VOITSKI. She was here a moment ago.
ASTROFF. What a beautiful woman! [Looking at the medicine bottles on the table] Medicine, is it? What a variety we have; prescriptions from Moscow, from Kharkoff, from Tula! Why, he has been pestering all the towns of Russia with his gout! Is he ill, or simply shamming?
VOITSKI. He is really ill.
ASTROFF. What is the matter with you to-night? You seem sad. Is it because you are sorry for the professor?
VOITSKI. Leave me alone.
ASTROFF. Or in love with the professor's wife?
VOITSKI. She is my friend.
ASTROFF. Already?
VOITSKI. What do you mean by "already"?
ASTROFF. A woman can only become a man's friend after having first been his acquaintance and then his beloved—then she becomes his friend.