The Last Station Page #6

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I know you know where your father is.

So, darling, please, this is not a time

to play games, please?

Countess, I have this for you.

My position in the house

has become intolerable.

What I'm doing now is what people

have commonly done...

...leave their worldly life behind...

...to spend their last days

in peace and solitude.

The pond.

- Mama!

- Countess!

Please, Mama!

Please understand this

and don't come after me...

...even if you find out where I am.

Your coming

would only make our position worse...

...and would not alter my decision.

Mother!

I beg you to forgive me

for everything I've done to you...

...just as I forgive you

with all my soul...

...for everything you've done to me.

Countess!

Mama!

- Mama!

- I have her!

- Here! Here! Take her! Take her.

- Mama!

Ivan, Ivan, go to the house.

Get a doctor, quickly, quickly!

Turn her. Turn her over, come on.

Oh, God. Thank God.

Ivan, go to the station.

Find out which train he took.

For God's sake.

Come, come, come.

Let's get you to bed.

- Ready and up. There we...

- Let's go, there.

Thank you.

Here, tea.

She's exhausted herself.

She slept for nearly four hours.

Well, I'm glad she can sleep.

The pain subsides a little.

The noise subsides a little.

Come in.

- A message, miss.

- For me?

From your father.

My darling Sasha,

I have stopped to rest at Shamardino.

Ljll wait for you to join me here.

Please ask Valentin to stay

and look after your mother.

When you arrive, wejll continue

the journey south together.

Your loving father.

They've all gone.

I'm here.

You're writing to your girl.

Oh, how lovely.

I'm not sure she is my girl.

But you believe you'll see her again.

- I very much hope so.

- Yes.

Yes.

I know you know

where he is, Valentin.

- Sofya Andreyevna...

- I won't ask you to betray his trust.

I just need you to go to him. I do.

I have to see him.

I have to talk to him.

I won't make a scene.

You can promise him that. L...

I just want to see him.

"Tolstoy abandons home,

whereabouts unknown. "

"The sage of Yasnaya Polyana

takes flight. "

Thatjs Tolstoy.

I hope it's not too much for him.

- Where are we?

- Itjs all right. Everything's fine.

Let me take your temperature.

Come on.

Be mindful of these steps.

We've come to the end of the world.

This is the stationmaster.

He said we may have his home

for as long as we want it.

There are no inns nearby,

so we are lucky.

- Yes, very lucky.

- Yes.

You'll be comfortable here, Papa.

The rest of us, we'll find cots,

or sleep in the station.

- And then we'll be on our way.

- Yes.

Yes, Papa. Wejll be on our way.

Excuse me?

I'd like to send a telegram, please.

At Astapovo. Stop.

Tolstoy ill. Stop.

Temperature high.

You can send it to Countess Sofya

Andreyevna Tolstoya...

...Yasnaya Polyana, Tula Province.

Please come back.

Please come back.

Concern for Lev Nikolayevich's health

has been expressed...

...by people as diverse as

Mr. Henry James...

...and Mr. Joseph Conrad.

Lev Nikolayevich's temperature

currently stands at 40 Celsius.

That is 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

His blood pressure,

which is hypertonic, is 180 over 100.

However, it should be added...

...Lev Nikolayevich's manner...

...and mental acuity...

- Bulgakov!

...is as great as ever.

- Where is he? Take me to him.

- This way.

He left. It's astonishing.

He actually finally left.

- He was very sick, too sick to travel.

- Itjs a triumph for the movement.

He looks so small.

Papa.

Oh, it's you.

My dear friend...

...what is all of this?

Well, I needed to see you.

Thank you.

We have so much to do.

Have you seen Sofya?

I've made a point not to.

She'll come.

I don't know when she'll come,

but she'll come. I know that.

- And we'll be ready.

- Ready for what?

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid

it's time for your enema.

Don't apologize, my friend.

Your enemas have become the news

of the world.

My only concern is getting the copy

back to London in time.

Good morning, gentlemen.

I'm sure you will all be as relieved

as I am...

...that Lev Nikolayevich

slept a relatively peaceful night.

His temperature

remains 40 degrees Celsius.

And his blood pressure

is also hypertonic.

That having been said, however...

...his mind remains agile

and full of fortitude.

- Itjs the countess.

- Of course, we have to remember...

- Is she here?

- Itjs the countess.

- Let's see.

- Where is she?

- It js the countess!

- Which car is it?

- The Countess!

- There she is.

Countess Sofya.

She's coming this way.

Not before she stops to tell them lies,

catalog my atrocities.

Let me talk to her.

I want to see my husband.

Yes.

I'll...

I want to see him now!

Countess! Countess!

Oh, Valentin.

I want to see him, please.

I'm not sure

now is the right time, countess.

Yes, it is. It's the right time for me.

Have you had any contact?

It might be a better idea, countess,

I think, if you waited...

- He only left because of you.

- Countess!

I want to see my husband.

- He's too weak to see you, Mother.

- He's not too weak to see you.

- Not too weak to see that...

- Do you really want to do this here?

So I am the leper outside the gate,

while he sleeps with the devil himself.

Chertkov is here

because Father asked him to be here.

- Is that true?

- Yes.

Well, did you tell him

that I nearly drowned in the pond?

We didn't need to.

It's been in all the papers.

- Please, let me take you back.

- What did he say?

He said that if you killed yourself,

he'd be upset.

- He'd be upset?

- Horribly upset.

But he could not have acted

other than he did.

I want to see him.

He's my husband.

He's not your husband.

You're unbearable.

And you are a stone-hearted b*tch

of a daughter.

I lost five children!

Why couldn't one of them

have been you?

Did she just say that?

Are you finished?

Valentin, would you

take me back, please?

Yes, of course.

Please, make way.

Make way. Make way.

- I've behaved rather badly, haven't I?

- No, countess.

No, don't worry.

Here. For you.

- Is this clean?

- Of course it's clean.

Dushan, what's the matter?

Listen to him.

I'm supposed to be a doctor,

for God's sake.

Sofya?

What is it?

She's come, hasn't she?

- She's here.

- You're imagining things.

Sasha!

Where is your mother?

She's at home.

If she wants to see me,

I can't refuse her.

Yes.

Is she going to come here?

I don't...

There's no way to...

There's no way to what?

I'd like to send

another telegram, please.

At Astapovo. Stop.

Tolstoy ill. Stop.

Heartbreaking. Stop. Please come.

You can send it to Masha...

Maria Filipovna Melinova.

You lied to him.

Keep your voice down.

He wants to see her.

You heard him say it.

And what exactly do you think

she'll bring him?

I don't know.

They've been married for 48 years.

I'll tell you what she'll bring.

Vanity, fuss, and noise.

- She promised me she would not...

- Promised you what? What, what?

You've seen her at close quarters,

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