"THE DOUBLE" is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The story, as translated by Constance Garnett, has been adapted for the stage.
GOLYADKIN AND THE DOUBLE WALK UPSTAIRS TO GOLYADKIN’S FLAT. previous
GOLYADKIN’S THOUGHTS: Oh, I’m a sheep’s head. Where am I taking him? I’m thrusting my head into the noose. What will Petrushka think, seeing us together? What will the scoundrel dare to imagine now? He’s suspicious...
GOLYADKIN KNOCKS ON THE DOOR. PETRUSHKA OPENS IT AND TAKES THE DOUBLE’S COAT, THEN GOLYADKIN’S. PETRUSHKA ACTS AS THOUGH HE’D BEEN EXPECTING THIS.
GOLYADKIN’S THOUGHTS (cont.): Has somebody bewitched them all today? Some devil must have got round them. There certainly must be something peculiar in the whole lot of them today. Damn it all, what a worry it is!
GOLYADKIN LEADS THE DOUBLE TO HIS ROOM.
GOLYADKIN: (to the DOUBLE) Please, sit.
THE DOUBLE, SEEMINGLY EMBARRASSED AND TERRIFIED, WATCHES GOLYADKIN’S EVERY MOVE. GOLYADKIN SETS DOWN HIS HAT, AND IT FALLS TO THE FLOOR. THE DOUBLE RUSHES TO PICK IT UP. PETRUSHKA ENTERS AND AVOIDS LOOKING AT GOLYADKIN OR THE DOUBLE.
PETRUSHKA: Shall I bring in dinner for two?
GOLYADKIN: I—I don’t know... you... yes, bring dinner for two, my boy.
PETRUSHKA EXITS. GOLYADKIN LOOKS AT THE DOUBLE.
GOLYADKIN’S THOUGHTS: The fellow’s having a hard time. Yes, and in his situation only one day. Most likely he’s suffered in his time. Maybe his good clothes are all that he has, and nothing to get him a dinner. Ah, poor fellow, how crushed he seems! But it's okay; in a way this is better...
GOLYADKIN: Excuse me. Allow me to ask what I may call you.
DOUBLE: (almost whispering) I... I... I’m Yakov Petrovich.
GOLYADKIN: Yakov Petrovich!
DOUBLE: Yes, exactly.... The same name as yours.
THE DOUBLE TRIES A SMILE, THEN BECOMES SERIOUS AGAIN, SEEING THAT GOLYADKIN WAS IN NO JOKING MOOD.
GOLYADKIN: You... allow me to ask you, to what do I owe the honor...?
DOUBLE: Knowing your generosity and your benevolence, I have ventured to appeal to you and to beg for your... acquaintance and protection...
GOLYADKIN: You perplex me. In what could I... that is, I mean, how could I be of service to you?
DOUBLE: I felt drawn to you, Yakov Petrovich, at first sight, and, please forgive me, I got my hopes up, Yakov Petrovich. I... I’m in a desperate plight here, Yakov Petrovich; I’m poor, I’ve had a great deal of trouble, Yakov Petrovich, and have only recently come here. Learning that you, with your innate goodness and excellence of heart, are of the same name...
GOLYADKIN FROWNS.
DOUBLE (cont.): Of the same name as myself and a native of the same district, I made up my mind to appeal to you, and to let you know about my difficult position.
GOLYADKIN: Very good, very good; I really don’t know what to say. We’ll have a talk after dinner...
THE DOUBLE BOWS. PETRUSHKA BRINGS IN DINNER. THEY EAT HURRIEDLY. GOLYADKIN LIGHTS A PIPE AND OFFERS A SECOND TO THE DOUBLE.
DOUBLE: I have suffered much, quite without any fault on my part. I’ve served in a lawcourt in the provinces, dealt with prosecutors and presidents, experienced certain department intrigues, witnessed the depravity of some registration clerks, an inspector, and a new chief in the department. I have an aged aunt, Pelegea Semyonovna. Through various intrigues of my enemies, I lost my position and came to Petersburg on foot. I’ve had a harassing and wretched time here, have tried in vain for a long time to get a job, have spent all my money, have nothing left, have been living almost in the street, on a crust of bread, washing it down with my tears, sleeping on the bare floor. Some good Christian exerted himself on my behalf and helped me get back on my feet.
THE DOUBLE WIPES HIS EYES WITH A HANDKERCHIEF.
DOUBLE (cont.): I’m without food and money for a decent lodging. I don’t even have enough to dress myself properly. I scrounged up some money for a pair of wretched boots and am renting a uniform for now.
GOLYADKIN IS GENUINELY TOUCHED BY THE DOUBLE’S STORY. PETRUSHKA BRINGS TEA.
GOLYADKIN: I have much to tell you. Petersburg has many entertainments and attractions. The theater, the clubs, Brulov’s picture. There were two Englishmen who came from England to Petersburg on purpose to look at the iron railing of the Summer Garden and returned at once when they had seen it. And then there’s the office... Olsufy Ivanovich and Andrey Flippovich... Russia is progressing, hour by hour, towards a state of perfection. Arts and letters flourish here today. I recently read an anecdote in the Northern Bee about a boa constrictor in India of immense strength. And have you heard of Baron Brambeus?
PETRUSHKA BRINGS IN RUM AND PREPARES PUNCH. GOLYADKIN HESITATES.
GOLYADKIN’S THOUGHTS: It’s okay, though!
GOLYADKIN AND THE DOUBLE DRINK A GLASS OF PUNCH, THEN A SECOND. THE DOUBLE TAKES UP A PEN AND PAPER AND WRITES SOMETHING, THEN READS IT TO GOLYADKIN.
DOUBLE: If you forget me,
I won’t forget thee;
Though all things may be,
Do not forget me!
GOLYADKIN’S EYES WELL UP WITH TEARS. HE HUGS THE DOUBLE.
GOLYADKIN: Well, you can be sure we’ll get along, Yakov Petrovich. You and I will take to each other like fish to water, Yakov Petrovich. We’ll be like brothers. We’ll be cunning, my friend, we’ll work together; we’ll plot behind their backs... intrigue them right back, in spite of them! And don’t you trust any of them. I know you, Yakov Petrovich, and I understand your character; you’re the kind of person who will blurt out everything, you guileless soul! So, steer clear of them all, my boy.
DOUBLE: I agree entirely. Thank you, Mr. Golyadkin.
THE DOUBLE GROWS TEARFUL.
GOLYADKIN: You know, Yasha, you should stay with me for a while, or stay with me forever—why not? We’ll get along together. What do you say, brother, eh? And don’t you worry or complain because things are so strange now; it’s a sin to complain, brother; it’s nature! And Mother Nature is liberal with her gifts, so there, brother Yasha! It’s from love for you that I speak, from brotherly love. But we’ll be cunning, Yasha; we’ll set a trap, too, and we’ll make them laugh out the other side of their mouths.
THEY DRINK THEIR THIRD AND FOURTH GLASSES OF PUNCH. GOLYADKIN MAKES UP A BED FOR THE DOUBLE OUT OF TWO CHAIRS.
GOLYADKIN (cont.): You may stay the night, of course.
DOUBLE: Under a friend’s roof, the bare floor would be a soft bed. For my part, I could sleep anywhere, humbly and gratefully. I’m in paradise now. I’ve been through a great deal of trouble and grief in my time. I’ve seen ups and downs, put up with all sorts of things, and—who can tell what the future holds?—may still have more to put up with.
GOLYADKIN: But you have to put your faith in God!
DOUBLE: I agree entirely. There is, of course, no one like God.
GOLYADKIN: The Turks are right to call upon God even in their sleep. I don’t agree with certain well-educated professors who slander the name of the Turkish prophet Muhammad. He was a great politician in his own right. I read about an Algerian barber shop in a magazine. The Turks are so simple, but one can’t help but admire their fanatical devotion. Maybe it’s the opium.
THEY LAUGH. THE DOUBLE BEGINS UNDRESSING. GOLYADKIN LEAVES HIM AND GOES TO PETRUSHKA’S ROOM. PETRUSHKA IS MAKING HIS BED.
GOLYADKIN (cont.): You go to bed now, Pyotr. You go to bed now and wake me up at eight o’clock. Do you understand, Petrushka?
PETRUSHKA DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE GOLYADKIN.
GOLYADKIN (cont.): Did you hear what I said, Pyotr? You go to bed now and wake me tomorrow at eight; do you understand?
PETRUSHKA: (grumbling) Obviously I know that. What’s the use of telling me?
GOLYADKIN: Well, that’s right, Petrushka; I only mention it so you can be happy and at rest. Now we are all happy, so I want you, too, to be happy and satisfied. And now I wish you good night. Sleep, Petrushka, sleep; we all have to work... Don’t think anything strange, my man...
GOLYADKIN’S THOUGHTS: Is this too much? Have I gone to far? That’s how it always is. I always overdo it.
GOLYADKIN LEAVES PETRUSHKA’S ROOM.
GOLYADKIN’S THOUGHTS (cont.): You joke around with the rascal, do him too much honor, and he doesn’t even feel it. But there, that’s the nasty way of all that sort of people!
GOLYADKIN RETURNS TO HIS ROOM. THE DOUBLE HAS SETTLED IN FOR THE NIGHT.
GOLYADKIN: (whispering familiarly) Admit it, Yasha. You’re a rascal, you know; what a way you’ve treated me! You took my name, you know that?
GOLYADKIN PREPARES FOR BED AS THE DOUBLE STARTS SNORING.
GOLYADKIN: (whispering to himself) You’re drunk today, my dear fellow, Yakov Petrovich, you rascal, you old Golyadkin—what a surname to have! Why, what are you so pleased about? You’ll be crying tomorrow, you big bab. What am I to do with you?
GOLYADKIN’S THOUGHTS: I’ve been over-excited and let myself go. Now my head is buzzing and I’m drunk. I couldn’t stop myself, ass that I am! And I’ve been talking all kinds of nonsense, and, like a rascal, I was planning to be so sly. Of course, to forgive and forget injuries is the height of virtue; but it’s a bad thing, nevertheless! Yes, that’s how it is!
GOLYADKIN PICKS UP A CANDLE AND TAKES IT TO THE DOUBLE. HE STANDS OVER HIM FOR A WHILE, LOST IN THOUGHT.
GOLYADKIN’S THOUGHTS: An unpleasant picture! A pure satire, a mockery, a caricature! This can only end in disaster.
GOLYADKIN FALLS ASLEEP. next