swan! Oh, oh, you have bewitched me!

LEBEDIEFF. Why don't you find her a husband instead of singing
her praises?

AVDOTIA. He shall be found. I shall not go to my grave before I
have found a husband for her, and one for Sasha too. I shall not
go to my grave-- [She sighs] But where to find these husbands
nowadays? There sit some possible bridegrooms now, huddled
together like a lot of half-drowned rats!

THIRD GUEST. A most unfortunate comparison! It is my belief,
ladies, that if the young men of our day prefer to remain single,
the fault lies not with them, but with the existing, social
conditions!

LEBEDIEFF. Come, enough of that! Don't give us any mo re
philosophy; I don't like it!

Enter SASHA. She goes up to her father.

SASHA. How can you endure the stuffy air of this room when the
weather is so beautiful?

ZINAIDA. My dear Sasha, don't you see that Martha is here?

SASHA. I beg your pardon.

[She goes up to MARTHA and shakes hands.]