MADAM ULANBÉKOV. [Sinking back in her chair] You want to kill me. [Raising herself from the chair] You simply want to kill me. [She rings. Enter POTÁPYCH] Where's Grísha?
POTÁPYCH. Just came, ma'am.
MADAM ULANBÉKOV. Send him here! [POTÁPYCH goes out] This certainly beats all!
VASILÍSA PEREGRÍNOVNA. You'll not find anybody more devoted than I, benefactress; only I am unhappy in one respect: that my disposition displeases you.
Enter GRÍSHA, his hair tousled and dishevelled.
SCENE III
The same, and GRÍSHA
MADAM ULANBÉKOV. Where've you been?
GRÍSHA. [Now opens, now closes his eyes, not sure of his tongue, and unsteady on his legs] At the fair, ma'am.
MADAM ULANBÉKOV. Just come from it? [GRÍSHA is silent] Why don't you talk? [Silence] Am I going to get a word out of you, or not?