Boris Godunov Part 14

PRETENDER. Honour to the brave, And peace be on his soul! How few unscathed Are left us from the fight! Accursed Cossacks, Traitors and miscreants, you, you it is Have ruined us! Not even for three minutes To keep the foe at bay! I'll teach the villains!

Every tenth man I'll hang. Brigands!

PUSHKIN. Whoe'er Be guilty, all the same we were clean worsted, Routed!

PRETENDER. But yet we nearly conquered. Just When I had dealt with their front rank, the Germans Repulsed us utterly. But they're fine fellows!

By G.o.d! Fine fellows! I love them for it. From them I'll form an honourable troop.

PUSHKIN. And where Shall we now spend the night?

PRETENDER. Why, here, in the forest.

Why not this for our night quarters? At daybreak We'll take the road, and dine in Rilsk. Good night.

(He lies down, puts a saddle under his head, and falls asleep.)

PUSHKIN. A pleasant sleep, tsarevich! Smashed to bits, Rescued by flight alone, he is as careless As a simple child; 'tis clear that Providence Protects him, and we, my friends, will not lose heart.

MOSCOW. PALACE OF THE TSAR

BORIS. BASMANOV

TSAR. He is vanquished, but what profit lies in that?

We are crowned with a vain conquest; he has mustered Again his scattered forces, and anew Threatens us from the ramparts of Putivl.

Meanwhile what are our heroes doing? They stand At Krom, where from its rotten battlements A band of Cossacks braves them. There is glory!

No, I am ill content with them; thyself I shall despatch to take command of them; I give authority not to birth, but brains.

Their pride of precedence, let it be wounded!

The time has come for me to hold in scorn The murmur of distinguished n.o.bodies, And quash pernicious custom.

BASMANOV. Ay, my lord Blessed a hundredfold will be that day When fire consumes the lists of n.o.blemen With their dissensions, their ancestral pride.

TSAR. That day is not far off; let me but first Subdue the insurrection of the people.

BASMANOV. Why trouble about that? The people always Are p.r.o.ne to secret treason; even so The swift steed champs the bit; so doth a lad Chafe at his father's ruling. But what then?

The rider quietly controls the steed, The father sways the son.

TSAR. Sometimes the horse Doth throw the rider, nor is the son at all times Quite 'neath the father's will; we can restrain The people only by unsleeping sternness.

So thought Ivan, sagacious autocrat And storm-subduer; so his fierce grandson thought.

No, no, kindness is lost upon the people; Act well--it thanks you not at all; extort And execute--'twill be no worse for you.

(Enter a boyar.)

What now?

BOYAR. The foreign guests are come.

TSAR. I go To welcome them. Basmanov, wait, stay here; I still have need to speak: a word with thee.

(Exit.)

BASMANOV. High sovereign spirit! G.o.d grant he may subdue The accurst Otrepiev; and much, still much Of good he'll do for Russia. A great thought Within his mind has taken birth; it must not Be suffered to grow cold. What a career For me when the ancestral horn he breaks Of the n.o.bility. I have no rivals In war. I shall stand closest to the throne-- And it may chance--But what is that strange sound?

(Alarum. Boyars and court-attendants run in disorder, meet each other and whisper.)

ONE. Fetch a physician!

ANOTHER. Quickly to the Patriarch!

A THIRD. He calls for the tsarevich, the tsarevich!

A FOURTH. A confessor!

BASMANOV. What has happened?

A FIFTH AND SIXTH. The tsar is ill, The tsar is dying.

BASMANOV. Good G.o.d!

A FIFTH. Upon the throne He sat, and suddenly he fell; blood gushed From his mouth and ears.

(The TSAR is carried in on a chair. All the Tsar's household; all the boyars.)

TSAR. Let all depart--alone Leave the tsarevich with me. (All withdraw.) I am dying; Let us embrace. Farewell, my son; this hour Thou wilt begin to reign.--O G.o.d, my G.o.d!

This hour I shall appear before Thy presence-- And have no time to purge my soul with shrift.

But yet, my son, I feel thou art dearer to me Than is my soul's salvation--be it so!

A subject was I born; it seemed ordained That I should die a subject in obscurity.

Yet I attained to sovereignty; but how?

Ask not. Enough that thou art innocent.

In justice now thou'lt reign; and I alone Am answerable for all to G.o.d. Dear son, Cherish no false delusion, of thy free will Blind not thyself. Stormy the days wherein Thou dost a.s.sume the crown. He is dangerous, This strange pretender; with a fearful name He is armed. For many a year experienced In rule, I could restrain revolt and treason; They quaked with fear before me; treachery Dared not to raise its voice; but thou, a boy, An inexperienced ruler, how wilt thou Govern amid the tempests, quench revolt, Shackle sedition? But G.o.d is great! He gives Wisdom to youth, to weakness strength.--Give ear; Firstly, select a steadfast counsellor, Of cool, ripe years, loved of the people, honoured Mid the boyars for birth and fame--even Shuisky.

The army craves today a skilful leader; Basmanov send, and firmly bear the murmurs Of the boyars. Thou from thy early years Didst sit with me in council, thou dost know The formal course of government; change not Procedure. Custom is the soul of states.

Of late I have been forced to reinstate Bans, executions--these thou canst rescind; And they will bless thee, as they blessed thy uncle When he obtained the throne of the Terrible.

At the same time, little by little, tighten Anew the reins of government; now slacken; But let them not slip from thy hands. Be gracious, Accessible to foreigners, accept Their service trustfully. Preserve with strictness The Church's discipline. Be taciturn; The royal voice must never lose itself Upon the air in emptiness, but like A sacred bell must sound but to announce Some great disaster or great festival.

Dear son, thou art approaching to those years When woman's beauty agitates our blood.

Preserve, preserve the sacred purity Of innocence and proud shamefacedness; He, who through pa.s.sion has been wont to wallow In vicious pleasures in his youthful days, Becomes in manhood bloodthirsty and surly; His mind untimely darkens. Of thy household Be always head; show honour to thy mother, But rule thy house thyself; thou art a man And tsar to boot. Be loving to thy sister-- Thou wilt be left of her the sole protector.

FEODOR. (On his knees.) No, no; live on, my father, and reign long; Without thee both the folk and we will perish.

TSAR. All is at end for me--mine eyes grow dark, I feel the coldness of the grave--

(Enter the PATRIARCH and prelates; behind them all the boyars lead the TSARITSA by the hand; the TSAREVNA is sobbing.)

Who's there?

Ah, 'tis the vestment--so! The holy tonsure-- The hour has struck. The tsar becomes a monk, And the dark sepulchre will be my cell.

Wait yet a little, my lord Patriarch, I still am tsar. Listen to me, boyars: To this my son I now commit the tsardom; Do homage to Feodor. Basmanov, thou, And ye, my friends, on the grave's brink I pray you To serve my son with zeal and rect.i.tude!

As yet he is both young and uncorrupted.

Swear ye?