Savva and the Life of Man Part 22

Perhaps not. You have a right to draw your own conclusions. _(Pause)_

SAVVA

But what are you afraid of, you b.o.o.by? The machine is not dangerous.

It won't hurt you. All you have to do is to put it in the right place, set it off, and then you can go to the village to your mistresses.

KONDRATY

That's not the point.

SAVVA

What then? Are you afraid of being caught? But I told you, if anything should happen, I'll take the guilt on myself. Don't you believe me?

KONDRATY

Why, of course I believe you.

SAVVA

What then? Do you fear G.o.d?

KONDRATY

Yes, I do.

SAVVA

But you don't believe in G.o.d--you believe in the devil.

KONDRATY

Who knows? Maybe some day I'll suddenly discover that He does exist.

In that case, Mr. Savva, I thank you, but I'd rather not. Why should I? I live a nice, quiet existence. Of course, it's all a humbug, an imposition. But what business is it of mine? The people want to believe--let them. It wasn't I who invented G.o.d.

SAVVA

Look here. You know I could have done it myself. All I need have done was to take a bomb and throw it into the procession. That's all.

But that would mean the killing of many people, which at the present juncture would serve no useful purpose. I therefore ask you to do it.

If you refuse, then the blood will rest on you. You understand?

KONDRATY

Why on me? I am not going to throw the bomb. And then, what have I got to do with them--I mean the people that get killed? What concern are they of mine? There are plenty of people in the world. You can't kill them all, no matter how many bombs you throw.

SAVVA

Aren't you sorry for them?

KONDRATY

If I were to be sorry for everybody, I should have no sympathy left for myself.

SAVVA

That's right. You are a bright man. You have a good mind. I have already told you so. And yet you hesitate. You are clever, and yet you are afraid to smash a piece of wood.

KONDRATY

If it is nothing but a piece of wood, then why go to so much trouble about it? The point is, it is not a piece of wood, it is an image.

SAVVA

For me it is a piece of wood. For the people it is a sacred object.

That is why I want to destroy it. Imagine how they'll open their mouths and stare. Ah, brother, if you were not a coward, I would tell you some things.

KONDRATY

Go ahead and talk. It's no sin to listen. I am not a coward either. I am simply careful.

SAVVA

This would only be the beginning, brother.

KONDRATY

A good beginning, I won't deny it. And what will be the end?

SAVVA

The earth stripped naked, a _tabula rasa_, do you understand? And on this naked earth, naked man, naked as his mother bore him. No breeches on him, no orders, no pockets, nothing. Imagine men without pockets.

Queer, isn't it? Yes indeed, brother, the ikon is only the beginning.

KONDRATY

Oh, they'll make new ones.

SAVVA

But they won't be the same as before. And they'll never forget this much--that dynamite is mightier than their G.o.d, and that man is mightier than dynamite. Look at them; see them yonder praying and kneeling, not daring to raise their heads and look you straight in the face, mean slaves that they are! Then comes a real man, and smash goes the whole humbug. Done for!

KONDRATY

Really!

SAVVA

And when a dozen of their idols have gone the same way, the slaves will begin to understand that the kingdom of their G.o.d is at an end, and that the kingdom of man has come. Lots of them will drop from sheer terror. Some will lose their wits, and others will throw themselves into the fire. They'll say that Antichrist has come. Think of it, Kondraty!