OSSEP. I owe him money, and on that account he holds the knife at my throat.
CHACHO. God bless me!
OSSEP. The wicked fellow has my note, and another security beside, and yet he will not wait.
CHACHO. His match for wickedness cannot be found in the whole world.
OSSEP. No, not another such miserable scoundrel! I expect every moment to be notified, and have no idea where I can get the money. Everyone I have asked to help me has refused me. I can borrow no more on my note, and I cannot sell my goods at half price. That everyone must understand. They all show their claws as soon as they find out the position I am in. Salome is to blame for all this; the 7,000 rubles she promised is the cause of it all. I would like to know who will pay them to him now.
CHACHO. You talk nonsense! You will make your daughter unhappy forever,
Ossep.
OSSEP. I am still more unhappy myself. But let us see what the coming day brings forth. I still have hope of one. Perhaps he will supply me with money.
CHACHO. How could you trust the scamp so blindly? Is such want of thought consistent with reason?
OSSEP. What is the use of reason in this? I have always said I could not stand the expense that now everybody assumes. If a man conducts his business honestly, he makes little profit; and as for a dishonest business, I am not fit for that! So I have suffered one reverse after another; and where I was most vulnerable I have been hit at last.