Page:Plays by Anton Tchekoff (1916).djvu/180

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. If you only knew how hard it is for me to leave you all.

. Somebody must see you home, my pet.

. [Startled] No, no!

. [Imploringly] Don’t go!

. I must.

. Stay just one hour more, and all. Come now, really, you know.

. [Struggling against her desire to stay; through her tears] No, no, I can’t.

[She shakes hands with him and quickly goes out.

. An unlucky girl! They say that her mother left the whole of an immense fortune to her husband, and now the child is penniless because the father has already willed everything away to his second wife. It is pitiful.

. Yes, her papa is a perfect beast, and I don’t mind saying so—it is what he deserves.

. [Rubbing his chilled hands] Come, let us go in; the night is damp, and my legs are aching.

. Yes, you act as if they were turned to stone; you can hardly move them. Come, you unfortunate old man.

[She takes his arm.

. [Offering his arm to his wife] Permit me, madame.

. I hear that dog howling again. Won’t you please have it unchained, Shamraeff?

. No, I really can’t, sir. The granary is full of millet, and I am afraid thieves might break in if the dog were not there. [Walking beside ] Yes, a whole octave lower: “Bravo, Silva!” and he wasn’t a singer either, just a simple church cantor.

. What salary does the church pay its singers?

[All go out except.