telegraph! A foreigner of Greek nationality, a confectioner by
trade, Harlampi Spiridonovitch Dimba! Osip Lukitch Babelmandebsky!
And so on, and so on. ... The rest are just trash. Sit down, your
excellency!

REVUNOV. Awfully! Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I just want to
say two words to Andrey. [Takes NUNIN aside] I say, old man, I'm a
little put out. ... Why do you call me your excellency? I'm not a
general! I don't rank as the equivalent of a colonel, even.

NUNIN. [Whispers] I know, only, Fyodor Yakovlevitch, be a good man
and let us call you your excellency! The family here, you see, is
patriarchal; it respects the aged, it likes rank.

REVUNOV. Oh, if it's like that, very well. ... [Goes to the table]
Awfully!

NASTASYA TIMOFEYEVNA. Sit down, your excellency! Be so good as to
have some of this, your excellency! Only forgive us for not being
used to etiquette; we're plain people!

REVUNOV. [Not hearing] What? Hm ... yes. [Pause] Yes. ... In the
old days everybody used to live simply and was happy. In spite of
my rank, I am a man who lives plainly. To-day Andrey comes to me
and asks me to come here to the wedding. "How shall I go," I said,
"when I don't know them? It's not good manners!" But he says: "They
are good, simple, patriarchal people, glad to see anybody." Well,
if that's the case ... why not? Very glad to come. It's very dull
for me at home by myself, and if my presence at a wedding can make
anybody happy, then I'm delighted to be here. ...