ACT II

_The lawn in front of SORIN'S house. The house stands in the background,
on a broad terrace. The lake, brightly reflecting the rays of the sun,
lies to the left. There are flower-beds here and there. It is noon;
the day is hot. ARKADINA, DORN, and MASHA are sitting on a bench on the
lawn, in the shade of an old linden. An open book is lying on DORN'S
knees_.

ARKADINA. [To MASHA] Come, get up. [They both get up] Stand beside me.
You are twenty-two and I am almost twice your age. Tell me, Doctor,
which of us is the younger looking?

DORN. You are, of course.

ARKADINA. You see! Now why is it? Because I work; my heart and mind are
always busy, whereas you never move off the same spot. You don't live.
It is a maxim of mine never to look into the future. I never admit the
thought of old age or death, and just accept what comes to me.

MASHA. I feel as if I had been in the world a thousand years, and I
trail my life behind me like an endless scarf. Often I have no desire
to live at all. Of course that is foolish. One ought to pull oneself
together and shake off such nonsense.

DORN. [Sings softly]