To plead with the
tsaritsa
in her cell
Now are they gone.
Now are they gone.
Pushkin - Boris Gudonov
THE PEOPLE. Silence! Silence! He speaks,
The Minister of State. Hush, hush! Give ear!
SHCHELKALOV. (From the Red Balcony. )
The Council have resolved for the last time
To put to proof the power of supplication
Upon our ruler's mournful soul. At dawn,
After a solemn service in the Kremlin,
The blessed Patriarch will go, preceded
By sacred banners, with the holy ikons
Of Donsky and Vladimir; with him go
The Council, courtiers, delegates, boyars,
And all the orthodox folk of Moscow; all
Will go to pray once more the queen to pity
Fatherless Moscow, and to consecrate
Boris unto the crown. Now to your homes
Go ye in peace: pray; and to Heaven shall rise
The heart's petition of the orthodox.
(The PEOPLE disperse. )
THE VIRGIN'S FIELD
THE NEW NUNNERY. The People.
1ST PERSON.
To plead with the tsaritsa in her cell
Now are they gone. Thither have gone Boris,
The Patriarch, and a host of boyars.
2ND PERSON. What news?
3RD PERSON. Still is he obdurate; yet there is hope.
PEASANT WOMAN. (With a child. )
Drat you! Stop crying, or else the bogie-man
Will carry you off. Drat you, drat you! Stop crying!
1ST PERSON. Can't we slip through behind the fence?
2ND PERSON. Impossible!
