  Second Part

  122

  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: Are you men or aren't 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 Stavrogin's.

  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 I'll not let you

  get away with it.

  PETER: He put the finger on himself.

  STAVROGIN (stopping): You are a liar. I have al-

  ready told you why you needed Shatov's blood.

  He is to serve you to cement your group to-

  gether. You just succeeded very cleverly in get-

  ting 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 shouldn't 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?

  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! Stav-

  ^!8irg�f��IMi!iBi��������i

  Second Part 124

  rogin, do what I ask of you and tomorrow I shall

  bring you Lisa Drozdov. Will you? Answer! Lis-

  ten, I'll let you keep Shatov too if you ask me to.

  STAVROGIN: So it's true that you have made up

  your mind to kill him?

  PETER (getting up): How can that matter to you?

  Wasn't he mean to you?

  STAVROGIN: Shatov is good. You are mean.

  PETER: I am. But / didn't slap you.

  STAVROGIN: If you raised a hand against me, I'd

  kill you on the spot. You know very well that I

  can kill.

  PETER: I know it. But you won't 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 sho
w Varvara Stavrogiw's

  drawing room.

  DASHA is on the stage. Hearing PETER VERKHO-

  VENSKY'S voice, she goes out on the right, STAV-

  ROGIN and PETER VERKHOVENSKY enter.)

  PETER: Listen . . .

  STAVROGIN: You are obstinate. . . . Tell me once

  and for all what you expect of me and leave.

  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: I'm sure she doesn't. You nobles are far

  125 Scene 13

  above that. I, on the contrary, listen at doors. Be-

  sides, I thought I heard a sound. But that's not

  the question. You want to know what I expect of

  you? (STAVROGIN is silent.) Well, this is it. . . .

  Together we'll rouse Russia and lift her from the

  mire.

  STAVROGIN: She is heavy.

  PETER: Ten more groups like this one and we'll be

  powerful.

  STAVROGIN: Ten groups of idiots like these!

  [PETER: It's idiots who make history. For in-

  stance, just look at the governor's 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 rev-

  olution, to be on the side of youth, and to show

  them that it is quite possible to be a revolutionary

  and the governor's wife. Then youth will realize

  that this is the best regime, since you can insult it

  without danger and even be rewarded for plan-

  ning its destruction.

  STAVROGIN: YOU must be exaggerating. It isn't pos-

  sible to be that stupid.]

  PETER: Oh, they are not so stupid; they're just

  idealists. Fortunately, / am not an idealist. But I

  am not intelligent either. What?

  STAVROGIN: I didn't say anything.

  Ms

  Second Part 126

  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. That's why I need you. My organi-

  zation does not have a head.

  STAVROGIN: You have Shigalov. {He yawns.)

  PETER {with the same hatred in his voice): Don't

  make fun of him. Absolute leveling is an excellent

  idea�not 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 there'll be no

  more selfishness! From time to time a few convul-

  sions, carefully controlled, just enough to over-

  come 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 au-

  thorize 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.

  127 Scene 13

  STAVROGIN: The Pope?

  PETER: Yes, but it's very complicated. First the

  Pope would have to come to an agreement with

  the International. It's too soon for that. That will

  come inevitably later on, because it's the same

  spirit. Then there will be the Pope at the summit,

  we around him, and beneath us the masses gov-

  erned by Shigalov's system. But that's 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 don't know it, for you are

  also unsophisticated. I do know it, and that's why

  you are my idol. I am a nihilist, and nihilists need

  idols. [You are the man we need. You never in-

  sult 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 else's.

  That Is excellent.] Yes, you are the man I need,

  and I can't think of any other. You are the leader,

  you are the sun. (He suddenly seizes Stavrogifis

  hand and kisses it. STAVROGIN repulses him.) Don't

  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

  Second Part

  128

  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. That's what we

  need. And, on the side, we'll give them a touch

  of fresh blood so that they'll get a taste for it.

  STAVROGIN: I always knew you weren't a socialist.

  You're 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 Rus-

  sia. The earth will bewail its former gods. And

  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. We'll 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 idea�"He 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 that's your plan!

  129 Scene 13

  PETER: Yes. Just listen. With you it will be pos-

  sible 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 satis-

  fied, 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, don't leave me

  alone. Without you I am like Columbus without

  America. Can you imagine Columbus without

  America? I, in turn, can help you. I'll fix every-

  thing for you. Tomorrow I'll bring you Lisa.

  You want her; you want Lisa dreadfully, I know.

  Just one word and I'll 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 VERKHOVEN-

  SKY whistles piercingly.) What are you doing?

  (FEDKA appears.)

  PETER: Here is a friend who can help us. Just say

  yes, Stavrogin�a simple yes�and Lisa is yours,

  and the world is ours.

  Second Part 130

  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, don't stay with

  these men. Go and see Tihon�yes, Tihon, as I

  have already told you. Go and see Tihon.

  PETER: Tihon? Who is that?

  FEDKA: A holy man. Don't 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. / kill. But he forgives crime.

  BLACKOUT

  THE NARRATOR: Personally, I didn't 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 li-

  brary, in which works of piety stood side by

  side with plays and perhaps even worse.

  Offhand, I'd say there was no chance Stav-

  rogin would pay him a visit.

  SCENE 14

  Tihon's cell in the Convent of the Virgin, TIHON

  and STAVROGIN are standing.

  STAVROGIN: Did my mother tell you I was mad?

  TIHON: NO. She didn't 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 don't sleep

  very well.

  STAVROGIN: Do you want me to leave you?

  TIHON: NO. Sit down! (STAVROGIN sits down with

  his hat in his hand, like a man observing cere-

  mony. 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

  it's always the same creature. He drives me wild.

  I shall have to consult a doctor.

  TIHON: Yes. Do so.

  STAVROGIN: No, it's useless. I know who it is. And

  you do too.

  TIHON: You mean the Devil?

  STAVROGIN: Yes. You believe in him, don't you? A

  man of your calling is obliged to believe in him.

  Second Part 132

  TIHON: Well, I'd 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.

  STAVROGIN: Well, it's a pity. Do you know the

  answer that a certain bishop made? With the

  knife at his throat, a barbarian asked him if he be-

  lieved in God. "Very little, very little," the

  bishop replied. That's not worthy, is it?

  TIHON: His faith was imperfect.

  STAVROGIN (smiling): Yes, yes. But, in my opin-

  ion, faith must be perfect or there is no faith.

  That's why I'm 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 pas-