Yes, of course I know--pictures, statues. I went to the Tretyakov art gallery.
That's it--the Tretyakov, and other galleries that are bigger still. There are some good things in them, but it will be still better to have the old stuff out of the way. All the old dress must go. Man must be stripped bare and left naked on a naked earth! Then he will build up a new life. The earth must be denuded, Lipa; it must be stripped of its hideous old rags. It deserves to be arrayed in a king's mantle; but what have they done with it? They have dressed it in coarse fustian, in convict clothes. They've built cities, the idiots!
But who will do it? Who's going to destroy everything?
Yes, I. I'll begin, and then, when people get to understand what I am after, others will join in. The work will proceed merrily, Lipa. The sky will be hot. Yes. The only thing not worth destroying is science. That would be useless. Science is unchangeable, and if, you destroyed it to-day, it would rise up again the same as before.
How much blood will have to be shed? Why, it's horrible!
No more than has been shed already--and there'll be rhyme and reason to it, at least. _(Pause; the hens cluck in the yard; from the same direction comes Tony's sleepy voice_: "Polya, father wants you. Where did you put his cap?")
What a scheme! Are you not joking, Savva?
You make me sick with your "you are joking, you are joking."
I am afraid of you, Savva. You are so serious about it.
Yes, there are many people who are afraid of me.
SAVVA _(looking at her with wide-open eyes and a frank face, and breaking abruptly into a clear, ringing laugh)_ Oh, you funny girl, what should I be smiling for? I'd rather laugh. _(Both laugh)_ Are you afraid of tickling?
All right. And Kondraty, isn't here yet. I wonder why. Do you think the devil has taken him? The devil is fond of monks, you know.
What strange fancies you have. Why, now you are joking--
My fancies are different. You are a dear now, because you talk to me. In the evening I'll tell you all about myself. We'll take a walk together, and I'll tell you everything.
Tell me, Savva, if I may ask--are you in love with a woman?
Ah, switched around to the subject of love after all--just like a woman! I hardly know what to say. I did love a girl, in a way, but she didn't stick it out.