Page:Plays by Anton Tchekoff (1916).djvu/119

ACT II

How the devil can a man think of love who hasn’t had a drop to drink since dinner?

. Come on, we will go and find something.

. Sh! Softly! I think the brandy is in the sideboard in the dining-room. We will find George! Sh!

''They go out through the door on the left. Enter and  through the door on the right''.

. No, they will be glad to see us. Is no one here? Then they must be in the garden.

. I should like to know why you have brought me into this den of wolves. This is no place for you and me; honourable people should not be subjected to such influences as these.

. Listen to me, Mr. Honourable Man. When you are escorting a lady it is very bad manners to talk to her the whole way about nothing but your own honesty. Such behaviour may be perfectly honest, but it is also tedious, to say the least. Never tell a woman how good you are; let her find it out herself. My Nicholas used only to sing and tell stories when he was young as you are, and yet every woman knew at once what kind of a man he was.

. Don’t talk to me of your Nicholas; I know all about him!

. You are a very worthy man, but you don’t know anything at all. Come into the garden. He never said: “I am an honest man; these surroundings are too narrow for me.” He never spoke of wolves’ dens, called people bears or vultures. He left the animal kingdom alone, and the most I have ever heard him say when he was excited was: “Oh, how unjust I have been to-day!” or “Annie, I am sorry for that man.” That’s what he would say, but you

and ''go out. Enter and  through the door on the left''.