strains of the polonaise are heard and Dimitri withdraws, while a company of nobles, men and women, enters the place; they dance and sing the polonaise, led by Marina leaning on the arm of a noble advanced in years. When this company returns to the palace Dimitri comes forward, despair having taken hold of him in the belief that Marina has promised to give her hand to the old noble with whom she danced.

Marina comes out into the garden and meets Dimitri at the edge of the fountain, as she had promised him. With her skill and her cunning she plays upon Dimitri's emotions, aided in this by the dreamy musical atmos-phere.. and she throws herself at his feet, telling him that he is her hero. Dimitri raises her and encircles her in his arms, while the priest Rangoni passes at the back of the stage, rubbing his hands in token of satisfaction at the success of his appointed plan.

Act Four

Scene One: A snow-covered clearing in the forest of Kromy near Moscow.

A crowd of peasants is beating a nobleman who has fallen into their hands.. for they look with hatred upon all members of the upper class and consider them the cause of every ill and evil... with Boris foremost among them. The village simpleton comes in with a pot set upon his head, singing a song that opens: "In the light of the moon the cats...". Some boys set upon him and steal from him the single coin he carries. He weeps and leaves the stage, while the two monks Varlaam and Missail enter, cursing Boris's rule and urging the crowd to support Dimitri. The crowd likewise

abuses two Jesuit priests, but this scene is cut short by the arrival of a detachment of Dimitri's soldiers, followed after a while by Dimitri himself on the back of his horse. Thus the poor nobleman and the two priests are saved, and the voices of the crowd rise, chanting

with fervor: "Glory! Glory to Dimitri Ivanovich!" The stage empties of all but the poor simpleton, lamenting the state of Russia in the song "The Simpleton's Lament"...