RAZIN.
Why, e"en this pillar here bears Moscow"s arms; Here terminates the empire of the Poles.
DEMETRIUS.
Is that the Dnieper, rolls its quiet stream Along these meadows?
ODOWALSKY.
That, sire, is the Desna; See, yonder rise the towers of Tschernizow!
RAZIN.
Yon gleam you see upon the far horizon Is from the roofs of Sewerisch Novogrod.
DEMETRIUS.
What a rich prospect! What fair meadow lands!
ODOWALSKY.
The spring has decked them with her trim array; A teeming harvest clothes the fruitful soil.
DEMETRIUS.
The view is lost in limitless expanse.
RAZIN.
Yet is this but a small beginning, sire, Of Russia"s mighty empire. For it spreads Towards the east to confines unexplored, And on the north has ne"er a boundary, Save the productive energy of earth.
Behold, our Czar is quite absorbed in thought.
DEMETRIUS.
On these fair meads dwell peace, unbroken peace, And with war"s terrible array I come To scatter havoc, like a listed foe!
ODOWALSKY.
Hereafter "twill be time to think of that.
DEMETRIUS.
Thou feelest as a Pole, I am Moscow"s son.
It is the land to which I owe my life; Forgive me, thou dear soil, land of my home, Thou sacred boundary-pillar, which I clasp, Whereon my sire his broad-spread eagle graved, That I, thy son, with foreign foemen"s arms, Invade the tranquil temple of thy peace.
"Tis to reclaim my heritage I come, And the proud name that has been stolen from me.
Here the Varegers, my forefathers, ruled, In lengthened line, for thirty generations; I am the last of all their lineage, s.n.a.t.c.hed From murder by G.o.d"s special providence.
SCENE III.
A Russian village. An open square before a church.
The tocsin is heard. GLEB, ILIA, and TIMOSKA rush in, armed with hatchets.
GLEB (entering from a house).
Why are they running?
ILIA (entering from another house).
Who has tolled the bell.
TIMOSKA.
Neighbors, come forth! Come all, to council come!
[Enter OLEG and IGOR, with many other peasants, women and children, who carry bundles.
GLEB.
Whence come ye hither with your wives and children?
IGOR.
Fly, fly! The Pole has fallen upon the land At Maromesk, and slaughters all he finds.
OLEG.
Fly into the interior--to strong towns!
We"ve fired our cottages, there"s not a soul Left in the village, and we"re making now Up country for the army of the Czar.
TIMOSKA.
Here comes another troop of fugitives.
[IWANSKA and PETRUSCHKA, with armed peasantry, enter on different sides.
IWANSKA.
Long live the Czar! The mighty prince Dmitri!
GLEB.
How! What is this!
ILIA.
What do you mean?
TIMOSKA.
Who are you?
PETRUSCHKA.
Join all who"re loyal to our princely line!
TIMOSKA.
What means all this? There a whole village flies Up country to escape the Poles, while you Make for the very point whence these have fled, To join the standard of the country"s foe!
PETRUSCHKA.
What foe? It is no foe that comes; it is The people"s friend, the emperor"s rightful heir.
The POSADMIK (the village judge) enters to read a manifes...o...b.. Demetrius.
Vacillation of the inhabitants of the village between the two parties.
The peasant women are the first to be won over to Demetrius, and turn the scale.