Page:Plays by Anton Tchekoff (1916).djvu/52



The drawing-room of ''house. There are three doors: one to the right, one to the left, and one in the centre of the room''. and are sitting down. is walking up and down, absorbed in thought.

. We were asked by the professor to be here at one o’clock. [Looks at his watch] It is now a quarter to one. It seems he has some communication to make to the world.

. Probably a matter of business.

. He never had any business. He writes twaddle, grumbles, and eats his heart out with jealousy; that’s all he does.

. [Reproachfully] Uncle!

. All right. I beg your pardon. [He points to ] Look at her. Wandering up and down from sheer idleness. A sweet picture, really.

. I wonder you are not bored, droning on in the same key from morning till night. [Despairingly] I am dying of this tedium. What shall I do?

. [Shrugging her shoulders] There is plenty to do if you would.

. For instance?

. You could help run this place, teach the children, care for the sick—isn’t that enough? Before you and papa came, Uncle Vanya and I used to go to market ourselves to deal in flour.

. I don’t know anything about such things, and besides, they don’t interest me. It is only in novels that