(Enter Kochkaryòv.)
Koch. What next! wants to set a strap right!
Yaìch. (to him). Be so kind as to tell me,—Is the young lady an idiot?
Koch. What do you mean? Has anything happened?
Yaìch. Her behaviour is most extraordinary. All of a sudden she ran away, screaming out, “He’ll beat me! he’ll beat me!” It’s enough to mystify the devil!
Koch. Yes; she gets like that sometimes; she’s weak in her head.
Yaìch. May I ask if you’re a relative of hers?
Koch. Oh! yes; I’m a relative.
Yaìch. What is your relationship to her, if I may inquire?
Koch. A—a—a, really, I don’t know. Let me see—my mother’s aunt was some relation to her father; or else her father was related to my aunt; my wife knows all about it; that’s a woman’s business, you know.