"'Where we are not, there do we wish to be,'—you know the proverb. Last night you said that you are dissatisfied. Such a thought never enters into my head."
"Is it that such thoughts seem to you ridiculous?"
"No—rather, that they never occur to me."
"Indeed? Well, to know what your thoughts are is a thing which I greatly wish to attain."
"I do not understand you."
"Then listen. For a long time past I have been wishing to have this out with you. Do not tell me—you yourself know that it is useless to do so—that you are a man apart. As a matter of fact, you are a man still young, with all your life before you. I wish to know for what you are preparing, and what future awaits you, and what is the goal which you are seeking to reach, and whither you are travelling, and what you have in your mind—in short, who and what you are."
"I am surprised! Already you know that I dabble in natural science; while, as regards my future——"
"Yes? As regards your future?"
"I have told you that I purpose to become a district physician."
Anna Sergievna waved her hand impatiently.