PAULINA. She is a sweet child. [A pause] A woman, Constantine, asks only
for kind looks. I know that from experience.

TREPLIEFF gets up from his desk and goes out without a word.

MASHA. There now! You have vexed him. I told you not to bother him.

PAULINA. I am sorry for you, Masha.

MASHA. Much I need your pity!

PAULINA. My heart aches for you. I see how things are, and understand.

MASHA. You see what doesn't exist. Hopeless love is only found in
novels. It is a trifle; all one has to do is to keep a tight rein on
oneself, and keep one's head clear. Love must be plucked out the moment
it springs up in the heart. My husband has been promised a school in
another district, and when we have once left this place I shall forget
it all. I shall tear my passion out by the roots. [The notes of a
melancholy waltz are heard in the distance.]

PAULINA. Constantine is playing. That means he is sad.

MASHA silently waltzes a few turns to the music.

MASHA. The great thing, mother, is not to have him continually in sight.
If my Simon could only get his remove I should forget it all in a month
or two. It is a trifle.