OLGA. Don’t, Masha, don’t... give her some water....
MASHA. I’m not crying any more....
KULIGIN. She’s not crying any more... she’s a good... [A shot is heard from a distance.]
MASHA. “There stands a green oak by the sea,
And a chain of bright gold is around it...
An oak of green gold....”
I’m mixing it up.... [Drinks some water] Life is dull... I don’t want anything more now... I’ll be all right in a moment.... It doesn’t matter.... What do those lines mean? Why do they run in my head? My thoughts are all tangled.
[IRINA enters.]
OLGA. Be quiet, Masha. There’s a good girl.... Let’s go in.
MASHA. [Angrily] I shan’t go in there. [Sobs, but controls herself at once] I’m not going to go into the house, I won’t go....
IRINA. Let’s sit here together and say nothing. I’m going away to-morrow.... [Pause.]
KULIGIN. Yesterday I took away these whiskers and this beard from a boy in the third class.... [He puts on the whiskers and beard] Don’t I look like the German master.... [Laughs] Don’t I? The boys are amusing.