SCENE I.
(Mr. Podczaski enters, followed by a servant.)
Podczaski.—Tell the Doctor that Mr. Podczaski wishes to see him on an important matter.
Servant.—The Doctor is very busy. The princess is ill. But I will tell him (goes out).
Podczaski (alone).—I have enough of this work for nothing. The countess sends me about to agitate for her, but when I ask her for some money, she answers: We shall see about it after the election. She is an aristocrat and she refuses a hundred florins to a nobleman. To the deuce with such business. I had better try elsewhere, to serve the Doctor. He pays because he has common sense. And as he will bite them, then I will rise in consideration.