PELAGEYA EGOROVNA. If you please, Afrikan Savvich, I humbly beg you.

KORSHUNOV _takes the glass._

GORDEY KARPYCH. [_Takes the glass_] Wife, drink!

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA. Oh, somehow I don't like this kind of wine! Well, yes!
I'll take just a glass.

GIRLS. [_Sing_] "Ah, who is he, our bachelor,
And who is still unwed?
Afrikan's our bachelor
And Savvich still unwed.
He jumped on the horse,
The horse skips to and fro;
He rides through the meadows,
And green the meadows grow,
And flowers blow."

KORSHUNOV. [_Seats himself near_ LYUBOV GORDEYEVNA] That's nice. I like
that. Now, then, come here some one. [_A girl comes up, he pats her on the
cheek_] Oh, you little bright eyes! You girls, I suppose, need a lot to set
off your fair faces and rosy blushes; he, he, he! But I haven't any money!
It will be on me, he, he, he! Hold out your apron! [_He tosses her some
small change; the girl bows and goes out_] Now, then, Gordey Karpych, tell
your wife why we came.

GORDEY KARPYCH. I told you, wife, long ago, that living in this town bored
me, because you can't take a step here without seeing that the people are
absolutely ignorant and uneducated. And so I want to move from this place
to Moscow. But there will be a man there who is no stranger to us--our dear
son-in-law, Afrikan Savvich.

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA. Oh! Oh! What are you saying!

KORSHUNOV. Yes, we've shaken hands on it, Pelageya Egorovna. What are you
afraid of? I'm not going to eat her!

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA. Oh, Lord! [_Seizes her daughter_] She's my daughter! I
won't give her up!

GORDEY KARPYCH. Wife!

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA. My dear Gordey Karpych! Don't trifle with a mother's
heart! Stop! You've fairly staggered me!

GORDEY KARPYCH. Wife, you know me! And you, Afrikan Savvich, don't be
uneasy: with me saying is doing!

KORSHUNOV. You have promised--then keep your word. [_Rises, goes to the
girls, and speaks to them in a low voice._

LYUBOV GORDEYEVNA. [_Goes to her father_] Father, I will never take a step
against your will. But have pity on me, poor girl that I am! Don't ruin my
young life!

GORDEY KARPYCH. You're a fool, and don't understand your own happiness!
You'll live in Moscow like a lady; you'll ride in a coach. In the first
place, you'll live in the city--and not in a wilderness like this! In the
second place, these are my orders!

LYUBOV GORDEYEVNA. I dare not disobey your command. Father! [_Bows down to