MATRYoNA. What evil, my jewel? If your old man was hale and hearty, "twould be a different matter, but he"s neither alive nor dead as it is. He"s not for this world. Such things often happen.
ANiSYA. O-o-oh, my poor head! I"m afeared, Mother Matryona, lest some evil come of them. No. That won"t do.
MATRYoNA. Just as you like. I might even return them to him.
ANiSYA. And are they to be used in the same way as the others? Mixed in water?
MATRYoNA. Better in tea, he says. "You can"t notice anything," he says, "no smell nor nothing." He"s a cute old fellow, too.
ANiSYA (taking the powder). O-oh, my poor head! Could I have ever thought of such a thing if my life were not a very h.e.l.l?
MATRYoNA. You"ll not forget that rouble? I promised to take it to the old man. He"s had some trouble, too.
ANiSYA. Of course?
[Goes to her box and hides the powders.
MATRYoNA. And now, my jewel, keep it as close as you can, so that no one should find it out. Heaven defend that it should happen, but if any one notices it, tell "em it"s for the black-beetles. (Takes the rouble.) It"s also used for beetles. (Stops short.)
[Enter AKiM, who crosses himself in front of the icon, and then PETER, who sits down.
PETER. Well, then, how"s it to be, Daddy Akim?
AKiM. As it"s best, Peter Ignat.i.tch, as it"s best.... I mean--as it"s best. "Cos why? I"m afeared of what d"you call "ems, some tomfoolery, you know. I"d like to, what d"you call it.... to start, you know, start the lad honest, I mean. But supposing you"d rather, what d"you call it, we might, I mean, what"s name? As it"s best....
PETER. All right. All right. Sit down and let"s talk it over. (Akim sits down.) Well, then, what"s it all about? You want him to marry?
MATRYoNA. As to marrying, he might bide a while, Peter Ignat.i.tch. You know our poverty, Peter Ignat.i.tch. What"s he to marry on? We"ve hardly enough to eat ourselves. How can he marry then?...
PETER. You must consider what will be best.
MATRYoNA. Where"s the hurry for him to get married? Marriage is not that sort of thing, it"s not like ripe raspberries that drop off if not picked in time.
PETER. If he were to get married, "twould be a good thing in a way.
AKiM. We"d like to ... what d"you call it? "Cos why, you see. I"ve what d"you call it ... a job. I mean, I"ve found a paying job in town, you know.
MATRYoNA. And a fine job too--cleaning out cesspools. The other day when he came home, I could do nothing but spew and spew. Faugh!
AKiM. It"s true, at first it does seem what d"you call it ... "knocks one clean over," you know,--the smell, I mean. But one gets used to it, and then it"s nothing, no worse than malt grain, and then it"s, what d"you call it, ... pays, pays, I mean. And as to the smell being, what d"you call it, it"s not for the likes of us to complain. And one changes one"s clothes. So we"d like to take what"s his name ...
NIKiTA, I mean, home. Let him manage things at home while I, what d"you call it,--earn something in town.
PETER. You want to keep your son at home? Yes, that would be well: but how about the money he has had in advance?
AKiM. That"s it, that"s it! It"s just as you Say, Ignat.i.tch, it"s just what d"you call it. "Cos why? If you go into service, it"s as good as if you had sold yourself, they say. That will be all right. I mean he may stay and serve his time, only he must, what d"you call it, get married. I mean--so: you let him off for a little while, that he may, what d"you call it?
PETER. Yes, we could manage that.
MATRYoNA. Ah, but it"s not yet settled between ourselves, Peter Ignat.i.tch. I"ll speak to you as I would before G.o.d, and you may judge between my old man and me. He goes on harping on that marriage. But just ask--who it is he wants him to marry. If it were a girl of the right sort now--I am not my child"s enemy, but the wench is not honest.
AKiM. No, that"s wrong! Wrong, I say. "Cos why? She, that same girl-- it"s my son as has offended, offended the girl I mean.
PETER. How offended?
AKiM. That"s how. She"s what d"you call it, with him, with my son, NIKiTA. With Nikita, what d"you call it, mean.
MATRYoNA. You wait a bit, my tongue runs smoother--let me tell it. You know, this lad of ours lived at the railway before he came to you.
There was a girl there as kept dangling after him. A girl of no account, you know; her name"s Marina. She used to cook for the men. So now this same girl accuses our son, Nikita, that he, so to say, deceived her.
PETER. Well, there"s nothing good in that.
MATRYoNA. But she"s no honest girl herself; she runs after the fellows like a common s.l.u.t.
AKiM. There you are again, old woman, and it"s not at all what d"you call it, it"s all not what d"you call it, I mean....
MATRYoNA. There now, that"s all the sense one gets from my old owl-- "what d"you call it, what d"you call it," and he doesn"t know himself what he means. Peter Ignat.i.tch, don"t listen to me, but go yourself and ask any one you like about the girl, everybody will say the same.
She"s just a homeless good-for-nothing.
PETER. You know, Daddy Akim, if that"s how things are, there"s no reason for him to marry her. A daughter-in-law"s not like a shoe, you can"t kick her off.
AKiM (excitedly). It"s false, old woman, it"s what d"you call it, false; I mean, about the girl; false! "Cos why? The la.s.s is a good la.s.s, a very good la.s.s, you know. I"m sorry, sorry for the la.s.sie, I mean.
MATRYoNA. It"s an old saying: "For the wide world old Miriam grieves, and at home without bread her children she leaves." He"s sorry for the girl, but not sorry for his own son! Sling her round your neck and carry her about with you! That"s enough of such empty cackle!
AKiM. No, it"s not empty.
MATRYoNA. There, don"t interrupt, let me have my say.
AKiM (interrupts). No, not empty! I mean, you twist things your own way, about the la.s.s or about yourself. Twist them, I mean, to make it better for yourself; but G.o.d, what d"you call it, turns them His way.
That"s how it is.
MATRYoNA. Eh! One only wears out one"s tongue with you.
AKiM. The la.s.s is hard-working and spruce, and keeps everything round herself ... what d"you call it. And in our poverty, you know, it"s a pair of hands, I mean; and the wedding needn"t cost much. But the chief thing"s the offence, the offence to the la.s.s, and she"s a what d"you call it, an orphan, you know; that"s what she is, and there"s the offence.
MATRYoNA. Eh! they"ll all tell you a tale of that sort....
ANiSYA. Daddy Akim, you"d better listen to us women; we can tell you a thing or two.
AKiM. And G.o.d, how about G.o.d? Isn"t she a human being, the la.s.s? A what d"you call it,--also a human being I mean, before G.o.d. And how do you look at it?
MATRYoNA. Eh! ... started off again?...
PETER. Wait a bit, Daddy Akim. One can"t believe all these girls say, either. The lad"s alive, and not far away; send for him, and find out straight from him if it"s true. He won"t wish to lose his soul. Go and call the fellow, (Anisya rises) and tell him his father wants him.
[Exit ANiSYA.
MATRYoNA. That"s right, dear friend; you"ve cleared the way clean, as with water. Yes, let the lad speak for himself. Nowadays, you know, they"ll not let you force a son to marry; one must first of all ask the lad. He"ll never consent to marry her and disgrace himself, not for all the world. To my thinking, it"s best he should go on living with you and serving you as his master. And we need not take him home for the summer either; we can hire a help. If you would only give us ten roubles now, we"ll let him stay on. Peter. All in good time. First let us settle one thing before we start another. Akim. You see, Peter Ignat.i.tch, I speak. "Cos why? you know how it happens. We try to fix things up as seems best for ourselves, you know; and as to G.o.d, we what d"you call it, we forget Him. We think it"s best so, turn it our own way, and lo! we"ve got into a fix, you know. We think it will be best, I mean; and lo! it turns out much worse--without G.o.d, I mean.