Full Transcript for The Devil, Librivox Short Ghost and Horror Story Collection Vol. 009, Maxim Gorky

--> 00:02:09.229 lonely and whistled softly as he looked around himself in 36 00:02:09.289 --> 00:02:13.789 search of a distraction. He whistled an old song, my 37 00:02:13.849 --> 00:02:19.000 father's favorite song. When, in autumnal days, a leaf from 38 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.879 its branch is torn, and on high by the wind 39 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:26.169 is born. And the wind sang with him. sowing over 40 00:02:26.189 --> 00:02:29.210 the graves and among the black crosses, and heavy autumnal 41 00:02:29.250 --> 00:02:32.389 clouds slowly crawled over the heaven, and with their cold 42 00:02:32.430 --> 00:02:36.050 tears watered the narrow dwellings of the dead. The mournful 43 00:02:36.110 --> 00:02:38.719 trees in the cemetery timidly creaked under the strokes of 44 00:02:38.750 --> 00:02:42.280 the wind and stretched their bare branches to the speechless clouds. 45 00:02:43.259 --> 00:02:45.620 The branches were now and then caught by the crosses, 46 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:50.780 and then a dull, shuffling, awful sound passed over the churchyard. 47 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:53.759 The devil was whistling, and. 48 00:02:53.689 --> 00:02:57.280 He thought, I wonder how the dead feel in such weather. 49 00:02:57.860 --> 00:03:01.020 No doubt the dampness goes down to them, and although 50 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:03.370 they are secure against rheumatism ever since the day of 51 00:03:03.409 --> 00:03:07.389 their death, yet I suppose they do not feel comfortable. 52 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:10.129 How if I called one of them up and had 53 00:03:10.169 --> 00:03:12.969 a talk with him? It would be a little distraction 54 00:03:13.009 --> 00:03:16.629 for me, and very likely for him also. I will 55 00:03:16.669 --> 00:03:19.569 call him. Somewhere around here they have buried an old 56 00:03:19.629 --> 00:03:23.020 friend of mine, an author. I used to visit him 57 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:27.060 when he was alive. Why not renew our acquaintance? People 58 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:30.289 of his kind are dreadfully exacting. I shall find out 59 00:03:30.330 --> 00:03:34.590 whether the grave satisfies him completely. But where is his grave? 60 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:39.590 And the devil, who, as is well known, knows everything, 61 00:03:40.270 --> 00:03:42.919 wandered for a long time about the cemetery before he 62 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.659 found the author's grave. Oh, there, he called out as 63 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:49.060 he knocked through this closet of heavy stone under which 64 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:51.340 his acquaintance was put away. Get up! 65 00:03:52.580 --> 00:03:56.560 What for? Came the dull answer from below. I need you. 66 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:04.560 I won't get up. Why? Who are you, anyway? You 67 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:11.479 know me. The censor? No. Maybe a secret policeman? 68 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:12.719 No, no. 69 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:19.930 Not a critic, either. I am the devil. Well, I'll 70 00:04:19.949 --> 00:04:20.610 be out in a minute. 71 00:04:21.050 --> 00:04:24.110 The stone lifted itself from the grave, the earth burst open, 72 00:04:24.269 --> 00:04:26.629 and a skeleton came out of it. It was a 73 00:04:26.649 --> 00:04:30.149 very common skeleton, just the kind that students study anatomy by, 74 00:04:30.889 --> 00:04:33.550 only it was dirty, had no wire connections, and in 75 00:04:33.589 --> 00:04:36.389 the empty sockets there shone a blue phosphoric light instead 76 00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:39.199 of eyes. It crawled out of the ground, shook its 77 00:04:39.259 --> 00:04:41.040 bones in order to throw off the earth that stuck 78 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.819 to them, and made a dry, rattling noise with them, 79 00:04:44.379 --> 00:04:46.720 and raising up its skull, looked with its cold blue 80 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:51.879 eyes at the murky, cloud-covered sky. I hope you are well, 81 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:57.430 said the devil. How can I be, curtly answered the author. 82 00:04:58.230 --> 00:05:00.870 He spoke in a strange, low voice, as if two 83 00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:05.230 bones were grating against each other. Oh, excuse my greeting, 84 00:05:05.529 --> 00:05:06.600 the devil said pleasantly. 85 00:05:08.019 --> 00:05:08.660 Never mind. 86 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:12.759 But why have you raised me? I just wanted to 87 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:15.100 take a walk with you, though the weather is very bad. 88 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:17.779 I suppose you are not afraid of catching a cold, 89 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:18.879 asked the devil. 90 00:05:20.290 --> 00:05:21.069 Not at all. 91 00:05:21.930 --> 00:05:25.569 I got used to catching colds during my lifetime. Yes, 92 00:05:25.829 --> 00:05:30.279 I remember you died pretty cold. I should say I did. 93 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.379 They had poured enough cold water over me all my life. 94 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:37.240 They walked beside each other over the narrow path, between 95 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.689 graves and crosses. Two blue beams fell from the author's 96 00:05:40.810 --> 00:05:42.810 eyes upon the ground and lit the way for the devil. 97 00:05:43.589 --> 00:05:46.069 A drizzling rain sprinkled over them, and the wind freely 98 00:05:46.110 --> 00:05:48.709 passed between the author's bare ribs and through his breast 99 00:05:48.769 --> 00:05:49.949 where there was no longer a heart. 100 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:55.529 We are going to town? he asked the devil. What 101 00:05:55.589 --> 00:05:56.329 interests you there? 102 00:05:57.689 --> 00:06:01.329 Life, my dear sir, the author said impassionately. 103 00:06:02.589 --> 00:06:02.910 What? 104 00:06:03.689 --> 00:06:07.110 It still has a meaning for you? Indeed it has. 105 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:12.279 But why? How am I to say it? 106 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:15.740 A man measures all by the quantity of his effort, 107 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:18.439 and if he carries a common stone down from the 108 00:06:18.480 -->

00:06:21.540 summit of Ararat... That stone becomes a gem to him. 109 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:27.610 Poor fellow, smiled the devil. But also a happy man, 110 00:06:28.620 --> 00:06:34.029 the author retorted coldly. The devil shrugged his shoulders. They 111 00:06:34.069 --> 00:06:37.350 left the churchyard, and before them lay a street. Two 112 00:06:37.410 --> 00:06:40.129 rows of houses, and between them was darkness in which 113 00:06:40.170 --> 00:06:43.589 the miserable lamps clearly proved the want of light upon earth. 114 00:06:44.949 --> 00:06:48.810 Tell me, the devil spoke after a pause. How do 115 00:06:48.829 --> 00:06:52.220 you like your grave? Now I am used to it, 116 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:55.279 and it is all right. It is very quiet there. 117 00:06:56.660 --> 00:06:59.459 Is it not damp down there in the fall? asks 118 00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:03.709 the devil. A little, but you get used to that. 119 00:07:04.529 --> 00:07:07.589 The greatest annoyance comes from those various idiots who ramble 120 00:07:07.649 --> 00:07:11.269 over the cemetery and accidentally stumble on my grave. I 121 00:07:11.310 --> 00:07:13.269 don't know how long I have been lying in my grave, 122 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:16.529 for I and everything around me is unchangeable, and the 123 00:07:16.569 --> 00:07:20.240 concept of time does not exist for me. You have 124 00:07:20.259 --> 00:07:23.560 been in the ground four years. It will soon be five, 125 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:29.480 said the devil. Indeed? Well then, there have been three 126 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:31.160 people at my grave during that time. 127 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:33.819 Those accursed people make me nervous. 128 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:37.819 One, you see, straightaway denied the fact of my existence. 129 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.079 He read my name on the tombstone and said confidently, 130 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:44.959 There was never such a man. I have never read him, 131 00:07:45.379 --> 00:07:48.540 though I remember such a name. When I was a boy... 132 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:50.560 There lived a man of that name who had a 133 00:07:50.579 --> 00:07:54.000 broker's shop in our street. How do you like that? 134 00:07:55.019 --> 00:07:57.560 And my articles appeared for sixteen years in the most 135 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:01.860 popular periodicals, and three times during my lifetime my books 136 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:05.939 came out in separate editions. There were two more editions 137 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:10.019 since your death, the devil informed him. Well, you see, 138 00:08:10.990 --> 00:08:14.529 then came two, and one of them said, Oh, that's 139 00:08:14.689 --> 00:08:15.430 that fellow. 140 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:18.050 Yes, that is he, answered the other. 141 00:08:18.930 --> 00:08:21.329 Yes, they used to read him in the Auld Lang Syne. 142 00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:25.269 They read a lot of them. What was it he preached? 143 00:08:25.790 --> 00:08:29.189 Oh, generally ideas of beauty, goodness, and so forth. 144 00:08:29.990 --> 00:08:34.429 Oh yes, I remember. He had a heavy tongue. There 145 00:08:34.450 --> 00:08:35.990 was a lot of them in the ground, yes. 146 00:08:36.389 --> 00:08:40.529 Russia is rich in talents. And those asses went away. 147 00:08:41.230 --> 00:08:43.769 It is true, warm words do not raise the temperature 148 00:08:43.789 --> 00:08:46.210 of the grave. And I do not care for that, 149 00:08:46.309 --> 00:08:49.330 yet it hurts me. And oh, for I wanted to 150 00:08:49.370 --> 00:08:52.509 give them a piece of my mind. You ought to 151 00:08:52.570 --> 00:08:56.960 have given them a fine tongue lashing, smiled the devil. No, 152 00:08:57.940 --> 00:09:00.480 that would not have done. On the verge of the 153 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:03.460 twentieth century, it would be absurd for dead people to scold, 154 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:08.279 and besides, it would be hard on the materialists. The 155 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:11.899 devil again felt the ennui coming over him. This author 156 00:09:11.950 --> 00:09:14.169 had always wished in his lifetime to be a bridegroom 157 00:09:14.190 --> 00:09:17.059 at all weddings and a corpse at all burials. And 158 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:19.259 now that all is dead in him, his egotism is 159 00:09:19.299 --> 00:09:23.179 still alive. Is man of any importance to life? Of 160 00:09:23.220 --> 00:09:26.480 importance is only a human spirit. And only the spirit 161 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:32.320 deserves applause and recognition. How annoying people are. The devil 162 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:34.700 was on the point of proposing to the author to 163 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:37.679 return to his grave, when an idea flashed through his 164 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.919 evil head. They had just reached a square, and heavy 165 00:09:40.970 --> 00:09:44.330 masses of buildings surrounded them on all sides. The dark, 166 00:09:44.409 --> 00:09:47.179 wet sky hung low over the square, It seemed as 167 00:09:47.220 --> 00:09:49.480 though it rested on the roofs and markly looked at 168 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:53.460 the dirty earth.' Say,' said the devil as he inclined 169 00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:56.470 pleasantly towards the author, 'don't you want to know how 170 00:09:56.509 --> 00:09:59.950 your wife is getting on?'' I don't know whether I 171 00:10:00.009 --> 00:10:00.450 want to. 172 00:10:01.629 --> 00:10:02.730 The author spoke slowly. 173 00:10:02.750 --> 00:10:06.629 I see you are a thorough corpse,' called out the 174 00:10:06.649 --> 00:10:11.389 devil to annoy him.' Oh, I don't know,' said the 175 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:17.059 author and jauntily shook his bones.' I don't mind seeing her. Besides, 176 00:10:17.460 --> 00:10:20.480 she will not see me, or if she will, She 177 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:26.590 cannot recognize me. Of course, the devil assured him. You know, 178 00:10:26.610 --> 00:10:29.330 I only said so because she did not like for 179 00:10:29.350

--> 00:10:32.269 me to go away long from home, explained the author. 180 00:10:33.230 --> 00:10:35.769 And suddenly the wall of a house disappeared or became 181 00:10:35.830 --> 00:10:38.940 as transparent as glass. The author saw the inside of 182 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.779 large apartments, and it was so light and cozy in them. 183 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:48.919 Elegant appointments, he grated his bones approvingly. Very fine appointments. 184 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:51.860 If I had lived in such rooms, I would be 185 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:56.120 alive now. I like it too, said the devil and smiled. 186 00:10:56.909 --> 00:10:59.970 And it is not expensive. It only costs some three thousands. 187 00:11:01.649 --> 00:11:05.309 That not expensive? I remember my largest work brought me 188 00:11:05.309 --> 00:11:08.649 815 rubles, and I worked over it a whole year. 189 00:11:09.889 --> 00:11:15.059 But who lives here? Your wife, said the devil. I 190 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:21.580 declare that is good for her. Yes, and here comes 191 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:26.580 her husband. She is so pretty now. And how well 192 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.379 she is dressed. Her husband, you say? 193 00:11:30.419 --> 00:11:35.100 What a fine-looking fellow. Rather a bourgeois fizz. Kind, but 194 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:36.279 somewhat stupid. 195 00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:40.549 He looks as if he might be cunning. Well, just 196 00:11:40.610 --> 00:11:43.629 the face to please a woman. Do you want me 197 00:11:43.649 --> 00:11:46.149 to heave a sigh for you? The devil proposed and 198 00:11:46.169 --> 00:11:49.120 looked maliciously at the author. But he was taken up 199 00:11:49.169 --> 00:11:53.950 with the scene before him. What happy, jolly faces both have. 200 00:11:55.230 --> 00:11:59.909 They are evidently satisfied with life. Tell me, does she 201 00:11:59.970 --> 00:12:05.049 love him? Oh, yes, very much. And who is he? 202 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:10.240 A clerk in a millinery shop. A clerk in a 203 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:13.879 millinery shop? The author repeated slowly and did not utter 204 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:16.639 a word for some time. The devil looked at him 205 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:18.059 and smiled a merry smile. 206 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:20.000 Do you like that? 207 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:25.139 He asked. The author spoke with an effort. I had 208 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:31.259 some children. I know they are alive. I had some children. 209 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:35.500 A son and a daughter. I used to think then 210 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:37.679 that my son would turn out in time a good man. 211 00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:41.009 There are plenty of good men, but what the world 212 00:12:41.049 --> 00:12:44.409 needs is perfect men, said the devil coolly and whistled 213 00:12:44.450 --> 00:12:45.090 a jolly march. 214 00:12:46.769 --> 00:12:49.610 I think the clerk is probably a poor pedagogue. 215 00:12:50.529 --> 00:12:55.769 And my son. The author's empty skull shook sadly. Just 216 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:58.289 look at how he's embracing her. They are living an 217 00:12:58.409 --> 00:13:03.500 easy life, exclaimed the devil. Yes. Is that clerk a 218 00:13:03.539 --> 00:13:07.179 rich man? No, he was poorer than I. 219 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:11.899 But your wife is rich. My wife? Where did she 220 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:12.740 get the money from? 221 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:18.200 From the sale of your books. Oh, said the author, 222 00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:22.019 and shook his bare and empty skull. Oh, then it 223 00:13:22.059 --> 00:13:24.580 simply means that I have worked for a certain clerk? 224 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:29.120 I confess it looks that way, the devil chimed in merrily. 225 00:13:30.259 --> 00:13:32.190 The author looked at the ground and said to the devil, 226 00:13:33.409 --> 00:13:35.009 Take me back to my grave. 227 00:13:37.450 --> 00:13:38.029 It was late. 228 00:13:39.049 --> 00:13:42.200 A rain fell, heavy clouds hung in the sky, and 229 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.639 the author rattled his bones as he marched rapidly to 230 00:13:44.679 --> 00:13:48.200 his grave. The devil walked behind him and whistled merrily. 231 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:54.120 My reader is, of course, dissatisfied. My reader is surfeited 232 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.750 with literature, and even the people that write only to 233 00:13:56.809 --> 00:14:00.830 please him are rarely to his taste. In the present case, 234 00:14:00.909 --> 00:14:03.549 my reader is also dissatisfied because I have said nothing 235 00:14:03.610 --> 00:14:07.129 about hell. As my reader is justly convinced that after 236 00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:09.549 death he will find his way there, he would like 237 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:13.350 to know something about hell during his lifetime. Really, I 238 00:14:13.409 --> 00:14:15.840 can't tell anything pleasant to my reader on that score, 239 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.940 because there is no hell, no fiery hell which is 240 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:20.039 so easy to imagine. 241 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:24.419 Yet, there is something else and infinitely more terrible. 242 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:27.879 The moment the doctor will have said about you to 243 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:31.570 your friends, he is dead, you will enter an immeasurable 244 00:14:31.690 --> 00:14:34.590 illuminated space, and that is the space of the consciousness 245 00:14:34.629 --> 00:14:37.669 of your mistakes. You lie in the grave in a 246 00:14:37.710 --> 00:14:40.480 narrow coffin, and your miserable life rotates about you like 247 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:45.789 a wheel. It moves painfully slow and passes before you 248 00:14:45.870 --> 00:14:48.830 from your first conscious step to the last moment of 249 00:14:48.850 --> 00:14:51.730 your life. You will see all that you have hidden 250 00:14:51.769 --> 00:14:54.740 from yourself during your lifetime, all the lies and meanness 251 00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:57.539 of your existence. You will think over anew all your 252 00:14:57.580 --> 00:15:00.279 past thoughts, and you will see every wrong step of yours. 253 00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:03.960 All your life will be gone over to its minutest details. 254 00:15:04.679 --> 00:15:06.759 And to increase your torments, you will know that on 255 00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:09.779 a narrow and stupid road which you have traversed, others 256 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.289 are marching and pushing each other, and hurrying and lying 257 00:15:13.309 --> 00:15:16.730 and you understand that they are doing it all only 258 00:15:16.769 --> 00:15:19.529 to find out in time how shameful it is to 259 00:15:19.570 --> 00:15:24.149 live such a wretched soulless life and though you will 260 00:15:24.190 --> 00:15:27.409 see them hastening on towards their destruction you are in 261 00:15:27.450 --> 00:15:29.720 no way able to warn them you will not move 262 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:32.320 nor cry and your helpless desire to aid them will 263 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:36.179 tear your soul to pieces your life passes before you 264 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.419 and you see it from the start and there is 265 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:40.279 no end to the work of your conscience and there 266 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:43.559 will be no end and to the horror of your 267 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:51.049 torments there will never be an end. Never. End of 268 00:15:51.070 --> 00:15:55.149 The Devil Recording by Miss Avarice