[They join hands.
Grenadier. And now Peace is proclaimed, let us tell each other what we used to do before we became warriors.
Cossack. I cultivated a piece of ground in the steppes and took care of my old mother.
Highlander. I brought up my daughter by farming a piece of ground which I had cleared on my native heath.
Hussar. I lived with my wife on the piece of land which we cultivated.
Grenadier. I tilled a piece of ground also, and supported my sister. It seems that we were all four of the same way of life. How did we come to kill one another?
Cossack. The Czar spoke, and I marched.
Highlander. Parliament voted for war, and I marched.
Hussar. Our princes cried, "To arms!" and I marched.
Grenadier. As for me, my comrades cried, "To arms!" and I put on my best sabots. But after all, what have we against each other? Where was the quarrel between our respective ploughshares? (To the Hussar.) You, for instance, who began, what did you come into my country for?