am _I_ asking it? I begged out of every one of your kopeks I
could; I begged, and bowed down to their feet; but what can I do, when they
won't come down one little bit?

OLIMPIADA SAMSONOVNA. We have told you, daddy, that we can't pay more than
ten kopeks--and there's no use saying any more about it.

BOLSHOV. And so, daughter, you say: "Go along now, you old devil, you, into
the pen! Yes, into the pen! Off to prison with him, the old blockhead! And
it serves him right!"--Don't chase after great wealth, be contented with
what you have. But if you do chase after wealth, they'll take away
the last you have, and strip you clean. And it'll come about that
you'll run out onto the Stone Bridge, and throw yourself into the river
Moscow. And they'll haul you out by your tongue, and put you in prison.
[_All are silent_; BOLSHOV _drinks_] But you just think a bit: what kind of
a walk am I going to have to the pen now? How am I going to shut my eyes?
Now the Ilyinka will seem to me a hundred miles long. Just think, how
it will seem to walk along the Ilyinka! It's just as if the devils were
dragging my sinful soul through torment; Lord, forgive me for saying so!
And then past the Iver Chapel[1]: how am I going to look upon her, the Holy
Mother?--You know, Lazar; Judas, you see, sold even Christ for money, just
as we sell our conscience for money. And what happened to him because of
it?--And then there are the government offices, the criminal tribunal!--You
see, I did it with set purpose, with malice aforethought.--You see, they'll
exile me to Siberia. O Lord!--If you won't give me the money for any other
reason, give it as charity, for Christ's sake. [_He weeps_.

[Footnote 1: In which there is a miracle-working image of the Virgin.]

PODKHALYUZIN. What's the matter, what's the matter, daddy? There, there,
now! God is merciful! What's the matter with you? We'll fix it up somehow.
It's all in our hands.

BOLSHOV. I need money, Lazar, money. There's nothing else to fix it with.
Either money or Siberia.

PODKHALYUZIN. And I'll give you money, sir, if you'll only let up. As it
is, I'll add five kopeks more.

BOLSHOV. What have we come to! Have you any Christian feeling in you? I
need twenty-five kopeks, Lazar!

PODKHALYUZIN. No, daddy, that's a good deal, sir; by heaven, that's a good
deal!

BOLSHOV. You nest of snakes!

[_He falls with his head upon the table_.

AGRAFENA KONDRATYEVNA. Barbarian,