* * * * *
They called the manager "four-funneled cruiser," because he had already gone "through the chimney" (bankrupt) four times.
* * * * *
He is not stupid, he was at the university, has studied long and assiduously, but in writing he makes gross mistakes.
* * * * *
Countess Nadin's daughter gradually turns into a housekeeper; she is very timid, and can only say "No-o," "Yes-s," and her hands always tremble. Somehow or other a Zemstvo official wished to marry her; he is a widower and she marries him, with him too it was "Yes-s," "No-o"; she was very much afraid of her husband and did not love him; one day he happened to give a loud cough, it gave her a fright, and she died.
* * * * *
Caressing her lover: "My vulture."
* * * * *
For a play: If only you would say something funny. But for twenty years we have lived together and you have always talked of serious things; I hate serious things.