Delphi Complete Works of Anton Chekhov

SCENE XI.

PLATONOV and TRILETZKY.

PLATONOV. Why did you take this money from him?

TRILETZKY. Just so . . . (He sits down.)

PLATONOV. What do you mean5 just so?

TRILETZKY. I’ve taken it, isn’t that enough? You’re not sorry for him?

PLATONOV. That has nothing to do with it!

TRILETZKY. What then?

PLATONOV. You don’t know?

TRILETZKY. No, I don’t.

PLATONOV. You lie, you do know! (Pause.) [There are people in this world, my dear fellow, who won’t light a cigarette, speak nonsense to a woman, put a boot on, without first having looked into his regulations... Their regulations are everything to them . . . And they’ll depart into the next life according to such and such paragraph... They’re dry, these pedants, and they never take a step anywhere without their regulations... But . . .] For such beings as you, rules are as essential as daily bread... {Pause.)

TRILETZKY. I don’t know anything... Not for us, brother, [such is God’s judgment] is it given to reform our flesh! Not for us to overcome it. ... I knew this even while I was a student with you in high school and received such low marks for my Latin... Let’s not waste time talking nonsense... Come, let’s have a drink!

PLATONOV. No. It’s stifling in there.

TRILETZKY. Then I’ll go alone. (Stretches himself.) By the way, what do those letters “S. V.” stand for? Sofya Voinitzev or Sergey Voinitzev? Whom did our philologist wish to honour with those letters . . . himself or his wife?

PLATONOV. It’s his money that’s paying for this! [I’m astonished at the careless way the Voinitzevs are spending their money. The fireworks must cost at least twenty-five roubles, the champagne a hundred, the wine and the vodka another hundred... In short, three hundred roubles will pay for this hateful evening. Three hundred roubles! They must have borrowed five hundred from Vengerovitch... Three hundred squandered tonight... As for the rest, Sergey will probably buy himself a bicycle or his wife a watch. . . .]

[TRILETZKY. They are planning an amateur spectacle.

PLATONOV. Of course! They’ll want a hundred and fifty for decorations alone... And they are up to the hilt in debt... The general’s widow will surely have to give up her mines to Vengerovitch! They’re playing all sorts of pranks with the es- tate... It’s sad and pitiful, all the more as they pass for clever people! ]

TRILETZKY. Yes... What’s happening to the widow tonight? She laughs, sighs, and kisses everyone... It’s as if she were in love...

PLATONOV. Whom possibly can she find to love here? Herself, perhaps. Don’t believe in her laughter. It’s impossible to believe in the laughter of a clever woman who never weeps. Take my word for it: our widow is not so anxious to weep as to shoot herself. It is evident in her eyes. . . .

TRILETZKY. Women don’t take to shooting, they prefer poison as a way out... But we won’t philosophize... When I philosophize I lie terribly. ... A fine little woman is our widow! In general, I have abominable thoughts when I look at a woman. But this is the one woman who banishes my worst thoughts. The one woman . . . When I look on her genuine face, I begin to believe in platonic love. Are you coming?

PLATONOV. No.

TRILETZKY. Then I’ll go alone... I’ll have a drink with the priest... (He goes, and runs into Glagolyev II in the doorway.) Ah! Your Excellency, self-made count! Here’s three roubles for you! {Sticks three roubles into his hands and goes in.)