GORDÉY KÁRPYCH. [Takes the glass] Wife, drink!
PELAGÉYA EGÓROVNA. Oh, somehow I don't like this kind of wine! Well, yes!
I'll take just a glass.
GIRLS. [Sing] "Ah, who is he, our bachelor,
And who is still unwed?
Afrikán's our bachelor
And Savvich still unwed.
He jumped on the horse,
The horse skips to and fro;
He rides through the meadows,
And green the meadows grow,
And flowers blow."
KÓRSHUNOV. [Seats himself near LYUBÓV GORDÉYEVNA] That's nice. I like that. Now, then, come here some one. [A girl comes up, he pats her on the cheek] Oh, you little bright eyes! You girls, I suppose, need a lot to set off your fair faces and rosy blushes; he, he, he! But I haven't any money! It will be on me, he, he, he! Hold out your apron! [He tosses her some small change; the girl bows and goes out] Now, then, Gordéy Kárpych, tell your wife why we came.
GORDÉY KÁRPYCH. I told you, wife, long ago, that living in this town bored me, because you can't take a step here without seeing that the people are absolutely ignorant and uneducated. And so I want to move from this place to Moscow. But there will be a man there who is no stranger to us—our dear son-in-law, Afrikán Savvich.
PELAGÉYA EGÓROVNA. Oh! Oh! What are you saying!
KÓRSHUNOV. Yes, we've shaken hands on it, Pelagéya Egórovna. What are you afraid of? I'm not going to eat her!
PELAGÉYA EGÓROVNA. Oh, Lord! [Seizes her daughter] She's my daughter! I won't give her up!
GORDÉY KÁRPYCH. Wife!
PELAGÉYA EGÓROVNA. My dear Gordéy Kárpych! Don't trifle with a mother's heart! Stop! You've fairly staggered me!