TaNYA. Who? I? Why, don"t you think me strong enough? You should see me lacing up my mistress. There"s many a peasant couldn"t tug as hard.
SECOND PEASANT. Where do you tug her to?
TaNYA. Well, there"s a thing made with bone, like--something like a stiff jacket, only up to here! Well, and I pull the strings just as when you saddle a horse--when you ... what d"ye call it? You know, when you spit on your hands!
SECOND PEASANT. Tighten the girths, you mean.
TaNYA. Yes, yes, that"s it. And you know I mustn"t shove against her with my knee.
[Laughs.
SECOND PEASANT. Why do you pull her in?
TaNYA. For a reason!
SECOND PEASANT. Why, is she doing penance?
TaNYA. No, it"s for beauty"s sake!
FIRST PEASANT. That"s to say, you pull in her paunch for appearance"
sake.
TaNYA. Sometimes I lace her up so that her eyes are ready to start from her head, and she says, "Tighter," till my hands tingle. And you say I"m not strong!
[PEASANTS laugh and shake their heads.
TaNYA. But here, I"ve been jabbering.
[Runs away, laughing.
THIRD PEASANT. Ah, the la.s.sie has made us laugh!
FIRST PEASANT. She"s a tidy one!
SECOND PEASANT. She"s not bad.
[Enter SAHaTOF and VASiLY LEONiDITCH. SAHaTOF holds a teaspoon in his hand.
VASiLY LEONiDITCH. Not exactly a dinner, but a dejeuner dinatoire. And first-rate it was, I tell you. Ham of sucking-pig, delicious! Roulier feeds one splendidly! I"ve only just returned. (Sees PEASANTS.) Ah, the peasants are here again!
SAHaTOF. Yes, yes, that"s all very well, but we came here to hide this article. Where shall we hide it?
VASiLY LEONiDITCH. Excuse me a moment. (To SERVANTS" COOK.) Where are the dogs?
SERVANTS" COOK. In the coachman"s quarters. You can"t keep dogs in the servants" kitchen!
VASiLY LEONiDITCH. Ah, in the coachman"s quarters? All right.
SAHaTOF. I am waiting.
VASiLY LEONiDITCH. Excuse me, please. Eh, what? Hide it? I"ll tell you what. Let"s put it into one of the peasants" pockets. That one. I say, where"s your pocket? Eh, what?
THIRD PEASANT. What for d"ye want my pocket? You"re a good "un! My pocket! There"s money in my pocket!
VASiLY LEONiDITCH. Where"s your bag, then?
THIRD PEASANT. What for?
SERVANTS" COOK. What d"you mean? That"s the young master!
VASiLY LEONiDITCH (laughs. To SAHaTOF). D"you know why he"s so frightened? Shall I tell you? He"s got a heap of money. Eh, what?
SAHaTOF. Yes, yes, I see. Well, you talk to them a bit, and I"ll put it into that bag without being observed, so that they should not notice and could not point it out to him. Talk to them.
VASiLY LEONiDITCH. All right! (To PEASANTS.) Well then, old fellows, how about the land? Are you buying it? Eh, what?
FIRST PEASANT. We have made an offering, so to say, with our whole heart. But there,--the business don"t come into action nohow.
VASiLY LEONiDITCH. You should not be so stingy! Land is an important matter! I told you about planting mint. Or else tobacco would also do.
FIRST PEASANT. That"s just it. Every kind of producks.
THIRD PEASANT. And you help us, master. Ask your father. Or else how are we to live? There"s so little land. A fowl, let"s say, there"s not enough room for a fowl to run about.
SAHaTOF (having put the spoon into a bag belonging to the THIRD PEASANT). C"est fait. Ready. Come along.
[Exit.
VASiLY LEONiDITCH. So don"t be stingy! Eh? Well, good-bye.
[Exit.
THIRD PEASANT. Didn"t I say, come to some lodging-house? Well, supposing we"d had to give three-pence each, then at least we"d have been in peace. As to here, the Lord be merciful! "Give us the money,"
he says. What"s that for?
SECOND PEASANT. He"s drunk, I daresay.
[PEASANTS turn their cups upside-down, rise, and cross themselves.
FIRST PEASANT. And d"you mind what a saying he threw out? Sowing mint!
One must know how to understand them, that one must!
SECOND PEASANT. Sow mint indeed! He"d better bend his own back at that work, and then it"s not mint he"ll hanker after, no fear! Well, many thanks!... And now, good woman, would you tell us where we could lie down to sleep?
SERVANTS" COOK. One of you can lie on the oven, and the others on these benches.
THIRD PEASANT. Christ save you!