Page:Plays by Anton Tchekoff (1916).djvu/79

ACT IV . Help yourself.

drinks.

. To your good health! [She bows deeply] Eat your bread with it.

. No, I like it so. And now, good-bye. [To ] You needn’t come out to see me off, nurse.

He goes out. follows him with a candle to light him to the carriage. sits down in her arm-chair.

. [Writing] On the 2d of February, twenty pounds of butter; on the 16th, twenty pounds of butter again. Buckwheat flour—

[A pause. Bells are heard tinkling.

. He has gone.

comes in and sets the candle-stick on the table.

. He has gone.

. [Adding and writing] Total, fifteen—twenty-five—

sits down and begins to write.

. [Yawning] Oh, ho! The Lord have mercy.

comes in on tiptoe, sits down near the door, and begins to tune his guitar.

. [To, stroking her hair] Oh, my child, I am so miserable; if you only knew how miserable I am!

. What can we do? We must live our lives. [A pause] Yes, we shall live, Uncle Vanya. We shall live through the long procession of days before us, and through the long evenings; we shall patiently bear the trials that fate imposes on us; we shall work for others without rest, both now and when we are old; and when our last hour comes we shall meet it humbly, and there, beyond the grave, we shall say that we have suffered and wept, that our life was bitter, and God will have pity on us. Ah, then dear, dear Uncle, we shall see that bright and beautiful life; we shall rejoice and look back upon our sorrow here; a tender smile