ANATHEMA A Tragedy in Seven Scenes BY LEONID ANDREYEV AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY HERMAN BERNSTEIN New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1910 CONTENTS "I myself shall bring them bread and milk.... Children are so tender.... They need so little; they eat a little crust of bread and they have enough, they drink a cup of milk and they know no thirst any longer. Then they sing...."—DAVID LUIZER. DAVID LUIZER. To NATHAN STRAUS WHO SO GENEROUSLY SAVED THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN THE TRANSLATION OF THIS WORK IS HEARTILY DEDICATED BY HERMAN BERNSTEIN CHARACTERS GUARDIAN OF THE ENTRANCES ANATHEMA DAVID LEIZER SARAH, his wife NAUM } their children ROSA } IVAN BEZKRAINY } SONKA ZITRON } tradespeople PURIKES DANCING-MASTER YOUNG MAN PALE MAN ORGAN-GRINDER WANDERER ABRAHAM KHESSIN WEEPING WOMAN WOMAN WITH CHILD IN HER ARMS DRUNKARD SONKA'S LITTLE GIRL LEIBKE CHARACTERS Musicians, Blind People, Crowd ANATHEMA PROLOGUE.