Nikíta. I smothered the baby in the cellar with a board! I sat on it and smothered it—and its bones crunched! (Weeps.) And I buried it! I did it, all alone!
Akoulína. He raves! I told him to!
Nikíta. Don't shield me! I fear no one now! Forgive me, Christian Commune!
[Bows to the ground.
[Silence.
Police Officer. Bind him! The marriage is evidently off!
[Men come up with their belts.
Nikíta. Wait, there's plenty of time! (Bows to the ground before his father.) Father, dear father, forgive me too,—fiend that I am! You told me from the first, when I took to bad ways, you said then, "If a claw is caught, the bird is lost!" I would not listen to your words, dog that I was, and it has turned out as you said! Forgive me, for Christ's sake!
Akím (rapturously). God will forgive you, my own son! (Embraces him.) You have had no mercy on yourself; He will show mercy on you! God—God! It is He!
[Enter ELDER.