»Hush!« said Liuba, turning very pale, »He is my betrothed.«
»To those who are blind from birth! Ye who can see, pluck out your eyes! For it is shameful«—and he banged on the table—»it is shameful for those who have sight to look upon those who are blind from birth! If with our light we cannot illumine all the darkness, then let us put out the signal fires, let us all crawl in the dark! If there be not paradise for all, then I will have none for myself! And this, girls, this is no part of paradise, but simply and plainly a piggery! A toast, girls! That all the signal fires be extinguished. Drink! To the Dark!«
He staggered a little as he drank off his glass. He spoke rather thickly, but firmly, precisely, with pauses, enunciating every syllable. Nobody understood his wild speech, but they found him pleasing in himself, his pale figure and his peculiar quality of wickedness. Then Liuba suddenly took up the word, stretching out her hands.
»He is my betrothed. He will stay with me. He was virtuous and had comrades, and now he will stay with me!«
»Come and take Màrkusha's place,« the fat woman drawled.
»Shut up, Manka, or I'll smash your face! He will stay with me. He was virtuous....«
»We were all virtuous once,« the evil old woman grumbled. And the others joined in: »I was straight four years ago ... I'm an honourable woman still ... I swear to God....«
Liuba was nearly weeping.
»Silence, you sluts! You had your honour taken from you; but he gives it me himself. He takes it and gives it for my honour. But I don't want honour! You're a lot of ... and he's still an innocent boy!«
She broke into sobs. There was a general outburst of laughter. They guffawed as only the drunken can, without any restraint; the little room, saturated with sounds, and unable to absorb any more, threw it all back in a deafening roar. They laughed until the tears fell; they rolled together and groaned with it. The fat woman clucked in a little thin voice and tumbled exhausted from her chair.