Talk sense. Stop blubbering. KONDRATY _(waving his hand)_ I am not angry with you. I bear you no grudge. Who are you that I should bear any resentment against you? SAVVA Talk sense. KONDRATY I'll tell Miss Olympiada. I won't speak to you. You knew me as a drunkard, Miss Olympiada, a mean, worthless creature. Now listen. _(To Speransky)_ And you, young man, may listen also. It will teach you a lesson. It will show you how God works His will unseen. LIPA I see, Father Kondraty. Forgive me. KONDRATY God will forgive you. Who am I to forgive you? So that's the way it was, Miss Olympiada. I followed your advice and went to the Father Superior with the infernal machine. It was indeed an infernal machine! And I told him everything, just the way I felt, with a perfect candor and purity of heart. SPERANSKY _(guessing)_ Is that how it happened? What a remarkable event! FRIAR _(quietly)_ Keep quiet. What are you butting in for? KONDRATY Ye-es. The Father Superior turned pale. "You scamp," he said, "do you know with whom you have had dealings?" "I do," I said, trembling all over. Well, they called together the whole brotherhood and discussed the matter in secret. And then the Father Superior said to me: "It's this way, Kondraty," he said. "God has chosen you as the instrument of His sacred will. Yes. _(Weeps)_ God has chosen you as the instrument--" LIPA Well? Go on. KONDRATY Ye-es, hm. "Go," he said, "and put down the machine as you were told to do, and set it going according to the directions. Carry out the devil's plot in full. I and the other brothers will sing a hymn quietly as we carry the ikon away. Yes, that's what we'll do. We'll carry the ikon away. And thus the devil will be made a fool of." SAVVA Ah! LIPA _(astonished)_ But, Father Kondraty, how can that be? _[Savva laughs heartily._ KONDRATY