SCENE VII
TATYÁNA alone
TATYÁNA. [As soon as her husband goes] Well, good-by! At last he's gone! I'm unfortunate, unfortunate! They say one ought to love one's husband; but how can I love him? He's vulgar, uneducated—and he fondles me as a bear would! Sits there—and swaggers like a peasant; and I have to pretend to love him, to humor him; how disgusting! I'd give anything on earth not to have to do that. But how can I help it! I have to submit to one I don't love! [Silence] I wonder where everybody is? Here I am all alone! Such loneliness! [Sits down at the window] Even the streets are deserted, and there's no one to look at. Where's my sister? [Sings softly.
"O, mother I'm sad!
Sad, my lady!
My heart is cast down,
Cast down and aching;
My beloved knows not
How my heart is bleeding."