my library into a bar-room again,
have you? And yet I have begged you all a thousand times not to do so!
[He goes up to the table] There, you see, you have spilt vodka all
over my papers and scattered crumbs and cucumbers everywhere! It is
disgusting!

LEBEDIEFF. I beg your pardon, Nicholas. Please forgive me. I have
something very important to speak to you about.

BORKIN. So have I.

LVOFF. May I have a word with you?

IVANOFF. [Pointing to LEBEDIEFF] He wants to speak to me; wait a minute.
[To LEBEDIEFF] Well, what is it?

LEBEDIEFF. [To the others] Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I want to
speak to him in private.

SHABELSKI goes out, followed by AVDOTIA, BORKIN, and LVOFF.

IVANOFF. Paul, you may drink yourself as much as you choose, it is your
weakness, but I must ask you not to make my uncle tipsy. He never used
to drink at all; it is bad for him.

LEBEDIEFF. [Startled] My dear boy, I didn't know that! I wasn't thinking
of him at all.

IVANOFF. If this old baby should die on my hands the blame would be
mine, not yours. Now, what do you want? [A pause.]

LEBEDIEFF. The fact is, Nicholas--I really don't know how I can put
it to make it seem less brutal--Nicholas, I am ashamed of myself, I am
blushing, my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. My dear boy, put
yourself in my place; remember that I am not a free man, I am as putty
in the hands of my wife, a slave--forgive me!

IVANOFF. What does this mean?

LEBEDIEFF. My wife has sent me to you; do me a favour, be a friend to
me, pay her the interest on the money you owe her. Believe me, she has
been tormenting me and going for me tooth and nail. For heaven's sake,
free yourself from her clutches!

IVANOFF. You know, Paul, that I have no money now.

LEBEDIEFF. I know, I know, but what can I do? She won't wait. If she
should sue you for the money, how could Sasha and I ever look you in the
face again?

IVANOFF. I am ready to sink through the floor with shame, Paul, but
where, where shall I get the money? Tell me, where? There is nothing I
can do but to wait until I sell my wheat in the autumn.

LEBEDIEFF. [Shrieks] But she won't wait! [A pause.]

IVANOFF. Your position is very delicate and unpleasant, but mine is
even worse. [He walks up and down in deep thought] I am at my wit's end,
there is nothing I can sell now.

LEBEDIEFF. You might go to Mulbach and get some money from him; doesn't
he owe you sixty thousand roubles?

IVANOFF makes a de