like to know how soon this gentleman will go.
The devil brought him, I think. Now, here comes someone else. _(Peers
into the darkness)_
LIPA _(approaching. She stops and hesitates)_
Is that you, Savva?
SAVVA
Yes, and is that you? What do you want? I don't like people to follow
me everywhere I go, sister.
LIPA
The gate to this place is open. Everybody has a right to come in. Mr.
Speransky, Tony has been asking for you. He wants the seminarist, he
says.
SAVVA
There, go together--a jolly pair. Good-bye, sir, good-bye.
SPERANSKY
Good-bye. I hope I'll see you soon again, Mr. Savva, and have another
talk.
SAVVA
No, don't try, please. Abandon the hope. Good-bye.
LIPA
How rude you are, Savva. Come, Mr. Speransky. They have business of
their own to attend to.
SPERANSKY
Still I haven't given up hope. Good-bye. _(Goes out)_
SAVVA
Just grabbed me and stuck--the devil take him!
KONDRATY _(laughing)_
Yes, he is a sticker from the word go. If he likes you, you
can't shake him off. He'll follow you everywhere. We call him the
"shadow"--partly, I suppose, because he is so thin. He has taken a
fancy to you, so you'll have a time of it. He'll stick to you like a
leech.
SAVVA
I am not in the habit of wasting a lot of words. I'll give him the
slip without much ceremony.
KONDRATY
They have, even tried beating him, but it doesn't do any good. He is
known here for miles around. He is a character.
_[A pause. Lightning. Every now and then is heard the roll of distant
thunder._
SAVVA
Why did you tell me to meet you here in this public place where
everyone may come? They fell on me like a swarm of fleas--monks and
all sorts of imbeciles. I'd rather have spoken to you in the woods,
where we could be let alone.
KONDRATY
I did it to escape suspicion. If I went with you to the woods they'd
say: "What has a God-fearing man like Kondraty got to do with such a
fellow?" I hope you pardon! "Why is he so thick with him?" I purposely
timed my coming so that they'd see us together with others.
SAVVA _(looking fixedly at him)_
Well?
KONDRATY _(turning away his eyes and shrugging his shoulders)_ I
can't.
SAVVA
You are afraid?
KONDRATY
To tell the truth, I am.
SAVVA
You're no good, old chap.
KONDRATY
Perhaps not. You have a right to draw your own conclusions. _(Pause)_
SAVVA
But what are you afraid of, you booby? The machine is not dangerous.
It won't h
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