Boris Godunov

The whelp of Boris go bind!

THE PEOPLE. (Rushing in a crowd.)
Bind, drown him! Hail
Dimitry! Perish the race of Godunov!

THE KREMLIN. HOUSE OF BORIS

A GUARD on the Staircase. FEODOR at a Window

BEGGAR. Give alms, for Christ's sake.

GUARD. Go away; it is forbidden to speak to the prisoners.

FEODOR. Go, old man, I am poorer than thou; thou art at
liberty.

(KSENIA, veiled, also comes to the window.)

ONE OF THE PEOPLE. Brother and sister—poor children, like
birds in a cage.

SECOND PERSON. Are you going to pity them? Accursed
Family!

FIRST PERSON. The father was a villain, but the children are
innocent.

SECOND PERSON. The apple does not fall far from the
apple-tree.

KSENIA. Dear brother! Dear brother! I think the boyars
are coming to us.

FEODOR. That is Golitsin, Mosalsky. I do not know the
others.

KSENIA. Ah! Dear brother, my heart sinks.

(GOLITSIN, MOSALSKY, MOLCHANOV, and SHEREFEDINOV; behind them three archers.)

THE PEOPLE. Make way, make way; the boyars come.

(They enter the house.)

ONE OF THE PEOPLE. What have they come for?

SECOND. Most like to make Feodor Godunov take the oath.

THIRD. Very like. Hark! What a noise in the house!
What an uproar! They are fighting!

THE PEOPLE. Do you hear? A scream! That was a
woman's voice. We will go up. We will go up!—The
doors are fastened—the cries cease—the noise continues.

(The doors are thrown open. MOSALSKY appears on    the staircase.)

MOSALSKY. People! Maria Godunov and her son Feodor
have poisoned themselves. We have seen their dead
bodies.

(The People are silent with horror.)

Why are ye silent? Cry, Long live the tsar Dimitry
Ivanovich!

(The People are speechless.)

THE END

notes

1

The list of Dramatis Personae which does not appear in the original has been added for the convenience of the reader—A.H.

2

This scene was omitted by Pushkin from the published version of the play.

3

The Russian text has here a play on the words which cannot be satisfactorily rendered into English.

4

The Russian text has here a play on the words which cannot be satisfactorily rendered into English.