The Last Station Page #3

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It's tiresome.

Another remarkable invention

will supersede it.

Please excuse me.

No matter what all the learned men

in the world say...

Lev Nikolayevich

is something of a Luddite, I fear.

It is a crime.

And one committed not once,

but constantly.

I knew that IV with my luxury...

That's better.

That's nice.

That's very nice indeed.

Do your parents

often speak to each other so bluntly?

Mama doesn't understand

my father's goals...

...not since his work as a novelist

became secondary.

His commitment to the spiritual life

offends her.

They've fought about it for years.

Well, I'm sure she means well by it.

I see a fine young man before me.

Clear eyes, nice features...

...rather handsome

in a peculiar sort of a way.

Thank you, countess.

Oh, please,

call me Sofya Andreyevna.

We don't stand on formality here,

as you may have noticed.

No, no.

So many young men nowadays...

...spoil their good looks

with loose living, but you...

...you're a real Tolstoyan,

I can tell that.

Well, thank you. I have to say,

I admire your husband immensely.

Oh, very good.

Excellent. He likes that.

Well, his ideas are beautiful.

Social justice, the very concept...

Yes, he's very grateful for the help

you've been giving him.

He told me that himself.

He's rather surprised...

...that a young man like you

can be quite so diligent.

When he was your age,

he was whoring in the Caucasus.

Couldn't get enough of it.

Yes, he wrote all about it.

He even gave me a copy,

so I could read all the details.

- Would you like some more jam?

- Yes, thank you.

- Have you read War and Peace?

- Yes, many times.

Twice.

You know, when Lev was writing it...

Oh, this was ages ago...

...long before Chertkov

created that monstrosity at Telyatinki...

...over all that fake religion

and revolutionary nonsense.

What do you think of Chertkov,

by the way?

Well, I think that he's...

He's given me

a wonderful opportunity.

Yes, but you can see

what a pompous fool he is...

...what a self-serving

puritanical idiot.

It's been very pleasant

since he's been locked in his house.

Right.

So, anyway, when he was writing it,

in the mid-'60s...

...he used to bring me pages

to copy every day...

...because I was the only one who

could understand his writing or notes.

Do you know I copied out

War and Peace six times?

Six times?

I could understand

his intentions too.

So every afternoon, we'd have tea

and we'd discuss changes.

And I'd say to him:

"Natasha wouldn't speak to Prince

Andrei like that. No woman would. "

Or, "Pierre's too simple here.

He's not an idiot. "

You know, things like that.

But I don't count anymore.

You must help me,

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