tell him; he knows why.

KARP. [_Through the door_] Please, sir, you have visitors.

BABAYEV. [_From the door_] Who?

PROKOFYEVNA. Come out, sir, for a minute; you're wanted!

BABAYEV _enters._

SCENE II

KARP, PROKOFYEVNA, BABAYEV

PROKOFYEVNA. Listen! Tatyana Danilovna, the wife of the shopkeeper, has
come with her sister, and wants to know if they may come in.

BABAYEV. Ask them in. I'll tell you what! Listen, landlady! Please avoid
gossip! It's possible that she'll come again, so you'll please say that she
comes to see you. If any one asks you, you know; the city is small, and
every one knows every one else, and every one watches every one else, where
each goes, and what each does.

PROKOFYEVNA. Oh, sir! What's that to me! I looked but I didn't see. You're
a stranger, not of this place.

BABAYEV. Ask them in! You and I, dear landlady, are old friends. [_Pats her
on the shoulder._

PROKOFYEVNA. Indeed we are, sir, friends! [_Goes out._

KARP. [_With an impatient wave of his hand_] Sins! [_Goes out._

TATYANA _and_ LUKERYA _come in._

SCENE III

BABAYEV, TATYANA, LUKERYA

LUKERYA. How do you do, again! Were you looking for us?

BABAYEV. To be frank, I didn't expect you so soon. Be seated; why are you
standing? [_They all sit down_.

LUKERYA. We fairly ran over here. We had such a time getting away.

TATYANA. That's enough, Lusha; stop!

LUKERYA. There's no use concealing matters! You can't do it. Valentin
Pavlich has seen our local gentry to-day, himself. You should see what a
rumpus we had after you left!

TATYANA. Ah, Lusha, those things happen in every family; there's no need
telling every one! It's no one's affair how we live.

LUKERYA. Now you understand, Valentin Pavlich, what a peasant is when he
assumes importance?

TATYANA. It's well for you to talk, since you aren't concerned. You might
spare me! He's my husband, and I have to live with him till the brink of
the grave.

BABAYEV. You weren't careful in your marriage, Tatyana Danilovna; you
weren't careful.

TATYANA. How queer you are! What are you reproaching me for? Where were
you when we had nothing to eat? But now there is no going back. All that
remains for me to do is to cry all the rest of my life. [_Cries_.

BABAYEV. Why are you crying now?

TATYANA. What have I to rejoice over? You? I might be happy if I had
freedom. Understand this: on your account I quarrelled with my husband;
you'll be going away to-