stare at it eagerly._

SPERANSKY

Dead! His eyes are gone.

TONY

Shut up! _(He bursts into a groaning laugh, pressing his hands hard to
his mouth)_

SPERANSKY

But his face is calm. Look, Mr. Anthony. It's because now he knows the
truth.

TONY

Shut up! _(Bursts out laughing)_ What a funny face he has!

_[He laughs behind his hand. Then his laugh bursts through his
fingers, so to speak, grows in intensity, becomes irresistible, and
passes into a whine. The crowd begins to fill the stage, concealing
the body, Speransky, and Tony. The bells are rung in the monastery as
at Easter, and at the same time the singing of thousands of voices is
heard._

CROWD

"Christ is risen from the dead. He has conquered death with death and
given life to those lain in their graves. Christ--"

LIPA _(flinging herself into the crowd)_

"Christ is risen!"

_[The crowd continues to pour in, filling the entire stage. Gaping
mouths and round, wide-open eyes are seen everywhere. Shrill shrieks
are uttered by the crazed epileptics. A momentary outcry is heard:_
"Somebody crushed!" _Tony's laughter dies away somewhere. The
triumphant hymn rises, spreads, passes into a titanic roar that drowns
every other sound. The bells continue to ring._

CROWD _(shouting at their utmost power)_

"Christ is risen from the dead. He has conquered death with death and
given life to those lain in their graves. Christ is risen--"

CURTAIN

THE LIFE OF MAN

(ZHIZN CHELOVIEKA)

A PLAY IN FIVE SCENES WITH A PROLOGUE

1906

TO THE BRIGHT
MEMORY OF MY FRIEND, MY WIFE

I DEDICATE THIS COMPOSITION

THE LAST

ON WHICH WE WORKED TOGETHER

PERSONS

Someone in Gray called He

Man

His Wife

Man's
Father
Relatives
Neighbors
Friends
Enemies
Guests

Servants

Musicians

Physicians

A Bartender

Drunkards

Old Women

PROLOGUE--_Someone in Gray called He, speaking of the Life of Man_

SCENE I--_The Birth of Man and the Mother's Travail_

SCENE II--_Love and Poverty_

SCENE III--_Wealth. Man's Ball_

SCENE IV--_Man's Misfortune_

SCENE V--_The Death of Man_

THE LIFE OF MAN

PROLOGUE

SOMEONE IN GRAY CALLED HE, SPEAKING OF THE LIFE OF MAN

_A large, rectangular space resembling a room without doors or windows
and quite empty. Everything is gray, monocolored, drab--the watts
gray, and the ceiling, and the floor. A feeble, even light enters from
some invisible sour