SCENE IV
The same and USTÍNYA NAÚMOVNA
USTÍNYA NAÚMOVNA. [Entering] Ouf, fa, fa! Why do you have such a steep staircase, my jewels? You climb, and climb, and much as ever you get there!
LÍPOCHKA. Oh, here she is! How are you, Ustinya Naúmovna?
USTÍNYA NAÚMOVNA. Don't get in a hurry! There's people older than you.
I want to chatter with your mamma a bit first. [Exchanges kisses with
AGRAFÉNA KONDRÁTYEVNA] How are you, Agraféna Kondrátyevna? How did you feel
when you got up? How did you pass the night? All alive, my precious?
AGRAFÉNA KONDRÁTYEVNA. Thank the Lord! I'm alive, able to chew; I've been joking with my daughter all the morning.
USTÍNYA NAÚMOVNA. All about dresses, I suppose. [Exchanging kisses with LÍPOCHKA] Well, your turn has come. What's this! It seems as if you had grown stouter, my jewel! Lord bless you! What could be better than to blossom out in beauty!
FOMÍNISHNA. Shame on you, temptress! You'll give us bad luck yet!
LÍPOCHKA. Oh, what nonsense! It just looks that way to you, Ustinya Naúmovna. I keep getting punier; first it's stomachache, then palpitation of the heart—just like the beating of a pendulum. Now I have a sinking feeling, or feel kind of seasick, and things swim before my eyes.
USTÍNYA NAÚMOVNA. [To FOMÍNISHNA] Come on, you dear soul, let's have a kiss now. To be sure, we've already exchanged greetings in the yard, my jewel, so we don't need to rub lips again.
FOMÍNISHNA. Just as you wish. Of course I'm no lady of a household. I don't amount to much; all the same I have a soul in me, and not just vapor!
AGRAFÉNA KONDRÁTYEVNA. [Sitting down] Sit down, sit down, Ustinya Naúmovna! Why do you stand up as stiff as a bean-pole? Fomínishna, go tell them to heat up the samovar.
USTÍNYA NAÚMOVNA. I've had my tea, I've had it, my jewel; may I perish on the spot if I haven't; and I've just dropped in for a moment.
AGRAFÉNA KONDRÁTYEVNA. What are you loafing about for, Fomínishna? Run off a little more nimbly, granny.
LÍPOCHKA. Let me, mamma, I'll go quicker; look how clumsy she is!
FOMÍNISHNA. Don't you meddle where you aren't asked! For my part, my dear Agraféna Kondrátyevna, this is what I think: wouldn't it be nicer to serve cordial and some herring?
AGRAFÉNA KONDRÁTYEVNA. Cordial's all right, and the samovar's all right. Or are you stingy with other people's stuff? Well, when it's ready, have it brought here.
FOMÍNISHNA. Certainly! All right! [She goes out.