Chapter 30 Chapter Thirty It's Time!It's time!

"Do you know," said Margaret, "that when you were asleep last night, I happened to be reading the passage describing the darkness that came from the Mediterranean... and the tall gods, ah, those golden idols .I don't know why I keep thinking about them, they make me restless. I feel like it's going to rain now too. Don't you think the air is much cooler?" "It's all very good and lovely," the master replied while smoking a cigarette, waving his hands to disperse the smoke, "those statues, let them go! But what will happen in the future is very slim!"

While they were saying this, the sun was setting, just at the time when Levi Matthew came out on the terrace and appeared before Woland.The basement window was open.If anyone looked in through the window at this moment, he would be surprised by the clothes of these two people: Marguerite was naked in a black cloak, and the master was still wearing his sick clothes.This is because Margaret has no clothes to wear at all—her clothes and supplies are all in the small building in the detached courtyard. Although the small building is not far from here, of course there is no question of going back there to get things now; As for the master, although his clothes are well placed in the cupboard, it seems that the master has never left this home.But he didn't want to change at all, he wanted to show Marguerite that something unexpected was bound to happen before long.True, his face was razor-shaven.He was shaving for the first time since that autumn night, and he had been shaved with electric clippers in the asylum.

The room, too, was disorganized, and it was difficult to explain why: there were a few originals on the rug, manuscripts on the couch, an open book on the easy chair, and on the little round table. Lunch - a few dishes and a few bottles of drinks.Where did these dishes and drinks come from?Neither Margaret nor the Master knew.When they awoke they found the table had been set. The master and Marguerite slept until the evening hours of Saturday, and awoke feeling strong and refreshed.There was only one thing that reminded them of last night's experience: they both felt a little pain in their left temples.But a great psychological change had taken place in both of them--anyone who listened to their conversations in the basement would be convinced of it.However, no one heard their conversation: the good thing about this small courtyard is that it is often silent.Outside the window, the greenness of the linden trees and white willow branches is getting thicker day by day, exuding a strong breath of spring.A gentle breeze carried the fragrance into the basement.

"Bah, hell!" the master suddenly said loudly, "what's the matter? It's hard to imagine!" He wiped out the cigarette butt in the ashtray, put his hands on his head, "hey, let me say, you're a smart man, You have never been crazy, do you really believe that the two of us saw Satan last night?" "Quite sure," replied Margaret. "Of course, of course," the master sneered, "that is to say, I was the only one who went mad, and now we are both mad! The husband and wife are mad!" He raised his hands to the sky, and shouted: "No! Know what's going on! Ghost knows! Ghost! Ghost!"

Marguerite didn't answer, but fell down on the couch all at once, swinging her bare feet and laughing loudly.Then he shouted: "Oh, please spare me! Oh, I can't stand it! Look, what you look like!" Embarrassed, the master hastily lifted up his long underpants.After laughing for a while, Margaret put away her smile and said seriously: "Just now you inadvertently said: the devil knows what's going on. And, believe me, the devil will arrange everything!" Her eyes lit up and she jumped up from the sofa , danced, and cried aloud: "How happy I am with the devil! How happy, how happy I am! Oh, devil, devil! I say, my dear, you have to deal with me, the succubus." Let's live together!" Marguerite said, throwing herself on the master, putting her arms around his neck, and pressing passionate kisses on his lips, nose and cheeks.Her shaggy hair swirls over the Master like a whirlwind.The master felt that his cheeks and forehead seemed to be burning under her frequent kisses.

"You've really become a bit of a witch," he said. "I didn't deny it at all," replied Marguerite, "I'm a witch, and I'm happy about it." "Well, that's fine," said the master, "the witch is the witch. Very good, very good! Then, the devil stole me from the mental hospital! That's very good. Even if the devil let me back Here... it can even be assumed that others will not notice our absence and will not seek us. But, for the sake of all the Holy Spirit, please tell me: what will we live on in the future? How will we live? I say this entirely for the sake of Think about it, really."

At this time, a pair of round-toed leather shoes and two trouser legs of striped suit trousers appeared outside the small window.Then the pants came down at the knees, and a man's big ass blocked the sunlight from entering the room. "Aloyji, are you home?" A voice asked from the top of the pants outside the window. "Look, here we come," said the Master. "For Aloigi?" asked Marguerite, going to the little window. "He was arrested yesterday. Who is looking for him? What is your name?" The buttocks, trouser legs, and leather shoes all disappeared in a blink of an eye.I only heard the fence door of the small courtyard slam shut, and everything returned to calm.Margaret threw herself on the sofa, laughing so hard that tears flowed from her eyes.However, when she stopped laughing, her expression suddenly became very serious.She slid down from the sofa, crawled to the master's lap, looked into his eyes, stroked his hair, and said very seriously:

"It's hard for you, my poor man, how much you have suffered! Only I know this best! Look, there are silver threads on your head, and wrinkles have been carved on the corners of your mouth forever. My dear, I The only relative, you don't think about anything anymore. There are too many things you have to think about in the past, let me think for you in the future! And, I can guarantee that everything will be very good." "Actually, I'm not afraid of anything now, Margot," the master answered her suddenly, looking up.She thinks he's back to his old self now.This is how he used to describe events he hadn't seen but believed in. "I'm not afraid because I've been through everything. People have done everything they can to frighten me, and now they have nothing to frighten me. But, Margot, I pity you, and that's the thing." The crux of the problem! That's why I always say the same thing to you. Sober up! Why would you ruin your life by staying with a sick beggar? Go back! I'm for you Sad, that's why I said that."

"Oh, you, you," murmured Marguerite, shaking her shaggy hair, "oh, you, you wretched wretch! For you last night I naked After working hard all night, I lost my original nature and gained a new quality. I used to stay alone in a small dark room for several months thinking about the only thing-thinking about the sky that descended on Jerusalem. The storm, my eyes were red from crying, and my tears were dried up. But now, when happiness comes to me, you want to drive me away? Well, well, I can go, I will go, but you have to remember Live: You are a cruel man! They have ruined your heart and left your heart empty!"

A painful tenderness came over the master, and he buried his face in Marguerite's hair without knowing why, and wept aloud.Margarita's trembling fingers were dancing on the master's temples. She cried and said in a low voice: "Yes, look at the silver thread, the silver thread! I saw the frost whiten this head! Oh, my, my troubled, tormented head! Look! , what has become of your eyes! There is nothing in your eyes...but there is a heavy burden on your shoulders...they destroyed you! They destroyed you..." Margaret twitched Weeping, her words became more and more disorganized.

The master wiped away his tears, helped Margaret up from the ground, stood up himself, and said firmly: "Well, Margot! You've made me ashamed. I'll never be so unambitious again, and I'll never ask the question again. Don't worry! I understand that you and I are suffering from the disease of our own souls." , Moreover, I may have infected you with this disease... What can we do, let us bear it together. " Margaret put her lips to the master's ear and whispered: "I can assure you with your life, with the astrologer's son you have conceived, that all will be well." ① Refers to Pontius Pilate, the main character in the novel conceived by the master with all his heart and soul. "Well, all right, all right," the master answered her.He smiled and said, "Naturally, when people are deprived of everything like you and me, it's time to turn to the power of the underworld! Well, that's fine, I agree with the underworld." "Look, look, now you're the same again, and you're laughing," said Marguerite, "but to hell with your genteel words! There's no hell, no hell, no hell, Isn't it all the same? I'm hungry." She took the master's hand and came to the table. "I don't quite believe it, the food on this table won't immediately get into the cracks in the ground, or fly away from the window?" The master said.His mood has completely stabilized. "It won't fly away!" Exactly at this time, a voice came from outside the window: "I wish you all the best!" The master couldn't help shivering, but Margaret, who was used to unusual events, shouted loudly: "This is Azazelle! Oh, how wonderful, how wonderful!" Then she whispered to the master: "Look, look, they won't leave us alone!" She ran to open the door. "You should cover up your skirt!" The master shouted at her back. "I don't care about that," replied Margaret, who had already run to the small corridor. Azazelle came in, nodded and greeted the master, and gleamed at him with one squinting eye.Margaret shouted happily from the side: "Oh, I'm so happy! I've never been so happy in my life! But, Azazelle, please forgive me for being naked!" The visitor begged her not to worry, and told her that he had seen not only naked women, but also women with their skins stripped off.Azazeller put a small black satin bag in the corner by the fire, and sat down at the table excitedly. Marguerite poured a glass of brandy for the guests, and Azazelle drank it happily.The master stared at the uninvited guest intently, and sometimes secretly pinched his left hand with his right hand under the table. ①Actually, the master didn’t need to do this, and it’s useless to pinch. The visitor didn’t melt into the air. There was nothing terrible about the short man with brown red hair, except that there was a white cloud on his eyeball.But it's also common for people to have white eyes, which has nothing to do with magic.However, his clothes were a bit unusual, like a monk's robe and a cloak.But, if one thinks about it calmly, this is also a common occurrence, and guests drink brandy, like all good people, and drink it up in one gulp without eating food.After he drank this glass of wine, the master's mind was buzzing. ①Pinch it to see if it hurts, so as to judge whether everything in front of you is a hallucination or whether you are dreaming. The master thought to himself: "It seems that what Margaret said is right! The person sitting in front of me is of course the emissary of Sarah. In fact, not long ago, just the night before, I myself proved to the poet Ivan that he was pastoring I met Satan by the Shouhu Lake, why am I afraid of this kind of thinking now, thinking of hypnosis and hallucinations. Where did the hypnosis come from!" The master began to observe Azazeller carefully, and he felt that there was something unnatural in Azazeller's eyes, as if he had some thoughts in his heart that he didn't plan to say for the time being.The master thought to himself: "This is definitely not an ordinary visit, he must have come here by order." The master's power of observation is indeed very keen. The guest drank his third glass of brandy, and it seemed that the three glasses of wine had no effect on him.But at this time the guest finally got dirty: "Hey, hell, it's a nice basement! But there's just one question: what's there to do here, in this basement?" "That's what I said too." The master smiled and said. "Azazelle, why have you come to disturb my peace?" Marguerite asked, "We can always get by!" "What's the matter, what's the matter!" Azazeller said hurriedly, "I didn't even think of coming to disturb your peace. I also want to say that you can always get by. Oh, yes! I almost forgot : My lord asked me to pass on his greetings to both of you, and also asked me to pass on his invitation to accompany him on a small outing, of course, if you two are willing. What do you two think about this? ?” Marguerite touched the Master with her foot under the table. "Happy to accompany you." The master hurriedly replied, while examining Azazeller's face.Azazeller continued: "We count on Margarita Nikolaevna not to refuse?" "I will not refuse." Margaret said, her foot touched the master's foot under the table again. "Excellent!" Azazeller exclaimed. "I'm just delighted with the excitement! In a few words, it's done! It's not like the last time in Alexandrovsky Park." "Oh, don't mention that matter again, Azazelle! I was confused at the time! But it's no wonder I meet the devil every day!" "That goes without saying!" Azazeller also agreed, "It would be interesting if we could meet each other every day!" "I like it myself," said Marguerite passionately. "I like it, and I like it naked. It's like shooting a Mauser, all at once! Oh, yes, he's a very good shot." Margaret turned to the master and said, "Put a playing card Seven of Spades under the pillow, and he can choose one of them to play..." Margaret's eyes were shining, and she was already a little drunk. "Look, I forgot again," Azazelle slapped his forehead and called out, "It seems that I am tired and confused! My lord wants me to bring you some gifts?" He said to the master specifically, "It's a bottle of wine. It's the Faron wine that the Jewish Governor drank, mind you." Naturally, such a treasure aroused great interest in Marguerite and the master.Azazeller opened the black satin packet and took out a completely damp and moldy crock.The three of them opened the jar and smelled it, poured the wine into the glass, and raised the glass to shine on the dying sunshine before the storm outside the window.Through the glass, they felt that everything was stained red with blood. "To Woland's health!" Margarita raised her glass. The three brought their glasses to their lips at the same time, and each took a big sip.The master felt that the sunshine before the storm began to go out, and he felt that it was difficult to breathe, and he felt that he was going to die soon.He also saw that Margaret's face turned ashen. Just as she was about to stretch out her soft hands to the master, her head drooped on the table and her whole body collapsed on the floor. "Poison offender!" The master yelled one last time.He wanted to grab the knife on the table and stab Azazelle, but his hand slipped feebly off the tablecloth, and he felt everything in the basement turn black and then disappear completely.He fell on his back, and his temple touched the corner of the desk, cutting a piece of skin. After the two poisoned people completely subsided, Azazeller started his next move.He flew out of the window first, and in an instant came to the courtyard where Margaret Nikolaevna used to live.Azazeller, who has always been serious and precise, wanted to check whether all the things that needed to be done were completed.As a result, everything was done very well.He saw: the melancholy woman who was waiting for her husband to return, came out of her bedroom, suddenly turned blue, put her hands on her heart, and cried out weakly: "Natasha! Anyone is welcome, hurry... Come here!" She fell on the living room floor and did not go to the locker room. "Everything is done well," Azazeller said to himself.In an instant, he returned to the side of a pair of lovers who were poisoned to death.Margaret lay on her stomach, her face buried in the rug.Azazeller turned her over gently with his iron arm like a doll, and stared into her face.Seeing the expression on this face change.Even in the dim light before the storm, it was clear: the temporary witch's squint, the devil's cruelty and rebellion, all disappeared from her face, and the face appeared again. Angry, become gentle and cute.The mouth that had bared its teeth like a beast just now was now a woman's mouth opened in pain.So, Azazeller opened her white teeth, took the bottle of wine just now, and dropped a few drops into her mouth.Marguerite groaned, sighed, sat up slowly without Azazeller's support, and asked in a weak voice: "What's the matter, Azazelle, why did you do it? What have you done?" At this time, she saw the master lying beside her, shivered, and said softly: "I never thought of that... a murderer!" "Oh, no! No!" replied Azazelle, "he'll be up in a minute. Oh, why are you so nervous!" The red-haired devil's voice was so sincere and trustworthy that Margaret believed him at once.She jumped up, feeling that she was energetic and quick, and she helped the master who was lying on the ground to drink a little wine.The master opened his eyes, glanced at it with melancholy eyes, and said the last sentence just now viciously: "The poisoner..." "Ah! Insult is the usual reward for doing good," said Azazelle. "Are you blind? Come to your senses!" The master stood up, glanced around with lively and piercing eyes, and asked: "What does this new change mean?" "It means," replied Azazelle, "that your hour has come. Don't you hear the rumble of thunder and the approaching storm? It is already dark. The horses are neighing impatiently, and the The yard is already trembling. Say goodbye to your basement, say goodbye!" "Oh, I see," said the Master, looking cautiously around. "You have killed us, and we are dead now. Oh, this is so wise! So timely! Now I understand it all." "Oh, I'm sorry," replied Azazelle, "could it have come from you? You know, your friend calls you a master! You are still thinking! How could it be?" Dead? Do you have to stay in this dark basement in a shirt and hospital patient's pants just to think of yourself as a living person? Isn't it ridiculous!" "Your words; I understand them all!" exclaimed the master, "no need to say more! Your words are absolutely true!" "Great Wallander!" echoed Margaret. "Great Wallander! He has a much better idea than mine! But you must take that novel, that novel," She shouted to the master, "Wherever you fly, you must take that novel with you!" "No need," replied the master, "I can recite it all by heart." "You will never forget every word of that book...in that book?" asked Margaret, leaning against her lover, wiping the blood from his temple. "Don't worry! I will never forget anything now, never!" replied the Master. "Then fire!" cried Azazeller. "It all began with fire, and let us end it all with fire." "Fire!" cried Marguerite in a terrible voice.There was a click at the small cellar window, a gust of wind blew the curtains aside, and there was a short, crisp thunderbolt in midair.Azazeller put his arm into the fireplace, took out a smoking stick, and set fire to the tablecloth on the table, the stack of old newspapers on the sofa, the manuscripts on the window sill, and the curtains.The master, already intoxicated by the gallop that was about to begin, took a book from the shelf, scattered the pages, and threw it on the burning tablecloth, where the book immediately burst into flames of joy. "Burn, the past life, reduce to ashes!" "Curse to ashes, my misery!" cried Marguerite too. The whole room seemed to be shaking in many pillars of purple fire.The three of them ran out the door and walked out of the basement along the stone steps.When they came to the yard, they immediately saw the landlord's old lady sitting on the ground, with some potatoes and a few handfuls of green onions thrown around.The old cook's astonishment was not difficult to understand: there were three black horses snorting, neighing, and shaking all over beside the shed in the yard, and the horseshoes were digging up the dirt on the ground.Marguerite was the first to fly on the horse, followed by Azazeller and the master each on a horse.The cook groaned in fright, and was about to sign the sign of the cross with one hand raised to her chest, when Azazelle, who was sitting on the horse, yelled at her sharply: "I'll chop off your hand!" He whistled, and the three horses broke off the linden branches on their heads, soared into the sky one after another, and plunged into the low black cloud.Thick smoke spewed out of the small window in the basement.From the ground came the faint, pitiful cry of the old cook: "on fire!" Several fine horses are already galloping over a rooftop in Moscow. "I want to bid farewell to this city." The master shouted to Azazeller who was speeding ahead, but the thunder still drowned out his last two words.Azazeller nodded and let the mount slow down.Dark clouds rushed towards the three knights, but the rain had not yet started. The three of them flew over the garden in the middle of the street, and saw some small figures running around, avoiding the coming storm.The big raindrops started to fall.They flew over a cloud of black smoke—that was all that was left of Griboyedov's house.Flew again over the city already filled with darkness.Flashes of lightning flashed above their heads from time to time.After a while, the following is no longer a rough roof, but a green forest.Only then did the heavy rain pour down, and the three flying figures turned into three big bubbles in the water. Margaret had already experienced this feeling of flying, but the master was amazed by the first attempt.He wondered why he came to the destination so quickly, beside the person he wanted to say goodbye to?Apart from this person, the master really has no one to bid farewell to.Through the blurred rain, the master recognized Professor Stravinsky's hospital, the small river beside the hospital, and the pine forest on the other side of the river that he had carefully observed.The three men landed in bushes in a glade not far from the hospital. "I'll wait for you here," Azazel folded his hands on his chest, and said loudly to the master and Margaret, his figure was sometimes illuminated by lightning, and sometimes disappeared in the gray rain and mist, "you Go farewell, but quickly!" The master and Margaret jumped off their horses and flew forward, like two shadows in the rain, they quickly passed through the hospital compound.In an instant, the master had pushed away the iron fence on the balcony outside No. 117 ward with his familiar movements, and Margaret followed closely behind him.Taking advantage of the constant rumbling thunder and wind and rain, the two quietly walked into Ivan's ward, and the master stood in front of Ivan's bed. Young Ivan was lying motionless on the bed, watching the thunderstorm outside the window, just as he had observed the thunderstorm for the first time in this nursing home.Now, though, he wasn't crying like the first time.He saw a black figure rushing in from the balcony, looked carefully, sat up, stretched out his hands and said happily: "Oh, it's you! I've been waiting, waiting for you. Here you are, my neighbour!" Seeing him say this, the master replied: "I have come! Unfortunately, however, I can no longer be your neighbour. I am flying away forever. I have come to bid you farewell." "I knew it earlier, I guessed it." Ivan replied softly, and asked, "Have you seen him?" "Yes," replied the Master, "I have come to bid you farewell because you are the only person with whom I have spoken lately." Ivan said beamingly: "It's very kind of you to come and see me. You know, I kept my word: I don't write poetry anymore. Now I'm interested in something else," Ivan smiled, and two stupid Looking beyond the master to somewhere far away, he said, "I want to write something else. You know, I have learned many things while I lie here in convalescence." Hearing these words, the master was very excited, so he sat by the bed and said to him: "Oh, that's good, that's good! Then you write a sequel about him!" Young Ivan's eyes lit up with fire. "Then why don't you write it yourself?" At this moment, Ivan suddenly drooped his head and said thoughtfully: "Oh, yes... what else is there to ask?" He said, squinting at the floor , with a look of surprise in his eyes. "Yes," replied the Master.But Ivan felt that the master's voice seemed very strange at this time, and it was a little hoarse, "I will not write about him in the future. I will do other things." A distant whistle came through the thunderstorm. "Did you hear that?" asked the Master. "It's the sound of thunder and rain outside..." Ivan replied. "No, this is calling me, it's time for me to go." The master said, standing up from the bed. "Wait a minute! Let me ask one more question," Ivan begged. "Have you found her? Is she still loyal to you?" "She is here." The master said, pointing to the wall with his hand.A dark figure stepped out of the white wall——Margaret.She walked to Ivan's bed and looked at the young man lying on the bed, with sadness in her eyes. "Poor man, poor man," thought Marguerite silently, bowing slightly towards the bed. "How beautiful she is!" There was no jealousy in Ivan's voice, but there was a kind of sadness and kindness in his heart. "Look, how successful your results are! But I am not," he paused, After thinking about it, he said thoughtfully, "But, maybe, it's all the same..." "Same, same," said Margaret softly.She leaned over to Ivan and said, "Come on, let me kiss your forehead, then you will have everything you deserve... You can believe me on this, I have seen it all, I have it all Know." The young man lying on the bed put his arms around her neck, and she kissed his forehead. "Farewell, my student!" The master's voice was barely audible.His figure gradually melted into the air.He disappeared, and Marguerite disappeared with him.The iron bars on the balcony were closed again. Ivan suddenly felt restless.He sat up from the bed, looked around in fear, even groaned, muttered to himself, got up and got out of bed.The wind and rain outside the window became more and more fierce, obviously it was the wind and rain that disturbed Ivan's mind.In addition, he was disturbed by the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door, which could only be picked up by his listening party accustomed to silence, and he also heard murmurs.He felt agitated in his heart, and tremblingly called out to the nurse: "Praskovya Fedorovna!" Praskovya Fedorovna just entered the room.She looked at Ivan worriedly with questioning eyes and asked: "What's the matter? What's the matter? It's the thunderstorm that made you sleep bad, right? Hey, it's okay, it's okay... We'll find something for you right away, and I'll call the doctor right away." "No, Praskovya Fedorovna, there is no need to call for a doctor," said Ivan, with a troubled look in his eyes.He didn't look at the nurse, but looked at the wall and said, "I don't have any special situation. I can fully analyze and judge now. You don't have to be afraid. You'd better tell me," Ivan said, as if begging a close friend. Pleadingly, "What's the matter with the 118th ward next door? What happened?" "Number 118?" asked Praskovya Fedorovna, rolling her eyes a few times. "Nothing happened there." But there was falsehood in her voice, Ivan Immediately noticed. "Well, Praskovya Fedorovna," said Ivan, "you have always been a very honest person... Are you afraid that I will start a row again? No, Praskovya Fedorovna." I will never do that again, Fedorovna. You better tell me the truth. You know, I can feel everything on the other side of the wall." "Your neighbor has just died." Praskovya Fedorovna's honesty and kindness made it impossible for her not to tell the truth.At this moment, a flash of light illuminated her whole body, and she was looking at Ivan with uneasy eyes.However, Ivan did not react abnormally.He just held up a finger meaningfully and said: "I had expected it! I would also like to ask you to believe, Praskovya Fedorovna, that at this same time, in another part of the city, another person died. I even knew Who is this person?" Ivan smiled mysteriously, "it's a woman."