UNCLE VANYA SCENES FROM COUNTRY LIFE IN FOUR ACTS By Anton Checkov CHARACTERS ALEXANDER SEREBRAKOFF, a retired professor HELENA, his wife, twenty-seven years old SONIA, his daughter by a former marriage MME. VOITSKAYA, widow of a privy councilor, and mother of Serebrakoff'sfirst wife IVAN (VANYA) VOITSKI, her son MICHAEL ASTROFF, a doctor ILIA (WAFFLES) TELEGIN, an impoverished landowner MARINA, an old nurse A WORKMAN The scene is laid on SEREBRAKOFF'S country place UNCLE VANYA ACT I A country house on a terrace. In front of it a garden. In an avenue oftrees, under an old poplar, stands a table set for tea, with a samovar, etc. Some benches and chairs stand near the table. On one of them islying a guitar. A hammock is swung near the table. It is three o'clockin the afternoon of a cloudy day. MARINA, a quiet, grey-haired, little old woman, is sitting at the tableknitting a stocking. ASTROFF is walking up and down near her. MARINA. [Pouring some tea into a glass] Take a little tea, my son. ASTROFF. [Takes the glass from her unwillingly] Somehow, I don't seem towant any. MARINA. Then will you have a little vodka instead? ASTROFF. No, I don't drink vodka every day, and besides, it is too hotnow. [A pause] Tell me, nurse, how long have we known each other? MARINA. [Thoughtfully] Let me see, how long is it? Lord--help me toremember. You first came here, into our parts--let me think--when wasit? Sonia's mother was still alive--it was two winters before she died;that was eleven years ago--[thoughtfully] perhaps more. ASTROFF. Have I changed much since then? MARINA. Oh, yes. You were handsome and young then, and now you are anold man and not handsome any more. You drink, too. ASTROFF. Yes, ten years have made me another man. And why? Because I amoverworked. Nurse, I am on my feet from dawn till dusk. I know no rest;at night I tremble under my blankets for fear of being dragged out tovisit some one who is sick; I have toiled without repose or a day'sfreedom since I have known you; could I help growing old? And then, existence is tedious, anyway; it is a senseless, dirty business, thislife, and goes heavily. Every one about here is silly, and afterliving with them for two or three years one grows silly oneself. It isinevitable. [Twisting his moustache] See what a long moustache I havegrown. A foolish, long moustache. Yes, I am as silly as the rest, nurse, but not as stupid; no, I have not grown stupid. Thank God, my brain isnot addled yet, though my feelings have grown numb. I ask nothing, Ineed nothing, I love no one, unless it is yourself alone. [He kisses herhead] I had a nurse just like you when I was a child. MARINA. Don't you want a bite of something to eat? ASTROFF. No. During the third week of Lent I went to the epidemic atMalitskoi. It was eruptive typhoid. The peasants were all lying side byside in their huts, and the calves and pigs were running about the flooramong the sick. Such dirt there was, and smoke! Unspeakable! I slavedamong those people all day, not a crumb passed my lips, but when I gothome there was still no rest for me; a switchman was carried in from therailroad; I laid him on the operating table and he went and died inmy arms under chloroform, and then my feelings that should have beendeadened awoke again, my conscience tortured me as if I had killed theman. I sat down and closed my eyes--like this--and thought: will ourdescendants two hundred years from now, for whom we are breaking theroad, remember to give us a kind word? No, nurse, they will forget. MARINA. Man is forgetful, but God remembers. ASTROFF. Thank you for that. You have spoken the truth. Enter VOITSKI from the house. He has been asleep after dinner andlooks rather dishevelled. He sits down on the bench and straightens hiscollar. VOITSKI. H'm. Yes. [A pause] Yes. ASTROFF. Have you been asleep? VOITSKI. Yes, very much so. [He yawns] Ever since the Professor and hiswife have come, our daily life seems to have jumped the track. I sleepat the wrong time, drink wine, and eat all sorts of messes for luncheonand dinner. It isn't wholesome. Sonia and I used to work together andnever had an idle moment, but now Sonia works alone and I only eat anddrink and sleep. Something is wrong. MARINA. [Shaking her head] Such a confusion in the house! The Professorgets up at twelve, the samovar is kept boiling all the morning, andeverything has to wait for him. Before they came we used to have dinnerat one o'clock, like everybody else, but now we have it at seven. TheProfessor sits up all night writing and reading, and suddenly, at twoo'clock, there goes the bell! Heavens, what is that? The Professor wantssome tea! Wake the servants, light the samovar! Lord, what disorder! ASTROFF. Will they be here long? VOITSKI. A hundred years! The Professor has decided to make his homehere. MARINA. Look at this now! The samovar has been on the table for twohours, and they are all out walking! VOITSKI. All right, don't get excited; here they come. Voices are heard approaching. SEREBRAKOFF, HELENA, SONIA, and TELEGINcome in from the depths of the garden, returning from their walk. SEREBRAKOFF. Superb! Superb! What beautiful views! TELEGIN. They are wonderful, your Excellency. SONIA. To-morrow we shall go into the woods, shall we, papa? VOITSKI. Ladies and gentlemen, tea is ready. SEREBRAKOFF. Won't you please be good enough to send my tea into thelibrary? I still have some work to finish. SONIA. I am sure you will love the woods. HELENA, SEREBRAKOFF, and SONIA go into the house. TELEGIN sits down atthe table beside MARINA. VOITSKI. There goes our learned scholar on a hot, sultry day like this, in his overcoat and goloshes and carrying an umbrella! ASTROFF. He is trying to take good care of his health. VOITSKI. How lovely she is! How lovely! I have never in my life seen amore beautiful woman. TELEGIN. Do you know, Marina, that as I walk in the fields or inthe shady garden, as I look at this table here, my heart swells withunbounded happiness. The weather is enchanting, the birds are singing, we are all living in peace and contentment--what more could the souldesire? [Takes a glass of tea. ] VOITSKI. [Dreaming] Such eyes--a glorious woman! ASTROFF. Come, Ivan, tell us something. VOITSKI. [Indolently] What shall I tell you? ASTROFF. Haven't you any news for us? VOITSKI. No, it is all stale. I am just the same as usual, or perhapsworse, because I have become lazy. I don't do anything now but croaklike an old raven. My mother, the old magpie, is still chattering aboutthe emancipation of woman, with one eye on her grave and the other onher learned books, in which she is always looking for the dawn of a newlife. ASTROFF. And the Professor? VOITSKI. The Professor sits in his library from morning till night, asusual-- "Straining the mind, wrinkling the brow, We write, write, write, Without respite Or hope of praise in the future or now. " Poor paper! He ought to write his autobiography; he would make areally splendid subject for a book! Imagine it, the life of a retiredprofessor, as stale as a piece of hardtack, tortured by gout, headaches, and rheumatism, his liver bursting with jealousy and envy, living on theestate of his first wife, although he hates it, because he can't affordto live in town. He is everlastingly whining about his hard lot, though, as a matter of fact, he is extraordinarily lucky. He is the son ofa common deacon and has attained the professor's chair, become theson-in-law of a senator, is called "your Excellency, " and so on. ButI'll tell you something; the man has been writing on art for twenty-fiveyears, and he doesn't know the very first thing about it. Fortwenty-five years he has been chewing on other men's thoughts aboutrealism, naturalism, and all such foolishness; for twenty-five years hehas been reading and writing things that clever men have long known andstupid ones are not interested in; for twenty-five years he has beenmaking his imaginary mountains out of molehills. And just think of theman's self-conceit and presumption all this time! For twenty-five yearshe has been masquerading in false clothes and has now retired absolutelyunknown to any living soul; and yet see him! stalking across the earthlike a demi-god! ASTROFF. I believe you envy him. VOITSKI. Yes, I do. Look at the success he has had with women! Don Juanhimself was not more favoured. His first wife, who was my sister, wasa beautiful, gentle being, as pure as the blue heaven there above us, noble, great-hearted, with more admirers than he has pupils, and sheloved him as only beings of angelic purity can love those who are aspure and beautiful as themselves. His mother-in-law, my mother, adoreshim to this day, and he still inspires a sort of worshipful awe in her. His second wife is, as you see, a brilliant beauty; she married him inhis old age and has surrendered all the glory of her beauty and freedomto him. Why? What for? ASTROFF. Is she faithful to him? VOITSKI. Yes, unfortunately she is. ASTROFF. Why unfortunately? VOITSKI. Because such fidelity is false and unnatural, root and branch. It sounds well, but there is no logic in it. It is thought immoral for awoman to deceive an old husband whom she hates, but quite moral for herto strangle her poor youth in her breast and banish every vital desirefrom her heart. TELEGIN. [In a tearful voice] Vanya, I don't like to hear you talk so. Listen, Vanya; every one who betrays husband or wife is faithless, andcould also betray his country. VOITSKI. [Crossly] Turn off the tap, Waffles. TELEGIN. No, allow me, Vanya. My wife ran away with a lover on the dayafter our wedding, because my exterior was unprepossessing. I have neverfailed in my duty since then. I love her and am true to her to this day. I help her all I can and have given my fortune to educate the daughterof herself and her lover. I have forfeited my happiness, but I have keptmy pride. And she? Her youth has fled, her beauty has faded according tothe laws of nature, and her lover is dead. What has she kept? HELENA and SONIA come in; after them comes MME. VOITSKAYA carrying abook. She sits down and begins to read. Some one hands her a glass oftea which she drinks without looking up. SONIA. [Hurriedly, to the nurse] There are some peasants waiting outthere. Go and see what they want. I shall pour the tea. [Pours out someglasses of tea. ] MARINA goes out. HELENA takes a glass and sits drinking in the hammock. ASTROFF. I have come to see your husband. You wrote me that he hadrheumatism and I know not what else, and that he was very ill, but heappears to be as lively as a cricket. HELENA. He had a fit of the blues yesterday evening and complained ofpains in his legs, but he seems all right again to-day. ASTROFF. And I galloped over here twenty miles at break-neck speed! Nomatter, though, it is not the first time. Once here, however, I am goingto stay until to-morrow, and at any rate sleep _quantum satis. _ SONIA. Oh, splendid! You so seldom spend the night with us. Have you haddinner yet? ASTROFF. No. SONIA. Good. So you will have it with us. We dine at seven now. [Drinksher tea] This tea is cold! TELEGIN. Yes, the samovar has grown cold. HELENA. Don't mind, Monsieur Ivan, we will drink cold tea, then. TELEGIN. I beg your pardon, my name is not Ivan, but Ilia, ma'am--IliaTelegin, or Waffles, as I am sometimes called on account of mypock-marked face. I am Sonia's godfather, and his Excellency, yourhusband, knows me very well. I now live with you, ma'am, on this estate, and perhaps you will be so good as to notice that I dine with you everyday. SONIA. He is our great help, our right-hand man. [Tenderly] Deargodfather, let me pour you some tea. MME. VOITSKAYA. Oh! Oh! SONIA. What is it, grandmother? MME. VOITSKAYA. I forgot to tell Alexander--I have lost my memory--Ireceived a letter to-day from Paul Alexevitch in Kharkoff. He has sentme a new pamphlet. ASTROFF. Is it interesting? MME. VOITSKAYA. Yes, but strange. He refutes the very theories which hedefended seven years ago. It is appalling! VOITSKI. There is nothing appalling about it. Drink your tea, mamma. MME. VOITSKAYA. It seems you never want to listen to what I have to say. Pardon me, Jean, but you have changed so in the last year that Ihardly know you. You used to be a man of settled convictions and had anilluminating personality---- VOITSKI. Oh, yes. I had an illuminating personality, which illuminatedno one. [A pause] I had an illuminating personality! You couldn't sayanything more biting. I am forty-seven years old. Until last year Iendeavoured, as you do now, to blind my eyes by your pedantry to thetruths of life. But now--Oh, if you only knew! If you knew how I lieawake at night, heartsick and angry, to think how stupidly I have wastedmy time when I might have been winning from life everything which my oldage now forbids. SONIA. Uncle Vanya, how dreary! MME. VOITSKAYA. [To her son] You speak as if your former convictionswere somehow to blame, but you yourself, not they, were at fault. Youhave forgotten that a conviction, in itself, is nothing but a deadletter. You should have done something. VOITSKI. Done something! Not every man is capable of being a writer_perpetuum mobile_ like your Herr Professor. MME. VOITSKAYA. What do you mean by that? SONIA. [Imploringly] Mother! Uncle Vanya! I entreat you! VOITSKI. I am silent. I apologise and am silent. [A pause. ] HELENA. What a fine day! Not too hot. [A pause. ] VOITSKI. A fine day to hang oneself. TELEGIN tunes the guitar. MARINA appears near the house, calling thechickens. MARINA. Chick, chick, chick! SONIA. What did the peasants want, nurse? MARINA. The same old thing, the same old nonsense. Chick, chick, chick! SONIA. Why are you calling the chickens? MARINA. The speckled hen has disappeared with her chicks. I am afraidthe crows have got her. TELEGIN plays a polka. All listen in silence. Enter WORKMAN. WORKMAN. Is the doctor here? [To ASTROFF] Excuse me, sir, but I havebeen sent to fetch you. ASTROFF. Where are you from? WORKMAN. The factory. ASTROFF. [Annoyed] Thank you. There is nothing for it, then, but to go. [Looking around him for his cap] Damn it, this is annoying! SONIA. Yes, it is too bad, really. You must come back to dinner from thefactory. ASTROFF. No, I won't be able to do that. It will be too late. Now where, where--[To the WORKMAN] Look here, my man, get me a glass of vodka, willyou? [The WORKMAN goes out] Where--where--[Finds his cap] One of thecharacters in Ostroff's plays is a man with a long moustache and shortwits, like me. However, let me bid you good-bye, ladies and gentlemen. [To HELENA] I should be really delighted if you would come to see mesome day with Miss Sonia. My estate is small, but if you are interestedin such things I should like to show you a nursery and seed-bed whoselike you will not find within a thousand miles of here. My place issurrounded by government forests. The forester is old and always ailing, so I superintend almost all the work myself. HELENA. I have always heard that you were very fond of the woods. Ofcourse one can do a great deal of good by helping to preserve them, butdoes not that work interfere with your real calling? ASTROFF. God alone knows what a man's real calling is. HELENA. And do you find it interesting? ASTROFF. Yes, very. VOITSKI. [Sarcastically] Oh, extremely! HELENA. You are still young, not over thirty-six or seven, I should say, and I suspect that the woods do not interest you as much as you say theydo. I should think you would find them monotonous. SONIA. No, the work is thrilling. Dr. Astroff watches over the old woodsand sets out new plantations every year, and he has already received adiploma and a bronze medal. If you will listen to what he can tell you, you will agree with him entirely. He says that forests are the ornamentsof the earth, that they teach mankind to understand beauty and attunehis mind to lofty sentiments. Forests temper a stern climate, and incountries where the climate is milder, less strength is wasted in thebattle with nature, and the people are kind and gentle. The inhabitantsof such countries are handsome, tractable, sensitive, graceful in speechand gesture. Their philosophy is joyous, art and science blossom amongthem, their treatment of women is full of exquisite nobility---- VOITSKI. [Laughing] Bravo! Bravo! All that is very pretty, but it isalso unconvincing. So, my friend [To ASTROFF] you must let me go onburning firewood in my stoves and building my sheds of planks. ASTROFF. You can burn peat in your stoves and build your sheds of stone. Oh, I don't object, of course, to cutting wood from necessity, but whydestroy the forests? The woods of Russia are trembling under the blowsof the axe. Millions of trees have perished. The homes of the wildanimals and birds have been desolated; the rivers are shrinking, andmany beautiful landscapes are gone forever. And why? Because men are toolazy and stupid to stoop down and pick up their fuel from the ground. [To HELENA] Am I not right, Madame? Who but a stupid barbarian couldburn so much beauty in his stove and destroy that which he cannot make?Man is endowed with reason and the power to create, so that he mayincrease that which has been given him, but until now he has notcreated, but demolished. The forests are disappearing, the rivers arerunning dry, the game is exterminated, the climate is spoiled, and theearth becomes poorer and uglier every day. [To VOITSKI] I read irony inyour eye; you do not take what I am saying seriously, and--and--afterall, it may very well be nonsense. But when I pass peasant-foreststhat I have preserved from the axe, or hear the rustling of the youngplantations set out with my own hands, I feel as if I had had some smallshare in improving the climate, and that if mankind is happy a thousandyears from now I will have been a little bit responsible for theirhappiness. When I plant a little birch tree and then see it buddinginto young green and swaying in the wind, my heart swells with pride andI--[Sees the WORKMAN, who is bringing him a glass of vodka on a tray]however--[He drinks] I must be off. Probably it is all nonsense, anyway. Good-bye. He goes toward the house. SONIA takes his arm and goes with him. SONIA. When are you coming to see us again? ASTROFF. I can't say. SONIA. In a month? ASTROFF and SONIA go into the house. HELENA and VOITSKI walk over to theterrace. HELENA. You have behaved shockingly again. Ivan, what sense was therein teasing your mother and talking about _perpetuum mobile?_ And atbreakfast you quarreled with Alexander again. Really, your behaviour istoo petty. VOITSKI. But if I hate him? HELENA. You hate Alexander without reason; he is like every one else, and no worse than you are. VOITSKI. If you could only see your face, your gestures! Oh, how tediousyour life must be. HELENA. It is tedious, yes, and dreary! You all abuse my husband andlook on me with compassion; you think, "Poor woman, she is married toan old man. " How well I understand your compassion! As Astroff said justnow, see how you thoughtlessly destroy the forests, so that there willsoon be none left. So you also destroy mankind, and soon fidelity andpurity and self-sacrifice will have vanished with the woods. Why cannotyou look calmly at a woman unless she is yours? Because, the doctorwas right, you are all possessed by a devil of destruction; you have nomercy on the woods or the birds or on women or on one another. VOITSKI. I don't like your philosophy. HELENA. That doctor has a sensitive, weary face--an interesting face. Sonia evidently likes him, and she is in love with him, and I canunderstand it. This is the third time he has been here since I havecome, and I have not had a real talk with him yet or made much of him. He thinks I am disagreeable. Do you know, Ivan, the reason you and I aresuch friends? I think it is because we are both lonely and unfortunate. Yes, unfortunate. Don't look at me in that way, I don't like it. VOITSKI. How can I look at you otherwise when I love you? You are myjoy, my life, and my youth. I know that my chances of being loved inreturn are infinitely small, do not exist, but I ask nothing of you. Only let me look at you, listen to your voice-- HELENA. Hush, some one will overhear you. [They go toward the house. ] VOITSKI. [Following her] Let me speak to you of my love, do not drive meaway, and this alone will be my greatest happiness! HELENA. Ah! This is agony! TELEGIN strikes the strings of his guitar and plays a polka. MME. VOITSKAYA writes something on the leaves of her pamphlet. The curtain falls. ACT II The dining-room of SEREBRAKOFF'S house. It is night. The tapping of theWATCHMAN'S rattle is heard in the garden. SEREBRAKOFF is dozing in anarm-chair by an open window and HELENA is sitting beside him, also halfasleep. SEREBRAKOFF. [Rousing himself] Who is here? Is it you, Sonia? HELENA. It is I. SEREBRAKOFF. Oh, it is you, Nelly. This pain is intolerable. HELENA. Your shawl has slipped down. [She wraps up his legs in theshawl] Let me shut the window. SEREBRAKOFF. No, leave it open; I am suffocating. I dreamt just now thatmy left leg belonged to some one else, and it hurt so that I woke. Idon't believe this is gout, it is more like rheumatism. What time is it? HELENA. Half past twelve. [A pause. ] SEREBRAKOFF. I want you to look for Batushka's works in the libraryto-morrow. I think we have him. HELENA. What is that? SEREBRAKOFF. Look for Batushka to-morrow morning; we used to have him, Iremember. Why do I find it so hard to breathe? HELENA. You are tired; this is the second night you have had no sleep. SEREBRAKOFF. They say that Turgenieff got angina of the heart from gout. I am afraid I am getting angina too. Oh, damn this horrible, accursedold age! Ever since I have been old I have been hateful to myself, and Iam sure, hateful to you all as well. HELENA. You speak as if we were to blame for your being old. SEREBRAKOFF. I am more hateful to you than to any one. HELENA gets up and walks away from him, sitting down at a distance. SEREBRAKOFF. You are quite right, of course. I am not an idiot; I canunderstand you. You are young and healthy and beautiful, and longing forlife, and I am an old dotard, almost a dead man already. Don't I knowit? Of course I see that it is foolish for me to live so long, but wait!I shall soon set you all free. My life cannot drag on much longer. HELENA. You are overtaxing my powers of endurance. Be quiet, for God'ssake! SEREBRAKOFF. It appears that, thanks to me, everybody's power ofendurance is being overtaxed; everybody is miserable, only I amblissfully triumphant. Oh, yes, of course! HELENA. Be quiet! You are torturing me. SEREBRAKOFF. I torture everybody. Of course. HELENA. [Weeping] This is unbearable! Tell me, what is it you want me todo? SEREBRAKOFF. Nothing. HELENA. Then be quiet, please. SEREBRAKOFF. It is funny that everybody listens to Ivan and his oldidiot of a mother, but the moment I open my lips you all begin to feelill-treated. You can't even stand the sound of my voice. Even if I amhateful, even if I am a selfish tyrant, haven't I the right to be oneat my age? Haven't I deserved it? Haven't I, I ask you, the right to berespected, now that I am old? HELENA. No one is disputing your rights. [The window slams in the wind]The wind is rising, I must shut the window. [She shuts it] We shall haverain in a moment. Your rights have never been questioned by anybody. The WATCHMAN in the garden sounds his rattle. SEREBRAKOFF. I have spent my life working in the interests of learning. I am used to my library and the lecture hall and to the esteem andadmiration of my colleagues. Now I suddenly find myself plunged in thiswilderness, condemned to see the same stupid people from morning tillnight and listen to their futile conversation. I want to live; I longfor success and fame and the stir of the world, and here I am in exile!Oh, it is dreadful to spend every moment grieving for the lost past, tosee the success of others and sit here with nothing to do but to feardeath. I cannot stand it! It is more than I can bear. And you will noteven forgive me for being old! HELENA. Wait, have patience; I shall be old myself in four or fiveyears. SONIA comes in. SONIA. Father, you sent for Dr. Astroff, and now when he comes yourefuse to see him. It is not nice to give a man so much trouble fornothing. SEREBRAKOFF. What do I care about your Astroff? He understands medicineabout as well as I understand astronomy. SONIA. We can't send for the whole medical faculty, can we, to treatyour gout? SEREBRAKOFF. I won't talk to that madman! SONIA. Do as you please. It's all the same to me. [She sits down. ] SEREBRAKOFF. What time is it? HELENA. One o'clock. SEREBRAKOFF. It is stifling in here. Sonia, hand me that bottle on thetable. SONIA. Here it is. [She hands him a bottle of medicine. ] SEREBRAKOFF. [Crossly] No, not that one! Can't you understand me? Can'tI ask you to do a thing? SONIA. Please don't be captious with me. Some people may like it, butyou must spare me, if you please, because I don't. Besides, I haven'tthe time; we are cutting the hay to-morrow and I must get up early. VOITSKI comes in dressed in a long gown and carrying a candle. VOITSKI. A thunderstorm is coming up. [The lightning flashes] There itis! Go to bed, Helena and Sonia. I have come to take your place. SEREBRAKOFF. [Frightened] No, n-o, no! Don't leave me alone with him!Oh, don't. He will begin to lecture me. VOITSKI. But you must give them a little rest. They have not slept fortwo nights. SEREBRAKOFF. Then let them go to bed, but you go away too! Thank you. Iimplore you to go. For the sake of our former friendship do not protestagainst going. We will talk some other time---- VOITSKI. Our former friendship! Our former---- SONIA. Hush, Uncle Vanya! SEREBRAKOFF. [To his wife] My darling, don't leave me alone with him. Hewill begin to lecture me. VOITSKI. This is ridiculous. MARINA comes in carrying a candle. SONIA. You must go to bed, nurse, it is late. MARINA. I haven't cleared away the tea things. Can't go to bed yet. SEREBRAKOFF. No one can go to bed. They are all worn out, only I enjoyperfect happiness. MARINA. [Goes up to SEREBRAKOFF and speaks tenderly] What's thematter, master? Does it hurt? My own legs are aching too, oh, so badly. [Arranges his shawl about his legs] You have had this illness such along time. Sonia's dead mother used to stay awake with you too, and wearherself out for you. She loved you dearly. [A pause] Old people want tobe pitied as much as young ones, but nobody cares about them somehow. [She kisses SEREBRAKOFF'S shoulder] Come, master, let me give you somelinden-tea and warm your poor feet for you. I shall pray to God for you. SEREBRAKOFF. [Touched] Let us go, Marina. MARINA. My own feet are aching so badly, oh, so badly! [She and SONIAlead SEREBRAKOFF out] Sonia's mother used to wear herself out withsorrow and weeping. You were still little and foolish then, Sonia. Come, come, master. SEREBRAKOFF, SONIA and MARINA go out. HELENA. I am absolutely exhausted by him, and can hardly stand. VOITSKI. You are exhausted by him, and I am exhausted by my own self. Ihave not slept for three nights. HELENA. Something is wrong in this house. Your mother hates everythingbut her pamphlets and the professor; the professor is vexed, he won'ttrust me, and fears you; Sonia is angry with her father, and with me, and hasn't spoken to me for two weeks; I am at the end of my strength, and have come near bursting into tears at least twenty times to-day. Something is wrong in this house. VOITSKI. Leave speculating alone. HELENA. You are cultured and intelligent, Ivan, and you surelyunderstand that the world is not destroyed by villains andconflagrations, but by hate and malice and all this spiteful tattling. It is your duty to make peace, and not to growl at everything. VOITSKI. Help me first to make peace with myself. My darling! [Seizesher hand. ] HELENA. Let go! [She drags her hand away] Go away! VOITSKI. Soon the rain will be over, and all nature will sigh and awakerefreshed. Only I am not refreshed by the storm. Day and night thethought haunts me like a fiend, that my life is lost for ever. My pastdoes not count, because I frittered it away on trifles, and the presenthas so terribly miscarried! What shall I do with my life and my love?What is to become of them? This wonderful feeling of mine will be wastedand lost as a ray of sunlight is lost that falls into a dark chasm, andmy life will go with it. HELENA. I am as it were benumbed when you speak to me of your love, andI don't know how to answer you. Forgive me, I have nothing to say toyou. [She tries to go out] Good-night! VOITSKI. [Barring the way] If you only knew how I am tortured by thethought that beside me in this house is another life that is being lostforever--it is yours! What are you waiting for? What accursed philosophystands in your way? Oh, understand, understand---- HELENA. [Looking at him intently] Ivan, you are drunk! VOITSKI. Perhaps. Perhaps. HELENA. Where is the doctor? VOITSKI. In there, spending the night with me. Perhaps I am drunk, perhaps I am; nothing is impossible. HELENA. Have you just been drinking together? Why do you do that? VOITSKI. Because in that way I get a taste of life. Let me do it, Helena! HELENA. You never used to drink, and you never used to talk so much. Goto bed, I am tired of you. VOITSKI. [Falling on his knees before her] My sweetheart, my beautifulone---- HELENA. [Angrily] Leave me alone! Really, this has become toodisagreeable. HELENA goes out. A pause. VOITSKI [Alone] She is gone! I met her first ten years ago, at hersister's house, when she was seventeen and I was thirty-seven. Why did Inot fall in love with her then and propose to her? It would have been soeasy! And now she would have been my wife. Yes, we would both have beenwaked to-night by the thunderstorm, and she would have been frightened, but I would have held her in my arms and whispered: "Don't be afraid!I am here. " Oh, enchanting dream, so sweet that I laugh to think of it. [He laughs] But my God! My head reels! Why am I so old? Why won'tshe understand me? I hate all that rhetoric of hers, that morality ofindolence, that absurd talk about the destruction of the world----[Apause] Oh, how I have been deceived! For years I have worshipped thatmiserable gout-ridden professor. Sonia and I have squeezed this estatedry for his sake. We have bartered our butter and curds and peas likemisers, and have never kept a morsel for ourselves, so that we couldscrape enough pennies together to send to him. I was proud of him andof his learning; I received all his words and writings as inspired, andnow? Now he has retired, and what is the total of his life? A blank! Heis absolutely unknown, and his fame has burst like a soap-bubble. I havebeen deceived; I see that now, basely deceived. ASTROFF comes in. He has his coat on, but is without his waistcoat orcollar, and is slightly drunk. TELEGIN follows him, carrying a guitar. ASTROFF. Play! TELEGIN. But every one is asleep. ASTROFF. Play! TELEGIN begins to play softly. ASTROFF. Are you alone here? No women about? [Sings with his armsakimbo. ] "The hut is cold, the fire is dead; Where shall the master lay his head?" The thunderstorm woke me. It was a heavy shower. What time is it? VOITSKI. The devil only knows. ASTROFF. I thought I heard Helena's voice. VOITSKI. She was here a moment ago. ASTROFF. What a beautiful woman! [Looking at the medicine bottles onthe table] Medicine, is it? What a variety we have; prescriptions fromMoscow, from Kharkoff, from Tula! Why, he has been pestering all thetowns of Russia with his gout! Is he ill, or simply shamming? VOITSKI. He is really ill. ASTROFF. What is the matter with you to-night? You seem sad. Is itbecause you are sorry for the professor? VOITSKI. Leave me alone. ASTROFF. Or in love with the professor's wife? VOITSKI. She is my friend. ASTROFF. Already? VOITSKI. What do you mean by "already"? ASTROFF. A woman can only become a man's friend after having first beenhis acquaintance and then his beloved--then she becomes his friend. VOITSKI. What vulgar philosophy! ASTROFF. What do you mean? Yes, I must confess I am getting vulgar, butthen, you see, I am drunk. I usually only drink like this once a month. At such times my audacity and temerity know no bounds. I feel capableof anything. I attempt the most difficult operations and do themmagnificently. The most brilliant plans for the future take shape inmy head. I am no longer a poor fool of a doctor, but mankind's greatestbenefactor. I evolve my own system of philosophy and all of you seem tocrawl at my feet like so many insects or microbes. [To TELEGIN] Play, Waffles! TELEGIN. My dear boy, I would with all my heart, but do listen toreason; everybody in the house is asleep. ASTROFF. Play! TELEGIN plays softly. ASTROFF. I want a drink. Come, we still have some brandy left. And then, as soon as it is day, you will come home with me. [He sees SONIA, whocomes in at that moment. ] ASTROFF. I beg your pardon, I have no collar on. [He goes out quickly, followed by TELEGIN. ] SONIA. Uncle Vanya, you and the doctor have been drinking! The goodfellows have been getting together! It is all very well for him, he hasalways done it, but why do you follow his example? It looks dreadfullyat your age. VOITSKI. Age has nothing to do with it. When real life is wanting onemust create an illusion. It is better than nothing. SONIA. Our hay is all cut and rotting in these daily rains, and here youare busy creating illusions! You have given up the farm altogether. I have done all the work alone until I am at the end of mystrength--[Frightened] Uncle! Your eyes are full of tears! VOITSKI. Tears? Nonsense, there are no tears in my eyes. You looked atme then just as your dead mother used to, my darling--[He eagerly kissesher face and hands] My sister, my dearest sister, where are you now? Ah, if you only knew, if you only knew! SONIA. If she only knew what, Uncle? VOITSKI. My heart is bursting. It is awful. No matter, though. I mustgo. [He goes out. ] SONIA. [Knocks at the door] Dr. Astroff! Are you awake? Please come herefor a minute. ASTROFF. [Behind the door] In a moment. He appears in a few seconds. He has put on his collar and waistcoat. ASTROFF. What do you want? SONIA. Drink as much as you please yourself if you don't find itrevolting, but I implore you not to let my uncle do it. It is bad forhim. ASTROFF. Very well; we won't drink any more. I am going home at once. That is settled. It will be dawn by the time the horses are harnessed. SONIA. It is still raining; wait till morning. ASTROFF. The storm is blowing over. This is only the edge of it. I mustgo. And please don't ask me to come and see your father any more. I tellhim he has gout, and he says it is rheumatism. I tell him to lie down, and he sits up. To-day he refused to see me at all. SONIA. He has been spoilt. [She looks in the sideboard] Won't you have abite to eat? ASTROFF. Yes, please. I believe I will. SONIA. I love to eat at night. I am sure we shall find something inhere. They say that he has made a great many conquests in his life, andthat the women have spoiled him. Here is some cheese for you. [They stand eating by the sideboard. ] ASTROFF. I haven't eaten anything to-day. Your father has a verydifficult nature. [He takes a bottle out of the sideboard] May I? [Hepours himself a glass of vodka] We are alone here, and I can speakfrankly. Do you know, I could not stand living in this house for even amonth? This atmosphere would stifle me. There is your father, entirelyabsorbed in his books, and his gout; there is your Uncle Vanya with hishypochondria, your grandmother, and finally, your step-mother-- SONIA. What about her? ASTROFF. A human being should be entirely beautiful: the face, theclothes, the mind, the thoughts. Your step-mother is, of course, beautiful to look at, but don't you see? She does nothing but sleepand eat and walk and bewitch us, and that is all. She has noresponsibilities, everything is done for her--am I not right? And anidle life can never be a pure one. [A pause] However, I may be judgingher too severely. Like your Uncle Vanya, I am discontented, and so weare both grumblers. SONIA. Aren't you satisfied with life? ASTROFF. I like life as life, but I hate and despise it in a littleRussian country village, and as far as my own personal life goes, byheaven! there is absolutely no redeeming feature about it. Haven't younoticed if you are riding through a dark wood at night and see a littlelight shining ahead, how you forget your fatigue and the darkness andthe sharp twigs that whip your face? I work, that you know--as no oneelse in the country works. Fate beats me on without rest; at times Isuffer unendurably and I see no light ahead. I have no hope; I do notlike people. It is long since I have loved any one. SONIA. You love no one? ASTROFF. Not a soul. I only feel a sort of tenderness for your old nursefor old-times' sake. The peasants are all alike; they are stupid andlive in dirt, and the educated people are hard to get along with. Onegets tired of them. All our good friends are petty and shallow and seeno farther than their own noses; in one word, they are dull. Those thathave brains are hysterical, devoured with a mania for self-analysis. They whine, they hate, they pick faults everywhere with unhealthysharpness. They sneak up to me sideways, look at me out of a corner ofthe eye, and say: "That man is a lunatic, " "That man is a wind-bag. " Or, if they don't know what else to label me with, they say I am strange. Ilike the woods; that is strange. I don't eat meat; that is strange, too. Simple, natural relations between man and man or man and nature do notexist. [He tries to go out; SONIA prevents him. ] SONIA. I beg you, I implore you, not to drink any more! ASTROFF. Why not? SONIA. It is so unworthy of you. You are well-bred, your voice is sweet, you are even--more than any one I know--handsome. Why do you want toresemble the common people that drink and play cards? Oh, don't, I begyou! You always say that people do not create anything, but only destroywhat heaven has given them. Why, oh, why, do you destroy yourself? Oh, don't, I implore you not to! I entreat you! ASTROFF. [Gives her his hand] I won't drink any more. SONIA. Promise me. ASTROFF. I give you my word of honour. SONIA. [Squeezing his hand] Thank you. ASTROFF. I have done with it. You see, I am perfectly sober again, andso I shall stay till the end of my life. [He looks his watch] But, asI was saying, life holds nothing for me; my race is run. I am old, Iam tired, I am trivial; my sensibilities are dead. I could never attachmyself to any one again. I love no one, and never shall! Beauty alonehas the power to touch me still. I am deeply moved by it. Helena couldturn my head in a day if she wanted to, but that is not love, that isnot affection-- [He shudders and covers his face with his hands. ] SONIA. What is it? ASTROFF. Nothing. During Lent one of my patients died under chloroform. SONIA. It is time to forget that. [A pause] Tell me, doctor, if I had afriend or a younger sister, and if you knew that she, well--loved you, what would you do? ASTROFF. [Shrugging his shoulders] I don't know. I don't think I shoulddo anything. I should make her understand that I could not return herlove--however, my mind is not bothered about those things now. I muststart at once if I am ever to get off. Good-bye, my dear girl. At thisrate we shall stand here talking till morning. [He shakes hands withher] I shall go out through the sitting-room, because I am afraid youruncle might detain me. [He goes out. ] SONIA. [Alone] Not a word! His heart and soul are still locked from me, and yet for some reason I am strangely happy. I wonder why? [She laughswith pleasure] I told him that he was well-bred and handsome and thathis voice was sweet. Was that a mistake? I can still feel his voicevibrating in the air; it caresses me. [Wringing her hands] Oh! howterrible it is to be plain! I am plain, I know it. As I came out ofchurch last Sunday I overheard a woman say, "She is a dear, noble girl, but what a pity she is so ugly!" So ugly! HELENA comes in and throws open the window. HELENA. The storm is over. What delicious air! [A pause] Where is thedoctor? SONIA. He has gone. [A pause. ] HELENA. Sonia! SONIA. Yes? HELENA. How much longer are you going to sulk at me? We have not hurteach other. Why not be friends? We have had enough of this. SONIA. I myself--[She embraces HELENA] Let us make peace. HELENA. With all my heart. [They are both moved. ] SONIA. Has papa gone to bed? HELENA. No, he is sitting up in the drawing-room. Heaven knows whatreason you and I had for not speaking to each other for weeks. [Sees theopen sideboard] Who left the sideboard open? SONIA. Dr. Astroff has just had supper. HELENA. There is some wine. Let us seal our friendship. SONIA. Yes, let us. HELENA. Out of one glass. [She fills a wine-glass] So, we are friends, are we? SONIA. Yes. [They drink and kiss each other] I have long wanted to makefriends, but somehow, I was ashamed to. [She weeps. ] HELENA. Why are you crying? SONIA. I don't know. It is nothing. HELENA. There, there, don't cry. [She weeps] Silly! Now I am cryingtoo. [A pause] You are angry with me because I seem to have married yourfather for his money, but don't believe the gossip you hear. I swear toyou I married him for love. I was fascinated by his fame and learning. Iknow now that it was not real love, but it seemed real at the time. Iam innocent, and yet your clever, suspicious eyes have been punishing mefor an imaginary crime ever since my marriage. SONIA. Peace, peace! Let us forget the past. HELENA. You must not look so at people. It is not becoming to you. Youmust trust people, or life becomes impossible. SONIA. Tell me truly, as a friend, are you happy? HELENA. Truly, no. SONIA. I knew it. One more question: do you wish your husband wereyoung? HELENA. What a child you are! Of course I do. Go on, ask something else. SONIA. Do you like the doctor? HELENA. Yes, very much indeed. SONIA. [Laughing] I have a stupid face, haven't I? He has just gone out, and his voice is still in my ears; I hear his step; I see his face inthe dark window. Let me say all I have in my heart! But no, I cannotspeak of it so loudly. I am ashamed. Come to my room and let me tell youthere. I seem foolish to you, don't I? Talk to me of him. HELENA. What can I say? SONIA. He is clever. He can do everything. He can cure the sick, andplant woods. HELENA. It is not a question of medicine and woods, my dear, he is a manof genius. Do you know what that means? It means he is brave, profound, and of clear insight. He plants a tree and his mind travels a thousandyears into the future, and he sees visions of the happiness of the humanrace. People like him are rare and should be loved. What if he doesdrink and act roughly at times? A man of genius cannot be a saint inRussia. There he lives, cut off from the world by cold and storm andendless roads of bottomless mud, surrounded by a rough people who arecrushed by poverty and disease, his life one continuous struggle, withnever a day's respite; how can a man live like that for forty years andkeep himself sober and unspotted? [Kissing SONIA] I wish you happinesswith all my heart; you deserve it. [She gets up] As for me, I am aworthless, futile woman. I have always been futile; in music, in love, in my husband's house--in a word, in everything. When you come to thinkof it, Sonia, I am really very, very unhappy. [Walks excitedly up anddown] Happiness can never exist for me in this world. Never. Why do youlaugh? SONIA. [Laughing and covering her face with her hands] I am so happy, sohappy! HELENA. I want to hear music. I might play a little. SONIA. Oh, do, do! [She embraces her] I could not possibly go to sleepnow. Do play! HELENA. Yes, I will. Your father is still awake. Music irritates himwhen he is ill, but if he says I may, then I shall play a little. Go, Sonia, and ask him. SONIA. Very well. [She goes out. The WATCHMAN'S rattle is heard in the garden. ] HELENA. It is long since I have heard music. And now, I shall sit andplay, and weep like a fool. [Speaking out of the window] Is that yourattling out there, Ephim? VOICE OF THE WATCHMAN. It is I. HELENA. Don't make such a noise. Your master is ill. VOICE OF THE WATCHMAN. I am going away this minute. [Whistles a tune. ] SONIA. [Comes back] He says, no. The curtain falls. ACT III The drawing-room of SEREBRAKOFF'S house. There are three doors: one tothe right, one to the left, and one in the centre of the room. VOITSKIand SONIA are sitting down. HELENA is walking up and down, absorbed inthought. VOITSKI. We were asked by the professor to be here at one o'clock. [Looks at his watch] It is now a quarter to one. It seems he has somecommunication to make to the world. HELENA. Probably a matter of business. VOITSKI. He never had any business. He writes twaddle, grumbles, andeats his heart out with jealousy; that's all he does. SONIA. [Reproachfully] Uncle! VOITSKI. All right. I beg your pardon. [He points to HELENA] Look ather. Wandering up and down from sheer idleness. A sweet picture, really. HELENA. I wonder you are not bored, droning on in the same key frommorning till night. [Despairingly] I am dying of this tedium. What shallI do? SONIA. [Shrugging her shoulders] There is plenty to do if you would. HELENA. For instance? SONIA. You could help run this place, teach the children, care for thesick--isn't that enough? Before you and papa came, Uncle Vanya and Iused to go to market ourselves to deal in flour. HELENA. I don't know anything about such things, and besides, they don'tinterest me. It is only in novels that women go out and teach and healthe peasants; how can I suddenly begin to do it? SONIA. How can you live here and not do it? Wait awhile, you will getused to it all. [Embraces her] Don't be sad, dearest. [Laughing] Youfeel miserable and restless, and can't seem to fit into this life, andyour restlessness is catching. Look at Uncle Vanya, he does nothing nowbut haunt you like a shadow, and I have left my work to-day to come hereand talk with you. I am getting lazy, and don't want to go on with it. Dr. Astroff hardly ever used to come here; it was all we could do topersuade him to visit us once a month, and now he has abandoned hisforestry and his practice, and comes every day. You must be a witch. VOITSKI. Why should you languish here? Come, my dearest, my beauty, besensible! The blood of a Nixey runs in your veins. Oh, won't you letyourself be one? Give your nature the reins for once in your life; fallhead over ears in love with some other water sprite and plunge down headfirst into a deep pool, so that the Herr Professor and all of us mayhave our hands free again. HELENA. [Angrily] Leave me alone! How cruel you are! [She tries to goout. ] VOITSKI. [Preventing her] There, there, my beauty, I apologise. [Hekisses her hand] Forgive me. HELENA. Confess that you would try the patience of an angel. VOITSKI. As a peace offering I am going to fetch some flowers which Ipicked for you this morning: some autumn roses, beautiful, sorrowfulroses. [He goes out. ] SONIA. Autumn roses, beautiful, sorrowful roses! [She and HELENA stand looking out of the window. ] HELENA. September already! How shall we live through the long winterhere? [A pause] Where is the doctor? SONIA. He is writing in Uncle Vanya's room. I am glad Uncle Vanya hasgone out, I want to talk to you about something. HELENA. About what? SONIA. About what? [She lays her head on HELENA'S breast. ] HELENA. [Stroking her hair] There, there, that will do. Don't, Sonia. SONIA. I am ugly! HELENA. You have lovely hair. SONIA. Don't say that! [She turns to look at herself in the glass] No, when a woman is ugly they always say she has beautiful hair or eyes. Ihave loved him now for six years, I have loved him more than one lovesone's mother. I seem to hear him beside me every moment of the day. Ifeel the pressure of his hand on mine. If I look up, I seem to see himcoming, and as you see, I run to you to talk of him. He is here everyday now, but he never looks at me, he does not notice my presence. Itis agony. I have absolutely no hope, no, no hope. Oh, my God! Give mestrength to endure. I prayed all last night. I often go up to him andspeak to him and look into his eyes. My pride is gone. I am not mistressof myself. Yesterday I told Uncle Vanya I couldn't control myself, andall the servants know it. Every one knows that I love him. HELENA. Does he? SONIA. No, he never notices me. HELENA. [Thoughtfully] He is a strange man. Listen, Sonia, will youallow me to speak to him? I shall be careful, only hint. [A pause]Really, to be in uncertainty all these years! Let me do it! SONIA nods an affirmative. HELENA. Splendid! It will be easy to find out whether he loves you ornot. Don't be ashamed, sweetheart, don't worry. I shall be careful; hewill not notice a thing. We only want to find out whether it is yes orno, don't we? [A pause] And if it is no, then he must keep away fromhere, is that so? SONIA nods. HELENA. It will be easier not to see him any more. We won't put off theexamination an instant. He said he had a sketch to show me. Go and tellhim at once that I want to see him. SONIA. [In great excitement] Will you tell me the whole truth? HELENA. Of course I will. I am sure that no matter what it is, it willbe easier for you to bear than this uncertainty. Trust to me, dearest. SONIA. Yes, yes. I shall say that you want to see his sketch. [Shestarts out, but stops near the door and looks back] No, it is better notto know--and yet--there may be hope. HELENA. What do you say? SONIA. Nothing. [She goes out. ] HELENA. [Alone] There is no greater sorrow than to know another's secretwhen you cannot help them. [In deep thought] He is obviously not in lovewith her, but why shouldn't he marry her? She is not pretty, but sheis so clever and pure and good, she would make a splendid wife for acountry doctor of his years. [A pause] I can understand how the poorchild feels. She lives here in this desperate loneliness with no onearound her except these colourless shadows that go mooning about talkingnonsense and knowing nothing except that they eat, drink, and sleep. Among them appears from time to time this Dr. Astroff, so different, sohandsome, so interesting, so charming. It is like seeing the moonrise on a dark night. Oh, to surrender oneself to his embrace! To loseoneself in his arms! I am a little in love with him myself! Yes, I amlonely without him, and when I think of him I smile. That Uncle Vanyasays I have the blood of a Nixey in my veins: "Give rein to your naturefor once in your life!" Perhaps it is right that I should. Oh, to befree as a bird, to fly away from all your sleepy faces and your talk andforget that you have existed at all! But I am a coward, I am afraid; myconscience torments me. He comes here every day now. I can guess why, and feel guilty already; I should like to fall on my knees at Sonia'sfeet and beg her forgiveness, and weep. ASTROFF comes in carrying a portfolio. ASTROFF. How do you do? [Shakes hands with her] Do you want to see mysketch? HELENA. Yes, you promised to show me what you had been doing. Have youtime now? ASTROFF. Of course I have! He lays the portfolio on the table, takes out the sketch and fastens itto the table with thumb-tacks. ASTROFF. Where were you born? HELENA. [Helping him] In St. Petersburg. ASTROFF. And educated? HELENA. At the Conservatory there. ASTROFF. You don't find this life very interesting, I dare say? HELENA. Oh, why not? It is true I don't know the country very well, butI have read a great deal about it. ASTROFF. I have my own desk there in Ivan's room. When I am absolutelytoo exhausted to go on I drop everything and rush over here to forgetmyself in this work for an hour or two. Ivan and Miss Sonia sit rattlingat their counting-boards, the cricket chirps, and I sit beside them andpaint, feeling warm and peaceful. But I don't permit myself this luxuryvery often, only once a month. [Pointing to the picture] Look there!That is a map of our country as it was fifty years ago. The green tints, both dark and light, represent forests. Half the map, as you see, iscovered with it. Where the green is striped with red the forests wereinhabited by elk and wild goats. Here on this lake, lived great flocksof swans and geese and ducks; as the old men say, there was a power ofbirds of every kind. Now they have vanished like a cloud. Beside thehamlets and villages, you see, I have dotted down here and there thevarious settlements, farms, hermit's caves, and water-mills. Thiscountry carried a great many cattle and horses, as you can see by thequantity of blue paint. For instance, see how thickly it lies in thispart; there were great herds of them here, an average of three horses toevery house. [A pause] Now, look lower down. This is the country as itwas twenty-five years ago. Only a third of the map is green now withforests. There are no goats left and no elk. The blue paint is lighter, and so on, and so on. Now we come to the third part; our country as itappears to-day. We still see spots of green, but not much. The elk, theswans, the black-cock have disappeared. It is, on the whole, the pictureof a regular and slow decline which it will evidently only take aboutten or fifteen more years to complete. You may perhaps object that itis the march of progress, that the old order must give place to the new, and you might be right if roads had been run through these ruined woods, or if factories and schools had taken their place. The people then wouldhave become better educated and healthier and richer, but as it is, wehave nothing of the sort. We have the same swamps and mosquitoes;the same disease and want; the typhoid, the diphtheria, the burningvillages. We are confronted by the degradation of our country, broughton by the fierce struggle for existence of the human race. It is theconsequence of the ignorance and unconsciousness of starving, shivering, sick humanity that, to save its children, instinctively snatchesat everything that can warm it and still its hunger. So it destroyseverything it can lay its hands on, without a thought for the morrow. And almost everything has gone, and nothing has been created to take itsplace. [Coldly] But I see by your face that I am not interesting you. HELENA. I know so little about such things! ASTROFF. There is nothing to know. It simply isn't interesting, that'sall. HELENA. Frankly, my thoughts were elsewhere. Forgive me! I want tosubmit you to a little examination, but I am embarrassed and don't knowhow to begin. ASTROFF. An examination? HELENA. Yes, but quite an innocent one. Sit down. [They sit down] It isabout a certain young girl I know. Let us discuss it like honest people, like friends, and then forget what has passed between us, shall we? ASTROFF. Very well. HELENA. It is about my step-daughter, Sonia. Do you like her? ASTROFF. Yes, I respect her. HELENA. Do you like her--as a woman? ASTROFF. [Slowly] No. HELENA. One more word, and that will be the last. You have not noticedanything? ASTROFF. No, nothing. HELENA. [Taking his hand] You do not love her. I see that in your eyes. She is suffering. You must realise that, and not come here any more. ASTROFF. My sun has set, yes, and then I haven't the time. [Shrugginghis shoulders] Where shall I find time for such things? [He isembarrassed. ] HELENA. Bah! What an unpleasant conversation! I am as out of breath asif I had been running three miles uphill. Thank heaven, that is over!Now let us forget everything as if nothing had been said. You aresensible. You understand. [A pause] I am actually blushing. ASTROFF. If you had spoken a month ago I might perhaps haveconsidered it, but now--[He shrugs his shoulders] Of course, if she issuffering--but I cannot understand why you had to put me through thisexamination. [He searches her face with his eyes, and shakes his fingerat her] Oho, you are wily! HELENA. What does this mean? ASTROFF. [Laughing] You are a wily one! I admit that Sonia is suffering, but what does this examination of yours mean? [He prevents her fromretorting, and goes on quickly] Please don't put on such a look ofsurprise; you know perfectly well why I come here every day. Yes, youknow perfectly why and for whose sake I come! Oh, my sweet tigress!don't look at me in that way; I am an old bird! HELENA. [Perplexed] A tigress? I don't understand you. ASTROFF. Beautiful, sleek tigress, you must have your victims! For awhole month I have done nothing but seek you eagerly. I have thrown overeverything for you, and you love to see it. Now then, I am sure you knewall this without putting me through your examination. [Crossing his armsand bowing his head] I surrender. Here you have me--now, eat me. HELENA. You have gone mad! ASTROFF. You are afraid! HELENA. I am a better and stronger woman than you think me. Good-bye. [She tries to leave the room. ] ASTROFF. Why good-bye? Don't say good-bye, don't waste words. Oh, howlovely you are--what hands! [He kisses her hands. ] HELENA. Enough of this! [She frees her hands] Leave the room! You haveforgotten yourself. ASTROFF. Tell me, tell me, where can we meet to-morrow? [He puts his armaround her] Don't you see that we must meet, that it is inevitable? He kisses her. VOITSKI comes in carrying a bunch of roses, and stops inthe doorway. HELENA. [Without seeing VOITSKI] Have pity! Leave me, [lays her head onASTROFF'S shoulder] Don't! [She tries to break away from him. ] ASTROFF. [Holding her by the waist] Be in the forest tomorrow at twoo'clock. Will you? Will you? HELENA. [Sees VOITSKI] Let me go! [Goes to the window deeplyembarrassed] This is appalling! VOITSKI. [Throws the flowers on a chair, and speaks in great excitement, wiping his face with his handkerchief] Nothing--yes, yes, nothing. ASTROFF. The weather is fine to-day, my dear Ivan; the morning wasovercast and looked like rain, but now the sun is shining again. Honestly, we have had a very fine autumn, and the wheat is lookingfairly well. [Puts his map back into the portfolio] But the days aregrowing short. HELENA. [Goes quickly up to VOITSKI] You must do your best; you must useall your power to get my husband and myself away from here to-day! Doyou hear? I say, this very day! VOITSKI. [Wiping his face] Oh! Ah! Oh! All right! I--Helena, I saweverything! HELENA. [In great agitation] Do you hear me? I must leave here this veryday! SEREBRAKOFF, SONIA, MARINA, and TELEGIN come in. TELEGIN. I am not very well myself, your Excellency. I have been limpingfor two days, and my head-- SEREBRAKOFF. Where are the others? I hate this house. It is a regularlabyrinth. Every one is always scattered through the twenty-six enormousrooms; one never can find a soul. [Rings] Ask my wife and MadameVoitskaya to come here! HELENA. I am here already. SEREBRAKOFF. Please, all of you, sit down. SONIA. [Goes up to HELENA and asks anxiously] What did he say? HELENA. I'll tell you later. SONIA. You are moved. [looking quickly and inquiringly into her face] Iunderstand; he said he would not come here any more. [A pause] Tell me, did he? HELENA nods. SEREBRAKOFF. [To TELEGIN] One can, after all, become reconciled to beingan invalid, but not to this country life. The ways of it stick in mythroat and I feel exactly as if I had been whirled off the earth andlanded on a strange planet. Please be seated, ladies and gentlemen. Sonia! [SONIA does not hear. She is standing with her head bowed sadlyforward on her breast] Sonia! [A pause] She does not hear me. [ToMARINA] Sit down too, nurse. [MARINA sits down and begins to knit herstocking] I crave your indulgence, ladies and gentlemen; hang your ears, if I may say so, on the peg of attention. [He laughs. ] VOITSKI. [Agitated] Perhaps you do not need me--may I be excused? SEREBRAKOFF. No, you are needed now more than any one. VOITSKI. What is it you want of me? SEREBRAKOFF. You--but what are you angry about? If it is anything I havedone, I ask you to forgive me. VOITSKI. Oh, drop that and come to business; what do you want? MME. VOITSKAYA comes in. SEREBRAKOFF. Here is mother. Ladies and gentlemen, I shall begin. Ihave asked you to assemble here, my friends, in order to discuss a veryimportant matter. I want to ask you for your assistance and advice, andknowing your unfailing amiability I think I can count on both. I am abook-worm and a scholar, and am unfamiliar with practical affairs. Icannot, I find, dispense with the help of well-informed people such asyou, Ivan, and you, Telegin, and you, mother. The truth is, _manet omnesuna nox, _ that is to say, our lives are in the hands of God, and as Iam old and ill, I realise that the time has come for me to dispose ofmy property in regard to the interests of my family. My life is nearlyover, and I am not thinking of myself, but I have a young wife anddaughter. [A pause] I cannot continue to live in the country; we werenot made for country life, and yet we cannot afford to live in town onthe income derived from this estate. We might sell the woods, but thatwould be an expedient we could not resort to every year. We must findsome means of guaranteeing to ourselves a certain more or less fixedyearly income. With this object in view, a plan has occurred to me whichI now have the honour of presenting to you for your consideration. Ishall only give you a rough outline, avoiding all details. Our estatedoes not pay on an average more than two per cent on the money investedin it. I propose to sell it. If we then invest our capital in bonds, it will earn us four to five per cent, and we should probably have asurplus over of several thousand roubles, with which we could buy asummer cottage in Finland-- VOITSKI. Hold on! Repeat what you just said; I don't think I heard youquite right. SEREBRAKOFF. I said we would invest the money in bonds and buy a cottagein Finland with the surplus. VOITSKI. No, not Finland--you said something else. SEREBRAKOFF. I propose to sell this place. VOITSKI. Aha! That was it! So you are going to sell the place? Splendid. The idea is a rich one. And what do you propose to do with my old motherand me and with Sonia here? SEREBRAKOFF. That will be decided in due time. We can't do everything atonce. VOITSKI. Wait! It is clear that until this moment I have never had agrain of sense in my head. I have always been stupid enough to thinkthat the estate belonged to Sonia. My father bought it as a weddingpresent for my sister, and I foolishly imagined that as our laws weremade for Russians and not Turks, my sister's estate would come down toher child. SEREBRAKOFF. Of course it is Sonia's. Has any one denied it? I don'twant to sell it without Sonia's consent; on the contrary, what I amdoing is for Sonia's good. VOITSKI. This is absolutely incomprehensible. Either I have gone mador--or-- MME. VOITSKAYA. Jean, don't contradict Alexander. Trust to him; he knowsbetter than we do what is right and what is wrong. VOITSKI. I shan't. Give me some water. [He drinks] Go ahead! Sayanything you please--anything! SEREBRAKOFF. I can't imagine why you are so upset. I don't pretendthat my scheme is an ideal one, and if you all object to it I shall notinsist. [A pause. ] TELEGIN. [With embarrassment] I not only nourish feelings of respecttoward learning, your Excellency, but I am also drawn to it by familyties. My brother Gregory's wife's brother, whom you may know; his nameis Constantine Lakedemonoff, and he used to be a magistrate-- VOITSKI. Stop, Waffles. This is business; wait a bit, we will talk ofthat later. [To SEREBRAKOFF] There now, ask him what he thinks; thisestate was bought from his uncle. SEREBRAKOFF. Ah! Why should I ask questions? What good would it do? VOITSKI. The price was ninety-five thousand roubles. My father paidseventy and left a debt of twenty-five. Now listen! This place couldnever have been bought had I not renounced my inheritance in favour ofmy sister, whom I deeply loved--and what is more, I worked for ten yearslike an ox, and paid off the debt. SEREBRAKOFF. I regret ever having started this conversation. VOITSKI. Thanks entirely to my own personal efforts, the place isentirely clear of debts, and now, when I have grown old, you want tothrow me out, neck and crop! SEREBRAKOFF. I can't imagine what you are driving at. VOITSKI. For twenty-five years I have managed this place, and have sentyou the returns from it like the most honest of servants, and you havenever given me one single word of thanks for my work, not one--neitherin my youth nor now. You allowed me a meagre salary of five hundredroubles a year, a beggar's pittance, and have never even thought ofadding a rouble to it. SEREBRAKOFF. What did I know about such things, Ivan? I am not apractical man and don't understand them. You might have helped yourselfto all you wanted. VOITSKI. Yes, why did I not steal? Don't you all despise me for notstealing, when it would have been only justice? And I should not nowhave been a beggar! MME. VOITSKAYA. [Sternly] Jean! TELEGIN. [Agitated] Vanya, old man, don't talk in that way. Why spoilsuch pleasant relations? [He embraces him] Do stop! VOITSKI. For twenty-five years I have been sitting here with my motherlike a mole in a burrow. Our every thought and hope was yours and yoursonly. By day we talked with pride of you and your work, and spoke yourname with veneration; our nights we wasted reading the books and paperswhich my soul now loathes. TELEGIN. Don't, Vanya, don't. I can't stand it. SEREBRAKOFF. [Wrathfully] What under heaven do you want, anyway? VOITSKI. We used to think of you as almost superhuman, but now thescales have fallen from my eyes and I see you as you are! You write onart without knowing anything about it. Those books of yours which I usedto admire are not worth one copper kopeck. You are a hoax! SEREBRAKOFF. Can't any one make him stop? I am going! HELENA. Ivan, I command you to stop this instant! Do you hear me? VOITSKI. I refuse! [SEREBRAKOFF tries to get out of the room, butVOITSKI bars the door] Wait! I have not done yet! You have wrecked mylife. I have never lived. My best years have gone for nothing, have beenruined, thanks to you. You are my most bitter enemy! TELEGIN. I can't stand it; I can't stand it. I am going. [He goes out ingreat excitement. ] SEREBRAKOFF. But what do you want? What earthly right have you to usesuch language to me? Ruination! If this estate is yours, then take it, and let me be ruined! HELENA. I am going away out of this hell this minute. [Shrieks] This istoo much! VOITSKI. My life has been a failure. I am clever and brave and strong. If I had lived a normal life I might have become another Schopenhaueror Dostoieffski. I am losing my head! I am going crazy! Mother, I am indespair! Oh, mother! MME. VOITSKAYA. [Sternly] Listen, Alexander! SONIA falls on her knees beside the nurse and nestles against her. SONIA. Oh, nurse, nurse! VOITSKI. Mother! What shall I do? But no, don't speak! I know what todo. [To SEREBRAKOFF] And you will understand me! He goes out through the door in the centre of the room and MME. VOITSKAYA follows him. SEREBRAKOFF. Tell me, what on earth is the matter? Take this lunatic outof my sight! I cannot possibly live under the same roof with him. Hisroom [He points to the centre door] is almost next door to mine. Let himtake himself off into the village or into the wing of the house, or Ishall leave here at once. I cannot stay in the same house with him. HELENA. [To her husband] We are leaving to-day; we must get ready atonce for our departure. SEREBRAKOFF. What a perfectly dreadful man! SONIA. [On her knees beside the nurse and turning to her father. Shespeaks with emotion] You must be kind to us, papa. Uncle Vanya and Iare so unhappy! [Controlling her despair] Have pity on us. Remember howUncle Vanya and Granny used to copy and translate your books for youevery night--every, every night. Uncle Vanya has toiled without rest;he would never spend a penny on us, we sent it all to you. We have noteaten the bread of idleness. I am not saying this as I should like to, but you must understand us, papa, you must be merciful to us. HELENA. [Very excited, to her husband] For heaven's sake, Alexander, goand have a talk with him--explain! SEREBRAKOFF. Very well, I shall have a talk with him, but I won'tapologise for a thing. I am not angry with him, but you must confessthat his behaviour has been strange, to say the least. Excuse me, Ishall go to him. [He goes out through the centre door. ] HELENA. Be gentle with him; try to quiet him. [She follows him out. ] SONIA. [Nestling nearer to MARINA] Nurse, oh, nurse! MARINA. It's all right, my baby. When the geese have cackled they willbe still again. First they cackle and then they stop. SONIA. Nurse! MARINA. You are trembling all over, as if you were freezing. There, there, little orphan baby, God is merciful. A little linden-tea, and itwill all pass away. Don't cry, my sweetest. [Looking angrily at the doorin the centre of the room] See, the geese have all gone now. The deviltake them! A shot is heard. HELENA screams behind the scenes. SONIA shudders. MARINA. Bang! What's that? SEREBRAKOFF. [Comes in reeling with terror] Hold him! hold him! He hasgone mad! HELENA and VOITSKI are seen struggling in the doorway. HELENA. [Trying to wrest the revolver from him] Give it to me; give itto me, I tell you! VOITSKI. Let me go, Helena, let me go! [He frees himself and rushes in, looking everywhere for SEREBRAKOFF] Where is he? Ah, there he is! [Heshoots at him. A pause] I didn't get him? I missed again? [Furiously]Damnation! Damnation! To hell with him! He flings the revolver on the floor, and drops helpless into a chair. SEREBRAKOFF stands as if stupefied. HELENA leans against the wall, almost fainting. HELENA. Take me away! Take me away! I can't stay here--I can't! VOITSKI. [In despair] Oh, what shall I do? What shall I do? SONIA. [Softly] Oh, nurse, nurse! The curtain falls. ACT IV VOITSKI'S bedroom, which is also his office. A table stands nearthe window; on it are ledgers, letter scales, and papers of everydescription. Near by stands a smaller table belonging to ASTROFF, withhis paints and drawing materials. On the wall hangs a cage containing astarling. There is also a map of Africa on the wall, obviously of no useto anybody. There is a large sofa covered with buckram. A door to theleft leads into an inner room; one to the right leads into the fronthall, and before this door lies a mat for the peasants with their muddyboots to stand on. It is an autumn evening. The silence is profound. TELEGIN and MARINA are sitting facing one another, winding wool. TELEGIN. Be quick, Marina, or we shall be called away to say good-byebefore you have finished. The carriage has already been ordered. MARINA. [Trying to wind more quickly] I am a little tired. TELEGIN. They are going to Kharkoff to live. MARINA. They do well to go. TELEGIN. They have been frightened. The professor's wife won't stay herean hour longer. "If we are going at all, let's be off, " says she, "weshall go to Kharkoff and look about us, and then we can send for ourthings. " They are travelling light. It seems, Marina, that fate hasdecreed for them not to live here. MARINA. And quite rightly. What a storm they have just raised! It wasshameful! TELEGIN. It was indeed. The scene was worthy of the brush of Aibazofski. MARINA. I wish I'd never laid eyes on them. [A pause] Now we shall havethings as they were again: tea at eight, dinner at one, and supper inthe evening; everything in order as decent folks, as Christians like tohave it. [Sighs] It is a long time since I have eaten noodles. TELEGIN. Yes, we haven't had noodles for ages. [A pause] Not for ages. As I was going through the village this morning, Marina, one of theshop-keepers called after me, "Hi! you hanger-on!" I felt it bitterly. MARINA. Don't pay the least attention to them, master; we are alldependents on God. You and Sonia and all of us. Every one must work, noone can sit idle. Where is Sonia? TELEGIN. In the garden with the doctor, looking for Ivan. They fear hemay lay violent hands on himself. MARINA. Where is his pistol? TELEGIN. [Whispers] I hid it in the cellar. VOITSKI and ASTROFF come in. VOITSKI. Leave me alone! [To MARINA and TELEGIN] Go away! Go away andleave me to myself, if but for an hour. I won't have you watching melike this! TELEGIN. Yes, yes, Vanya. [He goes out on tiptoe. ] MARINA. The gander cackles; ho! ho! ho! [She gathers up her wool and goes out. ] VOITSKI. Leave me by myself! ASTROFF. I would, with the greatest pleasure. I ought to have gone longago, but I shan't leave you until you have returned what you took fromme. VOITSKI. I took nothing from you. ASTROFF. I am not jesting, don't detain me, I really must go. VOITSKI. I took nothing of yours. ASTROFF. You didn't? Very well, I shall have to wait a little longer, and then you will have to forgive me if I resort to force. We shall haveto bind you and search you. I mean what I say. VOITSKI. Do as you please. [A pause] Oh, to make such a fool of myself!To shoot twice and miss him both times! I shall never forgive myself. ASTROFF. When the impulse came to shoot, it would have been as well hadyou put a bullet through your own head. VOITSKI. [Shrugging his shoulders] Strange! I attempted murder, and amnot going to be arrested or brought to trial. That means they thinkme mad. [With a bitter laugh] Me! I am mad, and those who hide theirworthlessness, their dullness, their crying heartlessness behind aprofessor's mask, are sane! Those who marry old men and then deceivethem under the noses of all, are sane! I saw you kiss her; I saw you ineach other's arms! ASTROFF. Yes, sir, I did kiss her; so there. [He puts his thumb to hisnose. ] VOITSKI. [His eyes on the door] No, it is the earth that is mad, becauseshe still bears us on her breast. ASTROFF. That is nonsense. VOITSKI. Well? Am I not a madman, and therefore irresponsible? Haven't Ithe right to talk nonsense? ASTROFF. This is a farce! You are not mad; you are simply a ridiculousfool. I used to think every fool was out of his senses, but now Isee that lack of sense is a man's normal state, and you are perfectlynormal. VOITSKI. [Covers his face with his hands] Oh! If you knew how ashamedI am! These piercing pangs of shame are like nothing on earth. [In anagonised voice] I can't endure them! [He leans against the table] Whatcan I do? What can I do? ASTROFF. Nothing. VOITSKI. You must tell me something! Oh, my God! I am forty-seven yearsold. I may live to sixty; I still have thirteen years before me; aneternity! How shall I be able to endure life for thirteen years?What shall I do? How can I fill them? Oh, don't you see? [He pressesASTROFF'S hand convulsively] Don't you see, if only I could live therest of my life in some new way! If I could only wake some still, brightmorning and feel that life had begun again; that the past was forgottenand had vanished like smoke. [He weeps] Oh, to begin life anew! Tell me, tell me how to begin. ASTROFF. [Crossly] What nonsense! What sort of a new life can you and Ilook forward to? We can have no hope. VOITSKI. None? ASTROFF. None. Of that I am convinced. VOITSKI. Tell me what to do. [He puts his hand to his heart] I feel sucha burning pain here. ASTROFF. [Shouts angrily] Stop! [Then, more gently] It may be thatposterity, which will despise us for our blind and stupid lives, willfind some road to happiness; but we--you and I--have but one hope, thehope that we may be visited by visions, perhaps by pleasant ones, as welie resting in our graves. [Sighing] Yes, brother, there were only tworespectable, intelligent men in this county, you and I. Ten years or soof this life of ours, this miserable life, have sucked us under, and wehave become as contemptible and petty as the rest. But don't try to talkme out of my purpose! Give me what you took from me, will you? VOITSKI. I took nothing from you. ASTROFF. You took a little bottle of morphine out of my medicine-case. [A pause] Listen! If you are positively determined to make an endto yourself, go into the woods and shoot yourself there. Give up themorphine, or there will be a lot of talk and guesswork; people willthink I gave it to you. I don't fancy having to perform a post-mortem onyou. Do you think I should find it interesting? SONIA comes in. VOITSKI. Leave me alone. ASTROFF. [To SONIA] Sonia, your uncle has stolen a bottle of morphineout of my medicine-case and won't give it up. Tell him that hisbehaviour is--well, unwise. I haven't time, I must be going. SONIA. Uncle Vanya, did you take the morphine? ASTROFF. Yes, he took it. [A pause] I am absolutely sure. SONIA. Give it up! Why do you want to frighten us? [Tenderly] Give itup, Uncle Vanya! My misfortune is perhaps even greater than yours, but Iam not plunged in despair. I endure my sorrow, and shall endure it untilmy life comes to a natural end. You must endure yours, too. [A pause]Give it up! Dear, darling Uncle Vanya. Give it up! [She weeps] You areso good, I am sure you will have pity on us and give it up. You mustendure your sorrow, Uncle Vanya; you must endure it. VOITSKI takes a bottle from the drawer of the table and hands it toASTROFF. VOITSKI. There it is! [To SONIA] And now, we must get to work at once;we must do something, or else I shall not be able to endure it. SONIA. Yes, yes, to work! As soon as we have seen them off we shallgo to work. [She nervously straightens out the papers on the table]Everything is in a muddle! ASTROFF. [Putting the bottle in his case, which he straps together] NowI can be off. HELENA comes in. HELENA. Are you here, Ivan? We are starting in a moment. Go toAlexander, he wants to speak to you. SONIA. Go, Uncle Vanya. [She takes VOITSKI 'S arm] Come, you and papamust make peace; that is absolutely necessary. SONIA and VOITSKI go out. HELENA. I am going away. [She gives ASTROFF her hand] Good-bye. ASTROFF. So soon? HELENA. The carriage is waiting. ASTROFF. Good-bye. HELENA. You promised me you would go away yourself to-day. ASTROFF. I have not forgotten. I am going at once. [A pause] Were youfrightened? Was it so terrible? HELENA. Yes. ASTROFF. Couldn't you stay? Couldn't you? To-morrow--in the forest-- HELENA. No. It is all settled, and that is why I can look you so bravelyin the face. Our departure is fixed. One thing I must ask of you: don'tthink too badly of me; I should like you to respect me. ASTROFF. Ah! [With an impatient gesture] Stay, I implore you! Confessthat there is nothing for you to do in this world. You have no objectin life; there is nothing to occupy your attention, and sooner or lateryour feelings must master you. It is inevitable. It would be better ifit happened not in Kharkoff or in Kursk, but here, in nature's lap. It would then at least be poetical, even beautiful. Here you have theforests, the houses half in ruins that Turgenieff writes of. HELENA. How comical you are! I am angry with you and yet I shall alwaysremember you with pleasure. You are interesting and original. You andI will never meet again, and so I shall tell you--why should I concealit?--that I am just a little in love with you. Come, one more lastpressure of our hands, and then let us part good friends. Let us notbear each other any ill will. ASTROFF. [Pressing her hand] Yes, go. [Thoughtfully] You seem to besincere and good, and yet there is something strangely disquieting aboutall your personality. No sooner did you arrive here with your husbandthan every one whom you found busy and actively creating something wasforced to drop his work and give himself up for the whole summer toyour husband's gout and yourself. You and he have infected us with youridleness. I have been swept off my feet; I have not put my hand toa thing for weeks, during which sickness has been running its courseunchecked among the people, and the peasants have been pasturing theircattle in my woods and young plantations. Go where you will, you andyour husband will always carry destruction in your train. I am joking ofcourse, and yet I am strangely sure that had you stayed here we shouldhave been overtaken by the most immense desolation. I would have goneto my ruin, and you--you would not have prospered. So go! E finita lacomedia! HELENA. [Snatching a pencil off ASTROFF'S table, and hiding it with aquick movement] I shall take this pencil for memory! ASTROFF. How strange it is. We meet, and then suddenly it seems thatwe must part forever. That is the way in this world. As long as we arealone, before Uncle Vanya comes in with a bouquet--allow me--to kiss yougood-bye--may I? [He kisses her on the cheek] So! Splendid! HELENA. I wish you every happiness. [She glances about her] For oncein my life, I shall! and scorn the consequences! [She kisses himimpetuously, and they quickly part] I must go. ASTROFF. Yes, go. If the carriage is there, then start at once. [Theystand listening. ] ASTROFF. E finita! VOITSKI, SEREBRAKOFF, MME. VOITSKAYA with her book, TELEGIN, and SONIAcome in. SEREBRAKOFF. [To VOITSKI] Shame on him who bears malice for the past. Ihave gone through so much in the last few hours that I feel capable ofwriting a whole treatise on the conduct of life for the instructionof posterity. I gladly accept your apology, and myself ask yourforgiveness. [He kisses VOITSKI three times. ] HELENA embraces SONIA. SEREBRAKOFF. [Kissing MME. VOITSKAYA'S hand] Mother! MME. VOITSKAYA. [Kissing him] Have your picture taken, Alexander, andsend me one. You know how dear you are to me. TELEGIN. Good-bye, your Excellency. Don't forget us. SEREBRAKOFF. [Kissing his daughter] Good-bye, good-bye all. [Shakinghands with ASTROFF] Many thanks for your pleasant company. I have a deepregard for your opinions and your enthusiasm, but let me, as an old man, give one word of advice at parting: do something, my friend! Work! Dosomething! [They all bow] Good luck to you all. [He goes out followed byMME. VOITSKAYA and SONIA. ] VOITSKI [Kissing HELENA'S hand fervently] Good-bye--forgive me. I shallnever see you again! HELENA. [Touched] Good-bye, dear boy. She lightly kisses his head as he bends over her hand, and goes out. ASTROFF. Tell them to bring my carriage around too, Waffles. TELEGIN. All right, old man. ASTROFF and VOITSKI are left behind alone. ASTROFF collects his paintsand drawing materials on the table and packs them away in a box. ASTROFF. Why don't you go to see them off? VOITSKI. Let them go! I--I can't go out there. I feel too sad. I must goto work on something at once. To work! To work! He rummages through his papers on the table. A pause. The tinkling ofbells is heard as the horses trot away. ASTROFF. They have gone! The professor, I suppose, is glad to go. Hecouldn't be tempted back now by a fortune. MARINA comes in. MARINA. They have gone. [She sits down in an arm-chair and knits herstocking. ] SONIA comes in wiping her eyes. SONIA. They have gone. God be with them. [To her uncle] And now, UncleVanya, let us do something! VOITSKI. To work! To work! SONIA. It is long, long, since you and I have sat together at thistable. [She lights a lamp on the table] No ink! [She takes the inkstandto the cupboard and fills it from an ink-bottle] How sad it is to seethem go! MME. VOITSKAYA comes slowly in. MME. VOITSKAYA. They have gone. She sits down and at once becomes absorbed in her book. SONIA sits downat the table and looks through an account book. SONIA. First, Uncle Vanya, let us write up the accounts. They are in adreadful state. Come, begin. You take one and I will take the other. VOITSKI. In account with [They sit silently writing. ] MARINA. [Yawning] The sand-man has come. ASTROFF. How still it is. Their pens scratch, the cricket sings; it isso warm and comfortable. I hate to go. [The tinkling of bells is heard. ] ASTROFF. My carriage has come. There now remains but to say good-bye toyou, my friends, and to my table here, and then--away! [He puts the mapinto the portfolio. ] MARINA. Don't hurry away; sit a little longer with us. ASTROFF. Impossible. VOITSKI. [Writing] And carry forward from the old debt twoseventy-five-- WORKMAN comes in. WORKMAN. Your carriage is waiting, sir. ASTROFF. All right. [He hands the WORKMAN his medicine-case, portfolio, and box] Look out, don't crush the portfolio! WORKMAN. Very well, sir. SONIA. When shall we see you again? ASTROFF. Hardly before next summer. Probably not this winter, though, ofcourse, if anything should happen you will let me know. [He shakeshands with them] Thank you for your kindness, for your hospitality, foreverything! [He goes up to MARINA and kisses her head] Good-bye, oldnurse! MARINA. Are you going without your tea? ASTROFF. I don't want any, nurse. MARINA. Won't you have a drop of vodka? ASTROFF. [Hesitatingly] Yes, I might. MARINA goes out. ASTROFF. [After a pause] My off-wheeler has gone lame for some reason. Inoticed it yesterday when Peter was taking him to water. VOITSKI. You should have him re-shod. ASTROFF. I shall have to go around by the blacksmith's on my way home. It can't be avoided. [He stands looking up at the map of Africa hangingon the wall] I suppose it is roasting hot in Africa now. VOITSKI. Yes, I suppose it is. MARINA comes back carrying a tray on which are a glass of vodka and apiece of bread. MARINA. Help yourself. ASTROFF drinks MARINA. To your good health! [She bows deeply] Eat your bread with it. ASTROFF. No, I like it so. And now, good-bye. [To MARINA] You needn'tcome out to see me off, nurse. He goes out. SONIA follows him with a candle to light him to thecarriage. MARINA sits down in her armchair. VOITSKI. [Writing] On the 2d of February, twenty pounds of butter; onthe 16th, twenty pounds of butter again. Buckwheat flour--[A pause. Bells are heard tinkling. ] MARINA. He has gone. [A pause. ] SONIA comes in and sets the candle stick on the table. SONIA. He has gone. VOITSKI. [Adding and writing] Total, fifteen--twenty-five-- SONIA sits down and begins to write. [Yawning] Oh, ho! The Lord have mercy. TELEGIN comes in on tiptoe, sits down near the door, and begins to tunehis guitar. VOITSKI. [To SONIA, stroking her hair] Oh, my child, I am miserable; ifyou only knew how miserable I am! SONIA. What can we do? We must live our lives. [A pause] Yes, we shalllive, Uncle Vanya. We shall live through the long procession of daysbefore us, and through the long evenings; we shall patiently bear thetrials that fate imposes on us; we shall work for others without rest, both now and when we are old; and when our last hour comes we shallmeet it humbly, and there, beyond the grave, we shall say that we havesuffered and wept, that our life was bitter, and God will have pity onus. Ah, then dear, dear Uncle, we shall see that bright and beautifullife; we shall rejoice and look back upon our sorrow here; a tendersmile--and--we shall rest. I have faith, Uncle, fervent, passionatefaith. [SONIA kneels down before her uncle and lays her head on hishands. She speaks in a weary voice] We shall rest. [TELEGIN plays softlyon the guitar] We shall rest. We shall hear the angels. We shall seeheaven shining like a jewel. We shall see all evil and all our pain sinkaway in the great compassion that shall enfold the world. Our life willbe as peaceful and tender and sweet as a caress. I have faith; I havefaith. [She wipes away her tears] My poor, poor Uncle Vanya, you arecrying! [Weeping] You have never known what happiness was, but wait, Uncle Vanya, wait! We shall rest. [She embraces him] We shall rest. [TheWATCHMAN'S rattle is heard in the garden; TELEGIN plays softly; MME. VOITSKAYA writes something on the margin of her pamphlet; MARINA knitsher stocking] We shall rest. The curtain slowly falls.