KVASHNYA. Well—my love-sick garrison—? Bubnoff! He came up to me again on the marketplace and started pestering me about marrying him . . .
BUBNOFF. Go to it! Why not? He has money and he’s still a husky fellow.
MIEDVIEDIEFF. Me—? I should say so!
KVASHNYA. You ruffian! Don’t you dare touch my sore spot! I’ve gone through it once already, darling. Marriage to a woman is just like jumping through a hole in the ice in winter. You do it once, and you remember it the rest of your life . . .
MIEDVIEDIEFF. Wait! There are different breeds of husbands . . .
KVASHNYA. But there’s only one of me! When my beloved husband kicked the bucket, I spent the whole day all by my lonely—just bursting with joy. I sat and simply couldn’t believe it was true. . . .
MIEDVIEDIEFF. If your husband beat you without cause, you should have complained to the police.
KVASHNYA. I complained to God for eight years—and he didn’t help.
MIEDVIEDIEFF. Nowadays the law forbids to beat your wife . . . all is very strict these days—there’s law and order everywhere. You can’t beat up people without due cause. If you beat them to maintain discipline—all right . . .
LUKA [comes in with Anna] Well—we finally managed to get here after all. Oh, you! Why do you, weak as you are, walk about alone? Where’s your bunk?