blissfully triumphant. Oh, yes, of course!

HELENA. Be quiet! You are torturing me.

SEREBRAKOFF. I torture everybody. Of course.

HELENA. [Weeping] This is unbearable! Tell me, what is it you
want me to do?

SEREBRAKOFF. Nothing.

HELENA. Then be quiet, please.

SEREBRAKOFF. It is funny that everybody listens to Ivan and his
old idiot of a mother, but the moment I open my lips you all
begin to feel ill-treated. You can't even stand the sound of my
voice. Even if I am hateful, even if I am a selfish tyrant,
haven't I the right to be one at my age? Haven't I deserved it?
Haven't I, I ask you, the right to be respected, now that I am
old?

HELENA. No one is disputing your rights. [The window slams in the
wind] The wind is rising, I must shut the window. [She shuts it]
We shall have rain in a moment. Your rights have never been
questioned by anybody.

The WATCHMAN in the garden sounds his rattle.

SEREBRAKOFF. I have spent my life working in the interests of
learning. I am used to my library and the lecture hall and to the