Leonid Andreyev

“ North and South, East and West, I am calling you. Quicker, come here, to the aid of the Devil! Rush over here in four oceans of tears and bury man in your abyss. Come here! This way!
No one heeds Anathema's sobs, neither David, radiant with the ecstasy of immortality, nor Sarah, nor the other people, who listen attentively to David. Anathema moves restlessly about, alone, cursing. A shrill voice is heard; a woman, terribly painted, rushes in from the road. Her clothes are torn, and her beautiful face is disfigured. She screams and sobs and calls wildly. ”

“ ANATHEMA.
The poor are always waiting, but they grow tired of waiting and they go away.
DAVID.
They will not go away from me. Oh, Nullius, Nullius!... Oh, wise Nullius! Oh, foolish Nullius! Is it possible that you did not understand that I have long been waiting for the poor and that their voice is in my ears and in my heart? When wheels are riding along a dust-covered road, on which rain had just fallen, they think as they turn and leave a trace: Here we are making a road. But the road was there before, Nullius, the road was there before! ”

“ Oh, Hannah, oh, Benjamin, oh, Raphael, and my little Moishe!...
Looks down, outstretching his arms to the children.
DAVID.
Oh, my little birds who died on the naked branches of the winter!... Oh, children, my children, little children, tiny children!... Well, Nullius, am I not weeping? Am I not weeping, Nullius? Well, let everybody weep. Let the musicians play, Nullius—I understand everything now. Oh, children, little children, I gave you all, I gave you my old heart, I gave you my sorrow and my joy—Did I not give them all my soul, Nullius?
Crying and laughing through tears. ”

“ Do I speak properly, Nullius?
ANATHEMA.
Yes, David. But have you called all who should be called?
DAVID.
And whatever form of aversion or fear poverty may assume, and in whatever colors misery may paint itself, and by whatever words suffering may fence itself around, rouse with a loud call those who are fatigued, in words of life return life to those who are dying! Do not trust the silence and the darkness if they obstruct your way like a wall: Shout more loudly into the silence and the darkness, for there dwells unspeakable horror. ”

“ Sarah, David Leizer's wife, an old Jewess, exhausted by life, is seated in front of her little shop. She is mending some rags and is chatting languidly with the other shopkeepers.
SARAH.
No one is buying anything. No one is drinking any soda-water; no one is buying any sunflower seeds or any fine candies which melt in the mouth.
PURIKES.
Like an echo.
No one is buying anything.
SARAH.
One might think that all the people have died so as not to buy anything. One might think that we remained alone with our stores in the whole world—we alone in the whole world.
PURIKES.
Like an echo. ”

“ We don't like him at all, do we, Sarah?
SARAH.
Weeping.
We have no children any longer, David.
DAVID.
Smiling.
No, no, Sarah! But are not all the children in the world our children? He has no children who has three, six, or even twelve, but not he who knows not their number.
SONKA.
Drink a glass of soda-water, honorable David Leizer—it is your water.
PURIKES.
Drink a glass of mine, David,—this will bring me customers.
BEZKRAINY.
Drink a glass of noblemen's cider, David. Now it is real noblemen's cider. I can say it frankly; with your money everything is becoming real.
SARAH.
Through tears. ”

“ What have I done to deserve your delight and exultation, to force tears of senseless joy from your eyes? I gave you money and bread—but that was the money of the Uppermost, it came from Him and went back to Him through you. The only thing I have done was not to hide the money like a thief, I did not become a plunderer, like those who have forgotten God. Do I speak properly, Nullius?
ANATHEMA.
No, David, no. Your speech is not worthy of a wise man and it does not come forth from the lips of a humble man. ”

“ ANATHEMA.
Consider, David, whom you are calling.
Darkly.
Do not deceive me, David.
DAVID
I have never deceived any one, Nullius.
Resolutely and majestically.
You spoke and I was silent, and I listened; now be silent and listen to me: I have given my soul not to man but to God, and His power is over me. And I command you: Call my wife Sarah over here, and my children Naum and Rosa, and all the people in my household, whoever they may be.
ANATHEMA.
Obediently. ”

“ DAVID.
Since that time, the people have changed so much for the worse. You like to have the people bow to you very low, Nullius? I do not like it—human beings are not dogs that they should crawl on their bellies. And you like to have the people tell you, Nullius, that you are the wisest, the most magnanimous, the best of all living beings—whereas you are only an ordinary old Jew, like many another Jew. I do not like it, Nullius,—for the sons of the God of truth and mercy it is unbecoming to lie, even while dying of the cruelties of truth.
ANATHEMA. ”

“ As before, the earth is weighted down by the heavy iron Gates, closed from time immemorial, beyond which dwells in silence and in mystery the Beginning of every being, the Supreme Wisdom of the universe. And the Guardian of the Entrances is just as silent and as sternly motionless as before. Nothing has happened; nothing has changed.
The grey light, as grey as the rocks, is terrible; the place is terrible, but Anathema likes it. And he appears again; but he does not crawl on his belly like a dog; nor does he hide himself beyond the rocks like a thief. ”

“ David is not an ordinary man. Who ever saw an ordinary man who was more a mother to a child than his own mother? Who hides behind the bed-curtain and watches how other people's children are eating, and who weeps for joy at the sight of them? Of whom even the tiniest children are not afraid, and they play with his venerable beard as with the beard of their grandfather? Did not the stupid little Rubin tear out a tuft of grey hair from David Leizer's venerable beard? ”

“ They are shouting. They are calling ... calling? Step aside, Nullius; I want to pray.
ANATHEMA.
Steps aside.
But make haste, David; they are near.
DAVID.
Do you hear? They are coming. I love them, but my love is bitterer than hatred, and it is as powerless as indifference. Kill me, and meet them yourself. Kill me—and meet them with mercy, with love. Fertilize the hungry earth with my body and grow bread upon it, drown sorrow with my soul and grow laughter upon it. And joy, O Lord, joy for mankind....
The approach of an enormous mob is heard.
ANATHEMA.
Advancing. ”

“ David Leizer was a multimillionaire, he had twenty million roubles, but he is unspoiled and humble, and your love will afford him joy. Does the soul need a drum to be able to express its love? I see here people who have neither drums nor trumpets, and who weep for happiness—their tears are noiseless like the dew.—Rise higher, Leibke, rise a little higher to the sky, and you will not hear any drums there, but therefore you will hear the tears falling. ”

“ DAVID.
'Tis a comedy, Nullius, a comedy. Don't you hear the laughter of Satan in all this?
Pointing at the door.
You saw a corpse dancing—I see it every morning.
ANATHEMA.
Is Naum so dangerously ill?
DAVID.
Dangerously ill? Three physicians, three serious gentlemen, examined him yesterday and told me quietly that in a month from now Naum will die, that he is already more than half a corpse. And every morning I see in this white marble parlor a corpse jumping to the tune of music—is it not a dream, Nullius? Is it not the laughter of Satan? ”

“ Who are you, then, unfortunate man, who has no pity on birds and who turns children out into the storm? Remember how your little Moishe died. Remember, David, and say: "The people are vicious, wicked, and unworthy of my kindness!"
David bends his knees as under a heavy weight and lifts his hands, as though warding off from his head a blow from the sky. He speaks hoarsely.
DAVID.
Adenoi! Adenoi!
Anathema, with arms folded on his breast, looks at him in silence.
DAVID.
Mercy! Mercy!
ANATHEMA.
Quickly. ”

“ Without having stilled the hunger of the hungry, without having restored sight to the blind, without having brought to life those who had died innocently,—having stirred up dissension and dispute and cruel bloodshed, for the people have already risen against one another and are committing violence, murder, and plunder in the name of David,—did not David manifest the powerlessness of love, and did he not create a great evil which could be numbered and weighed? ”

“ It increases slowly, wavering in force and impassionateness. Those who had been called by David are now besieging his house. Silence.
DAVID.
It has crumbled away into dust; Nullius! The mountain that reached the sky has split into rocks, the rocks have turned into dust, and the wind has carried the dust away. Where is the mountain, Nullius? Where are the millions which you brought me? Here I have been looking for an hour through my papers for one copeck, only one copeck, that I may give it to him who asks for it, but I cannot find it. What is lying around there? ”

“ SARAH.
Who knows? It may be a gift from God, and it may be a gift from somebody else of whom I would not speak. But there is one thing I do not know; why has a man beautiful eyes, if he must hide them? Why has he a white face, if he must cover it with soot and filth? Beauty is a too dangerous treasure, for it is easier to hide money from a robber, than beauty from a wicked man. (Suspiciously.) Did you come perhaps to see Rosa? Then you better go away,—Rosa is not here, and I will not tell you where she is.
PURIKES.
A buyer. Sarah, look, a buyer is here. ”

“ SARAH.
Stop, Ivan, aren't you ashamed to slander honest people? Naum is going around because he has to get credit. Then, sir, we have a daughter, and her name is Rosa. But unfortunately she is too beautiful, too beautiful, sir. Happiness what is happiness? One person dies of smallpox, while another person needs smallpox, but it would not come, and the face is as pure as a flower leaf.
ANATHEMA. ”

“ DAVID.
Have I forgotten anything, Nullius? Remind me, my friend: I am old and my eyesight is poor, but do I not see musicians there, Nullius? Tell me! Do I not see flags as red as the tongues of crows over my head? Tell me, Nullius.
ANATHEMA.
You have forgotten the people, David. You do not see the children, David Leizer.
DAVID.
The children?
The women, weeping, hold out their children to David.
VOICES.
"Bless my son, David!" ... "Touch my little girl with your hand, David." "Bless." ... "Touch her with your hand." ...
DAVID.
Raising his hands heavenward. ”

“ Music is playing beyond the pillars; the organ, together with the orchestra, is playing the same tune it had played before. The sounds are discordant, somewhat wild, but strangely gay. Together with the music the crowd appears in a solemn procession. At the head of the procession, side by side with the Organ-grinder, walks Anathema, as if dancing. He carries the organ on a strap and turns the handle with one hand, keeping time with the other hand, whistling shrilly, and casting glances on all sides and skyward. ”

“ Anathema goes to the door. Silence.
DAVID.
The spirit of God has come over me. Adenoi. Adenoi.... Who was the terrible one that spoke through the voice of old Nullius, when he spoke about my little children who died? Only an arrow out of the bow of the Omniscient strikes the very heart with such good aim. My little birds.... Verily, You have saved me upon the edge of the abyss, and You have torn my spirit away from the clutches of the Devil. He who looks straight at the sun may grow blind, but with the lapse of time the light may come back to the revived eyes ”

“ SARAH.
Do not ask Him, Naum, do not ask.
NAUM.
I will ask Him.
SARAH.
Entreatingly.
Don't do it, Naum, don't ask.
ANATHEMA.
Why not, madam Leizer? Do you fear that God will give him a bad answer? You should have more faith, madam Leizer. If David heard you, he would not approve your words.
ORGAN-GRINDER.
Raising his head.
Is it you, young man, who wants to speak to God?
NAUM.
Yes, it is I. Every man can speak with God.
ORGAN-GRINDER.
Do you think so? Then ask for a new organ. Tell Him that this one is screeching.
ANATHEMA.
Compassionately. ”

“ I shall cry so bitterly, I shall accuse so sternly, that all on earth will become murderers and hangmen, in the name of Leizer, in the name of David Leizer, in the name of David, who brought joy to mankind! ”

“ How could you do that, David? What have you done with the people, accursed one?
RESTLESS MAN.
Listen what David, who has brought joy to mankind, has done to me. He promised me ten roubles, and then took it back and gave me one copeck, and I thought that the copeck was not really a copeck—I went to a store with it and demanded a great deal, but they laughed and chased me away as a thief. You are the thief. You are the robber; you have left my children without milk. Here is your copeck.
Throws the copeck at David's feet. Many other people follow his example.
SARAH.
Defending David. ”

“ Then he suddenly breaks of his laughter and assumes a haughty pose.
Who shall wrench the victory from the hands of Anathema? The strong I kill, the weak I force to whirl about in an intoxicating dance—a mad dance—a devilish dance.
He strikes the ground with his foot.
Be subdued, O earth, and bring me your gifts humbly! Kill, burn, betray, O man, in the name of your master! I steer my boat over a sea of blood which smells so sweetly,—and my sails are burning red—
To heaven. ”