Enter ANDREY, followed by FERAPONT
ANDREY (angrily). What d’you want? I don’t understand.
FERAPONT (in the doorway, indecisively). Andrey Sergeich, I already said ten times or so.
ANDREY. In the first place, I’m not Andrey Sergeich to you, I’m Your Honor!
FERAPONT. The firemen, your highness, want to know if you’ll let ‘em drive across the garden to the river. Otherwise they got to ride round and round in a circle—wears the daylights out of ‘em.
ANDREY. All right. Tell them, it’s all right. (FERAPONT exits.) They make me sick. Where’s Olga? (OLGA appears from behind her screen.) I came here to get the key to the bookcase, I’ve lost mine. You’ve got one of those tiny little keys. (OLGA gives him the key in silence. IRINA goes behind her screen; pause.) What a terrific fire, eh! It’s starting to die down now. Dammit, that Ferapont got on my nerves, I was talking nonsense . . . Your Honor . . .
Pause.
Why don’t you say something, Olga?
Pause.
It’s about time you stopped being so silly, pouting like this, acting so high and mighty . . . You’re here, Masha, Irina’s here, well, that’s just fine — let’s clear this up right in the open, once and for all. What do you have against
me? What?
OLGA. Drop it, Andryusha. We’ll clear it up tomorrow. (Distraught.) What an excruciating night!
ANDREY (he’s very embarrassed). Don’t get upset. I’m asking this perfectly calmly: what do you have against me? Say it straight out.
VERSHININ’s voice: “Trom-tom-tom!”
MASHA (rises; loudly). Tra-ta-ta! (To Olga.) Good-bye, Olya, God bless you. (Goes behind the screen, kisses Irina.) Sleep in peace . . . Good-bye, Andrey. Go away, they’re exhausted . . . tomorrow you can clear things up . . . ( Leaves.)
OLGA. Really, Andryusha, let’s put it off till tomorrow . . . (Goes behind her screen.) It’s time for bed.
ANDREY. I’ll just say this and then I’ll go. Right away . . . In the first place, you’ve got something against Natasha, my wife, and I’ve noticed it from the very day of our wedding. If you want to know, Natasha is a beautiful, honest person, forthright and upstanding—that’s my opinion. I love and respect my wife, understand me, respect her and I demand that she be respected by others as well. I repeat, she’s an honest, upstanding person, and all your criticism, if you don’t mind my saying so, is simply frivolous . . .
Pause.
In the second place, you seem to be angry because I’m not a professor, don’t have scholarly pursuits. But I serve the county, I’m a member of the County Council and I consider this service of mine just as dedicated and exalted as service to scholarship. I’m a member of the County Council and proud of it, if you want to know . . .
Pause.
In the third place . . . I’ve got something else to say . . . I mortgaged the house, without asking your permission . . . There I am at fault, yes, and I beg you to forgive me. I was driven to it by my debts . . . thirty-five thousand . . . I’ve stopped playing cards, I gave it up a long time ago, but the main thing I can say in my defense is that you’re girls, you get Father’s pension, but I don’t have . . . any income, so to speak . . .
Pause.
KULYGIN (in the doorway). Masha’s not here? (Alarmed.) Where is she? This is odd . . . (Exits.)
ANDREY. They aren’t listening. Natasha is an excellent, honest person. (Paces the stage in silence, then stops.) When I got married, I thought we’d be happy . . . everybody happy . . . But my God . . . (Weeps.) My dear sisters, precious sisters, don’t believe me, don’t believe me . . . (Exits.)
KULYGIN (in the doorway, worried). Where’s Masha? Isn’t Masha here then? Amazing. (Exits.)
Alarm bell; the stage is empty.
IRINA (behind a screen). Olya! Who’s that knocking on the floor?
OLGA. It’s the Doctor. He’s drunk.
IRINA. What a crazy night!
Pause.
Olya! (Peers out from behind her screen.) Did you hear? They’re taking the brigade away from us, they’re transferring it somewhere far away.
OLGA. That’s mere rumor.
IRINA. We’ll be here all alone then . . . Olya!
OLGA. Well?
IRINA. Dearest, precious, I respect, I think highly of the Baron, he’s a fine man, I will marry him, agreed, only let’s go to Moscow! Only please, please, let’s go! There’s nothing on earth better than Moscow! Let’s go, Olya! Let’s go!
Curtain
ACT FOUR
An old garden attached to the Prozorovs’ house. A long path lined with fir trees, at whose end a river can be seen. On the farther bank of the river is a forest. To the right, the veranda of the house; here on a table are bottles and glasses; apparently someone has been drinking champagne. Twelve o’clock noon. Passersby occasionally cut through the garden from the street to the river; five or so soldiers pass quickly by.
CHEBUTYKIN, in an affable mood that stays with him throughout the whole act, is sitting in an armchair in the garden, waiting to be called; he wears a forage cap and has a walking stick. IRINA, KULYGIN with a medal round his neck and without his moustache, and TUSENBACH, sitting on the veranda, are seeing off FEDOTIK and RODE, who are coming down the steps, both officers in field kit.
TUSENBACH (exchanging kisses with FEDOTIK). You’re a good man, we were such friends. (Exchanges kisses with RODÉ.) One more time . . . Good-bye, my dear friend!
IRINA. See you soon!
FEDOTIK. It isn’t see-you-soon, it’s good-bye, we’ll never meet again!
KULYGIN. Who knows! (Wipes his eyes, smiles.) Look, I’m starting to cry.
IRINA. We’ll meet some day.
FEDOTIK. In, say, ten or fifteen years? But then we’ll barely recognize one another, we’ll say a formal how-d’you-do. (Takes a snapshot.) Hold still . . . Once more, the last time.
RODÉ (embraces Tusenbach). We won’t meet again . . . (Kisses Irina’s hand.) Thanks for everything, everything!
FEDOTIK (annoyed). Just hold still!
TUSENBACH. God willing, we shall meet. Do write to us. Be sure and write.
RODÉ (casts a glance round the garden). Good-bye, trees! (Shouts.) Hop to it! (Pause.) Good-bye, echo!
KULYGIN. You’ll get married out there in Poland, perish the thought . . . Your Polish wife will throw her arms around you and say, “Kochany!”62 (Laughs.)