ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. Yes, beggared! And please don't interrupt me, my dear! Anything a man does always seems right to you!
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. Oh! I don't know. I was saying——
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. But you never do know what you are saying, because when you men begin playing the fool, il n'y a pas de raison que ça finisse.[4] I am only saying that if I were in your place, I should not allow it. J'aurais mis bon ordre à toutes ces lubies.[5] What does it all mean? A husband, the head of a family, has no occupation, abandons everything, gives everything away, et fait le généreux à droite et à gauche.[6] I know how it will end! Nous en savons quelque chose.[7]
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH [to Mary Ivánovna]. But do explain to me, Mary, what is this new movement? Of course I understand Liberalism, County Councils, the Constitution, schools, reading-rooms, and tout ce qui s'en suit;[8] as well as Socialism, strikes, and an eight-hour day; but what is this? Explain it to me.
MARY IVÁNOVNA. But he told you about it yesterday.
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. I confess I did not understand. The Gospels, the Sermon on the Mount—and that churches are unnecessary! But then how is one to pray, and all that?
MARY IVÁNOVNA. Yes. That is the worst of it. He would destroy everything, and give us nothing in its place.
PETER SEMYÓNOVICH. How did it begin?
MARY IVÁNOVNA. It began last year, after his sister died. He was very fond of her, and her death had a very great effect on him. He became quite morose, and was always talking about death; and then, you know, he fell ill himself with typhus. When he recovered, he was quite a changed man.
ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. But, all the same, he came in spring to see us again in Moscow, and was very nice, and played bridge. Il était très gentil et comme tout le monde.[9]