BUBNOFF [calmly] You’re not wanted anywhere—and, anyway, all people on earth are superfluous—
[Nastya shakes her head. Rises and slowly, quietly, leaves the cellar. Miedviedieff comes in. Luka, with the broom, follows him.]
MIEDVIEDIEFF. I don’t think I know you—
LUKA. How about the others—d’you know them all?
MIEDVIEDIEFF. I must know everybody in my precinct. But I don’t know you.
LUKA. That’s because, uncle, the whole world can’t stow itself away in your precinct—some of it was bound to remain outside . . . [Goes into kitchen]
MIEDVIEDIEFF [crosses to Bubnoff] It’s true—my precinct is rather small—yet it’s worse than any of the very largest. Just now, before getting off duty, I had to bring Alyoshka, the shoemaker, to the station house. Just imagine—there he was, stretched right in the middle of the street, playing his concertina and yelping: “I want nothing, nothing!” Horses going past all the time—and with all the traffic going on, he could easily have been run over—and so on! He’s a wild youngster—so I just collared him—he likes to make mischief—
BUBNOFF. Coming to play checkers to-night?
MIEDVIEDIEFF. Yes—I’ll come—how’s Vaska?