MaSHA. The choir is one thing, one"s heart"s another! I love those I love, and hate those I hate.
FeDYA. Ah! This is good! Isn"t it?
MaSHA. Of course it"s good--we"ve jolly visitors, and are all merry.
Enter gipsy man.
GIPSY [to Fedya] A gentleman is asking for you.
FeDYA. What gentleman?
GIPSY. I don"t know.... Well dressed, wears a sable overcoat--
FeDYA. A swell? Well, ask him in. [Exit Gipsy].
AFReMOV. Who has come to see you here?
FeDYA. The devil knows! Who can want me?
Enter Karenin. Looks round.
FeDYA. Ah, Victor! I never expected _you_!... Take off your coat!...
What wind has blown you here? Come, sit down and listen to "Not at Eve."
KAReNIN. _Je voudrais vous parler sans temoins._[5]
[5] I wanted to speak to you alone.
FeDYA. What about?
KAReNIN. _Je viens de chez vous. Votre femme m"a charge de cette lettre et puis ..._[6]
[6] I have come from your home. Your wife has entrusted me with this letter and besides ...
FeDYA [takes letter, reads, frowns, then smiles affectionately] I say, Karenin, of course you know what is in this letter?
KAReNIN. I know ... and I want to say ...
FeDYA. Wait, wait a bit! Please don"t imagine that I am drunk and my words irresponsible.... I mean, that I am irresponsible! I am drunk, but in this matter I see quite clearly.... Well, what were you commissioned to say?
KAReNIN. I was commissioned to find you, and to tell you ... that ...
she ... is waiting for you. She asks you to forget everything and come back.
FeDYA [listens in silence, gazing into Karenin"s eyes] Still, I don"t understand why _you_ ...
KAReNIN. Elisabeth Andreyevna sent for me, and asked me ...
FeDYA. So ...
KAReNIN. But I ask you, not so much in your wife"s name as from myself.... Come home!
FeDYA. You are a better man than I. (What nonsense! It is easy enough to be better than I) ... I am a scoundrel, and you are a good--yes, a good man.... And that is the very reason why I won"t alter my decision....
No! Not on that account either--but simply because I can"t and won"t....
How could I return?
KAReNIN. Let us go to my rooms now, and I"ll tell her that you will return to-morrow.
FeDYA. And to-morrow, what?... I shall still be I, and she--she. [Goes to the table and drinks] It"s best to have the tooth out at one go....
Didn"t I say that if I broke my word she was to throw me over? Well, I have broken it, and that"s the end of it.
KAReNIN. For you, but not for her!
FeDYA. It is extraordinary that _you_ should take pains to prevent our marriage being broken up!
KAReNIN [is about to speak, but Masha comes up] ...
FeDYA [interrupting him] Just hear her sing "The Flax"!... Masha!
The gipsies re-enter.
MaSHA [whispers] An ovation, eh?
FeDYA [laughs] An ovation!... "Victor, my Lord! Son of Michael!" ...
Gipsies sing a song of greeting and laudation.
KAReNIN [listens in confusion then asks] How much shall I give them?
FeDYA. Well, give them twenty-five roubles.[7]
[7] About 2, 10s.
Karenin gives the money.
FeDYA. Splendid! And now, "The Flax!"
Gipsies sing.
FeDYA [looks round] Karenin"s bunked!... Well, devil take him!
Gipsy group breaks up.
FeDYA [sits down by Masha] Do you know who that was?
MaSHA. I heard his name.
FeDYA. He"s an excellent fellow! He came to take me home to my wife. She loves a fool like me, and see what I am doing here ...!
MaSHA. Well, and it"s wrong! You ought to go back to her.... You ought to pity her.