Redemption and Two Other Plays by Leo Tolstoy et al

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PROFESSOR. All right, all right! I am watching both him and Grossman!

[GROSSMAN rises and feels the things that have fallen on the table.

SAHATOF. Excuse me, excuse me! I should like to see whether it is not
the medium who is doing it all himself?

LEONID FYODORITCH. Do you think so? Well, sit by him and hold his
hands. But you may be sure he is asleep.

SAHATOF (approaches, TANYA lets a thread touch his head. He is
frightened, and stoops). Ye ... ye ... yes! Strange, very strange!

[Takes hold of SIMON'S elbow. SIMON howls.

PROFESSOR (to LEONID FYODORITCH). Do you notice the effect of
Grossman's presence? It is a new phenomenon--I must note it....

[Runs out to note it down, and returns again.

LEONID FYODORITCH. Yes.... But we cannot leave Nicholas without an
answer. We must begin....

GROSSMAN (rises, approaches Simon and raises and lowers his arm). It
would be interesting to produce contraction! The subject is in
profound hypnosis.

PROFESSOR (to LEONID FYODORITCH). Do you see? Do you see?

GROSSMAN. If you like....

DOCTOR. Now then, my dear sir, leave the management to Alexey
Vladimiritch; the affair is turning out serious.

PROFESSOR. Leave him alone, he (referring to GROSSMAN) is talking in
his sleep!

FAT LADY. How glad I now am that I resolved to be present! It is
frightening, but all the same I am glad, for I always said to my
husband....

LEONID FYODORITCH. Silence, if you please.

[TANYA draws a thread over the FAT LADY'S head.

FAT LADY. Aie!

LEONID FYODORITCH. What? What is it?

FAT LADY. He took hold of my hair!

LEONID FYODORITCH (whispers). Never mind, don't be afraid, give him
your hand. His hand will be cold, but I like it.

FAT LADY (hides her hands). Not for the world!

SAHATOF. Yes, it is strange, very strange!

LEONID FYODORITCH. He is here and is seeking for intercourse. Who
wishes to put a question to him?

SAHATOF. I should like to put a question, if I may.

PROFESSOR. Please do.

SAHATOF. Do I believe or not?

[TANYA knocks twice.

PROFESSOR. The answer is affirmative.

SAHATOF. Allow me to ask again. Have I a ten rouble note in my pocket?

[TANYA knocks several times and passes a thread over SAHATOF'S head.

SAHATOF. Ah!

[Seizes the thread and breaks it.

PROFESSOR. I should ask those present not to ask indefinite or trivial
questions. It is unpleasant to him!

SAHATOF. No, but allow me! Here I have a thread in my hand!

LEONID FYODORITCH. A thread? Hold it fast; that happens often, and not
only threads but sometimes even silk cords--very ancient ones!

SAHATOF. No--but where did this thread come from?

[TANYA throws a cushion at him.

SAHATOF. Wait a bit; wait! Something soft has hit me on the head.
Light a candle--there is something....

PROFESSOR. We beg of you not to interrupt the manifestations.

FAT LADY. For goodness' sake, don't interrupt! I should also like to
ask something. May I?

LEONID FYODORITCH. Yes, if you like.

FAT LADY. I should like to ask about my digestion. May I? I want to
know what to take: aconite or belladonna?

[Silence, whispers among the young people; suddenly VASILY
LEONIDITCH begins to cry like a baby: "ou-a, ou-a!" (Laughter.)
Holding their mouths and noses, the girls and PETRISTCHEF run
away bursting with laughter.

FAT LADY. Ah, that must be the monk who's been born again!

LEONID FYODORITCH (beside himself with anger, whispers). One gets
nothing but tomfoolery from you! If you don't know how to behave
decently, go away!

[Exit VASILY LEONIDITCH. Darkness and silence.

FAT LADY. Oh, what a pity! Now one can't ask any more! He is born!

LEONID FYODORITCH. Not at all. It is only Vovo's nonsense. But he is
here. Ask him.

PROFESSOR. That often happens. These jokes and ridicule are quite
usual occurrences. I expect he is still here. But we may ask. Leonid
Fyodoritch, will you?

LEONID FYODORITCH. No, you, if you please. This has upset me. So
unpleasant! Such want of tact!...

PROFESSOR. Very well.... Nicholas, are you here?

[TANYA raps twice and rings. SIMON roars, spreads his arms out,
seizes SAHATOF and the PROFESSOR--squeezing them.

PROFESSOR. What an unexpected phenomenon! The medium himself reacted
upon! This never happened before! Leonid Fyodoritch, will you watch?
It is difficult for me to do so. He squeezes me so! Mind you observe
GROSSMAN! This needs the very greatest attention!

[TANYA throws the PEASANTS' paper on the table.

LEONID FYODORITCH. Something has fallen upon the table.

PROFESSOR. See what it is!

LEONID FYODORITCH. Paper! A folded paper!

[TANYA throws a travelling inkstand on the table.

LEONID FYODORITCH. An inkstand!

[TANYA throws a pen.

LEONID FYODORITCH. A pen!

[SIMON roars and squeezes.

PROFESSOR (crushed). Wait a bit, wait: a totally new manifestation!
The action proceeding not from the mediumistic energy produced, but
from the medium himself! However, open the inkstand, and put the pen
on the table, and he will write!

[TANYA goes behind LEONID FYODORITCH and strikes him on the head
with the guitar.

LEONID FYODORITCH. He has struck me on the head! (Examining table.)
The pen is not writing yet and the paper remains folded.

PROFESSOR. See what the paper is, and quickly; evidently the dual
influence--his and Grossman's--has produced a perturbation!

LEONID FYODORITCH (goes out and returns at once). Extraordinary! This
paper is an agreement with some peasants that I refused to sign this
morning and returned to the peasants. Probably he wants me to sign it?

PROFESSOR. Of course! Of course! But ask him.

LEONID FYODORITCH. Nicholas, do you wish....

[TANYA knocks twice.

PROFESSOR. Do you hear? It is quite evident!

[LEONID FYODORITCH takes the paper and pen and goes out. TANYA
knocks, plays on the guitar and the accordion, and then creeps
under the sofa. LEONID FYODORITCH returns. SIMON stretches
himself and coughs.

LEONID FYODORITCH. He is waking up. We can light the candles.

PROFESSOR (hurriedly). Doctor, Doctor, please, his pulse and
temperature! You will see that a rise of both will be apparent.

LEONID FYODORITCH (lights the candles). Well, what do you gentlemen
who were sceptical think of it now?

DOCTOR (goes up to SIMON and places thermometer). Now then my lad.
Well, have you had a nap? There, put that in there, and give me your
hand.

[Looks at his watch.

SAHATOF (shrugging his shoulders). I must admit that all that has
occurred cannot have been done by the medium. But the thread?... I
should like the thread explained.

LEONID FYODORITCH. A thread! A thread! We have been witnessing
manifestations more important than a thread.

SAHATOF. I don't know. At all events, je reserve mon opinion.

FAT LADY (to SAHATOF). Oh, no, how can you say: "je reserve mon
opinion"? And the infant with the little wings? Didn't you see? At
first I thought it was only an illusion, but afterwards it became
clearer and clearer, like a live....

SAHATOF. I can only speak of what I have seen. I did not see that--
nothing of the kind.

FAT LADY. You don't mean to say so? Why, it was quite plainly visible!
And to the left there was a monk clothed in black bending over it....

SAHATOF (moves away. Aside). What exaggeration!

FAT LADY (addressing the DOCTOR). You must have seen it! It rose up
from your side.

[DOCTOR goes on counting the pulse without heeding her.

FAT LADY (to GROSSMAN). And that light, the light around it,
especially around its little face! And the expression so mild and
tender, something so heavenly!

[Smiles tenderly herself.

GROSSMAN. I saw phosphorescent light, and objects changed their
places, but I saw nothing more than that.

FAT LADY. Don't tell me! You don't mean it! It is simply that you
scientists of Charcot's school do not believe in a life beyond the
grave! As for me, no one could now make me disbelieve in a future
life--no one in the world!

[GROSSMAN moves away from her.

FAT LADY. No, no, whatever you may say, this is one of the happiest
moments of my life! When I heard Sarasate play, and now.... Yes! (No
one listens to her. She goes up to SIMON.) Now tell me, my friend,
what did you feel? Was it very trying?

SIMON (laughs). Yes, ma'm, just so.

FAT LADY. Still not unendurable?

SIMON. Just so, ma'm. (To LEONID FYODORITCH.) Am I to go?

LEONID FYODORITCH. Yes, you may go.

DOCTOR (to the PROFESSOR). The pulse is the same, but the temperature
is lower.

PROFESSOR. Lower! (Considers awhile, then suddenly divines the
conclusion.) It had to be so--it had to descend! The dual influence
crossing had to produce some kind of reflex action. Yes, that's it!

[Exeunt, all talking at once--

LEONID FYODORITCH. I'm only sorry we had no complete
materialisation. But still.... Come, gentlemen, let us go to the
drawing-room?

FAT LADY. What specially struck me was when he flapped his wings,
and one saw how he rose!

GROSSMAN (to SAHATOF). If we had kept to hypnotism, we might have
produced a thorough state of epilepsy. The success might have
been complete!

SAHATOF. It is very interesting, but not entirely convincing. That
is all I can say.

[Enter THEODORE IVANITCH.

LEONID FYODORITCH (with paper in his hand). Ah, Theodore, what a
remarkable seance we have had! It turns out that the peasants must
have the land on their own terms.

THEODORE IVANITCH. Dear me!

LEONID FYODORITCH. Yes, indeed. (Showing paper.) Fancy, this paper
that I returned to them, suddenly appeared on the table! I have signed
it.

THEODORE IVANITCH. How did it get there?

LEONID FYODORITCH. Well, it did get there!

[Exit. THEODORE IVANITCH follows him out.

TANYA (gets from under the sofa and laughs). Oh, dear, oh dear! Well,
I did get a fright when he got hold of the thread! (Shrieks.) Well,
anyhow, it's all right--he has signed it!

[Enter GREGORY.

GREGORY. So it was you that was fooling them?

TANYA. What business is it of yours?

GREGORY. And do you think the missis will be pleased with you for it?
No, you bet; you're caught now! I'll tell them what tricks you're up
to, if you don't let me have my way!

TANYA. And you'll not get your way, and you'll not do me any harm!

CURTAIN

ACT IV

The same scene as in Act I. The next day. Two liveried footmen,
THEODORE IVANITCH and GREGORY.

FIRST FOOTMAN (with grey whiskers). Yours is the third house to-day.
Thank goodness that all the at-homes are in this direction. Yours used
to be on Thursdays.

THEODORE IVANITCH. Yes, we changed to Saturday so as to be on the same
day as the Golovkins and Grade von Grabes....

SECOND FOOTMAN. The Stcherbakofs do the thing well. There's
refreshments for the footmen every time they've a ball.

[The two PRINCESSES, mother and daughter, come down the stairs
accompanied by BETSY. The old PRINCESS looks in her note-book
and at her watch, and sits down on the settle. GREGORY puts on
her overshoes.

YOUNG PRINCESS. Now, do come. Because, if you refuse, and Dodo
refuses, the whole thing will be spoilt.

BETSY. I don't know. I must certainly go to the Shoubins. And then
there is the rehearsal.

YOUNG PRINCESS. You'll have plenty of time. Do, please. Ne nous fais
pas faux bond.[13] Fedya and Koko will come.

BETSY. J'en ai par-dessus la tete de votre Koko.[14]

YOUNG PRINCESS. I thought I should see him here. Ordinairement il est
d'une exactitude....[15]

BETSY. He is sure to come.

YOUNG PRINCESS. When I see you together, it always seems to me that he
has either just proposed or is just going to propose.

BETSY. Yes, I don't suppose it can be avoided. I shall have to go
through with it. And it is so unpleasant!

YOUNG PRINCESS. Poor Koko! He is head over ears in love.

BETSY. Cessez, les gens![16]

[YOUNG PRINCESS sits down, talking in whispers. GREGORY puts on
her overshoes.

YOUNG PRINCESS. Well then, good-bye till this evening.

BETSY. I'll try to come.

OLD PRINCESS. Then tell your papa that I don't believe in anything of
the kind, but will come to see his new medium. Only he must let me
know when. Good afternoon, ma toute belle.

[Kisses BETSY, and exit, followed by her daughter. BETSY goes
upstairs.

GREGORY. I don't like putting on an old woman's overshoes for her; she
can't stoop, can't see her shoe for her stomach, and keeps poking her
foot in the wrong place. It's different with a young one; it's
pleasant to take her foot in one's hand.

SECOND FOOTMAN. Hear him! Making distinctions!

FIRST FOOTMAN. It's not for us footmen to make such distinctions.

GREGORY. Why shouldn't one make distinctions; are we not men? It's
they think we don't understand! Just now they were deep in their talk,
then they look at me, and at once it's "lay zhon!"

SECOND FOOTMAN. And what's that?

GREGORY. Oh, that means, "Don't talk, they understand!" It's the same
at table. But I understand! You say, there's a difference? I say there
is none.

FIRST FOOTMAN. There is a great difference for those who understand.

GREGORY. There is none at all. To-day I am a footman, and to-morrow I
may be living no worse than they are. Has it never happened that
they've married footmen? I'll go and have a smoke.

[Exit.

SECOND FOOTMAN. That's a bold young man you've got.

THEODORE IVANITCH. A worthless fellow, not fit for service. He used to
be an office boy and has got spoilt. I advised them not to take him,
but the mistress liked him. He looks well on the carriage when they
drive out.

FIRST FOOTMAN. I should like to send him to our Count; he'd put him in
his place! Oh, he don't like those scatterbrains. "If you're a
footman, be a footman and fulfil your calling." Such pride is not
befitting.

[PETRISTCHEF comes running downstairs, and takes out a cigarette.

PETRISTCHEF (deep in thought). Let's see, my second is the same as my
first. Echo, a-co, co-coa. (Enter KOKO KLINGEN, wearing his
pince-nez.) Ko-ko, co-coa. Cocoa tin, where do you spring from?

KOKO KLINGEN. From the Stcherbakofs. You are always playing the
fool....

PETRISTCHEF. No, listen to my charade. My first is the same as my
second, my third may be cracked, my whole is like your pate.

KOKO KLINGEN. I give it up. I've no time.

PETRISTCHEF. Where else are you going?

KOKO KLINGEN. Where? Of course to the Ivins, to practice for the
concert. Then to the Shoubins, and then to the rehearsal. You'll be
there too, won't you?

PETRISTCHEF. Most certainly. At the re-her-Sall and also at the
re-her-Sarah. Why, at first I was a savage, and now I am both a savage
and a general.

KOKO KLINGEN. How did yesterday's seance go off?

PETRISTCHEF. Screamingly funny! There was a peasant, and above all, it
was all in the dark. Vovo cried like an infant, the Professor defined,
and Marya Vasilevna refined. Such a lark! You ought to have been
there.

KOKO KLINGEN. I'm afraid, mon cher. You have a way of getting off with
a jest, but I always feel that if I say a word they'll construe it
into a proposal. Et ca ne m'arrange pas du tout, du tout. Mais du
tout, du tout! [17]

PETRISTCHEF. Instead of a proposal, make a proposition, and receive a
sentence! Well, I shall go in to Vovo's. If you'll call for me, we can
go to the re-her-Sarah together.

KOKO KLINGEN. I can't think how you can be friends with such a fool.
He is so stupid--a regular blockhead!

PETRISTCHEF. And I am fond of him. I love Vovo, but ... "with a love
so strange, ne'er towards him the path untrod shall be"....

[Exit into Vovo's room.

[BETSY comes down with a LADY. KOKO bows significantly to BETSY.

BETSY (shaking KOKO'S hand without turning towards him. To LADY). You
are acquainted?

LADY. No.

BETSY. Baron Klingen.... Why were you not here last night?

KOKO KLINGEN. I could not come, I was engaged.

BETSY. What a pity, it was so interesting! (Laughs.) You should have
seen what manifestations we had! Well, how is our charade getting on?

KOKO KLINGEN. Oh, the verses for mon second are ready. Nick composed
the verses, and I the music.

BETSY. What are they? What are they? Do tell me!

KOKO KLINGEN. Wait a minute; how does it go?... Oh, the knight sings:

"Oh, naught so beautiful as nature:
The Nautilus sails by.
Oh, naughty lass, oh, naughty lass!
Oh, nought, oh, nought! Oh, fie!"

LADY. I see, my second is "nought," and what is my first?

KOKO KLINGEN. My first is Aero, the name of a girl savage.

BETSY. Aero, you see, is a savage who wished to devour the object of
her love. (Laughs.) She goes about lamenting, and sings--

"My appetite,"

KOKO KLINGEN (interrupts)--

"How can I fight,"....

BETSY (chimes in)--

"Some one to chew I long.
I seeking go ...."

KOKO KLINGEN--

"But even so...."

BETSY--

"No one to chew can find."

KOKO KLINGEN--

"A raft sails by,"

BETSY--

"It cometh nigh;
Two generals upon it...."

KOKO KLINGEN--

"Two generals are we:
By fate's hard decree,
To this island we flee."

And then, the refrain--

"By fate's hard decree,
To this island we flee."

LADY. Charmant!

BETSY. But just think how silly!

KOKO KLINGEN. Yes, that's the charm of it!

LADY. And who is to be Aero?

BETSY. I am. And I have had a costume made, but mamma says it's "not
decent." And it is not a bit less decent than a ball dress. (To
THEODORE IVANITCH.) Is Bourdier's man here?

THEODORE IVANITCH. Yes, he is waiting in the kitchen.

LADY. Well, and how will you represent Aeronaut?

BETSY. Oh, you'll see. I don't want to spoil the pleasure for you. Au
revoir.

LADY. Good-bye!

[They bow. Exit LADY.

BETSY (to KOKO KLINGEN). Come up to mamma.

[BETSY and KOKO go upstairs. JACOB enters from servants'
quarters, carrying a tray with teacups, cakes, etc., and goes
panting across the stage.

JACOB (to the FOOTMEN). How d'you do? How d'you do?

[FOOTMEN bow.

JACOB (to THEODORE IVANITCH). Couldn't you tell Gregory to help a bit!
I'm ready to drop....

[Exit up the stairs.

FIRST FOOTMAN. That is a hard-working chap you've got there.

THEODORE IVANITCH. Yes, a good fellow. But there now--he doesn't
satisfy the mistress, she says his appearance is ungainly. And now
they've gone and told tales about him for letting some peasants into
the kitchen yesterday. It is a bad look-out: they may dismiss him. And
he is a good fellow.

SECOND FOOTMAN. What peasants were they?

THEODORE IVANITCH. Peasants that had come from our Koursk village to
buy some land. It was night, and they were our fellow-countrymen, one
of them the father of the butler's assistant. Well, so they were asked
into the kitchen. It so happened that there was thought-reading going
on. Something was hidden in the kitchen, and all the gentlefolk came
down, and the mistress saw the peasants. There was such a row! "How is
this," she says; "these people may be infected, and they are let into
the kitchen!".... She is terribly afraid of this infection.

[Enter GREGORY.

THEODORE IVANITCH. Gregory, you go and help Jacob. I'll stay here. He
can't manage alone.

GREGORY. He's awkward, that's why he can't manage.

[Exit.

FIRST FOOTMAN. And what is this new mania they have got? This
infection!... So yours also is afraid of it?

THEODORE IVANITCH. She fears it worse than fire! Our chief business,
nowadays, is fumigating, washing, and sprinkling.

FIRST FOOTMAN. I see. That's why there is such a stuffy smell here.
(With animation.) I don't know what we're coming to with these
infection notions. It's just detestable! They seem to have forgotten
the Lord. There's our master's sister, Princess Mosolova, her daughter
was dying, and, will you believe it, neither father nor mother would
come near her! So she died without their having taken leave of her.
And the daughter cried, and called them to say good-bye--but they
didn't go! The doctor had discovered some infection or other! And yet
their own maid and a trained nurse were with her, and nothing happened
to them; they're still alive!

[Enter VASILY LEONIDITCH and PETRISTCHEF from VASILY LEONIDITCH'S
room, smoking cigarettes.

PETRISTCHEF. Come along then, only I must take Koko--Cocoanut, with
me.

VASILY LEONIDITCH. Your Koko is a regular dolt; I can't bear him. A
hare-brained fellow, a regular gad-about! Without any kind of
occupation, eternally loafing around! Eh, what?

PETRISTCHEF. Well, anyhow, wait a bit, I must say goodbye.

VASILY LEONIDITCH. All right. And I will go and look at my dogs in the
coachman's room. I've got a dog there that's so savage, the coachman
said, he nearly ate him.

PETRISTCHEF. Who ate whom? Did the coachman really eat the dog?

VASILY LEONIDITCH. You are always at it!

[Puts on outdoor things and goes out.

PETRISTCHEF (thoughtfully). Ma - kin - tosh, Co - co - tin.... Let's
see.

[Goes upstairs.

[JACOB runs across the stage.

THEODORE IVANITCH. What's the matter?

JACOB. There is no more thin bread and butter. I said....

[Exit.

SECOND FOOTMAN. And then our master's little son fell ill, and they
sent him at once to an hotel with his nurse, and there he died without
his mother.

FIRST FOOTMAN. They don't seem to fear sin! I think you cannot escape
from God anywhere.

THEODORE IVANITCH. That's what I think.

[JACOB runs upstairs with bread and butter.

FIRST FOOTMAN. One should consider too, that if we are to be afraid of
everybody like that, we'd better shut ourselves up within four walls,
as in a prison, and stick there!

[Enter TANYA; she bows to the FOOTMEN.

TANYA. Good afternoon.

[FOOTMEN bow.

TANYA. Theodore Ivanitch, I have a word to say to you.

THEODORE IVANITCH. Well, what?

TANYA. The peasants have come again, Theodore Ivanitch....

THEODORE IVANITCH. Well? I gave the paper to Simon.

TANYA. I have given them the paper. They were that grateful! I can't
say how! Now they only ask you to take the money.

THEODORE IVANITCH. But where are they?

TANYA. Here, by the porch.

THEODORE IVANITCH. All right, I'll tell the master.

TANYA. I have another request to you, dear Theodore Ivanitch.

THEODORE IVANITCH. What now?

TANYA. Why, don't you see, Theodore Ivanitch, I can't remain here any
longer. Ask them to let me go.

[Enter JACOB, running.

THEODORE IVANITCH (to JACOB). What d'you want?

JACOB. Another samovar, and oranges.

THEODORE IVANITCH. Ask the housekeeper.

[Exit JACOB.

THEODORE IVANITCH (to TANYA). How is that?

TANYA. Why, don't you see, my position is such....

JACOB (runs in). There are not enough oranges.

THEODORE IVANITCH. Serve up as many as you've got. (Exit JACOB.) Now's
not the time! Just see what a bustle we are in.

TANYA. But you know yourself, Theodore Ivanitch, there is no end to
this bustle; one might wait for ever--you know yourself--and my affair
is for life.... Dear Theodore Ivanitch, you have done me a good turn,
be a father to me now, choose the right moment and tell her, or else
she'll get angry and won't let me have my passport.[18]

THEODORE IVANITCH. Where's the hurry?

TANYA. Why, Theodore Ivanitch, it's all settled now.... And I could go
to my godmother's and get ready, and then after Easter we'd get
married.[19] Do tell her, dear Theodore Ivanitch!

THEODORE IVANITCH. Go away--this is not the place.

[An elderly GENTLEMAN comes downstairs, puts on overcoat, and
goes out, followed by the SECOND FOOTMAN.

[Exit TANYA. Enter JACOB.

JACOB. Just fancy, Theodore Ivanitch, it's too bad! She wants to
discharge me now! She says, "You break everything, and forget Frisk,
and you let the peasants into the kitchen against my orders!" And you
know very well that I knew nothing about it. Tatyana told me, "Take
them into the kitchen"; how could I tell whose order it was?

THEODORE IVANITCH. Did the mistress speak to you?

JACOB. She's just spoken. Do speak up for me, Theodore Ivanitch! You
see, my people in the country are only just getting on their feet, and
suppose I lose my place, when shall I get another? Theodore Ivanitch,
do, please!

[ANNA PAVLOVNA comes down with the old COUNTESS, whom she is
seeing off. The COUNTESS has false teeth and hair. The FIRST
FOOTMAN helps the COUNTESS into her outdoor things.

ANNA PAVLOVNA. Oh, most certainly, of course! I am so deeply touched.

COUNTESS. If it were not for my illness, I should come oftener to see
you.

ANNA PAVLOVNA. You should really consult Peter Petrovitch. He is
rough, but nobody can soothe one as he does. He is so clear, so
simple.

COUNTESS. Oh no, I shall keep to the one I am used to.

ANNA PAVLOVNA. Pray, take care of yourself.

COUNTESS. Merci, mille fois merci.[20]

[GREGORY, dishevelled and excited, jumps out from the servants'
quarters. SIMON appears behind him in the doorway.

SIMON. You'd better leave her alone!

GREGORY. You rascal! I'll teach you how to fight, you scamp, you!

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