Sasha. A convict, a felon. I have escaped and come home.
Ast. Of what crime have you been guilty?
Sasha. Do not ask me so many questions, but give me something to eat.
Ast. But tell me this....
Sasha. There is food here. I smelt it as I came in. [He eats the meat with his fingers ravenously, like a wild beast.]
Fomá. It is your mother's supper.
Sasha. I do not care whose supper it is. I am ravenous. I have had nothing to eat all day.
Fomá. Can this wild beast be Praskóvya's son?
Sasha. We are all wild beasts if we are kept from food. Ha! and vodka, too! [helping himself].
Ast. Are you a convict, a felon, Sasha? You who were dead? Then we have been deceived for many years.