The Sea-Gull by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
page 3 of 85 (03%)
page 3 of 85 (03%)
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placed in front of the stage. The sun has just set. JACOB and some other
workmen are heard hammering and coughing on the stage behind the lowered curtain_. MASHA and MEDVIEDENKO come in from the left, returning from a walk. MEDVIEDENKO. Why do you always wear mourning? MASHA. I dress in black to match my life. I am unhappy. MEDVIEDENKO. Why should you be unhappy? [Thinking it over] I don't understand it. You are healthy, and though your father is not rich, he has a good competency. My life is far harder than yours. I only have twenty-three roubles a month to live on, but I don't wear mourning. [They sit down]. MASHA. Happiness does not depend on riches; poor men are often happy. MEDVIEDENKO. In theory, yes, but not in reality. Take my case, for instance; my mother, my two sisters, my little brother and I must all live somehow on my salary of twenty-three roubles a month. We have to eat and drink, I take it. You wouldn't have us go without tea and sugar, would you? Or tobacco? Answer me that, if you can. MASHA. [Looking in the direction of the stage] The play will soon begin. MEDVIEDENKO. Yes, Nina Zarietchnaya is going to act in Treplieff's play. They love one another, and their two souls will unite to-night in the effort to interpret the same idea by different means. There is no ground on which your soul and mine can meet. I love you. Too restless and sad |
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