of four days I'll stay four weeks. [_Goes out._

TABLEAU II

_The bank of a river; at one side a fence and gate, at the other a corner
of a barn; beyond the river stretches the countryside; sunset._

SCENE I

_Enter_ ARKHIP _and_ AFONYA

AFONYA. Grandfather, let's rest here awhile. I feel ill to-day. Sit down
here, on the bench.

ARKHIP. Very well, Afonya, we'll sit down here. You and I are unfortunate:
age is overcoming me and sickness you.

AFONYA. I'm not ailing. I was born so. Grandfather, I shan't live long in
this bright world.

ARKHIP. Don't listen to old wives' tales. No one knows what fate awaits
him.

AFONYA. What do I care for old wives! I know that I shall not live long. My
appetite is failing. Others have such hearty appetites after working. They
eat a whole lot and want more. There's brother Lev, when he's tired--just
keep giving him food. But I don't care if I never eat at all. My soul won't
take anything. I just swallow a crust--and am satisfied.

ARKHIP. That helps growth.

AFONYA. No, it doesn't. Why should I grow any more, anyhow! As it is, I
am tall for my age. But it's a sign that I shall not live. Just listen,
grandfather; a man who is alive thinks of living things, but I don't have
any interest in anything. Some people like nice clothes, but for me it's
all the same--whatever rag is near at hand--just so I'm warm. For instance,
all the boys have some hobby; some like fishing, others games, some sing
songs; but nothing attracts me. While others are happy I feel depressed.
Misery seems to grip my heart.

ARKHIP. That is God's gift to you. From your childhood you have had no love
for this vain world. Some lose their faint-heartedness with years, when
woes and afflictions, Afonya, crush and grind a man into powder; but you
have never lived, have not yet tasted the world's sorrows or joys, and yet
you reason like an old man. Thank God that he has made you wise. The world
does not charm you: you do not know temptation, so your sins are less. That
is your good fortune. Just listen to me. I, Afonya, have known temptation
and have not always turned aside from it, and most often I sought
temptation of my own free will. You say everything seems the same to you,
that nothing in the world delights you; but to me God's world was good and
bright. Everything beckoned and charmed me. An unsated eye and free will
command one to taste all the pleasures of the universe. But in the world,
Afon