t pleasant, is it?

FAT MONK

Hee-hee, brother, talk is cheap. A barking dog doesn't bite. Scold
away, scold away. We are listening. God in heaven will decide who is
to go to hell and who elsewhere. "The meek, shall inherit the earth,"
says the Gospel. Good-bye, young gentlemen.

GRAY MONK _(to King Herod)_

Let me give you a piece of advice, however. Talk, but don't talk too
much. Don't go too far. We are only tolerating you because you are
a pitiful creature and because you are foolish. But if you give your
tongue too free a rein, we can stop it, you know. Yes, indeed.

KING HEROD

All right, try--try to stop me.

FAT MONK

What's the use, Father Vissarion? Let him talk. It doesn't do any
harm. Listen, listen, young gentlemen. He is an interesting fellow.
Good night.

_[They go. The Fat Monk is heard laughing heartily._

KING HEROD _(to Savva)_

Fine specimens. I can't stand them.

SAVVA

I like you, uncle.

KING HEROD

Do you? So you don't like their kind either?

SAVVA

No, I don't.

KING HEROD

Well, I'll sit down for a while. My legs are swollen. Have you got a
cigarette?

SAVVA _(handing him a cigarette)_

Do you smoke?

KING HEROD

Sometimes. Excuse me for having talked to you the way I did before.
You are a good fellow. But why did you lie and say you understood? No
one can understand it. Who is this with you?

SAVVA

Oh, he just happened along.

KING HEROD

Well, brother, feeling bad, down in the mouth?

SPERANSKY

Yes, I feel blue.

KING HEROD

Keep still, keep still, I don't want to listen. You are suffering?
Keep still. I am a man too, brother, so I don't understand. I'll
insult you if you don't look out. _(Throws away the cigarette)_ No,
I can't. As long as I keep standing or walking I manage somehow. The
moment I sit down, it's hell. Oh! Ow-w! _(Writhing in agony)_ I simply
can't catch my breath. Oh, God, do you see my torture? Eh? Well, well,
it's nothing. It's gone. Oh! Ow-w!

_[The sky has become overcast with clouds. It turns dark quickly. Now
and then there are flashes of lightning._

SAVVA _(quietly)_

One must try to stifle one's grief, old man. Fight it. Say to yourself
firmly and resolutely: "I don't want it." And it will cease to be. You
seem to be a good, strong man.

KING HEROD

No, friend, my grief is such that even death won't remove it. What is
death? It is little, insignificant, and my grief is great. No, death
won't end my grief. Th