YAKOV (clearing the table). Do you want me to pack the fishing poles too?
TRIGORIN. Yes, I can use them again. But the books you can give away.
YAKOV. Yes, sir.
TRIGORIN (to himself). Page 121, lines 11 and 12. What is there in those lines? (To Arkadina.) Are there copies of my books anywhere in the house?
ARKADINA. In my brother’s study, the corner bookcase.
TRIGORIN. Page 121 . . . (Exits.)
ARKADINA. Honestly, Petrusha, you ought to stay at home . . .
SORIN. You’re leaving; with you gone it’ll be boring at home . . .
ARKADINA And what’s there to do in town?
SORIN. Nothing special, but even so. (He laughs.) They’ll be laying the cornerstone for the town hall64 and all the rest . . . Just for a couple of hours I’d like to stop feeling like a stick-in-the-mud,65 I’ve been getting stale, like an old cigarette holder. I told them to send round my horses at one, we’ll both go at the same time.
ARKADINA (after a pause). Oh, do stay here, don’t be bored, don’t catch cold. Look after my son. Keep an eye on him. Give him good advice.
Pause.
Now I’ve got to go and I still don’t know how come Konstantin took a shot at himself. I suppose the main reason was jealousy, so the sooner I take Trigorin away from here, the better.
SORIN. How can I put this? There were other reasons too. Take my word for it, a man who’s young, intelligent, living in the country, in the sticks, with no money, no position, no future. Nothing to keep him occupied. Gets ashamed of himself and alarmed by his own idleness. I love him dearly and he’s very fond of me, but all the same, when all’s said and done, he thinks he’s unwanted at home, that he’s a panhandler here, a charity case. Take my word for it, vanity . . .
ARKADINA. He’s the cross I bear! (Musing.) He could get a desk job in the civil service, or something . . .
SORIN (whistles a tune, then tentatively). I think it would be best if you . . . gave him some money. First of all, he ought to be dressed like a human being and all the rest. Just look, he’s been wearing the same beat-up old frockcoat for the last three years, he has to go out without a topcoat . . . (Laughs.) Besides, it wouldn’t hurt the boy to live it up a bit . . . Go abroad or something . . . It’s not all that expensive.
ARKADINA. Even so . . . Possibly, I could manage the suit, but as for going abroad . . . No, at the moment I can’t manage the suit either. (Decisively.) I have no money! (SORIN laughs.) None!
SORIN (whistles a tune). Yes, ma’am. Sorry, my dear, don’t get angry. I believe you . . . You’re a generous, selfless woman.
ARKADINA (plaintively). I have no money!
SORIN. If I had any money, take my word for it, I’d let him have it, but I haven’t any, not a red cent. (Laughs.) The overseer snatches my whole pension from me, and wastes it on farming, livestock, beekeeping, and my money simply melts away. The bees die off, the cows die off, I can never get any horses . . .
ARKADINA. Yes, I do have some money, but I’m an actress, aren’t I? My costumes alone are enough to ruin me.
SORIN. You’re kind, affectionate . . . I respect you . . . Yes . . . But something’s come over me again . . . (Staggers.) My head’s spinning. (Holds on to the table.) I feel faint and all the rest.
ARKADINA (alarmed). Petrusha! (Trying to hold him up.) Petrusha, dear . . . (Shouts.) Help me! Help! (Enter TREPLYOV, a bandage round his head, and MEDVEDENKO.) He’s fainting!
SORIN. Never mind, never mind . . . (Smiles and drinks some water.) It’s all over . . . and all the rest.
TREPLYOV (to his mother). Don’t be alarmed, Mama, it isn’t serious. Uncle often gets like this these days. (To his uncle.) You ought to lie down for a while, Uncle.
SORIN. For a little while, yes . . . But all the same I’m driving to town . . . I’ll go lie down and drive to town . . . Take it from me . . . (He starts out, leaning on his stick.)
MEDVEDENKO (escorting him, holding his arm). Here’s a riddle: what goes on four legs in the morning, two at midday, three in the evening . . .66
SORIN (laughs). I know. And flat on its back at night. Thank you, I can walk on my own.
MEDVEDENKO. Now, now, don’t show off! . . .
He and SORIN go out.
ARKADINA. He gave me such a fright!
TREPLYOV. Living in the country is bad for his health. He gets depressed. Now, Mama, if only you had a sudden fit of generosity and lent him a couple of thousand or so, he might be able to live in town all year long.
ARKADINA. I have no money. I’m an actress, not a banker.
Pause.
TREPLYOV. Mama, change my bandage. You do it so well.
ARKADINA (gets iodoform and a drawerful of dressings from the first-aid cupboard). The doctor’s late.
TREPLYOV. He promised to be here by ten and it’s already noon.
ARKADINA. Sit down. (Removes the bandage from his head.) Looks like a turban. Yesterday some tramp asked in the kitchen what your nationality was. It’s almost completely healed. What’s left is nothing. (Kisses him on the head.) And when I’m away, you won’t do any more click-click?
TREPLYOV. No, Mama. It was a moment of insane desperation, when I lost control. It won’t happen again. (Kisses her hands.) You’ve got wonderful hands. I remember long, long ago, when you were still working at the National Theatre67 — I was a little boy then—there was a fight in our yard, a washerwoman who lived there got badly beaten up. Remember? She was picked up unconscious . . . You would go and see her, take her medicine, bathe her children in the washtub. Don’t you remember?
ARKADINA. No. (Putting on a fresh bandage.)
TREPLYOV. At the time there were two ballerinas living in our building . . . They’d come and drink coffee with you . . .
ARKADINA. That I remember.
TREPLYOV. They were so religious.
Pause.
Just lately, these last few days, I love you every bit as tenderly and freely as when I was a child. Except for you, I’ve got no one left now. Only why, why do you give in to that man’s influence?68
ARKADINA. You don’t understand him, Konstantin. He’s a person of the highest refinement.
TREPLYOV. But when they told him I was going to challenge him to a duel, his refinement didn’t keep him from acting like a coward. He’s going away. Retreating in disgrace!
ARKADINA. Don’t be silly! I’m the one who’s asked him to go away. Of course, I don’t expect you to approve of our intimacy, but you’re intelligent and sophisticated, I have the right to demand that you respect my independence.69