ACT I

(The stage represents a room; on the back wall there are two doors: one leading to other rooms, the other to the street. On the left side is a window with an embroidery frame by it, further on is a piano; on the right side is a sofa and a large round table.)

SCENE I

MARYA ANDREYEVNA (sitting at the embroidery frame) and ANNA PETROVNA (on the sofa).

ANNA PETROVNA.

Just try to live here as best you can. If your late father had not squandered everything without a thought, it would be a different matter. Now he has left us with almost nothing. Everything is in disarray, and there is this lawsuit; they will take the house away, and what will we do then! Just think of how we shall live then!... And what of me? My concerns are merely those of a woman, and I understand nothing, as I am used to living off others. (Silence). If only you would marry soon, Masha. I think I would not know how to thank God enough! To be without a man in the house, it is simply impossible.

MARYA ANDREYEVNA.

You have only one topic of conversation, Mother.

ANNA PETROVNA.

And why should I not talk about it! Will you lose anything from the words? Look, you are acting as if one cannot even speak. What is this, in truth?

MARYA ANDREYEVNA.

Am I to blame, Mother, that no one pleases me?