Fruits of Culture

GREGORY. I give you my word of honour. And it was she who threw the paper on the table. If it had not been for her the paper would not have been signed, nor the land sold to the peasants.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. And you saw it yourself?

GREGORY. With my own eyes. Shall I call her? She'll not deny it.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. Yes, call her.

Exit Gregory.

Noise behind the scenes. The voice of the Doorkeeper, “No, no, you cannot.” Doorkeeper is seen at the front door, the three Peasants rush in past him, the Second Peasant first; the Third one stumbles, falls on his nose, and catches hold of it.

DOORKEEPER. You must not go in!

SECOND PEASANT. Where's the harm? We are not doing anything wrong. We only wish to pay the money!

FIRST PEASANT. That's just it; as by laying on the signature the affair is come to a conclusion, we only wish to make payment with thanks.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. Wait a bit with your thanks. It was all done by fraud! It is not settled yet. Not sold yet… Leoníd… Call Leoníd Fyódoritch. [Exit Doorkeeper].

Leoníd Fyódoritch enters, but, seeing his wife and the Peasants, wishes to retreat.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. No, no, come here, please! I told you the land must not be sold on credit, and everybody told you so, but you let yourself be deceived like the veriest blockhead.

LEONÍD FYÓDORITCH. How? I don't understand who is deceiving?

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You have grey hair, and you let yourself be deceived and laughed at like a silly boy. You grudge your son some three hundred roubles which his social position demands, and let yourself be tricked of thousands – like a fool!

LEONÍD FYÓDORITCH. Now come, Annette, try to be calm.

FIRST PEASANT. We are only come about the acceptation of the sum, for example …

THIRD PEASANT [taking out the money] Let us finish the matter, for Christ's sake!

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. Wait, wait!

Enter Tánya and Gregory.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA [angrily] You were in the small drawing-room during the séance last night?

Tánya looks round at Theodore Ivánitch, Leoníd Fyódoritch, and Simon, and sighs.

GREGORY. It's no use beating about the bush; I saw you myself …

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. Tell me, were you there? I know all about it, so you'd better confess! I'll not do anything to you. I only want to expose him [pointing to Leoníd Fyódoritch] your master… Did you throw the paper on the table?

TÁNYA. I don't know how to answer. Only one thing, – let me go home.

Enter Betsy unobserved.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA [to Leoníd Fyódoritch] There, you see! You are being made a fool of.

Anna Pávlovna. There, you see! You are being made a fool of.

TÁNYA. Let me go home, Anna Pávlovna!

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. No, my dear! You may have caused us a loss of thousands of roubles. Land has been sold that ought not to be sold!

TÁNYA. Let me go, Anna Pávlovna!

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. No; you'll have to answer for it! Such tricks won't do. We'll have you up before the Justice of the Peace!

BETSY [comes forward] Let her go, mamma. Or, if you wish to have her tried, you must have me tried too! She and I did it together.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. Well, of course, if you have a hand in anything, what can one expect but the very worst results!

Enter the Professor.

PROFESSOR. How do you do, Anna Pávlovna? How do you do, Miss Betsy? Leoníd Fyódoritch, I have brought you a report of the Thirteenth Congress of Spiritualists at Chicago. An amazing speech by Schmidt!

LEONÍD FYÓDORITCH. Oh, that is interesting!

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. I will tell you something much more interesting! It turns out that both you and my husband were fooled by this girl! Betsy takes it on herself, but that is only to annoy me. It was an illiterate peasant girl who fooled you, and you believed it all. There were no mediumistic phenomena last night; it was she [pointing to Tánya] who did it!

PROFESSOR [taking off his overcoat] What do you mean?

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. I mean that it was she who, in the dark, played on the guitar and beat my husband on the head and performed all your idiotic tricks – and she has just confessed!

PROFESSOR [smiling] What does that prove?

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. It proves that your mediumism is – tomfoolery; that's what it proves!

PROFESSOR. Because this young girl wished to deceive, we are to conclude that mediumism is “tomfoolery,” as you are pleased to express it? [Smiles] A curious conclusion! Very possibly this young girl may have wished to deceive: that often occurs. She may even have done something; but then, what she did —she did. But the manifestations of mediumistic energy still remain manifestations of mediumistic energy! It is even very probable that what this young girl did, evoked (and so to say solicited) the manifestation of mediumistic energy, – giving it a definite form.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. Another lecture!

PROFESSOR [sternly] You say, Anna Pávlovna, that this girl, and perhaps this dear young lady also, did something; but the light we all saw, and, in the first case the fall, and in the second the rise of temperature, and Grossman's excitement and vibration – were those things also done by this girl? And these are facts, Anna Pávlovna, facts! No! Anna Pávlovna, there are things which must be investigated and fully understood before they can be talked about, things too serious, too serious …

LEONÍD FYÓDORITCH. And the child that Márya Vasílevna distinctly saw? Why, I saw it too… That could not have been done by this girl.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA. You think yourself wise, but you are – a fool.

LEONÍD FYÓDORITCH. Well, I'm going… Alexéy Vladímiritch, will you come? [Exit into his study].

PROFESSOR [shrugging his shoulders, follows] Oh, how far, how far, we still lag behind Western Europe!

Enter Jacob.

ANNA PÁVLOVNA [following Leoníd Fyódoritch with her eyes] He has been tricked like a fool, and he sees nothing! [To Jacob] What do you want?