TONY _(glancing around)_ Doesn't Savva know? SPERANSKY No, Savva doesn't know either. TONY Savva knows everything. SPERANSKY But even he doesn't know that. TONY _(threatening with his finger)_ Keep still, keep still! _(Both look around and are silent)_ TONY _(mysteriously)_ Where are they going, eh? SPERANSKY To the elevation of the ikon. To-morrow is a feast-day--the day of raising the ikon. TONY No, I mean where are they really going--really--don't you understand? SPERANSKY I do. It isn't known. No one knows, Anthony. TONY Hush! _(Makes a funny grimace, closes his mouth with his hand and leans on it)_ SPERANSKY _(in a whisper)_ What's the matter? TONY Keep quiet, keep quiet. Listen. _(Both are listening)_ TONY _(in whisper)_ Those are faces. SPERANSKY Yes? TONY It's faces that are going. A lot of faces--can't you see them? SPERANSKY _(staring)_ No, I can't. TONY But I can. There they are, laughing. Why aren't you laughing, eh? SPERANSKY I feel very despondent. TONY Laugh. You must laugh. Everybody is laughing. Hush, hush! _(Pause)_ Listen, nobody exists, nobody--do you understand? There is no God, there is no man, there are no animals. Here is the table--it doesn't exist. Here is the candle--it doesn't exist. The only things that exist are faces--you understand? Keep quiet, keep quiet. I am very much afraid. SPERANSKY What are you afraid of? TONY _(bending near to Speransky)_ That I'll die of laughter. SPERANSKY Really? TONY _(shaking his head affirmatively)_ Yes, that I'll die of laughter. I am afraid that some day I'll catch sight of a face which will send me off roaring with laughter; and I'll roar and roar until I die. Keep quiet. I know. SPERANSKY You never laugh TONY I am always laughing, but you don't see it. It's nothing. The only thing I am afraid is that I'll die. I'll come across a face one of these days which will start me off in a fit of laughter, and I'll laugh and laugh and laugh and won't be able to stop. Yes, it's coming, it's coming. _(Wipes his chest and neck)_ SPERANSKY The dead know everything. TONY _(mysteriously, with awe)_ I am afraid of Savva's face. It's a very funny face. One could die laughing over it. The point is that you can't stop laughing--that's the principal thing. You laugh and laugh and laugh. Is there nobody here? SPERANSKY Apparently no. TONY Keep quiet, keep quiet, I know. Keep quiet. _(Pause; the tramp of the pilgrim's footsteps grows louder, as if they were walking in the very room itself)_ Are they going? SPERANSKY Yes, they are going. _(Pause)_ TONY I like you. Sing me that song of yours. I'll listen. SPERANSKY With your permission, Anthony. _(Sings in an undertone, almost in a whisper, a dismal, long-drawn-out tune somewhat resembling a litany)_ Life's a sham, 'tis false, untrue, Death alone is true, aye, true. _(With increasing caution and pedantry, shaking his finger as if imparting a secret)_